Dining with my partner at the new Annalena, helmed by Michael Robbins of Season 4 of Food Network’s Top Chef Canada in 2013, was a gastronomic delight. An airy, playful, chicly decorated space welcomes you to linger with its deep. plush black leather banquette booths and lively conversation surrounds its rec-room lighting and decor and very hip Kidrobot Munny toys, Darth Vader alarm clock, and Lego sculptures throughout.

We started with a grilled octopus salad, cooked sous-vide, cooked perfectly tender with a hint of grill char. Served with fingerling potatoes, sauce gribiche, and lobster mayonnaise, I really enjoyed the umami flavours that lingered on my palate.

My dining partner had a refreshing and elegant Clockwork Blood Orange, a concoction of Bombay gin, aperol, blood orange tea, lemon and bubbly. I paired with the seafood a balanced and fruity Sea Star Blanc de Noirs rosé wine, made from Pinot Noir grapes, punctuating the strawberry, rhubarb, and cranberry flavours of the wine.

We moved on to the unexpected presentation of the garlic confit lobster, seared mirepoix, potato, lobster bisque and lemon gel. The dish arrived as a frothy cloud with generous fronds of dill. The sweet, tender morsels of the lobster and strong personality of the broth stood up well to the wine.

We concluded our gastronomic journey with a perfectly prepared sous-vide Wagyu beef short rib, seared and served with peppercorn jus, sunchoke purée, peas, sunchoke chips, radish and pea shoots, and tiny potatoes carved into tinier mushroom shapes. It was a melt in the mouth cut and was the highlight of our first trip in search for well executed modern comfort food.