<a target="_blank" href="https://shoto.momofuku.com/">Momofuku Shoto</a>

3,
190 University Ave

Toronto,
ON

M5H
0A3, Canada

Tel: <a target="_blank">+1 647-253-8000</a>

The Food:

Eggplant buns, tomato, provolone, pickled banana pepper

Crispy chicken bun, ssäm sauce

Baby romaine lettuce with Blue Goddess dressing

Duck and pork sausage, pear, mustard, sauerkraut

Roasted pork chop, beet, birch syrup, cucumber

The Wines:

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vinous.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2009+Pintia">
 </a><table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>
 NV Blue Mountain Brut Gold Label
 </td>
 <td>
 88
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 2013 Stanners Vineyard Cabernet Franc &nbsp;&nbsp;
 </td>
 <td>
 89+
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vinous.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2009+Pintia">2009 Bodegas Pintia Toro</a>
 </td>
 <td>
 92
 </td>
 </tr>
</tbody></table>David Chang has been extremely successful ever since he opened
his first restaurant in 2004. Chang now owns a series of “Momofuku” restaurants in NY, Toronto, Sydney and Washington (a group
that includes Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Má Pêche, Momofuku
Ko,&nbsp;Momofuku
Milk Bar, Momofuku Seiōbo, and Momofuku CCDC). Though the word
"Momofuku" might best translate from Japanese to English as the words
"lucky peach", Chang has gone on record in saying that the name is meant
to recall&nbsp;Momofuku
Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese inventor of instant ramen. It’s therefore not
surprising to learn that Chang’s early days in cooking were marked by an exposure
to ramen outlets.

<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1458328167161-shoto+bar.jpg"> Bar seating at Momofuku Shoto 

Momofuku Shoto in Toronto is a currently super hip place
that is characterized by easygoing service and well spaced out tables (always a
blessing, in my mind). The food is unpretentiously served, and the place offers
a laid back atmosphere in which to enjoy well cooked, sneakily complex food.
The most enjoyable dish on this night was the crispy chicken bun with ssäm
sauce. I really could have gobbled five or six of these down all at once, and
all by myself. You’ll find that ssäm sauce is a staple of just about every
Momofuku restaurant anywhere. It’s made with traditional gochujang
(also spelled kochujang), a Korean chili pepper paste that is spicy, tangy and umami-rich, and a seasoning that nicely
kicks up a notch the flavor profile of the likes of steamed buns and fried chicken.
The rest of the dishes I tried on this night were perfectly fine if not
especially memorable. They were hearty, flavorful and well cooked.

Wine service is quite good at Momofuku Shoto.
The sommeliers are both friendly and knowledgeable. I started out
with the lovely NV Blue Mountain
Brut Gold Label, a Canadian sparkler form British Columbia, a roughly 60%
Pinot Noir/35% Chardonnay/5% Pinot Gris blend that spent two years on its lees,
but was bright and flavorful with not much in the way of leesy or
buttery-hazelnut character. Overlooking Vaseux Lake in the beautiful Okanagan
Valley, owned by the Mavety family, Blue Mountain is one of the country’s
premier wine estates, one that boasts forty-three years of continuous grape
production by one family, clearly a rarity given Canada’s relatively young fine
wine history.

Next up I couldn’t resist trying a Cabernet Franc from
Prince Edward County in Ontario, one of Canada’s up and coming star wine
regions. The 2013 Stanners
Vineyard Cabernet Franc is yet another example of just how well this grape
variety has adapted to Ontario, where a bevy of great Cabernet Francs are being
made; I can’t help but find exciting just how good many of these wines are,
especially if you stop to consider the relatively young age of the vines. Stanners Vineyard is a family venture that began in
2003 with the intent of producing a world class Pinot Noir (Prince Edward
County is very rich in limestone soils and the climate, though extremely harsh
in the winter, also harkens back to Burgundy somewhat). However, the Cabernet
Francs made here have also been extremely successful, and this one was just
dripping with gorgeous red cherry and pomegranate fruit aromas and flavors,
lifted by bright natural acidity, finishing smooth and complex. Last but not
least, a sweet, fleshy Spanish red seemed to be the perfect foil for Momofuku’s
spicy, flavorful cuisine.

I chose the 2009 Bodegas Pintia Toro, and it
proved to be the perfect way to close out the night. Made from steep vineyards
located at roughly 600 meters above sea level in a hot microclimate, this 100% Tempanillo
(locally called Tinta de Toro) from ungrafted 40-60 year old vines is redolent
in notes of smoke, grilled beef, coconut and chocolate-covered espresso beans. Sweet
and seamless, the 2009 will appeal especially to those who like their wines
rich, ripe and ultra-smooth. The wine ferments in new French oak barrels and is
aged twelve months in oak (of which 70% is French and 30% is American, 50% of the
total are new, and you can tell). This bottle was
in excellent condition and obviously had no problems with too much sediment, a
concern that led Pintia's parent company, Vega Sicilia, to recall thousands of
bottles back from clients offering to replace them with another vintage a few
years ago.

I walked out into the brisk
Toronto night-time air feeling light but full, and looking forward to a return
visit to Momofuku Shoto my next time in Toronto.

-- Ian D’Agata

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