Once again, I have been remiss. But the busy holiday season is over, and I hope to post on a more regular schedule. Rest assured, though I haven't been posting, I have been eating and taking pictures, and noting the thoughts that I want to share.
Today, I would like post a review of one of my favourite special occasion spots in Ottawa - The Courtyard.
I have been to The Courtyard intermittently over the years. It has always been a place with nice atmosphere, good food, and good service. Nice for a special occasion, but doesn't break the bank. A few years ago, after a kitchen fire, they took the opportunity to refocus on creative, beautiful food, as I discovered on a trip there in January 2012. That particular meal remains a highlight in my great meal memory bank.
On this most recent visit, I enjoyed the dinner. It didn't reach the stunning heights of previous meals, but I still appreciated the quality ingredients, diverse cooking techniques, and attention to detail.
A word first on location and ambiance - to set the stage, so to speak. The Courtyard is located in the Byward Market, in, you guessed it, a courtyard, where the open space is shared with Social, The Black Tomato, and Mama Grazzi's. The Courtyard itself is located in an old stone building that features as part of Ottawa's haunted walk due to a history of people glimpsing a wandering Victorian woman in an upstairs window, supposedly the ghost of a woman who died in a fire many years ago. The stone walls and high beamed ceilings give that exclusive, old world feel inside, and there are several different dining areas that run the gamut from cozy and intimate to open and spacious.
On this night, back in November, I went with frequent dining companion, L. First up, my appetizer:
Beef cheeks in a bordelaise sauce, red wine braised onions and chives, confit potatoes, and salt cured foie gras. The portion, as you can see, was small, but that was more than okay because of the layers and layers of richness involved. At the bottom, you see the beef cheeks. They had a soft, melting texture, and a great, beefy flavour. The cheeks of almost any animal are one of my very favourite cuts, because, being a working muscle, they are so very flavourful. Particularly suited to long, slow cooking techniques, in this case, they were cooked sous vide - that is, vacuum sealed in plastic and immersed in a water circulator at a low temperature for a long, long time: 12 hours. Atop that, the confit potato, crispy, taking on the flavour from the duck fat in which it was confited, added texture to an otherwise all-soft dish. The the red wine braised onions and chives, the sharpness of the onion cutting through the richness of the rest of the dish. And finally, the jewel in the crown that was this dish, the foie gras. Cool, creamy, unctuous. I am a sucker for foie gras on a menu.
L's appetizer was scallops, with Jerusalem artichoke, watermelon and onion puree. It looked beautiful, and L reported that the scallops were perfectly cooked and the dish was overall satisfying.
Normally, I try to balance my meal - if I go heavy and rich with the appeitzer, I try to go lighter and more acidic with the main. Or I try to significantly change up the proteins to get a more varied experience. This time, I was seduced into staying in the same vein by the words "sage polenta," which accompanied the elk (along with duck fat roasted carrots, Brussels sprouts, and onions, and a sour cherry sauce). I've mentioned before my passion for polenta.
This was also a great dish, though, like the appetizer, rich and heavy. Elk can be tricky - it dries out and toughens if it is cooked a moment too long, or not rested appropriately. It is a very lean meat, and the leaner the meat, the more unforgiving it is to cook. This was done very well, the elk moist and flavourful, the sour cherry sauce a nice counterpoint to the richness of the meat and duck fat roasted veg. The polenta was soft, and the sage fit beautifully with the meat and sauce. It wasn't the best polenta I have ever had, but it was a solid and satisfying version. The polenta also had pecornio cheese, a hard sheep's milk cheese that is, increasingly, one of my favourites - blasphemy though this might be, I prefer it to parmigiano-reggiano.
L's main was somewhat of a disappointment to her. The halibut was well cooked and delightful, but she found the risotto to have a cheez-whiz texture and flavour that was out of place and off-putting. Visually, I would agree that it was the least appealing plate of the night, with that medium brown stripe of onion puree running across the plate.
The Courtyard is one of the few places where desserts routinely tempt me. This is because of the interesting combination of flavours and textures on their plates, and the regular inclusion of herbal elements that, for me, are an essential counter to all the sugar. Tonight, I went for the roasted plum and port semifreddo, with spiced balsamic reduction, candied pecan crumble, basil, and maple caramel biscotti.
You can see the attention to detail that goes into the plating. L thought the semifreddo looked suspiciously like spam, but since I have never encountered spam in real life, this did not bother me. The taste of the semifreddo was sharp and tart - aggressively so, but also refreshing after the richness of my earlier plates, and the basil nicely neutralized that sharpness between bites. I found the portion far too large - one log of semifreddo was quite enough for me - and I was not fond of the jammy bits you see in the picture.
All in all, it was a very good meal. Not the very best I have had there, but there were so many things that were done so well. I recommend the tasting menu for people who are adventurous (that is what I had during my January 2012 visit). In addition, they have a very affordable lunch menu for those not sure they want to commit $60 per person to dinner (without liquor). I truly do feel that this place is under-recognized for the creativity and flair they exhibit, and I, personally, place The Courtyard among Ottawa's very best restaurants.
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