Chesswood-Saturday, May 7th. Carleton Place- was open all weekend for an UNADVERTISED- KEPT ON THE DOWN LOW- WORKING ON GETTING THINGS TOGETHER soft opening.
HOW about savouring a glass of wine while your tongue slides over Baked Brie with spiced bacon jam and hot pepper jelly on baguette thins. It glistens. It drips– it uses props. It is all–it is both lusty and intimate.
A well placed fork and attentive service reminds us of our manners like a polite slap on the wrist. The menu invited the mind to wander.
The Crispy Pineapple Shrimp? Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about crispy fried shrimp, charred pineapple curry and cilantro cream–but were afraid to ask. In my mind it is the perfect sexual symbolism of food. To die for my friends- to die for.
If you have delicate sensibilities– and the Seafood Mac and Cheese with black tiger shrimp, crab, cavatappi aged cheddar and garlic Parmesan bread crumbs offends you, then I ask you not continue on.
The construction of food sometimes stands in for exotic positions. We encounter Organic Meatloaf balancing delicately in a towering timbale. Succulent al dente beets and carrots, almost tasting like they were picked that very morning, lean suggestively on a lounge of velvety smashed potatoes. A colorful reduction sauce is drizzled around the scene like so many scented candles of an idealized romantic encounter.
Everyday green tea and pound cake become elevated. Like our proverbial girl or boy next door, we gaze at this Deep Fried ice Cream and feel like we are seeing them for the first time. The shaved chocolate and whipped cream was not enough– I wanted more.
The Dessert menu encouraged the audience to view it with anticipation and desire. Lemon Meringue Cheesecake and their famous Twisted Apple Tart along with other delights captivated my longing eyes. How twisted was that apple tart? Inquiring minds wanted to know.
Food porn is ever at our fingertips at Chesswood, but, thankfully we are not condemned to just simply look and covet without being able to taste. We tasted- and tasted again–we fell hopelessly in love– and ever so gladly went down the rabbit hole of fine dining cuisine.
More, more, more
How do you like it?
How do you like it?
Chesswood of Carleton Place –THE MENU
Follow them on Instagram!!
Hours have changed a little and are:
Tues and Wed 3-10pm
Thurs, Fri and Sat 3-11pm
151 Bridge Street
Carleton Place, Ontario
Related reading
Everyone Eats When… A Chesswood Teaser!!
lindaseccaspina 