Two Midsummer Nights' Dinners

Winnipeg can be challenging climatically. The extremes of a -40 C winter day

just do not seem to make sense when contrasted with a hot summer day where the humidex can reach  +40 C sending many Winnipeggers to Grand Beach a little more than an hour drive from the city centre.

The hot days of late July and early August are my favorite days of the year. Sadly Winnipeg does not get enough hot weather.

Enough of the weather! It is contrast that drives my agenda. You may recall that less than two weeks ago I wrote about my experience at Gordon Ramsay's Maze Grill in London - http://www.gordonramsay.com/mazegrill/ . On August 1st I had dinner at one of Winnipeg's finer steak houses - "529" http://www.wowhospitality.ca/restaurants/wellington.html .

The greeting at 529 is leaner than the Maze Grill, no table hostess, sommelier and busboy visiting regularly.

We were however promptly escorted to our table and visited by the waiter who within minutes of our being seated took drink orders and appetizer requests.

At 529, unlike Maze we were offered the "meat tour". The “meat tour” is the display of the cuts of meat offered in the raw. I have no problem seeing the meat as I might look at it in the butcher shop. It is the restaurant “meat tour” I do not need having taken the time to learn about what I am eating before I go the restaurant. It is unfortunate Maze did not offer the option.

Diners can easily learn the different cuts. http://www.thehealthybutcher.com/livetoeat/volume2/LiveToEat-Volume2-Beef_Basics.html .I would recommend such study so that you can opt out of the tour but more importantly to learn about what you are eating.

We shared an appetizer and salad. The presentation of the raw oyster appetizer was awful, oysters on a bed of wilting shredded iceberg lettuce. Some ice crushed in a blender spread over a glass platter would have been a cheaper and better alternative. The beefsteak tomato and fresh mozzarella salad drizzled with olive oil, balsamic reduction and basil chiffonade was excellent.

The 529 people say they serve "Canadian Prime, the best available beef in Canada. Canadian Prime represents less than 1/2 of 1% of all beef production in Canada and is served exclusively at 529 Wellington". In contrast Maze serves 13 different cuts of meat from 5 different breeds of beef. Our "Canadian Prime" the 8 oz. filet was just as good as the Aberdeen Angus grass fed, aged 28 days.

My cut was so poorly cooked at Maze that 529 had little to compete with however, Steph's cut at Maze was so good that it was my comparable for the evening review. Thankfully I did not get a triangular portion at 529. Both filets were grilled as ordered and perfect.

The beefsteak tomato was so good that I ordered a few slices, undressed, to have along with my steak. Along with the tomato we shared wild mushrooms and fries. The fries were not greasy and held their crisp and warmth throughout the dinner.

For dessert we shared the Warm Loaf of Blueberry Bread Pudding with Caramel Cream. This dessert is so good that Maze should replace any one or more of its desserts with the 529 bread pudding.

London - Winnipeg / Maze -529. Two different cities two different restaurants. One big name one remodeled prairie mansion, five (5) different breeds/13 cuts, Canadian Prime 4 different cuts.

Many contrasts but one winner - 529!