I just ate at Little Grouse last week (see previous blog) – I can’t help myself! See the previous blog for more information on the restaurant itself.

When: Friday, February 3rd, 2017 – 8:00pm (me, my mom, and my aunt)

At a glance: Fine-dining Italian restaurant in downtown Saskatoon, order from the menu or eat Alla Famiglia (family style eating),  ~10 tables, open-kitchen concept, pasta made in house, locally-sourced ingredients, great décor, cozy and inviting

Ordering: Alla Famiglia ($60 each) includes sharing 5 dishes (starters, two pasta dishes, and a meat or fish dish) and 1 dessert

What we ate: Starters: i) arugula salad with balsamic dressing, almonds, fresh parmesan, and fresh red olives – I had this last week but with different elements – still so tasty and refreshing  ii) burrata cheese (so creamy) with olive oil, sea salt, and slices from a fresh baguette – this is one of my favorite dishes here iii) large, seared scallops with grated orange on top, caviar, and turnip puree (I think I’m missing some ingredients here) – the turnip puree was not my favorite but the scallops were large and cooked to perfection!

Mains: i) tagalatelle pasta with lamb and tomato sauce – the lamb was so tender, tasty dish all around ii) cannelloni – stuffing was hen forest mushrooms, ricotta cheese, béchamel, and cauliflower puree with cheese baked on top – while this was tasty it needed salt badly – we added the sea salt left over from the burrata dish iii) seared boar and boar belly with caper berries, cauliflower (both cooked and raw) and crispy sage – this was a good dish but didn’t blow my mind, a little bland – the boar belly fat was yum though!

(Pictured above) Dessert: lemon sorbet in a hollowed out half lemon with peeled slices of grapefruit and oranges on the plate (I think – could have been different fruits), a crumbled white chocolate cookie, lemon curd? (it was clear), and red powdered sugar?…. and the best part…. one beautifully fried beignet in the center (reminded me of being in New Orleans) – this dessert was ABSOLUTE perfection!

Drinks: We started with Prosecco while we waited (briefly) for our table, my mom and I had red wine (Italian, of course) with the meal and my aunt had white wine – like last week, I cannot remember the names of the wine….which shows you how ridiculously good the food was (or how much I had – I wasn’t driving) – again!

Honorable mention: the dessert – NOTE – I am not a dessert person but this is thee best dessert I’ve ever had….ultimate perfection. Sour, sweet, tangy, fried….mmmmm.

For more information about the restaurant, see: http://www.littlegrouse.com/welcome.html

Happy bites!