Resto Review: Sash in Toronto

Foodies,

Fellow board member Jay Shampur has found another hit restaurant in Toronto for us to enjoy. Sash is the namesake restaurant opened by chef Sash Michael Simpson in March 2020. As one might imagine, that was a particularly challenging time to open a restaurant, to say the least, but they have endured and it is thriving now with stellar reviews and has already built up a steady clientele including the members of the Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal ™. This is the first of two threads detailing our stellar experiences thus far.

Chef Sash Simpson began his career at renowned North 44 in Toronto. He started with an unpaid stage and worked his way up the rank until he became Executive Chef after just a few years. He then helped launch another landmark Toronto restaurant, ByMark. He is now heading his own restaurant to great acclaim. Incidentally, his restaurant is right next door to the signature Summerhill LCBO location.

The first evening was myself and fellow board member Jay Shampur checking out the place. It began with the Painkiller cocktail, a unique creation from their former head bartender Japhet. Tequila, pineapple juice and lime juice are shaken with a jalapeno tincture, decorated with dried pineapple and jalapeno pepper, and given a light spritz of smoky mescal on top before serving.

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The meal started with an in-house baked artisanal bread and an absolutely delicious cultured truffle butter. We actually asked for more butter for our bread, it was that good.

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For our appetizers, we had the Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Salad and the Zucchini Flower Tempura.

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For our mains we had the Madras Lamb Chops with charred beans, eggplant, okra, curry leaves; the Dover Sole with baby Peruvian potatoes, wild mushrooms, onion confit and meuniere sauce; and a vegetarian special of the day, Ricotta Stuffed Ravioli with pine nuts.

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We also ordered a side each of their insanely addictive Onion Rings and Truffle Parmesan Fries. Jay literally remarked out loud that they were the single most perfect onion rings he’s ever had in his life. I agree. I feel the same about their Truffle Parmesan Fries.

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To end the meal, for our dessert we ordered the Banana Souffle. The souffle is made from scratch to order and must be ordered at least 25 minutes in advance. We actually failed to do this on the first night, decided to wait out the full 25 minutes for it, and it was worth every single second of the wait. It’s accompanied by caramel and vanilla sauces.

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Our wines were modest bottles ordered directly off of their list. Our sparkler was the D’Aubanton NV Brut and we also had a very modestly priced Dolcetto D’Alba. Both were perfectly acceptable but nothing particularly noteworthy.

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Our second night was a TWEC ™ mini-reunion as Jay and I were joined by fellow TWEC ™ member Michael Wright. Much more deliciousness to be had and a couple of wines definitely worth mentioning which we brought ourselves.


We began by repeating the Burrata Heirloom Tomato Salad and Zucchini Flower Tempura and added the Shrimp Spaghettini as our starters.

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For our mains, we changed everything up and ordered the Duck Confit, the Veal Chop au Jus and the Ahi Tuna special of the day. We ordered the Truffle Risotto as our side.

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This time, we were smart enough to order a trio of Banana Souffles midway through the meal so that they were ready in time.

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Jay and Michael ended the evening with a latte coffee each. I don’t drink coffee. It’s bad for you.

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We celebrated our first in-person gathering in quite a long while with a pair of exquisite champagnes. The first was the Nicolas Feuillatte 2008 Palme D’Or. This is their highest end Champagne and it’s a complete winner. Bracing, crystalline and complex.

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I contributed the Louis Roederer 2012 Brut Vintage Champagne. This was interesting in that as I put it, it starts off like Cristal… and as Jay put it, it ends up like regular Champagne. And that’s a perfect description of it. It’s just one step below Cristal – if quite a step – but still a very good Champagne.

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We’d like to thank Chef Sash Michael Simpson who took the time to talk to our table both evenings, our server Catherine, our bartenders and the entire kitchen staff. We shared the remnants of our Champagnes with them. We look forward to returning to Sash.

both nights look fabulous. As for the onion rings I’d challenge them w a neighbor’s father in law who competes nationally w smoked food. His brisket is heaven and he’s nicknamed “Lord of the Rings” for his onion rings.