Excellence Is A Wonderful Thing

I often joke about the size of my bucket list, which grows by two items for every one item checked. And even though I had heard so much about Niagara Falls, it was never actually on the list. I mean, it seemed kitschy, like something only old people do before they die. But somehow the subject of Niagara Falls came up with the traveling sisters and we decided to go. A sister-in-law joined us for this trip, making the car quite full.

It seemed like you drive up to these mammoth falls, look at it and you are done. At least that was my idea. Only one of us had been before. My DC sister took her large family twenty years ago, but I thought that it would be unrecognizable to her now. 

We convened at her house in DC before five of us drove a whole day to Ontario. (The American side pales in comparison to the Canadian side.) The ride up to Ontario was the most boring of my travels. There were no cities or even cool towns, and barely any fall foliage. We arrived in the evening to a vibe that reminded me, (but only slightly,) of Vegas.

Niagara Falls likes their steaks. Our Hyatt was next to a Marriott and across the street from an Outback Steakhouse. The Marriott has a Morton’s Grille and our Hyatt has STK, a fancy steakhouse that started in 2013 in NYC and is now based in Denver, with 28 locations around the globe.

I have wanted to visit an STK since it arrived in Los Angeles in 2011. When we pulled up to the hotel I knew I’d never have a better chance to experience STK. With five of us it would be much cheaper. 

When we checked in that evening the guy behind the desk gave us each two tickets for drinks at STK. I thought we should use the tickets for Happy Hour, but it turned out that there was no Happy Hour at STK. The tickets were for the STK lounge only, and there could be no food there. We went next door to Morton’s Grille that first night. (Full story with pics on nomenu.com.)

The second night followed another day of not eating, and this time we were not only hungry but no one wanted to move because we had walked miles that day. We took our drinks and walked into the dining room. Unlike the previous evening where we sat in a dark corner of the bar at Morton’s, our table at STK offered a panoramic view of the falls. We started with the bread service of housemade monkey bread with Blue Cheese butter drizzled on top of it, and great olive oil infused with chives for dipping. This was irresistible.

We had to order one entree to sit in the dining room, so we got Fish & Chips made with Halibut. Then we went crazy ordering everything else to share. We got onion rings, Shrimp “Scampi”, a Wagyu sliders board, the Fish & Chips, creamed spinach, and macaroni and cheese.

After finishing the delicious soft bread, the shrimp dish came. It was beautifully plated with a single toasted slice of ciabatta perched over the shrimp in a white wine and garlic butter with garlic and herbs. The shrimp were the perfect size, not too large, served with tails on. This was a marvelous version of a simple and superb dish, though technically not Scampi.

The onion rings were mostly for show. They were large rings served like the menu said: a tower, similar to the volcano, a typical presentation at a steakhouse. But these were Tempura-battered, which killed the whole thing for me. I don't care for the ostentatious presentation of something simple like fried onions, but it can be thrilling as it comes into the dining room.

The group was impressed. The cone was very tall, and it came with two popular sauces: an Asian chili sauce and an Outback-like Remoulade, though I don’t know that the name Remoulade is thrown around much in Ontario.

What offends me about Tempura is that oil clings to it, so I find most Tempura-battered foods greasy. This comes with the territory for Fish & Chips, but onion rings can be much better without this batter, in my view.

The Wagyu sliders were sensational. They were housemade buns, round and fluffy, and sprinkled with black sesame seeds. There was a lot of beef between the buns. They did not skimp on these burgers. Tasty and juicy Wagyu beef made these a great bite of food.

This meal came in two rounds. The second round included the macaroni and cheese, the creamed spinach, and the single entree of Fish & Chips.

The plate of the Fish & Chips had a few accompaniments, like coleslaw, and housecut fries, and a few sauces. The Halibut was very nice, though I am not used to seeing it for Fish & Chips. I was also surprised to see regular American French Fries rather than thicker UK “chips” traditionally seen in the dish. They remind me of American steak fries, and I don't care for thick fried potatoes like this.  These crispy housecut American French fries hit the spot. The little ramekin of coleslaw was nice too.

It was the last two sides that made the greatest statements, to me at least. The creamed spinach was very good. I was surprised by how good this was. It was leafy with larger pieces of spinach, which normally I would find off-putting. But I liked the flavor of this dish so much I would say it was terrific. The crispy onions on top were a nice touch. I wish they had used that batter for the larger fried onion rings.

It was the macaroni and cheese that prompted the most discussion. The consensus was that this version of the American classic was just too much. It’s times like that which make me a believer in the saying “You CAN have too much of a good thing.

At STK, they take their macaroni and cheese seriously. You can choose Traditional, Bacon, and Lobster. We went with the Traditional. 

The pasta noodle was itself a statement. It was Cavatappi, and it was strangely not al dente. It was loaded with cream and cheese, but only baked enough to melt the cheese, rather than crust it, which was sort of a disappointment. This could have done with much more time in the oven.

The service at STK was outstanding, especially for five women eating as we did at a place like this.

The following day we went to a lovely small town called Nagara-By-The-Lake. The town was every bit as charming as its reputation, but what surprised and delighted me even more was the discovery that this area is quite a destination for oenophiles. I had no idea there was this much viticulture here. Wineries everywhere. Beautiful large wineries like you see in Napa and Sonoma. The sister who coordinated everything had done some research and decided we should go to one called Two Sisters, since this was a sister’s trip.

Two Sisters was a gorgeous place, but the weather was even more gorgeous, and Two Sisters was only allowing wine tastings out on the patio. They worried that the slight chill in the air would make the food cold too fast. We went next door and had a marvelous lunch on the more beautiful patio at Peller Estates.

It was tough to get in there without a resy because Peller had a lot of action going on, from a tour bus or two to a wedding on the lawn. I’m so glad they were able to squeeze us in because it was a fantastic way to while away a few hours.

The menu was confusing, with a two- or a three-course prix fixe menu, with dishes available a la carte. A five-course tasting menu with wine pairings required full table participation, and our group never gets all of us on the same page. What was most interesting about the prix fixe menus was that you could do an app and entree, but you could also do an entree and dessert. I’ve not seen that. And Lobster Linguine was available as Primi or Secondi in its own section on the menu.

I told the girls what Secondi meant, but they still thought they were getting the smaller portion. I’m glad they did get the larger portion, even though they were surprised, because we all got to have some. It was by far the best thing on the table. As usual, I got the worst thing.

I ordered an extra app of Ham Hock Croquettes. Everyone got something different, and I was left with the chicken. I expected the app I got to be better. It was a cauliflower and parsnip cream soup. 

The best appetizer on the table was the beet salad the sister next to me ordered. It had a perky dressing and a lot of whipped ricotta, local honey, and granola on top. The beets were irregularly cut, and the lettuce was different than what I usually see. It was a visually beautiful and delicious salad. 

The sister next to her also got a salad as a starter.  These were enormous salads, large enough for four. This one had compressed peaches and buffalo mozzarella with a white balsamic vinaigrette.

One of the sisters was vexed about whether or not to get the pork chops. She had no app because she opted for a second course of dessert. She wanted to try a Basque Cheesecake.

Only one of us liked the Ham Hock Croquette. I found it too tight of a grind. It was deep-fried and came with a little lettuce salad. The sauce on it was what was so appealing to the one of us who enjoyed it.

That was followed by another disappointing dish. The cauliflower soup was an enormous portion. I would have had that as a solo dish for a meal with some of the delicious baguette of the bread service. But the soup just wasn’t good enough to finish. It was topped with some great thin crostini.

The Lobster Linguine was the thing to get. I was happy the sisters shared it with the rest of us. It was luscious and creamy and loaded with lobster nuggets poached in ice wine and smoked bacon. A hunk of black truffle sat on top of this pile of fresh pasta tossed in a creamy sauce infused with Chardonnay. This was sensational.

The pork chops were indeed a bit disappointing, with a medley of roasted fingerling potatoes.

The fish of the day was Pickerel, which was described as similar to Halibut. It's a freshwater fish of North America. We were curious about it, so the sister with the beet salad ordered that. It came with Butter Beans and Radish Slaw and Salsa Verde. I liked this more than she did. The elements of the dish that weren’t fish were presented as sort of a salad.

My chicken was just lame. Billed as Lemon Rosemary Chicken Breast, it was breaded and served with a Black Cherry Sauce. I could have gotten this anywhere, though I did think the Black Cherry Sauce was inventive.

After everyone was finished, my sister got the lone dessert of Basque Cheesecake. It had Blueberry Compote and a Honey Tuille and was smaller and fancier than I expected. She was totally disoriented and practically alarmed by the edible flower.

The entire meal was fancier than I expected, though I have no idea why we didn’t expect fancy. The place was gorgeous and the meal expensive. It should have been fancy.

When we sat down, one of the sisters was contemplating a Charcuterie Board for the table. We would have been fine if we had each had a glass of wine and shared the charcuterie board. But no matter what was on the table, it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

We left with new knowledge: that ubiquitous pea shoots as garnish have made their way north, and that ice wine means the grapes were allowed to freeze. In the lower latitudes of Napa and Sonoma, that doesn't come up, but in the New York area, ice wines are produced, as well as in parts of Washington state and the Midwest lakes area. This process creates sweeter wines, which are used to pair with dessert.

From there, we went into the utterly delightful town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, where I discovered the simplest food item of the trip: the butter tart.