Foodie Friday - Le Papillon on the Park

Going out for dinner with friends is one of the best things to do. Ever. 

Secret agents. Totally.

More gorgeous than 3 speeding bullets. More sexy than a very very sexy person.

They've been drinking.

It’s even better than sitting alone in your basement watching The Biggest Loser while you scorf down a litre of ice cream. 

Last month I went out for dinner with some of my pals and then went  to hear our friend Loralee sing in a band that she occasionally works with. She’s kind of a musical butterfly - goes from singing 80’s pop to opera to 40’s jazz, depending on the gig. Amazing.

Anyway, we had such a good time, that we are trying to make it a monthly event.

I call it the Monthly - Put On Some God Damned Lipstick and Don’t Be Such a Hermit Ellen - Night.

Last week we went to the Quebecois restaurant, Le Papillion on the Park. 

I’d gone past this spot many times and wondered what it was like. It’s in kind of a weird, yet lovely location.

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 Apparently they recently did some big renovations and I must say the decor was lovely - very sweet and warm. Not all stuck up or anything. Like it might kiss you on the first date, but no tongue and you'd better call the next day.

photo by Jon Sufrin

I liked the art on the wall. I wanted to buy it. Even dinner out with friends can be an opportunity to shop. I love that. Because I’m shallow.

Here’s what we had:

For starters there was the trio of pate:

Duck liver and thyme, chicken liver and port wine, port a l'ancienne, fruit chutney, dijon, herbed crostini

The Betterave Salad with beets, walnuts and tangerine dressing

Arugula Salad with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes garlic confit, raisins and rye croutons

Roasted Guinea Fowl

Tourtiere (Quebecois pork, veal and beef pie) with tomato apple relish and salade verte

close up of Tortiere.

Aubergine Fourre: Baked eggplant stuffed with quinoa, corn and pumpkin, on spinach and red pepper coulis

Brouet Papillon: Shrimps, Scallops, Mussels, Calamari and Cockles in a fennel, tomato and Pernod concasse with toasted garlic bread.

Maudites Moules: Steamed mussels, tomato concasse, herbs, onions and maudites ale, with frites.

Followed by:

Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream.

Chamomile Tea

We had a great time. No one was super drunk and no one started a fight. There was a heated discussion, like when I told Bettina that her religion was total crap, but other than that, it was a fabulous evening.