Quince Restaurant

Quince Restaurant, located on Yonge St., about 3 blocks south of Eglinton Ave., was seriously impressive.  The food was creative, fresh, unique and right on target with the price point.  I went there with some expectations and I was pleasantly surprised that our meal not only met but exceeded my expectations.  My husband, Maurizio, myself and our friends, Mark and Jacklynn, went on a double date.  Something we don't do.  Ever.  Usually we tag have our kid tag along, who at 1 year old, has a mind of her own.  Thank God for friends like Sarah and Greg, who looked after her tonight like the amazing Aunt and Uncle that they are.  :)  Oh yeah, back to our meal...we started off with poutine frites, that I think they called them "Dutch Poutine".  There were healthy cut french fries, covered in gravy, tender shredded braised beef and chunks of curded cheese.  It was delicious and I wanted to eat all of it by myself without having to share.  We also had a side of rapini, that came roasted, and cooked to perfection.  Usually rapini, a.k.a. broccolini, comes tasting pretty bitter.  Even when I cook it, (and I'm such a pro, NOT!) it always obstinately maintains a bitter edge to the taste no matter how much water and salt I use to semi-boil/steam it in.  Jacklynn and Mark had the same main course of salmon and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Maurizio had the grilled veal flanks and was extremely pleased.  I ordered the chicken.  Boring, I know, but I had heard from my friend, Sandra, that the chicken here was incredibly tasty, tender and juicy.  She was right!  They cook everything in their big wood-fired oven, and my dish was $19 and it had 3 big pieces of chicken plated on top of some mushy root compote and on the side were some roasted 2 toned veggies (I think they were carrots and squash).  I was only able to eat the top piece of chicken, which was the biggest piece on my plate (the breast meat portion) and a few of the veggies.  Truth be told, I ate a lot of the bread and breadsticks from the bread basket before our food arrived because I was starving when we first got to the restaurant.  Probably to help keep me sober enough to maintain conversation because we ordered a delicious $58 bottle of wine from France, a grenache that we all enjoyed drinking.  Of course, those who know me, knows that I always make room for the big D---dessert!  I ordered the chocolate bread pudding, as did Jacklynn.  Maurizio had the apple tartine and Mark had a white and dark chocolate frozen tangine.  Service was good if a bit on the dry side, but the food came out in a timely fashion and it was divine.  I would definitely recommend this place to friends and go back myself anytime!