Y.E.E: Scotch & Seafood Elite Dinner

MIND BLOWN
WHAT THE WOW, I thorough enjoyed this event.
THUR ROW LEE
I was commenting ALL NIGHT how the food was amazing and how PASSIONATE the chefs were! These chefs are masters!!! I love that they experiment with different food and tastes and I love how they are so humble about it.
THIS is the true definition of fine dinning. And I would pay millions.
(Okay, maybe $hundreds because I don’t have millions)
All other «fine dining» places can move aside! I hope to come back to Breakwater and experience their regular menu!
To those who missed out (you guys truly missed out, get on on the GTA Elite list asap! Or politely ask Kris to reveal his event-​planning secrets. how does he do it?):
— Salmon (THE ENTIRE SALMON, the «average» GIANT size) was baked in CLAY. CLAY? Oh yes, you know like the brown clay that you worked with if you took a high school arts class, under section Ancient Egyptian Art****. One of the chefs had to hand sculpt the salmon scales and eyes, it’s a masterpiece! –See photos! ****not the same clay, of course
— The appetizer was two-​bites, literally: (1) Nova Scotia Lobster, wakame seaweed, and skinned cucumber (2) Sturgeon Caviar (omfg) and Malpeque oyster.
— BEFORE the meal: bread + butter. Regular butter was provided but they also made THEIR OWN BUTTER: baked rainbow trout plus a bunch of other things. Do they sell this in a jar???
Sorry, Kris, for taking me this long to write the review!
Lastly: the scotch. You know what would totally be amazing? If Mark (the knowledgeable and passionate scotch teacher that night) carried a few bottles for sale! Yeah, we wouldn’t mind buying some as souvenirs!
This wasn’t just a dinner, you know? It was like a tour! Hells ya I was actually taking notes!
Thanks Kris, you are an event artist!
And
Executive Chef: Adrian Rusyn (Breakwater Fine Dining)
Scotch Ambassador: Mark Laverdiere (Highland Park Scotch)
Sommelier: Paul Borys

Am I ever glad I came here! What an awesome experience.
I really enjoyed the Scotch and Seafood Dinner at Breakwater. I would never know the difference between 12 year old and 15 year old scotch if it wasn’t for this dinner. Nor would I know how to drink it. I liked that you could add water to it. I never knew that before!
I loved the food, my favourite being the poutine. I would go to Niagara for the Niagara gold cheese we had, it was amazing!!!
The chef was great, the place was beautiful, and the food was delicious.
This would be the perfect little spot for an anniversary dinner and it’s nice that it’s so close to home.
Bonus: free parking unlike downtown.
Great job to Kris and everyone involved. I had a fantastic time!

Scotch and Seafood, two of my favourite things that start with the letter «S».
This event was all kinds of awesome!!!
Kris, this was one memorable Unilocal soirée!
I’ve hung out in Port Credit before, but I haven’t had the opportunity to check out Breakwater Restaurant. The venue is situated next to the water, with a patio and private rooms for functions. The décor was elegant and it was a perfect venue for a tasting event. I didn’t know that it is one of the few CAA Four Diamond establishments in West GTA.
This event was different from other Unilocal events.
There were only 30 lucky Unilocalers which made for a personal and more intimate event.
The tables were set up like a large «U» so that we could all have unobstructed views of Marc while he introduced us to the wonderful world of Highland Park scotch .
I wish all the classes I took in University had scotch tastings.
– I might have stayed until the end of class!
There were four scotches and four unique tasting courses.
The tasting menu was crafted just for us Unilocalers — Aw, aren’t we special! =)
Chef Adrian Rusyn was incredibly creative and the presentation of each course was like a work of art.
The first course was oysters, caviar, and lobster in jar.
I asked for more bread… I didn’t want to leave a spoonful behind!
The second Scotch was a 12 year and it was served with a Breakwater version of poutine. The poutine was served deconstructed with crab meat and a delightful potato croquette. The croquette was crispy but super soft and creamy on the inside. Sauce… yuuum.
I really like the 15 year old scotch served with the cleverly named course «Earth and Ocean». This was the main course and it was impressive!
It was a giant clay baked salmon with mushrooms served on a pastry shell!
The salmon was so tender and juicy!
For our last pairing, the bold 18 year scotch was paired with sweet, decadent, and luxurious chocolate dessert.
It was a Chocolate Ball unlike any chocolate ball I have tried before!
Before we dug into dessert, the waitstaff came around and poured a hot raspberry sauce onto the chocolate ball causing it to collapse. There were dried raspberries inside that added a bit of crunch to the melty-​mousse inside.
Overall, this event was executed flawlessly in terms of organization, service, food, liquor, education, and fun! This was one of my favourite Unilocal events to date!
Yay Unilocal!=)

Wow! This was a excellent intro to the world of scotch and fine food!
The setting is the excellent Breakwater restaurant.
What more can I add after reading Derek L’s fantastic review?
He summed up the event perfectly!
I was here to eat, learn to drink single malt scotch and take pics and lots of pics I took!
See the gallery!
The only thing I have to add is because the portion sizes were very small, I left slightly hungry…

Walking through the light rain into Breakwater Fine Dining, I noticed the Aston Martin parked outside. «Possibilities abound», I thought. As I stepped into the elegant dining room, I was caught in the steely gaze of Kris U. Obviously he was the man in charge. A few quick introductions to his Elite crew, and then we got down to business.
We all took our assigned positions around the giant U-​shaped table. In the middle of the U was a rustic clay sculpture of a fish. «Nice catch», I thought as I assessed the sultry brunette that just walked in. Kris opened the meeting and introduced his two «specialists». Mark, the ‘Ambassador’, handled the wet work, and Adrian ‘Chef’ Rusyn was the ‘arranger’.
The Ambassador laid down the big picture, and directed our attention to the 4 glasses of premium Scotch. The real good stuff! He implicated the Chef in his grand scheme– it was easy to see the two were in cahoots. Pairing scotch and seafood? Pretty brazen scheme!
The first course was a delicious roll made to match the salmon butter, infused with a layer of bacon fat. This was obviously the gateway drug. We all finished the portion and went into immediate withdrawal. We needed more! About a litre more! Each!
Next, we were confronted with a devious mechanism. Perched on top of an upside down wine glass was a perfect medallion of lobster on a slice of cucumber. We had to dispatch the lobster before we could turn over the glass to reveal the treasure underneath. It was an oyster with caviar shooter. Multiple shots rang out as everyone fired the shooter into their mouths. Another challenge consumed with gusto.
We almost didn’t notice the attempt to confuse us. Poutine? A potato croquette, with a chunk of king crab, rested on a slice of Niagara Gold cheese in a gravy made from crabmeat. Poutine never tasted this good! My arteries groaned with relief at this healthier rendition.
‘Chef’ brought out the heavy artillery. Armed with a mallet, he approached the clay fish, pummelling it mercilessly to reveal an entire poached salmon, still steaming. His henchmen placed a healthy serving onto a small croissant, surrounded with enoki mushrooms. He punctuated the dish with a drizzle of fresh hollandaise sauce. If salmon could be a desert, it would be «salmon pudding” – so moist and tender.
We were almost defeated, when Chef delivered his killing blow: a chocolate sphere filled with a chocolate mousse on a crème anglais. But before he let us tackle the final challenge, he poured a hot raspberry compote over the sphere. We gasped in horror as the sphere imploded into a gooey mess of delicious, warm chocolate. Chef just laughed at our angst. He was clearly enjoying himself.
Between each assault, the Ambassador amused and educated us about the tools of the scotch gang’s trade. He rolled up his sleeve to prove he was hardcore. I had never seen a man tattooed with his Highland Park Scotch logo – I knew he was not a man to be trifled with!
We had passed the initiation. Boss Kris awarded us our gang colours with the Unilocal logo on the front. We the Elite were now ready to review establishments everywhere, using this experience as our benchmark. You think your joint is worth five stars? Ha! Not after this! Youse gotta try harder, got it? Or maybe I gotta sic the ‘Chef’ on ya…

Ok, I’ve been to a lot of Unilocal elite events in the last 3 years but this one takes the cake. Holy crap. Kris, this was ridiculous. If you keep this up, we’re going to end up destroying earth in some way or another.
I loved this event because it combined a bit of education on scotch with some off the hook dishes by chef Adrian; each paired with its each specific age of scotch. Oh did I mention that they made a completely customized menu just for us? I was completely breathless with what we got. Every dish was an adventure.
Honestly, I didn’t know that much about scotch, but this was enlightening. Loved having Mark walk us through scotch and his passion for scotch showed in how much he loved it.
I can’t wait for the next event like this as I’ll definitely be the first to sign up. What a great event. Super job!

Wow.
This was my first Unilocal event and Kris — have you ever set the bar. Spectacular. There really aren’t enough adjectives to describe how well this event was done.
First, Marc Laverdiere as our Scotch Ambassador was incredible. His passion for scotch was infectious and the history and context he provided added hugely to the dimension of the experience. Similarly, the Executive Chef Adrian Rusyn was engaging, sincere and deeply generous with the effort and time he placed in creating the night. As an ambassador for the restaurant, he could not have served them better.
Then there is the meal itself… you can read the menu in the photo I posted but it doesn’t do the dishes justice. The clay baked salmon was broken in front of us and unfolded steaming from banana leaves. It was tender, moist and cooked to perfection. The chocolate ball had hot raspberry sauce poured over it. The sauce collapsed the ball and melted it into the mousse interior. It sat on a light cream sauce that ideally complimented the desert. All the while, each dish was paired with a scotch of Marc’s choosing. At the onset of each course, Marc gave a description of the process and history of the scotch and a rational for pairing.
To highlight how every much thought and effort had been put into every detail, even the butter had been made from scratch that day. Moreover, the freshly baked bread was served with a separate seafood and butter spread that exploded with flavour. Amazingly this might have been my favourite part of the meal and it wasn’t even heralded on the menu.
We owe a debt to Chef Adrian Rusyn who really went all out to make this such a remarkable evening. Also to Marc for sharing his passion and of course to Kris for pulling it all together. Well done!