Le Canard Mort

http://lecanardmort.ca/

Waiting the regular Lady Marmalade line, we couldn't ignore the duck gesture sketch logo next door. So we made a reservation on their half-price drinks day - Wednesday.

APPEARANCE
dark plum purple
Big open door-windows, flowers, white, careless, handwritten type on black background with a spiral, gold, duck sketch on the door.

NOSE
rip black cherry and berry aromas
It was empty and kind of spacious inside - dark red and green tones all arround, felt very right. We were the first people to come in at 6:30. The waiter, greeted us and asked to pick our spot. We sat by the window, where you can hear the busy queen street. He instantly offered to close the large windows, but they added a nice fresh breeze I wasn't willing to give up.

SWIRL
honeysuckle, prune, trces of oak
He handed us two pieces of paper each (not the weight a menu deserves) with their duck logo nicely screened back in the background, as well as the restaurant name (fighting a bit with the items). Reading through the simple, well-spaced type, we decided to try many appetizers because they seem to be the playground for chefs. The main courses are somewhat typical due to their price and portion. That, and some wines. Asking for their wine selection, the waiter read a few off a private list and I asked to take a look at that used-up paper.
After his attempt to explain to me what is a Charminer variety, I decided to order it. Cheri asked for their Primitivo wine.
To start, we ordered their Duck Confit Poutine and Tomatoes Grilled Asparagus & Chevre Salad
(due to their beet, pear salad being out).

PALLETE
gentle, fresh, medium body, round
Our wines made their way quickly. My Charminer (which is really a bled of Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer) turned out to be fruity, light with a bit of a zing - exactly what I felt like having. The Pimitivo was a heady deep red.
The music playlist was a bit random, but as couples started arriving - it was getting really cute and cosy.

The Duck Confit Poutine arrived in a deep bowl-like dish. The shredded duck was a bit on the dry side, but the brie in cognac made up for it. Topping it with mushrooms and peppercorn really work well. The Salad was not too special, the asparagus was a bit too raw, but the balsamic vinegar and chevere made it work.
As we lingers on our plates, we heard our waiter recommend a few wines to the side tables and also talked about their sweetbreads. So we asked for their Estrada Creek Chardonnay and Cab Franc/Merlot with our sweetbreads. The Chardonnay was clean and crisp (not too impressive). The CabFranc/Merlot was great - oaky and a bit spicy. The Crispy Fried Sweetbreads also made their way. We picked the blue cheese aioli option, which was a great contrast with the sweet, slightly hot and garlicky bread sauce. The breads themselves were nothing special, they looked like fried chicken balls and came with a lovely arugula salad.

FINISH
good mouthfeel, easy-drinking style
For dessert (there was no menu) we took their cheesecake, as the waiter recommended. It was kind of neat - a build-it-yourself style cheesecake. Cream cheese paste surrounded by a cranberry-raspberry filling and pie crumbs on one side. Not presented very cleanly, but really fun to eat.

overall.. a tasty Petite Syrah

Inn On The Twenty

http://www.innonthetwenty.com/dining.html

Biking down to the Niagara Wine region, we found a lovely B&B in Vineland and decided to look for a close by restaurant for our evening. Initially a friend talked about how amazing Peller Estate's chef is (but it was way too far) next someone else recommended the Vineland Estates view (but they were already full for a reservation) so we landed here.

APPEARANCE 
dark ruby red
We took a stroll through Jordan Hollow Park and climbed up to this little oasis. It was quite the contrast from camping areas and wildlife to little boutique city with Lamborghinis parked around.
We saw a Inn On The Twenty sign, which turned out to be the hotel area. Across the tiny street was our destination - a classy dark brick building with white frame highlights and a large restaurant serif sign above the door.

NOSE
plum, cassis
As we entered, to the left was the Cave Spring wine tasting area, with a heavy-duty white fence, and to the left was a hallway followed by a large mirror, where one can feel the intimidation of all the people inside. A smiling host greeted us from his large booth area. He had a table ready for us and we followed him in the stony main hall, a few steps up on a balcony-like spot. AC blowing over our heads, with too much space, and feeling rather watched, we asked for the patio before we were even sat. The patio turned out to be the smaller front area, before we entered.

SWIRL
hint of smoke and fig
Gentle, black mesh metal chairs and tables with burlap-like table mats, wooden salt and paper all ready to go. The light burgundy menus with gorgeous gold leaf logo looked pristine. Inside, simple and spaced out, the menu was well organized with wine matched after each dish. We decided to try out their Voltigeurs Farm Chicken matched with Chenin Blanc (a variety unique for the area) and their Willowgrove Hill Double Pork Chop with Pinot Noir Dolomite. We also ordered a Pate En Croute appetizer with the Riesling Dolomite.

PALATE
ripe tannins, medium-full bodied, dry
We hardly waited and out Riesling Dolomite came. Followed by slices of bread (two types) and a side plate of butter. Our pate arrived not long after. I was so excited as it looked like the one is France - shape wise and with the beige fat on the sides. It came with a bit of spring salad, egg, pickles, an interesting grainy mustard (looked like Dijon, but tasted a bit bitter) and a touch of volcanic salt (discovered by Cheri). Very nicely put. The pate was not as flavourful as I expected, and to make up for that, there were herbs and spices in there. We lingered on this giant piece, which came with more bread.
Next our waitress brought out two small toasts with gruyere-like cheese and an olive. Followed by complimentary salads. I think because they were hosting a wedding and ran late with the orders. We were getting full, expecting the portions would be smaller, so we cancelled the Pork main dish and decided to save a little space for dessert at the end.

We lingered on our spring leaves, goat-cheese, salads with cherry tomatoes, radish and walnuts.
The Voltigeurs Farm Chicken made its way with a moat of chill lemon poppy seed vinaigrette surrounding the chicken on top to barley pea risotto, side of asparagus and basil wine jelly. It looked  and tasted amazing. The chicken with fragile crispy skin was unfortunately a bit on the dry side. The Chenin Blanc, similar to a Riesling, was crisp with smells of apple and honey - a goof compliment to the vinaigrette.

FINISH 
lingering, a bit spicy
We lastly we were very tempted by the Dessert Sampler for Two, but this would have to wait for another time. We instead went with that days' special, as the waitress was very enthusiastic describing it. It was a mascarpone strawberry shortcake with a side of fresh watermelon sorbet. Not a big fan on the pulp of watermelon in juice, but in ice chips and presented inside in a sugar shell - it was sensual.

 Overall.. a big-hearted Cab Merlot.