Jump

My sister was celebrating her birthday and wanted to go somewhere for Winterlicious with my mom, my husband, baby, and me. My friend had recently started working as the chef de cuisine at Jump and I had been meaning to visit, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Restaurant: Jump

Location: Downtown Core

Meal: Dinner

Day: Friday

Son's Age: 10 months

I actually found out after the fact that there is parking available, but since I didn't know that, I chose to park at Eaton Centre and walk the Path all the way over. I figure this is worth noting if you are obsessive about keeping your baby out of the cold in the winter like I am. Jump is an Oliver & Bonacini restaurant so the expectation for food quality was quite high.

Accessibility: ⭐⭐
This restaurant is located downtown and is more upscale, so clearly the restaurant is not designed to accommodate babies. There are stairs to go up just to get to the door, so it's a good thing we chose to forego the stroller. The good news is that they did have a high chair available.

The washroom is nice but does not have a change table. Luckily I did not need to change diapers, but if necessary, there is counter space by the sink.

Not ideal if you have a squirmy baby but it'll do in a pinch. 

Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As I mentioned, this is an O&B restaurant so expectations are high, and the staff certainly met them. They had the high chair ready for baby and they checked in to make sure we had everything we needed. Our server brought a bowl of hot water to heat his food, which I forgot to take a photo of, but it's in the background of this photo of drinks.

The server happily interacted with my baby and was also very cautious to keep hot dishes out of his reach. I have a mild tree nut allergy (among other things but let's not dwell on that), and the server made sure my food and my husband's food was but free, since I mentioned I would try some of his. The chef also came by our table to chat, and he was so friendly (okay yes I said I know him! But I promise he's usually friendly too!)

Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So unfortunately, since I am two months behind in my blog posts, I don't remember exactly what my drink was, but I know it was specialized for Winterlicious. I started my meal with the keys salmon and spinach turnover.

This was a great start to the meal, served with jalapeños and dill crema. The flavours all complemented each other nicely and the dish was light and satisfying. For my main, I ordered the duck confit.

This came with braised cabbage, currants, a cheese pierogi, and salsa verde. The duck was so rich and juicy, and it was a great offset to my appetizer. The pierogi was an interesting choice that I would normally not expect to be paired with duck confit, but it actually worked really well. For my dessert, I got the Ontario aged goat cheese.

I tend to have mixed feelings about cheese courses as desserts because I find that it's so easy to get lazy with them. This was served with caramelized honey and preserved fruit compote, with rosemary and a small biscuit. The accompaniments actually kept the dish sweet enough to serve as a dessert without muddling the taste of the goat cheese. I felt it was a nice ending to a delicious meal.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The food is definitely worth the visit and the service helps make it easier to bring baby, but it's clear from the setup and ambiance that babies are far from the target market. If you do come, I recommend you visit at off peak times (we had dinner at 5:30).