Lucien - take two

A few nights ago I had an impromptu fancy dins with my amazing friend Sarah. It was one of those nights that just changed the emotional trajectory of the day, from being sort of 'blah' (coming home after a work trip, thinking I would have to rustle something up from my bare fridge, and re-packing my bags for yet another trip) to being an 'I love Toronto' type of night. Sarah and Lucien - thank you! After a spur of the moment, late-afternoon text of 'let's meet up for a drink and catch up', we ended up agreeing that we should really get some use out of a soon-to-expire Groupon and head to Lucien. We grabbed a seat at the bar, stowed my carry on in the coat check and enjoyed a lovely meal and great conversation.

• Relish: It was a delicious meal. Sarah had the pea soup with crab and the pickerel, and I had the arugula salad, graced with slivered cucumber, a cucumber and dill mousse, pine nuts and pecorino. Light, a beautiful combination, and the cucumber mousse was a neat texture and provided a subtle dressing to the arugula leaves. I followed that with the waiters recommendation of the Alberta bison - and it was yummy. Beautifully displayed, the bison was cooked perfectly, piping hot and accompanied with a sort of multi-vegetable slaw, and some delicious mashed root vegetables. 
• Quaff: The house red was a montepulciano d'abruzzo, which went quite well with the bison. The rest of the wine selection was a bit uninspired, but it looked as though it had been updated from the last time I had been.
• Feel: Busy, bustling, I liked the feel, but not enough that I would hurry back - it almost feels like it's trying a bit too hard to be both chic yet edgy. We did get a few laughs at the expense of the odd business-types also seated at the bar - one gentleman having a 4 course tasting menu with wine pairings accompanied by his laptop, and the other who came in, wolfed down a yummy looking salmon, ate a basket of bread, and then promptly took off. 

It was great to try the place outside of summerlicious, but I wouldn't hurry back now that I've been. Either way Lucien (and sarah) - thanks for the fun night!