THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED The Southside

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED The Southside Restaurant Review:

The décor is both sleek and comfortable in this tiny, 38-seat contemporary restaurant. Stainless steel, a pressed tin ceiling, open kitchen, comfy padded chairs, black and orange accents and a small bar with flat-screen TV all meld together for visual appeal. Chef Patrick Wiese, once Oprah’s personal chef, left Chicago for Toronto to head up Fuzion before being lured away to The Southside. On many dishes, he interplays hot and cool temperature foods as well as hot-spiced and cool-spiced eats (like chili, fresh ginger and cayenne for the heat and mint, custard or cucumber for the cool). The result, often, is excitement for the palate. A tuna duet contrasts hot-seared Hawaiian big eye, ginger and wasabi-spiced risotto with a cool tartare parfait and sweet avocado mousse. A Nova Scotia lobster martini features lobster atop hot garlic mashed potatoes with chilled osetra caviar. Sometimes the chef over-reaches and puts too many notes on the plate. More intellectually interesting than sumptuous are the desserts, which combine the heat of, say, chili and cinnamon into a chocolate brownie alongside chocolate gelato and mousse. The short wine list is still a work in progress, but there are plans to expand it as time and money allow.