- Hey everybody I'm Gunnarolla.
If you follow me on Instagram you know
that I'm slightly obsessed with a restaurant called Aloette.
It's brought to you by the famed Chef Kriss Patrick,
Patrick Kriss, his name's Patrick.
Sorry I was thinking about NSYNC,
Chris Kirkpatrick, different person.
It's brought to you by the famed Chef Patrick Kriss
who also happens to have founded
the number one restaurant in Canada, Alo.
I guess you could describe Aloette as the younger sibling,
diner version of Alo.
The cuisine is a mix of French, American,
and Asian leaning dishes,
which I actually feel is a true representation
of Canadian cuisine, it's multicultural.
This is really just a very diverse menu,
that is seasonal and that's continually changing
so you always have a reason to come back.
Beyond just having an impressive diverse menu,
what really makes Aloette special
to me is the vibe and the service.
- We're going for dinner now 'cause I want scallops.
- Yeah, me too.
- [Woman] And we're back.
- This is our best friend.
- [Woman] Quentin.
Alex.
Babe chef.
Whoa he's- (laughs)
- This is everything I've dreamed of
since I was a little child.
All I wanted was to eat scallops at Aloette.
This is proof that dreams can come true.
Here's a little story.
When I first moved into my place
I did not have an iron
and I had a very important event to go to that night.
So I went to the mall,
bought a new shirt, and stopped into Aloette for lunch.
Chatted with our server Alex,
noticed that I had a really wrinkly shirt,
and said let me take that for you.
Came back, and Alex had steamed my shirt.
That took hospitality
and humanity to a whole other level.
Since then we've got to know
all the other amazing servers, chefs, hosts, managers.
They really take good care of you there
and you never feel rushed.
When Aloette was eligible to be decided
as Canada's best new restaurant,
I showed up to support.
Was gonna wear that shirt today
but I thought it might be a bit extra.
If you are visiting from out of town
I've probably taken you there.
If you are a good friend,
I've probably taken you there.
If I haven't taken you there,
I probably intended to take you there
but it's obviously not possible right now.
Luckily Aloette is doing take out and delivery
so today I thought I would share with you
some of my favorite dishes.
Let's mukbang.
Let's start with the gnocchi
because I have not had this before
and to be honest I started eating it
once I finished shooting the B-roll.
So they usually have some kind of pasta dish
on the Aloette menu.
Right now it's a gnocchi.
And it smells amazing.
Perfect density.
I don't know if you know this about me,
I love tomatoes but I hate tomato sauce.
So I really appreciate this like creamy rose.
I think I've just had so much Chef Boyardee
in my life, that unless I have to,
I would elect not to have tomato sauce.
So this is a nice way to kind of
mute that flavor.
I love a good mushroom gnocchi,
white sauce gnocchi.
But those can sometimes be a little heavy
so this rose sauce, is just everything you need
if you're going to order multiple dishes.
That's what I'm doing today.
I think this is parmesan.
I am not picky when it comes to food.
I will try anything.
At least twice.
I have a really strong sense of smell,
and certain cheeses I just, I can't do.
I'm sure it adds a ton to the flavor
but I'm gonna pass on that.
All right, wedge salad.
One of the OG iconic dishes at Aloette.
A wedge salad doesn't sound like it's very exciting
but the way they do it there,
they add radish, we've got avocado.
Cheese, nuts, it's like popped rice.
So you get a nice little cross section
of flavors and textures.
And it's pretty substantial.
This could be a meal on it's own.
But it's one of several that I'm consuming today.
Oh yeah, that crunch.
Very crunchy salad.
I have missed this salad.
There's like a little bit of sweetness.
The nuts and the rice.
It's just crunchy in so many different ways.
Food isn't just about how it tastes,
it's also about how it feels.
And the sensation it creates as you're eating it.
So texture is super important to me.
And this is very textuary salad. All right, time to move on
to what I would consider the star of the show.
Some people might say it's the burger,
I am going with the fried chicken.
It's got a yuzu honey sauce,
we've got hot sauce, and we also have bibb lettuce,
phenol, pickle, and a lime.
If you want a kind of Ssambap Korean wrap situation.
You don't have to do that
you can eat the chicken on it's own,
it is beautiful no matter which way
you wanna eat it.
Let's get some more of this honey yuzu.
It's thick and gloppy today.
Probably 'cause it's had to sit there
while I got my hair ready.
Get some of this hot sauce
and then let's eat.
If I'm tearing up
it's not just because I'm nostalgic
but I bit my cheek earlier today, so.
There's like a spice combination in this chicken
that reminds me
of when we used to be able to go to restaurants.
Again, perfect texture.
It doesn't taste to oily and deep fried.
And as I mentioned earlier, you can do it as a wrap.
Put our chicken in there.
Get a little hot sauce.
Green stuff, and enjoy.
Savory, sweet, heat, a little bitterness from the greens
and this stuff.
Just like makes it fresh and alive.
(slams fist)
(speaking in foreign language)
And now, for the-
(speaking in foreign language)
the lemon meringue pie.
You've seen it on your Instagram feed,
you've seen it in the magazines,
it is real.
And it is right here in front of me.
We have a very impressive ratio of lemon to meringue.
Observe.
Let's dig in.
Oh yeah.
Sorry I should have shown it to the camera.
I was just doing it for me.
Here we go.
Oh my god.
This is everything.
And there's a reason why it has never left the menu.
And hopefully never will leave the menu.
It tastes like the lemon meringue your aunt makes.
I imagine, I don't know, I'm not white.
I don't know why I said that. It's just the perfect combo
of sweet, tart.
This crust, oh my god.
That's the stuff.
Did you see that the room got brighter
as I was eating this pie
it's like the sun just filled the space
to be like yes, it's okay.
It's gonna be okay you've got this pie.
So if you're in Toronto,
Aloette does take out and delivery.
I recommend getting a couple different dishes
so that you can share.
If it's a special occasion great,
if it's a day that you find yourself in quarantine,
that's fine too.
Quick shout out to all of our favorite staff there,
Quentin, Manda, Mckayla, all of our favorite servers,
Chef Patrick, Chef Soloman, Chef Greg.
Thank you so much for giving us a space
that not only serves delicious food,
but that we can socialize in,
and that really just felt like home.
And I'm really looking forward to the day
that we can come back and be there again.
So thank you so much.
Try it out.
I'll see you tomorrow.
à la prochaine!
Good hospitality, never underestimate.
- [Woman] Quentin, do you have an iPhone charger?
- [Quentin] I do.
(woman screams)
- [Woman] Praise the lord.
Please.