Cacao Barry® Flavour Dinners to inspire Chefs: Auberge du Pommier, Toronto, Canada

Cacao Barry^® is honoured to announce that the eight Flavour Dinner was designed by Chef de Cuisine Malcolm Campbell and Pastry Chef Domenico Giammarella of Auberge du Pommier Restaurant.

Toronto, October 2^nd, at Auberge du Pommier restaurant, Cacao Barry invited 20 Chefs to discover an exclusive menu. The original jewel in the Oliver & Bonacini crown and a North Toronto icon, Auberge du Pommier has been serving guests since 1987.

A modern French fine dining restaurant, Auberge du Pommier exudes a quiet confidence, reflecting their commitment to culinary excellence and inspired service. Their cuisine is traditional French, with innovative North American influences, and their seasonal menus are elegant and genuine celebrations of fine food.

Constructed around the rustic vestiges of two 1860’s woodcutters’ cottages, Auberge du Pommier combines country charm with contemporary sophistication and style. Featuring wood burning fireplaces in winter and lush, floral terraces in summer, it is a welcoming, refined retreat from the city.We could not have had a better setting to host Cacao Barry’s eighth Flavour Dinner.

Chef Malcolm Campbell set the bar high with his menu inspired by nature, art and photography. Our Flavour Dinner started in their beautiful dining room with a few canapés to whet our appetite. And we needed that since Chef Malcolm Campbell had been as generous as preparing a 6 course menu. It seems he was really inspired by the flavour pairing we were about to discover.

Our first course revealed Chef Malcolm Campbell had been even more inspired than we thought by the challenge of creating a menu which would pair chocolate and one ingredient of his choice throughout his 6 courses. Indeed, the Chef decided to make the challenge even more demanding by pairing not one but two ingredients with the Cacao Barry chocolates: Pumpernickel and turnip.

The 20 guests started the tasting with an Os à Moelle – foie gras, bone marrow and Alunga™ milk chocolate parfait to be toasted on a cocoa nib & pumpernickel brioche served with a refreshing peach and radish compote. The 2016 Lapeyre Jurançon Moelleux wine pairing perfectly enrobed this first treat. From there all guests understood it was going to be a unique dinner experience.

The flavour pairing dinner had just kicked off for the guests, but the whole experience was initiated 175 years ago with a Scottish man named Charles Barry who started a quest for extraordinary chocolate flavours. Cacao Barry is thrilled to continue this journey today by exploring chocolate flavour pairings. As we all know the most exciting journey means nothing if you cannot share it with someone. This is what Monday night was all about, an opportunity for the 20 selected Chefs and Media to share experiences, discover an exclusive menu and be inspired.

The second dish brought us to the sea with a Saint Jacques – an elegant seared scallop under an Alto el Sol plantation dark chocolate and pumpernickel crust for a perfect mix of texture. The dish was harmoniously served with navet agrodocle, artichoke and smoked butter carrots. Again the flavours paired perfectly with the white wine 2016 Château Haut Grelot, Blaye.

The third course also inspired by the delicacies of the sea was a Homard – a cocoa butter poached lobster with pumpernickel croutes, crispy ginger and caviar delicately covered by a Zéphyr™ white chocolate and turnip velouté. Absolutely divine! Guests could not hold back from soaking up all the flavours with their warm bread. The sommelier was right again by offering a 2016 Château Pesquie “les Terrasses” Ventoux white wine with the Lobster.

After these delicious dishes, we finally got back to terra firma. For the fourth course, a 2014 Stephane Aviron Côte de Brouilly “Vielle Vigne” red wine was served to complement the Veau – perfectly cooked veal tenderloin with a pumpernickel and tongue choux farci, Madeira pickled chanterelles and turnip with pommes rissoles in a Saint Domingue dark chocolate jus.

James Chatto encouraged Chef Malcolm Cambpell to keep this dish on the regular menu; probably to make sure he would get another chance to taste it.

We were finally getting to the sweet part of the menu with La Pomme d’Auberge pre-dessert – an elderflower and apple bavarois in a green apple shape inspired by Pastry Chef Cédric Grolet’s art, on a pumpernickel streusel and turnip and Zéphyr™ Caramel anglaise. The acidity of the apple balanced perfectly with the “Caramel au beurre salé” notes of the Zéphyr™ Caramel chocolate.

Inspired by his trip to the La Esmeralda cocoa plantation in the Dominican Republic back in June 2017, Chef Malcolm Campbell ended his menu with Chocolate - an exquisite La Esmeralda Rare chocolate mousse which surrounded an orange crémeux, topped with smoked honey and pumpernickel ice cream, accompanied by turnip chips for a crunchy texture. The choice of chocolate paired perfectly with the orange as La Esmeralda 74% cocoa dark chocolate has a bold cocoa taste, combined with a balanced bitterness sublimed by the freshness and acidity of dazzling citrus notes.

The 2015 Henry of Pelham Cabernet Franc Icewine from Niagara was the perfect finishing touch to the beautiful and delectable dessert.

Nothing would have been possible without Chef de Cuisine Malcolm Campbell and Pastry Chef Domenico Giammarella and their fantastic team. They accepted the challenge to play with chocolate flavours and imagine the most delicious pairings. The chefs chose pumpernickel and turnip as the ingredients to pair with Cacao Barry chocolates to design their six course menu.

Thank you Chef Malcolm Campbell for your deep passion for food and boundless creativity.

Again tonight the 20 guests enjoyed a fascinating dinner, sharing their experience and inspiration leaving the restaurant full of new ideas for their creations.

See you soon at our next Flavour Dinner!