Oh Gee! Gio!

After having been to this "Not a Hotel Restaurant" I think four times, none with L, I finally got off my butt and took her out to dinner there this past week.

Gio is the restaurant in the Prince George Hotel in downtown Halifax. The Prince George has a chef whose name is getting too big for the hotel - Ray Bear, and this place was the management's strategy to get him to stay. Or that's how I heard it, anyway. The place was created under the very careful, and detailed eye of Craig Norton, Manager, and Sommelier. Craig has a great sense of design, and detail, and it shows in the place, from the choice of tea bags, to the towels in the washroom. I had emailed him to let him know I'd be at dinner, in case he was around. But he had apparently been dragged off to something in Toronto that day.

I arrived after L, and she was waiting with her tea, reading the menu. The tea was in a little pyramid mesh container with a string coming from the top with a "leaf" on the end. A beautiful product. Detail. The cutlery and china are pretty unique, although familiar from our times at Saege, where the chef is friends with Ray Bear, and shares the same supplier.

I order a glass of 30 Bench Riesling, and we set to the menu in earnest, as the breads arrive (three types, with the butter soft enough to spread - detail). And an amuse bouche consisitng of one tiny quail's leg. (peep peep)

Our appetizers arrive in good time, my ravioli stuffed with kobe beef short rib with oyster mushroom and red wine jus is an ample portion (one past criticism of Gio had been small portions) and L's pork belly with smoked pomegranate molasses, parsnip, potato chip and apple confit set the stage for what will be quite the evening of eating. Both dishes are excellent.

I had discussed my appetizer choice with the server, as I had been torn between the raviloi and the carpaccio. On clearing our plates, two small versions of the carpaccio arrive, out of the blue. Perhaps Craig is around. This was so thinly sliced, I had to almost cut it off the plate. In my mouth with the brioche and a bit of the Lohr Valdiguié red wine I now had in front of me, some magic happened. That wine was a curiosity I wanted to fulfill, but my server wisely suggested that if I was going to order the venison, it would not do the trick. He was right. A glass of Mazzei Poggio alla Badiolo was soon sitting there for that, but he brought me some Valdiguié anyway. It was very Gamay-like, with carbonic maceration evident. With the fluffy brioche and carpaccio it was light and almost serious. On its own, similar to an ordinary Beaujolais Villages.

After a more substantial wait, and regular attention to L's and my water glasses (hers with some infused water - detail) the main courses arrived. As usual, at Gio, the presentation is of high quality, and almost too beautiful to distrub in order to eat. But eat we do.

My venison is simply amazing. I am not a game eater, normally, but this was like great filet mignon with complexity. The server said that it came from a ranch in Alberta. The veggies seemed scarce, but that may have been due to the size of the plate. Green beans slit down the seam with the sectioned seeds inside created a simple but beautiful effect. L's rack of lamb was huge, with a lot of perfectly done meat, and so flavourful I almost, but not quite, swapped plates by force.

Let me be clear. I loved this venison. It was rare. I was having visions of hunting with spears in the deep dark woods.

We took our time, more tea for L, and ordered desserts, L having a "wanna.gotta.havea", a flourless orange almond cake with orange curd, pistachio ice cream, blood orange sauce and frozen nougat. I ordered the assorted cheese plate, and this was a revalation. Five type of cheese, each with a little fruit choice to match, and some of that crispy thin fruit and nut bread/cracker. One cheese, called Rolling Thunder, a hard parmesan like cheese form Thunder Bay (of all places) was amazing with a fig chutney and hazlenuts. Borgonzola bathing in blackberry sauce with one large blackberry to eat with it, some braised brie sat on top of a bit of melon.... you get the idea. I ate every little crumb of everything.

We had had a MEAL. One of the best ever in Halifax. A truly enjoyable evening, with one of the best servers I have experienced in years. All in, including tip (two glasses of wine, though they comped me one) was about $190. But who cares when the food is durn near perfect?