Best of Niagara

I've decided to resume this blog, over 8 years (!) since my last post. I don't have a well thought through reason for doing so, other than an urge to write more than twitter-length prose and to get back into the habit of sharing highlights of my adventures around Toronto and beyond.

This past weekend, we visited Niagara-on-the-Lake for probably the seventh or eighth time since moving to Toronto in 2007. Through those many trips, we've settled into somewhat of a routine that makes for an enjoyable and relaxing getaway. While there are many quaint bed and breakfasts to choose from in the area, we always opt for the White Oaks Resort because of its fabulous fitness centre and spa. If you look past its absolutely hideous exterior of gold-bronze glass, you'll discover a hotel with terrific service, comfortable rooms, good breakfast options, beautiful grounds, a "real" gym with steam and redwood saunas, a pool and jacuzzi, and skilled massage therapists.

We usually leave Toronto by 12 noon on Friday (avoiding the worst of the traffic), arriving in time for a workout, a massage, and a picnic dinner under the gazebo of dishes we prepared the day before and fruit picked up at the Hildreth Farm Market in Beamsville on the drive down (pro-tip: call room service for place settings and grab the wine glasses and wine opener from the room).

Saturday starts with a la carte breakfast (an outdoor table if possible), a quick workout, stops at a few of our favourite wineries (tasting Southbrook's rosés, Five Rows' sauvignon blancs and Big Head's reds are high on the list), a matinée show at the Shaw Festival (this year we saw Rope, a thriller adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock), some downtime at the hotel and dinner at the Backhouse restaurant (in the space where another fabulous restaurant, the Stone Road Grill, used to be). The three-course menu is a good deal and with three choices for each course and three of us dining, we were able to try everything on the menu! Stand-outs included the heirloom tomato salad (all ingredients fresh from the chef's garden), the "cream puff" stuffed with duck liver mousse and the corn ice cream. Rather than bottles, this time we opted for glasses of wine served all at once - 3 whites and 3 reds - so we could taste more and see which paired best with each dish. Seeing how much we enjoyed wine, the sommelier brought us a 7th glass with instructions to guess the grape and region. After many sips and much discussion, we narrowed it down to bordeaux varietals, likely from a domestic vineyard, given the restaurant's extensive Canadian wine list. The answer: petit verdot from Ontario!

Even after these many trips to NOTL, there is always more to discover. A friend recommended we stop for dim sum at Ma Cuisine in St. Catherine and we're so happy we did! The place is tricked out for crowds, but on this summer Sunday at noon there were only a few tables being served. Joined by friends, the 5 of us ordered shrimp dumplings, mushroom and pea shoot dumplings, pork soup dumplings, pork potstickers, pork buns, and a spicy eggplant dish. Everything was hot and delicious, and while we left full, we didn't experience the usual post-dim sum carb haze. Didn't even need a coffee to stay awake!

Heading back to the city, we stopped for farm-fresh veggies and chatted about our next Niagara visit, an abbreviated one at the end of September on the way to a friend's wedding in upstate New York. Hoping to catch the fall colours!