It no longer exists as Signatures, but there is a restaurant in there in its place. If you travel up Laurier East you will find a large yellow house on the left hand side of the street. It is just before the road curves at the Russian embassy and turns into Charlotte Street. If you pass Range Rd. on the right, you have gone too far.
Signtures was basically at the top of my own street, Marlborough Ave. It was excellent authentic French cuisine. I have not been to the new restaurant yet. Report back here if you get there :)
Signatures will be closed from June 29 to September 7, 2009 according to their website. Just a heads up to all those that were perhaps planning to go, including myself :) There will be changes but Le Cordon Bleu promises that the "cuisine will continue to be top of the market, service will be impeccable, and, importantly, the prices quite affordable" Now I'm looking forward to it even more!
So my husband and I returned here for our anniversary dinner this year.
Does no one else go here? I'm the last to have posted a review and it was a year ago!
I am now officially in love with all mushrooms except button mushrooms. I hate those vile beasts! I've decided to try and find some yummy mushrooms and make some bruscetta and risotto!!!
Back to the meal... I got mine with the wine pairing (which is 3 half glasses with my meal) plus a champagne cocktail at the start and a port at the end.
I was drunk halfway into my first drink. I obviously am no longer a drinker.
My meal - the Vegetarian menu
Champagne with strawberry liqueur and cointreau
Sesame cheese crackers
7 grain roll (they bring a platter around every now and then and you get to choose from a wide assortment)
Mix of frisée and micro greens, vegetable provençale tartine, goat cheese drizzled with Coudoux oil. (This was an awesome goat cheese and I asked the type so I could buy some but I was drunk and so I forget. I remember it was from France though. This course came with some kind of white wine that I don't remember.)
Olive bread
Two squash velouté, grape and pecan nuts with whisky, dry fruit crisp. (The 'fruit crisp' was actually chips made from acorn squash and it was awesome. This also came with some kind of white wine that was a little oaky I think. The glass was the size of a swimming pool.)
Granité
Sun dried tomato roll
Cassolette of mini vegetables from Guylaine, artichoke and tomatoes confites, asparagus and wild mushroom risotto. (The artichoke and tomato was replaced by chantrelles, porcinis and pied de mouton mushrooms with a butternut squash reduction and I fell in love! This came with some kind of red in a hot-tub sized glass)
A small bite of panna cotta and a small bite of pistachio cake
Tatin tart with fresh figs, triangular curdled milk mille feuille, Bourbon vanilla ice cream. (The mille feuille was not awesome but the rest was. This came with port)
Decaf coffee
So in summary, even with the crazy economy, it's worth saving up your pennies and eating the yummies found here. My husband had a meat filled menu and even I was tempted to try it, it looked and smelled so good! Luckily mine was yummy enough to keep me from it.
momomoto: Thanks for the tip ;) We actually go to Toronto a fair bit so an extra hop to Niagara to check out the winery may be in order on one of our upcoming visits.
Tiana: I'll warn you now that Stratus wines definitely have a bit of "thrill-of-the-hunt" associated with them, since they often get snapped up quite quickly. A quick look at the web page (www.stratuswines.com) shows that the Cab Franc is sold out, but if you give them a call personally (905-468-1806; ask for Sarah and tell her that John sent you ;) ) and see if there's any leeway they have without you having to drive down there yourself. I think they have a three-bottles-per-order minimum, so you may as well go to town and pick up a couple other bottle. I'm partial to their Riesling Icewine, and the Petit Verdot that they just released has that great combination of obscurity and deliciousness.
(Mark, these comments may need to be shifted out of the Signatures discussion and into the forum as an Ontario wine sort of thread.)
He loved it. He asked the sommelier to write down the name of it for him he loved it so much. I didn't try it as I was enjoying my wine/food combo and I didn't want to mess it up.
We'll probably be picking up all the wines he tried.
Tiana, how'd your hubby like the wine? I have a love affair with Stratus like you wouldn't believe, and my cockles are warmed to see that they're selling the Cabernet Franc by the glass. I have a single bottle of it just sitting there, staring at me. Waiting.
Ok so we went here for our anniversary and I went with the Vegetarian menu. Thanks to FiH for the rec. My husband decided he wouldn't be a vegetarian for the night since the Taste of Canada menu was calling to him.
I have never had better service in me life. I was given a stool for my purse, I think that says it all. That said, I didn't feel like the atmosphere was snooty at all, we were treated like we were the most important people in the world (I'm sure all diners are treated that way) even though we were the youngest people there by a good 15 years.
What we ate:
Me:
* Champagne with cointreau and strawberry
* Cheddar Sesame Crackers
* Basil Garlic Roll
* A selection of Premiere Moisson Breads (country, walnut, olive, French)
* Some kind of squash and basil oil amuse bouche which is not on the menu.
* Market greens with pear vinaigrette, squash and flax seed consommé, mini apple wafer with traditional Soubise sauce. Accompanied with a white wine that I don't remember.
* Creamy wild mushroom soup, hazelnut floating island with a crisp, Enoki mushrooms in a vinaigrette. [I don't even LIKE mushrooms and I ate 90% of this] Accompanied with a pinot noir that I don't remember.
* Granité to clear the palate
* Quenelle of artichoke and oven roasted acorn squash, fried eggplant and mirin filled ravioli, assortment of seasonal vegetables. Accompanied with a pinot noir that I don't remember.
* Special dessert of the day: souffle (no accents on this computer, excuse my poor French)
* Latte
Brent:
* Champagne with cointreau and strawberry
* Cheddar Sesame Crackers
* Basil Garlic Roll
* A selection of Premiere Moisson Breads (country, walnut, olive, french)
* Amuse bouche not on menu, pancetta with persimmon sauce and some other stuff
* Local dry-cured ham, fresh figs, asparagus and Parmesan straws. Niagara-on-the-Lake 2004, Stratus, Cabernet Franc
* Half lobster tempura with turmeric, sweet and sour autumn prunes with fresh prunes, house tandoori spiced yogurt. (some wine with it too)
* Granité to clear the palate
* Sea bass fillet served with fine sea salt and Coudoux olive oil, fork crushed Yukon Gold potatoes and squash, fresh herb crisp.
Niagara Peninsula 2002, Equinox, Peninsula Ridge, Chardonnay-Sauvignon Blanc
* Assortment of cheeses (with wine)
* Cappuccino
After ALL that food, they brought us out a sampler plate of little desserts for our anniversary.
We would definitely go back, but probably no more than once or twice a year as it is rather costly (our bill came to $400 - including a generous tip)
Thank you, Marno, for the link! Seems like there's a bit too much fish / seafood on the tasting menu for my palate (I *wish* I liked it, but I don't). Maybe I'll check out their a la carte next time I'm in Ottawa!
Happy Mouth Blog
Signtures was basically at the top of my own street, Marlborough Ave. It was excellent authentic French cuisine. I have not been to the new restaurant yet. Report back here if you get there :)