'Awesome' Chicken Liver Pate

[Charles Yu]

A few years back, I had the opportunity of tasting one of the most delicious chicken liver pate, west of France, from the kitchen of Anthony Nuth's Herbs. Since then, I have been trying to locate similar calibre pate all over Toronto, but without success, until yesterday evening!! My foodie buddy and I made an impromtu visit to Jamie Kennedy wine bar. To our surprise the place was literally empty. A weird phenomenon for a saturday evening ( may be everyone's gone to Little Italy instead?!). Anyways, one of the appertizer dishes we ordered was their 'chicken liver pate'. WOW! what great tasting pate!! Ultra silky smooth with a touch of sweetness and not a hint of liver bitterness. It can easily rival the best of Foie Gras pate from France and at only a fraction of the price!! Now, I'm addicted to it and am planning a revisit ASAP. However, this time, I'll bring along my Cholestoral lowering medicine!!

[lemonwedge]

Best chicken liver pate in any restaurant in Toronto is JK Winebar. Or was haven't been in a while.

[CoffeeAddict416]

Is the chicken liver pate avail at Gilead? I've had it from gilead before but dunno if it's the same deal.

I recently tried the mass market Chef Georges foie gras mousse with truffles and thought it was okay. Only had a bit of it so far so can't really offer a proper analysis. Thought it was incredible value but I only wish I knew what percentage is actual foie gras (it's the third ingredient after duck fat and duck liver) and what amount of black truffle goes in (there are visible flecks throughout).

[missyogamom]

I have been trying to find Chef Georges foie gras mousse with truffles. Where did you buy it?
Thanks.

[Apple]

I have purchased it on Grocery Gateway and at Meat on the Beach on Queen Street W (near Queen & Rainford)

[Cat123]

I just saw this at the Metro at Yonge and Eglinton.

[Charles Yu]

No longer the case!! Sigh!!
Last time I went, the pate tasted very very gamy. Not that appealing!
Change of chef or impending change in ownership? May be?

[aser]

Well, JK is actually back in the kitchen running service due to cut backs in staff. So yes a lot of staff has left JK since last Nov.

Give the pates at Healthy Butcher a try, there is a chicken w/ gala apple and a duck w/ pear.

[airsey]

okay I just has the BEST chicken liver pate i've ever had in my life last night from the Grain, Curd and Bean on Dundas just west of Dufferin. It's a recent opening fine foods take out place. My family was raving over this pate.

[JennaBean]

I too love the pate at JKWB but Picnic on Queen east comes in a close second for me! And you can get it in little take away containers at Leslieville Cheese Market a little further east.

[edibleTO]

I'll have to agree with you that JK Wine Bar's chicken liver mousse is incredibly delicious. I've had that comes pretty close to rivalling it at Chez Victor in Hotel le St-Germain on Mercer St. recently. Also sublime, it comes on the Niagara charcuterie appetizer.

[ace123]

I had the chicken liver mousse at Stone Road Grille in NOTL couple days ago. It's light, smooth & favorful. The Riesling Charles Baker Picone Vineyard 2006 was a perfect match. I think it's as good as JK Wine Bar's version, if not better.

[Bigtigger]

Also very good chicken liver paté at Barberian's - served with warm toast and cumberland jelly as a starter, and quite reasonably priced too, I recall.

[Charles Yu]

Thanks ace123! However, NOTL is quite a bit of a drive for me from Richmond Hill. Especially just for some pate. So, what else is good from their menu to make my trip worth while?!

[ace123]

2 of us went to NOTL & Niagara Falls for 2 days. We went to Stone Road Grills for a late lunch.
We had :
sweet corn chowder w/ corriander oil & lobster oil. The corn was sweet & fresh & balanced with the light cream. It's very good but the portion was quite small.
Stone Road smoked salmon & cucumber 'sushi' rolls w/ tempura shrimp & ponzu sauce. It's a cucumber maki with smoked salmon on the outside. The 2 shrimps were curly & not with tempura batter. It's battered deep fried shrimp. Both the shrimp & the smoked salmon were good but the sushi rice was not right. It's too mushy.
Vintner's lunch - REST's signature cured meats, salamis & pates w/ Artisanal cheeses & home preserves. The chicken liver mousse was outstanding.
we didn't order more food as we had reservation at Treadwell 4 hrs later.
Chcek out their menu. The dinner offers a lot more choices.
http://www.stoneroadgrille.com/menus....

[Mila]

Haven't tried the JKWB pate but have tried Herb's which I thought was excellent. I also like to throw in a suggestion for the pate at Batifole. It is silky smooth with a brulee crust, not a huge portion but enough for such a rich appetizer.

[embee]

I haven't been to Herbs and never had pate at JKWB, so I don't have a basis for comparison, but have you ever tried Antoines chicken liver pate? It's widely available in Toronto, including at many supermarkets, and it's very tasty stuff.

(Antoines was a restaurant in the Eglinton/Avenue area during the seventies. The pate was so popular that the owner/chef closed the restaurant and went into the pate business - which is still going strong.)

[Charles Yu]

Yes I have. However, found it no where near as refined as the Herbs and/or JKWB version.

[Joobu]

I was impressed by the JKWB chicken liver pate. Here's a picture of the delectable dish:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sliua/56...

[Royaljelly]

Our first time @ JKWB this week and tried the pate platter. That chicken liver was amazing, almost like eating ice cream! Even rivaled some of the foie gras that I had in France (although a lot lighter). I almost didn't want to eat it with the thin bread slices, since it distracted from the heavenly smoothness of it. They also served 2 other pates, which were rather tough, dry and disappointing.

[Lemon Drizzle]

Having lived in Toronto for 10 years, my weekly trip to St. Lawrence market always had me purchasing Antoine's Pate. I've never been able to find one as nice here in the U.K. and so only enjoy it now whenever I visit! Do you know if the recipe could be found for it? Obviously would be kept top secret by me!!! Cheers

[embee]

Antoine's pate has been around since the seventies. It was the complimentary amuse at Antoine's French restaurant on Eglinton and proved so popular that he closed the restaurant and went into the pate business.

I've never seen the recipe myself. I'd be surprised if it wasn't requested by Toronto Star readers thirty odd years ago, and it could conceivably have been published in the Star during that era. He certainly wouldn't part with the recipe today.

[Lemon Drizzle]

Many thanks for your reply. I guess I'll have to make do with my annual taster trips!! IOr...I could send my friend out to buy some and check the ingredients but doubtful I could replicate it.

[Lotus Seedling]

I recently had the chicken liver pate at Rosebud... it was stunningly good. I'd have it every night if I could.

[Epicure3333]

Cava's (yonge and st clair) fois gras and squab liver pate is amayzing!!!! I highly highly recomend it.

[Charles Yu]

Tried the Squab liver and Foie Gras mousse ( one of four items on their chacauterie platter ) at Cava tonight. It was good and ultra creamy but I still find JKWB's version slightly more delicious ( personal preference, may be?! ). Overall, I find Cava's food so-so. In fact, I wasn't that impressed with Chris Macdonald's cooking whilst he was cooking at Avalon. Other dishes we ordered this evening were:
- Clams with chariso sausage. OK!
- Grilled Octopus. Rather tasteless.
- Fried salt cod cake. Way too salty.
- Beef tripe. One of the better tasting dishes. Tripe very tender but quantity extremely small.
- 48 hrs beef cheeks. Very tender but Torito's version much better value and tastier.
- Venison skewer. The highlight of the evening. Nicely done!
- Papas fritas. At $9, way too expensive for a cone of French fries. They only charge $7 at Splendido!
- Catalan custard dessert was OK
- Molten chocolate cake. Amongst the best in town

$180 for two excluding service. For that amount of money, I would head down to Pastis for a much tastier and cheaper meal!

[Pebbles]

I LOVE the chicken liver pate at JKWB. Always consitant and I always have it!!!

[Bigtigger]

Indeed it is good. But I'd argue it is even better - and served with more toothsome sides and in a larger portion - at Barberian's.

[skylineR33]

Was there actually last Friday dined at the restaurant side and the place is full house ! So strange it is empty on Saturaday.