Jump Cafe

Team outing (where the boss picks up the tab for the evening) is considered a perk of business travel, and it's about the only opportunity where I get to dine at restaurants way out of personal budget, or go wild on ordering wines listed at the opposite price range of the area where my choices often are restricted to. However, one drawback is that since we go out while we're out of town -- that is, on the weekdays -- the supposed hot spots where I'm told things are smoldering and cookin' on Thursday nights or weekends tend to be rather 'ordinary' when I get to go.

One such places is Jump Cafe.

The food itself is nothing spectacular. The lineup is the usual suspect of 'American bistro' fare -- steaks, common seafood items (salmon steak or tuna filet) and fancy salads -- and while the beer list has some interesting local choices, it's rather ordinary (that is, for Toronto standards, which always include European and Canadian beers that are not so common in American restaurants). In an attempt to try dining healthy, I opted for the seared ahi-tuna, but it came out overcooked (you can tell that they've seared it way too long) and the garnishes were nothing spectacular. With just about any places that serve $10+ entrees offering similiarly prepared tuna dish, I guess I should not have expected much. The desserts, on the other hand, were excellent; I ordered Italian ice and five fresh scoops arrived in a bowl that didn't last two minutes before my spoon was scooping up the last remaining bits off the bottom of the dish.

What was memorable about Jump Cafe, however, was the interesting mix of industrial accents (metal frames for the green-house like effect), modern design on fixtures and decorations (like the oversized free-standing lamps), and deep mahogany shelves and bar -- definitely cool and trendy. I can imagine how this place will be jumpin' with young, beautiful patrons on Thursday nights.

Regardless of the timeliness of my own visits to these supposed hot spots, it's visiting places like this when I make mental notes to return with my friends some day. It's sad that there are myriad places like this filed in my memory of all the different places I've visited over the years on the road that I've yet to return.