Le Select Bistro

Dining Experience: Lunch and Dinner

Venue: Le Select 

Specialty: Authentic French cuisine

Location: 432 Wellington Street West, Toronto, ON 

Menu items: Confit de Canard, Beef Cheeks, Bone Marrow and Mussels with smoked bacon

Le Select brings me back to my days in La France. It is an intimate, unique and perfectly decorated French bistro located in the heart of downtown Toronto; yet it gives you a feeling of space, elegance and tradition.
From their fantastic wine cellar located in the basement, to the outdoor garden in the back that lets you enjoy summer in a unique French way; this place holds a dear place both in my heart and appetite.


From duck, to beef cheeks and even bone marrow; Le Select's menu is unique, versatile, creative and oh so tasty. I never really do get enough of Chef Albert Ponzo's creations; his cooking style not only roots from tradition, but also from the heart.

A traditional Confit de Canard at Le Select presents you a savory duck leg with a very crispy skin. The skin is the key to a great tasting duck dish, especially if doing it the classical way. It's a rather difficult task because the chef needs to make sure the duck meat is not overcooked while the skin, well, almost is. And all this without getting a burnt taste or marks.


Going from complex to intriguing, Le Select's fantastic Beef Checks will definitely take you down the road of "different".

On the menu, this dish is called "Joue de Boeuf Bourguignonne". My eyes were quickly drawn to it as this was the first time I was ever trying beef cheeks...I mean is that even a part of the cow one eats?
Well ladies and gentleman, its not only a part we eat, its a part we should always eat! The cheeks are braised with red wine and cooked with mushrooms and lardons (aka bacon). The meat is juicy and quite honestly just feels like butter in your mouth. What a delicacy.


And with the topic of unique and different in mind, on the same night, I ventured deeper into it by also ordering (and potentially clogging an artery in the process) the famous Bone Marrow.

"Le Os de Cro-Magong", meaning bone marrow, is Le Select's featured appie item and one of the best executed items on the menu. The server not only makes sure you know exactly how this is eaten, but also Chef Ponzo ensures you indulge in it with the right accompaniments. For example, you just don't get salt, you get a special sea salt...and what you see its not just toasted bread, its toasted slices of baguette. So working your way through this dish is not only fun, but also experimental, tasteful and delightful.

And what will a French bistro be without Moules?

Mussels are a French staple in certain regions of France, and in Le Select, they are its featured seafood dish. These are Atlantic mussels steamed with a strong Quebec Ale beer with smoked bacon. In my mind, the creativity within this dish is the beer itself. It gives the dish that Je ne sais quoi that has you digging for your bread to get that one last bit of juice left on the plate.

Until next time Foodies!

Buen Provecho,

Foodies Inc.

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