Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on October 20, 2007 at 12:28 pm

If you've been thinking about checking out Lucien, the recently opened Wellington Street resto co-owned by Simon Bower and chef Scot Woods, you should either book your reservation right away or wait a couple of months, as the place is likely to be even busier than it already has been thanks to glowing reviews from Joanne Kates and Amy Pataki in today's papers.

Kates in the Globe & Mail is the more gushing of the two, with her only complaint being a comment about rubbery octopus. Otherwise, she can't say enough good things about the room, and service, and most importantly, the food:

To say that the perfectly cooked cod comes with melt-in-the-mouth scallops, beets zinged with horseradish and truffled bay cabbage is to do Woods injustice: These are indeed the components of the dish, but they do not convey the delight of the taste.

As with the pretty pink lamb served with menazzaleh, Lebanese veggie stew in which the individual flavours of eggplant, onion, chickpea and tomato are to remain distinct, which they are, exuberantly, al dente so. Atop the lamb is a snow-white plume of sweet and tart minted yogurt mousse. Woods's riff on ramen includes moist duck breast and confit leg with lovely house-made noodles. To this chef, ingredients are a happy playground. He toys with lobster and skate, poaching the two texturally similar sea critters together in puree, adding smoked corn, watercress and chorizo for wonderful bite.

Also in the Globe:

• Lucy Waverman makes BBQ oysters (Bah, sacrilege! Eat 'em raw, or not at all!) and fish tacos (OK, those sound good...).
• Sasha Chapman looks at the effect that the recently opened T&T Supermarket on Cherry Street is having on the neighbourhood markets in the Spadina and Gerrard Chinatowns.
• In the Travel section, you'll find AP wire stories on Wurstfest, a German sausage festival in Texas, and the world championships of pumpkin chucking near Washington, DC.
• In the Focus section, John Allemang considers the philosophy of wine tasting, and Chris Turner visits an eco-friendly and sustainable housing complex in Banff. (Online versions of both stories are subscriber-only.)
• No wine recommendations from Beppi Crosariol this week, but Leanne Delap mentions that the "official champagne" of Toronto's L'Oréal Fashion Week is Rich Prosecco. Except that it's not a Champagne, it's a Prosecco, and it comes in a 200 mL can with a straw. Yeah, that's real classy.

Over in the Toronto Star, Amy Pataki checks in with her thoughts on Lucien, where she's worried about being recognized by co-owner Simon Bower who she wrote a story about before her days as an anonymous reviewer. She manages to get through a lunch without being "made", and receives average service, but her return visit attracts more attention:

On my second visit, I encounter a vastly different restaurant. The slapdash service and long waits are gone. Instead, there's a skilful waiter who insists on "taking care" of the wine ordering.

Bower, too, couldn't be more solicitous. Out comes a free extra course with matching wines: delicate chanterelle consomme ($12) poured into a soup plate holding plump escargot, puréed garlic, dehydrated serrano ham crisps and shavings of idiazabal cheese; and wobbly pork belly ($15) given the Korean treatment with kimchi, crunchy toasted barley, clams, cuttlefish and a slow-poached egg containing the runniest of yolks.

From here on in, it's strictly VIP treatment: shiso-lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate, the offer of port to compliment the $17 tasting of bittersweet chocolates paired with unusual condiments (truly a great dessert idea), and constant monitoring.

Also in the Star:

• Gordon Stimmell looks at some wines made with usually lacklustre grapes that are much better than he expects.
• Sarah Sampson suggests cooking with manouri, a Greek cheese that is often overshadowed by feta and halloumi.
• Megan Ogilvie gives a thumbs down to the gimmicky Cheat To Lose Diet.
• Bill Taylor avoids cucumber soup in Bulgaria.
• In the Travel section, Mark Stevens visits some of the more than 300 restaurants on the tiny Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

In the National Post, Gina Mallet ostensibly reviews Patsis Express, but spends most of the column complaining about the trend towards louder restaurants, especially as worlds of fine dining and lounge lifestyle collide:

Complaints about noisy restaurants are crescendoing along with noise itself. The inconvenient truth is that we are a noisy society, and getting noisier. If you walk around with an iPod pasted to your ear, you become a noise addict 24/7. It's all very well to slaver over the image of foodies whispering reverently in a famous two-star restaurant in France, but increasingly, fresh foie gras is taking second place to noise in Toronto. I can think of at least two places where chefs are scuppered by loud music. I can only assume loud music is a money-spinner. I swear the walls of Blowfish, at Bathurst and Queen streets, actually buckle with the beat --but the resto lounge is turning people away.

Also in the Post:

• Michael Vaughan fills us in on the winners from this year's Okanagan Fall Wine Festival.
• Mark Medley checks into the chocolate spa, one of the events in this week's Chocolate Festival.
• Patricia Noonan gives the scoop on East End Eats Out, the prix fixe menu promotion currently running at many restaurants in Leslieville and other neighbourhoods on the east side of town.
• Jason Chow goes seasonal with butternut squash soup made with squash from Kensington Fruit Market.
• Bonnie Stern bakes a trio of lemon meringue desserts.