Location:

432 Wellington Street West, Toronto

Cost: Approx $130 for 2

Every once in a while, you come across a really outstanding dining experience. One where there is not a single thing out of place or out of line.

Le Sélect is that happy place.

Within minutes of me running in to check if they had any room for dinner (I know they like to take reservations for lunch and dinner and it looked like the place was already packed with the Friday dinner crowd) and getting the A-Okay, to parking the car, we were being seated in a cosy corner by the window (and the heater).

Our server, Aleah, was attentive, not in the least bit snooty, and catered to our menu-questions with honest insight. None of the "I absolutely love everything on the menu"... she actually didn't care for some of the items, which was refreshing. Kudos to her.

We started with the antipasto (grilled eggplant, mushroom salad, artichoke, guacamole, and fingerling salad, $11.95) which was so flavourful I wanted to lick the plate!

Then we ordered the seared fillet of Pickerel with a red wine sauce lardons and chanterelles ($28.95) paired with a glass of Rhone wine ($12.25) (they have a gigantic wine list)

And the striped bass fillet "a la plancha", olives, tomatoes, chickpeas and artichokes ($26.95) paired with a glass of Chateau Pesquie ($10.75).

Both of our mains were absolutely delicious. The bass was slightly more flavourful than the pickerel because of the olives and chickpeas, but both dishes were yummy.

Both were divine....the lychee sorbet is made fresh and I thought it would look really nice in martini glass, like the lychee martini.

I suspect Le Sélect Bistro is more french bistro than a bistro in France, and 'cause I've never been to France, I like it. I also suspect I'm not the only one.