We went to see the Band from TV on Sunday Night. It was fantastic. The performance was wonderful and the actor/musicians were friendly and approachable. Jessie Spencer (House) and James Denton (Despirate Housewives) were even cuter in person than on TV. Teri Hatcher was gorgeous and so incredibly thin (much thinner than on TV). I would whole-heartedly recommend seeing them if they are in your area. Jesse Spencer is an incredibly talented violinist (check out this little duo of the Devil went down to Georgia) Jessie and James performed it on Sunday night. The ‘lead’ singer was Bachelor Bob Guiney; he had a great voice and really belted out the songs. Teri Hatcher sang about 5-6 songs and she also did great. The guys came down into the audience several times. JT caught one of the T-shirts they threw into the crowd. It’s an Xtra Large so I’ve got a little idea I’m playing with. Since they got together six years ago, they have been able to donate three million dollars to charities around the world. It’s such a lovely thing.
They performed without a break from 7 (and they DID start on time) to about 8:45, with a little encore at the end. Our 9pm reservations at AG was perfectly timed!
AG Restaurant is within Sterling Inn on the Canadian side of the falls. It’s a little off the beaten path but JT and I have stayed there a couple of times and know that the restaurant is one of the best in Niagara Falls. It was not busy at all (this is relatively low season for this area). Niagara is in the midst of one of our Wine growing areas and AG features many local wines on their wine list (as do most of the higher end restaurants in the area).
Flat Ruthie was feeling invigorated after seeing Jessie Spencer and James Denton and decided she had to come with us (so much for our romantic get-away!). She just wouldn’t shut up about it.
Because we were eating so late, we decided we would only have appetizer portions; I was happy I did, they were very satisfying without being too filling. I started with the Gingered Carrot Velouté and lime and soy shrimp salad, chantilly – it was a little salad in the midst of a rather large bowl, the waiter poured the velouté around the salad. It was delicious. JT began his journey with the “Bonnie and Floyd” Fifth Town Cheese Baked in Phyllo with a shallot marmalade, chestnuts, “Pingue” Abruzzi and yellow beet salad. It too was quite tasty and beautifully presented. My next course was Beet Cured Atlantic Salmon with apple fennel waldorf, caper and yellow beet salsa, caraway cracker (I think they forgot the caraway cracker, but it didn’t matter to me, I likely would not have eaten it since I am not a fan of the caraway seed!). The beet cured Salmon was such a gorgeous red colour. I wish I had taken a photo of it. JT had the Steak and Mushroom Pie which was a marinated flank steak, bacon sautéed mushrooms, Waterloo dark, classic flaky pie crust, thyme creamed onions. Very tasty. And all very small portions, but the flavours were so wonderful that you felt quite satisfied.
The service was wonderful and the waiter was quite chatty which we enjoyed. We closed down the joint around 11pm and headed back to our hotel. A very fun evening indeed.
Overall rating of AG (in my opinion): Decor 4/5, service 4/5, food 4/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 5/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).
Disclaimer: We purchased our meal for full price and my opinions just that, my opinions.
I’m bookmarking this post. I never have been to Niagra Falls and want to go with the kids and hubby this summer! thanks for the reviews and have a great weekend! 🙂
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Thank you Lisa, I hope you have a great time this summer. July and August tend to be extremely hot and humid in Niagara.
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I had no idea Jessie Spencer was a violinist! I feel quite proud as he is Australian 🙂
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Hi Lorraine, you should! Jessie was incredible and pretty hot at that!
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I’d like a bite of JT’s Bonnie and Floyd — that sounds tasty! Glad you had fun, but sorry to hear that Flat Ruthie was such a chatter box…
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Thanks Barb, I’m sure she love to meet you!!!
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What a fun evening! I didn’t even know this band existed…shows how much I’m up on things. 😉 And dinner sounds like it was great. I’m so glad you guys got a weekend away! It sounds like it was a blast.
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Thanks Kristy. We get ads for the Casino in Niagara all the time; we heard of it last year but couldn’t go, so when it came up this year, JT booked it. It was a very good weekend!
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What, no dessert? I often skip dessert, but I always look at the dessert menu and sometimes I plan my meal around it!
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I am not much of a dessert eater, Sharyn, and JT is trying to watch his girlish figure (;-)) We generally don’t even look at the dessert menu, I know it’s criminal, but we have to control ourselves somewhere! I would imagine their desserts would be TDF, the appetizers sure were.
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Sounds like a great time, Eva. Although I’d heard of the Band from TV, I’d not heard a review from someone who had actually seen them perform. I’m going to check out their touring schedule to see if Chicago is among their tour dates. Thanks for the heads-up!
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It was super cool, John. They are great entertainers, talented and that they are doing it for charity makes it even better. I surely recommend you see them.
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Hi John, just a recap on this, I see that the Band from TV is playing again in February in Niagara Falls. You should make the trip up to see them, it was a blast. Sadly this year Terri Hatcher will not be with them, but Jesse Spencer will 😉
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I go to Niagara Falls for work a few times a year. I have been wanting to go to that restaurant. Sounds great!
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Welcome Steve, thank you for commenting. Depending on the time of year you go, you will need reservations. Hope to see you back here again, I’m reviewing a few restaurants in the area.
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I would have loved to have been at that gig. What tremendous talent. I’ve heard Teri Hatcher is fabulous and that she started out as an entertainer on cruise ships. That’s where she was ‘spotted’ and from there to Hollywood. I’m sure it must have been an amazing show.
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Teri Hatcher was amazing, but what was even more amazing was their humility Charlie, it was so refreshing to the stuck up bands that come through Ontario. I had heard that Madonna was over two hours late for her performance at the Rogers Centre (last year?). It’s just so disrespectful to the fans. This group was super cool and super normal. Why if I had an aisle seat, I likely could have even touched Jessie Spencer. That’s a very cool fact about Teri Hatcher. First time we saw her was on Seinfeld with the “they are real and spectacular” skit.
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