Wherewithall

 

 

 

When I went to Montreal in June, I went to a restaurant, Candide, that was kind of hidden and and an ever changing menu.  When Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark of Parachute announced that they were opening a new restaurant, Wherewithall, which would offer a single Prix Fixe menu that would change every day, I was both very excited and thought of Candide, which it very much reminded me of.  Located a block from Parachute, it's pretty low key with no external sign and only a sign on the window by the door.  Entry is on the bar side, and while you can sit there and there are bites, the vibe is more about the wine and small bites to go with your wine.  In order to have the Prix Fixe Menu, you have to sit in the dining room.  While the menu lists four courses and an optional Cheese course.  I had heard that there would be other surprises.  There was an optional wine pairing, but I wasn't interested in four glasses of wine, so I just picked from the regular wine list.

I started things out with a glass of wine, a 2016 Idlewild Arneis.  It was fresh and fruity with flavors of peaches and pear, and it may have been a wine that I tried at another wine bar in Montreal, Mon Lapin, a wine bar associated with Joe Beef, one of the most famous restaurants in Montreal.

 

 

Shortly after my first Amuse Bouche arrived.  While I did expect to see an Amuse Bouche because, while it isn't on the menu, it is kind of expected in higher end restaurants, especially since the prix fixe was listed as four courses plus surprises.  What I didn't expect was more than one Amuse Bouche.  My first amuse bouche was a Chicken Liver Mousse with Plum Jam and White Turnips (on Bread).  It was beautiful, delicate, and tasted really good.  The Chicken Liver Mousse was spread perfectly over the bread.  The plum jam was liberally spread over the chicken liver mousse and added a sweet and tart fruity flavor.  The white turnips were finely cubed and topped everything, adding an earthy funk.  I would say that it was a nice start, except that I could also say that I wasn't finished.  As I was eating my mousse, my second amuse bouche and then quickly thereafter, my third arrived.  The second was a Cauliflower Fritter served with a Horseradish Dipping Sauce.  It was cooked well done and had a dark brown crust.  It was very good, tasting like a fried cauliflower, but was also very savory.  The Horseradish Sauce was spicy as expected, but it tasted good and went well with the cauliflower, adding another element to it.  The last Amuse Bouche was very simple, Beet Broth.  Considering the color, I have to think that Golden Beets were used.  It was simple, but it was flavorful.

After being a little overwhelmed with the Amuse Bouches (Thinking that Beverly Kim, the Chef, is Korean, I'm wondering if the multiple Amuse Bouches was like this restaurants version of Banchan), my first course arrived.  The courses were named simply, just listing the ingredients.  The first simply named Sweet Potato, Pistachio, and Coriander.  The potato was very soft with the pistachios chopped, fried, and spread over the potato.  There were some soft, flavorful, and orange things on top and a flavorful white sauce on the plate.  I have to think that was where the coriander was.  In any case, it was really good and I especially liked the pistachios.

For my second official course, I was served Scallop, Enoki Mushrooms, and Guanciale (Pork Jowl), in a Mushroom Broth.  There was nothing about this dish that I disliked.  Each element tasted very good separately or combined together.  While it was a little difficult to try a bit of everything together, that was the best way to eat it, though another good combination was the scallop and guanciale.

 

  By the time that I had finished my scallop, I had also finished my first glass of wine, so it was time to choose a second.  As I was going to be proceeeding into a truly savory course, it was going to be a red.  Admittedly, I chose it more for it's name than anything else because I really knew nothing about the wine.  It was a 2017 Folk Machine Film and Camera Valdiguie.  I was told by the server after ordering it that it was a good choice.  Looking it up after dinner, I found that it's from Redwood Valley, California and described as having the brightness of a Gamay with flavors of cranberry and blueberry.  I will say that it was bright, I liked it, and it did have a flavor that went well with red meat.  For my entree, I was served a Beef Striploin with Black Sesame, and some incredibly tender Turnips.  The steak was also incredibly tender and the Black Sesame played well with the savoriness of the steak.

While I was dining, I was looking at the beer and wine list to see what they had that was interesting and I had heard of.  They curate a short list with few big names, but a lot of interesting wines from small producers.  All of their beers seemed to be local as well.  One of the beers was produced by a local brewer that is a favorite of mine, Middle Brow Brewing, but it was a beer I had not heard of, which was a surprise because the guys at Middle Brow frequently commented on how I had tried just about everything they made.  I made a comment to my wine server that I was friends with the guys at Middle Brow and mentioned that I had never heard of the beer that they were serving.  It was called For You and it was a Wild Lager.  I was told that they had only made three kegs and two went to Wherewithall and she quickly asked if I would like to try it.  I was very interested in this beer, so they brought out a sample for me when I had the cheese.  As mentioned, it was labeled a Wild Lager, so it was crisp and light, but it also had a funky tartness to it and I really liked it.  The cheese and accoutrements were also very good.  While I don't remember the names of the cheeses or the produces, I remember that I was served a Raw Cow's Milk Cheese (Upper Left), a Washed Rind Cow and Goat's Milk Cheese from Zingerman's (Upper Right), and a Funky Cow's Milk Cheese.  With the cheese, I was served Toasted Bread and Cranberry Relish.  My favorite cheese was the washed rind which both brought the creaminess of the goat's cheese and some washed rind funkiness.  It went very well with the toast and cranberries.  The hard cheese was good on its own, but also was good with toast and relish, and while the funky cheese was semi-soft and funky, it was flavorful.

After the cheese was another off-menu item, the palate cleanser, Avocado Ice cream with Mole Spices.  On paper, this kind of sounds weird as an ice cream.  In real life, this was the creamiest ice cream that I have ever had.  It was not exceptionally sweet, but it did have a sweetness to it.  The mole spices added some bite, a little bitter chocolate, and some herbal flavor.  This was something else.

 

And then we came to dessert.  I started out with an Oloroso Sherry, which while not exceptionally sweet, seemed like it would go well with those sweet things you might get with dessert.  Deseert itself, from the description, shouldn't have worked as a dessert.  It was described as Sunchokes, Grains, and Creme Fraiche.  I would say that sunchokes kind of have an earthy potato flavor.  Creme Fraiche is similar to thick sour cream, so again not sweet, though it is frequently used in desserts.  Grains can have some sweetness, though I would describe the flavor as closer to nutty or bread-like.  None of this sounded like it should work.  It wasn't exceptionally sweet, but there was a sweetness to it with a variety of textures and flavors.  It was really good, I liked it, and it made for a great finish.

Except that it was not quite the finish.  With the bill was presented a little Mignardise, an Ice Cream Sandwich with Mint Ice Cream.  This final bite was sweet and really made me smile.  It was fresh and sweet with a nice refreshing mint flavor.  It was a great finish to what was one of my favorite meals of last year.  In the end, it still reminded me of Candide in Montreal in that they have a similar style.  I cannot say which is better, because they were both very good and I would be happy to return to either.