On Tuesday evening, we were invited to the #JFTweetup at Joe Fortes. Although the forecast called for rain all day, as you can tell by the sunny photos, the sun couldn't help but shine on us on the patio! We sampled on some of their new menu items, some from brunch, lunch and dinner. This is a picture of the highlights of the food, as well as shot of Fred about Town with the general manger, Scott Garrett and the executive chef, Wayne Sych. For a refreshing bite, we started off with Grape <Tomatoes and Mini Bocconcini. Drizzled with just a touch of balsamic, these skewers are as tasty as they are pretty. This is anything but your average sandwich, these Lobster Rolls are stuffed chockfull of sweet and juicy lobster and shrimp. A touch of green and red onions gives a nice contrast to the mixture. And no complaints about the seafood to bun ratio here either. The house baked bread is soft but hearty enough to hold everything in. And this is their amazing Seafood Tower, complete with crab legs, steamed clams & mussels, scallop ceviche, smoked sockeye salmon and poached jumbo prawns. This normally comes with oysters as well, but with their own shucking station set up, they were left off from the platter. We were very spoiled as these towers were refreshed frequently. And if you think that Joe Fortes is just for seafood-lovers, you'd be wrong. Take this Beef Tenderloin on a Potato Rosti as an example. The beef is a perfect medium rare, with a nice crust and a red tender centre. The potato rosti is also amazing. The crunch on these were almost audible. It was a good addition to the mostly seafood menu. Another non-seafood item is on the brunch menu. I haven't tried this before so I am so glad they served it as a sample today. This is the iconic Chicken & Waffles, a classic blend of savoury and sweet. The waffles had a nice crunch but were moist on the inside. The crispy coating served well to hold up against the breaded chicken breast. The topping isn't all sweet, with a touch of maple brown butter blended with a slightly spicy chili glaze. If you loved contrasting flavours and textures, this is a must-try. And no tweetup is complete without dessert and the highlight for me was their Mini-Strawberry Shortcake. Little baked biscuits with a bit of creme anglaise and strawberry halves. Having these in little bites can be dangerous, after all, three bites of dessert isn't too much, is it?

Take Note:

• Joe Fortes has an amazing patio, and it's a perfect spot to soak up the sun in the summertime.
• They have an amazing Happy Hour menu, 4-6pm everyday, yes, even weekends.
• For weekday lunch, their $9.95 Blue Plate Special is a great deal for downtown! 

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