Bloom in Bloor West Village

Toronto is a city made of neighborhoods and many of the immigrants who decided to make this city their new home would often live in among their own people. One such neighborhood is Bloor West Village and although much of Toronto is well-integrated, Bloor West Village still has evidence of old the Ukrainian neighborhood.

Interspersed with the Ukrainian shops are the new businesses that cater to the widened tastes and shopping patterns of the new residents of the neighborhood. Cafes, bistros and high end grocers can be found as you walk down Bloor from Runnymede to Jane. I recently was invited to dine at Bloom Restaurant. Open since 2004, Bloom’s served many a meal but they recently spruced up the restaurant and enlisted the services of Cuban-born Chef Pedro Quintanilla.

Diners at Bloom will taste the influences of Cuba with a splash of Latin an Italian. Chef Quintanilla’s food is prepared with an infusion of fresh herbs, spices and delicious sofritos. The restaurant’s decor is bright, light and I felt at ease with the natural light beaming in from the front house. Soon after being seated, I opted for a Mojito…a restaurant with a Cuban chef has to make a good Mojito, right? I wanted second Mojito – a good start!

Soon after our server brought us the Amuse – cassava frites with a mojo dipping sauce.

Next up were the starters: a ceviche and Chicken liver pâté. The Ceviche was halibut cured in lime juice and spiked with a little bit of Habanero and cilantro. I love fish & seafood and I believe in serving them with little to interfere with the falvours – bravo Chef!

The chicken liver pâté was tremendous. I say this because I’m not a fan of liver but I finished this plate, almost wishing there was more pâté on my plate. The asparagus and onion rings made for a nice presentation but the pâté was the star here.

Two mains were served: a sesame-seared tuna and a pan-seared flank steak. Both proteins are faves of mine and I was looking forward to tasting Chef’s presentations. First up was the sesame-seared tuna, served on crispy smashed potatoes, tofu-wasabi dressing and veggies. No need to reinvent the wheel here – source fresh fish and prepare it well (rare for tuna. I liked that I could taste the tuna and the wine pairing with a Pinot Noir was a wonderful surprise.

The pan-seared flank steak was perfected seared – deep brown on the outside and rare pink colour on the outside. The steak was served with Chef’s interpretation of a Chimichurri sauce. Chimichurri is a fresh herb condiment that’s originally from Argentina and served alongside grilled meats. This course appealed to the HE-MAN in me. Chef was kind enough to share his Chimichurri Sauce recipe with me and I’m delighted to share it with you.

Chimichurri Sauce

(recipe by Chef Pedro Quintanilla)

1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro (optional)

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1/2 tsp. salt

1. Simply add all the ingredients into a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Desserts came along and rule #1 in dining is always leave room for dessert! The Cuban Flan really caught my eyes and the baked custard was delicious and reminiscent of one of my favourite Greek desserts – Creme Caramele.

The second dessert was Churros. Churros are a dessert/treat made from choux pastry then piped out into hot oil and fried. They can be dredged in sugar and cinnamon or served with dulce de leche or in this case, chocolate sauce. Three more servings of this would not have been refused!

Bloom Restaurant is located at 2315 Bloor St. West, near Runnymede Subway station. Service begins 5pm to close from Tuesday to Saturday and reservations may be made by calling  416-767-1315 or email at info@bloomrestaurant.com.