Yours Truly

Yours Truly was one of the restaurants on my Toronto To-Eat list ever since it opened in 2012
 and when I saw on their Facebook that May was their last month for their Tasting Menu, I knew that this was going to be my last chance to try it. 

 

 
Appetizers: Tiny bowls of albacore tuna, pate between two buns and lamb on a leaf
I loved this as an appetizer! It was so interesting & different and everything worked really well together. 

  

Garlic Beignet and Mushroom Dashi Soup
Really cute tall shot glass soup - I liked that there were different levels to it: past the foam, there was the dashi soup broth then the mushroom at the bottom. The garlic beignets were lovely.

  

Octopus, oranges and speck

 
Really beautifully presented...portions were a little tiny.
The saltiness of the speck with the sweet and tart oranges was definitely a pairing that I didn't really see together, but it was okay. The octopus was a little gummy and boring compared to the rest of this visual feast.

 

Day lily, scallop, jelly and milk skin

It sounds almost experimental and yet, it tasted really good as one cohesive dish.
The scallop was sweet and was topped with the slippery jelly and wrinkly milk skin. I thought it was unusual pairing the day lily leaves but somehow it was a little more fragrant with it. I really enjoyed this dish.

  

Brisket with crisp onions and rice paper

  
Chentecler rouge with roasted hazelnut, cherries, onions and dandelions
Chicken thigh and breast medallions with pearl onions and roasted hazelnuts in a fantastic brown sauce. I really liked the dish, I just wished the portions were bigger. After we had this course, we knew we had to order more food:

 
Duck Ragu Pappadelle with beans and parmesan
The pasta was definitely home-made, but I wasn't a big fan of the duck ragu sauce and the big broad beans. This dish fell off the mark for me and it was a pretty expensive addition too. 

 
Dark chocolate, salted caramel powder, rhubarb and jelly
Definitely a lot of molecular gastronomy going on here tonight. The powders were concentrated, but sometimes I just like eating the original food item. I thought it was a well executed dessert, but this was one where I didn't feel like it was as cohesive as the other dishes.

Overall: As great an experience as this adventure with the tasting menu was, my friend and I both got food poisoning somewhere along the way from one of the courses. It just sucked that it was subsequently ruined by the runs (and in my case, a fever and an inability to keep any food down for a few days) causing me to really regret going to Yours Truly. It also hurt since our meal was pretty expensive ($55 per person excluding the extra course we paid for) and I can't help associating the cost as "one of the most expensive cases of food poisoning I've ever gotten (and the most miserable)". The restaurant is one of the most hyped places in Toronto and a lot of friends have raved about the food. Overall, I thought our meal was original and lovely, but I know it'll be a while before I'm brave enough to test the waters here again.

Website: http://yours-truly.ca/