By Pepper Parr
October 23rd, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Having gone through a serious lock down Burlingtonians began to look for ways to at least try to get some normality into their daily lives.
Dealing with what the school board has been able to do, figuring out what the Parks and Recreation department has made possible, and learning to live with social distancing and hand sanitization, the idea of getting out for a drink or having a meal with friends has been a bit of a challenge.
The Gazette took up the opportunity to report on the Taste of Burlington, a program that has restaurants in the city offering attractive meal opportunities in an attempt to coax people out of their homes and into the restaurants where rules to ensure public safety were in place.
The Taste of Burlington is a program gone run by the city’s Tourism and Events Department. The once vibrant Burlington Restaurant Association has gone disappointingly silent as its membership struggles to stay alive.
Rahoons Persian Eatery at Village Square
For Michele Bogle the three things that matter when she is doing a review are: the service, the plating and the flavours. In the seven reviews she did for the Gazette the flavours at Rahoon’s stood out.
Knowing that there are serious public health concerns, Bogle was watching for how the restaurants were dealing with the need for the highest possible levels of cleanliness. She would have liked to have seen sanitation stations front and center – yes “they would have looked a little cluttered” she said “but it was important for people to be able to see the station and use it”.
Bogle found the devices to take temperatures were iffy at times. The small device that is placed near the forehead didn’t leave Bogle feeling all that comfortable. “They had to do my forehead twice in one place” said Bogle who found she was very comfortable with the full facial scanner.
The customer space was always done up nicely: tables were not set, staff were all wearing masks. Bogle said she “would have liked to have known what was going on in the kitchen” and wondered if perhaps a monitor could not have been set up with a camera trained on the kitchen so the public could see how health precautions were being carried out.
There were line ups – it was a Saturday night.
Traffic in many of the restaurants she reviewed was slow, which Bogle added was “being polite”. Her review of Turtle Jack’s reported line ups of people waiting to get into a space that was limited. “To be fair, many of the reviews were done during the week when patronage was slow.”
“People”, said Bogle “were not ready to go out”. I had to take my children with me, none of my friends were up to going out.
The Taste of Burlington is an event put on and promoted by the Tourism and Events department of the city. The hospitality sector decides if they want to take part. The event has those participating offering menu choices that are reasonable priced using prix fixe menus.
This year there weren’t very many restaurants from the ethnic communities taking part. “Everyone loses when that happens” commented Bogle.
“As an amateur cook and foodie, I find it difficult to be impressed when I dine out because I’m most particular about flavour profiles. Good service is a great part of the dining experience. I found service in most of the restaurants that I visited in this event to be above average.
“People in this position recognize the role that they play is not only to extract the greatest tip percentage at the end of each meal; but that their livelihood stands in the balance should the guests not have an ultimate dining experience. Plating is almost as important as the taste and more and more restaurants are on board with this reality.
“ I found most of the dishes I experienced in the past few weeks looked as delicious as they tasted. Finally, the flavours: I was impressed with many individual elements from various restaurants. I even had the pleasure of being introduced to new and exotic flavour combinations.
“Whether your reasoning for going out, be it social, to have an intimate dinner, or just because you’re too tired to cook for the family that day, a setting appropriate for any mood or event to celebrate can be found in a restaurant in the city of Burlington.
Eating out doesn’t just need to be an escape from the kitchen; it can be an ‘experience’. One to be enjoyed with friends or family.
“After your own research, if you can find some comfort level, even enjoying one of the participating restaurants on the patio, now is the time to support your local restaurants. If you wait until we are free of restrictions again, it may be too late for some of our city’s favourite eating establishments.
Burlington restaurateurs appreciate your continued support. There are three days left to the event- Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Asked how much weight she had put on dining out three nights a week Bogle said. “That’s not a question I want to answer.”
The restaurant reviews:
