Having just opened its doors late last year, Yours Truly Restaurant at Dundas and Ossington has caused quite the stir in the foodie world. The chef, Jeff Claudio is a veteran of fine dining cuisine with an impressive resume that includes Noma in Coppenhagen, Alinea in Chicago and Per Se in New York. Needless to say, this experience really sets the bar high for the dining experience. It’s really too bad that the reality of it all was very far from that.
Let’s start at the beginning… The decor of the place was very sparse, typical of all the Ossington strip, hipster friendly joints that surround it. White walls, vintage bar and tables, assorted and generally very random tableware and my absolute favourite: the overuse of mason jars. The lights are dimmed, the atmosphere in the dining room is cozy and warm, despite the ecclectic music that they have blaring through the speakers. Staff moves with a general ineffiency but seem very eager to talk and entertain. It was really too bad that our particular waiter had no idea what he was trying to sell or any intention in being apologetic for it. It really sets the mood for the evening when your liaison to the kitchen cannot explain what goes into the dishes he will serve.
The menu for the evening consisted of two options: sharing plates for the table (“snacks”) or a set four course menu (meat/veggie options). Being a table of four foodies, we decided it was safe to dip into both pots and got a few appetizers before our four courses. We had: Thuet bread with whipped duck fat, a Trinidadian double, Xi’an lamb curry sandwich and a salt cod nori wrap. All were around the 5$ to 7$ mark and served as great nibbles before the meal. The kitchen moved with an amazing speed during this portion of our meal and our table was never left without food. We began to see the chef’s extensive travels through his very diverse and international snack menu and we were very intrigued. What followed brought everything down… The first course of the tasting menu was a poached carrot. Presented impressively on a plate and surrounded by various delicious and intricate garnishes, one would almost, almost forget that they were eating one single carrot. Course nunber two made my evening a whole lot better, with a perfectly cooked piece of local trout served on beautiful mashed potatoes. To be honest, I still dream about this dish and one day wish to be able to cook fish so well. In third place we had what would be considered the main dish for the night. A 3 inch ballotine of chicken thighs served with way too many garnishes that made the plate appear to be close to half full. It was a complete insult to think that the kitchen expected the diners to be happy with the portion sizes of this particular menu. I really don’t expect to eat until I explode at a rstaurant, but leaving hungry is always a bad sign.
Finally, and this definitely needed its own paragraph, the dessert. Calling this course an epic disappointment would be a compliment! The dish was entitled “winter” and it consisted of a smoked pana cotta served with poached (or roasted) pears, lemon balm leaves and meringue. The pana cotta in particular was the most disgusting (this coming from an avid dessert fan) of the lot, snotty in texture it tasted like licking the inside of a fire place (not that I’ve ever tried that). The meringue was undercooked and tasted like egg whites and the rest of the dish was insignificant. I really think that chef should have stuck to the typical restaurant desserts (creme brulees, chocolate mousse, etc) rather tham venture off into a land he clearly had no clue about. To make matters worse, the service slowed down significantly by this point and we sat around waiting for 30 minutes for this masterpiece. What a bummer!
Overall, in my very lengthy but honest opinion, I think Yours Truly needs to take a little time out and evaluate its shortcomings if it wants to make it to its one year birthday. The Ossignton strip is full of fierce competition especially since this venue is located two doors north from the ever busy Pizza Libretto (had it not been too late, our table of four hungry people would have had an after dinner pizza that very night).