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Editorial Review

Reviewed in Mar/Apr '05 issue of WHERE

This year downtown’s The Velvet Glove celebrates its 35th anniversary; an eternity in the life of a restaurant. But it is testament to the consistency of this formal dining room that the concept still thrives, especially with the business lunch crowd. Situated a few steps away from the famous intersection of Portage and Main, the “Glove”, as it is affectionately called, has developed a large number of regular patrons who return year-after-year to celebrate special occasions.

The room has been judiciously updated in the last few years to retain its classic charm. It has warm colours and wood-panelled walls; overall bright and welcoming, with lots of romantic nooks and crannies in the corners and several bigger tables for groups in the middle. Wines are displayed prominently behind glass in the entrance hall, and the wine list is heavier than some phone books.

But for evening diners the big news is not the age or elegance of the restaurant, it’s the talent of the kitchen team. The Velvet Glove, like all of this country’s Fairmont properties, proudly showcases Canadian ingredients (and to a lesser extent, Canadian wines) with stellar presentation and innovative use of ingredients. First plates (appetizers) incorporate foods from across the country, while second plates focus more tightly on prairie fish, meats and vegetables.

A cursory menu reading does not really prepare the diner for the food to come. Yet the very first taste of herbed butter on fresh bread grabs your attention and focuses those dormant taste buds. The food that follows is a joy to behold.

A simple salad of crisply shredded Manitoba beets features two conical towers, one red, one yellow, anchoring a field of greens; accented with roasted walnuts, goat cheese and a tangy vinaigrette. Smoked lake trout is wrapped around a celery root salad and completed with golden caviar aioli, made from whitefish roe, an underutilized local delicacy. The flavours are bold and beautiful, as is the case with the musky wild mushroom soup made with a selection of imported wild mushrooms.

A signature main is the succulently lean bison filet, grandly prepared tableside for two, with its Gimli Crown Royal saskatoon berry jus giving it real local flavour. Another bison dish cleverly riffs on the traditional mixed grill concept by taking a lamb chop, wrapping it with bison tenderloin and then adding an outer layer of bacon. The salty, crispness of the bacon sets up the tender bison and mild lamb beautifully. Layered scalloped potatoes on the plate mirror the grilled meats, while a cold apricot-pear relish offers a neat heat contrast. This is thought-provoking food that is savoury and satisfying.

Desserts befit The Velvet Glove’s elegant status, both the classic table-side flambés and the house creations. The crème brûlée trio is a brilliant concept. It is presented oriental-style, with three tiny bowls set on a serving platter, filled with ginger, lemongrass and traditional flavoured crème brûlée.

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