Cafe Pleiade

This small Mt. Pleasant restaurant (near Manor Rd.) has become one of my favourite dinner restaurants in Toronto. Jeff and I decided to eat there a few weeks ago before a movie.

I arrive first, and opt for the cozy and romantic cushion-lined corner looking out onto the street:

The server brings me a whiteboard with the Prix-Fixe menu, in case I didn't want to order from the regular menu. Hmm...for $24.95 I can get a choice of appetizer, main course, and coffee or tea. Hungry, I decide to start my appetizer before Jeff arrives, and choose the Romaine Feta Pear salad:

The salad is fantastic, with perfectly ripened pear slices and a tastefully tart dressing. I'm halfway through when Jeff calls to say he's going to be late; he was held up in traffic.

I order some wine for solace. Happily, Café Pleiade has a wide selection of wines; Chef Stavros Tsimicalis is a collector. The chef, by the way, is also a published poet. He was born in Skoura, a small village by the Eurotas River in Laconia, and emigrated to Canada in 1963. After training at the Windsor Arms Hotel, he worked as a maître-d at the Millcroft Inn for many years.

But back to my (unexpectedly solitary) dinner at Café Pleiade.

For my main course, I choose the Roast Pork Tenderloin with Shiitake Mushrooms and Apple:

Dear god. For a moment I'm grateful that Jeff isn't here because I'd be SO ignoring him right now to focus properly on my food. Exquisitely tender meat (I rarely cook pork because inevitably I turn it into pork leather), full of flavour. I decide that I have to order this every single time I eat here.

A few weeks later we dined at Café Pleiade again, this time with Jeff's parents. I was disappointed that the roast pork wasn't on the Prix-Fixe menu but opted for Fresh-Baked Arctic Char instead (with pomegranate and citrus dill sauce, $20.95):

It was FANTASTIC. In fact, everyone was delighted by their choices. I ordered the Organic Spring Greens with Asparagus and Brie drizzled with an apple cider viniagrette ($7) which was just as good as the pear salad I had ordered last time. (Picture at top of this post.)

Another appetizer: Fresh Mussels Mariniere with tomato, onion, garlic, herbs and ouzo ($9):

My mom-in-law, an ex-restauranteur, loved her Grilled Calf's Liver with Caramelized Onions ($18):

But after mutual taste testing, we all agreed that Jeff had ordered the best dish, which was the Supreme of Chicken with Apricots, prepared with Scotch and a light curry cream sauce ($16):

Fortunately we all still had room for some shared desserts (desserts range from about $4-7) like the fruit tart:

And a wonderfully foamy zabaglione:

And after writing all that, I'm hungry again.

You can browse the regular menu on the Café Pleiade Web site. The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday.