I have to admit this visit to ORO was four-fold: I had never been before; a number of individuals had enjoyed repeated visits to this establishment (old school); it had recently changed hands and was revamped a little; and one of our party members was also interested in trying it. I have to admit that I wasn't quite sure how much I enjoyed ORO at the end of the evening. I had all the packaging of its once high reputation (nice dining room, has character/is warm), but perhaps my palate has moved beyond items that look and sound pricey (and is for that matter quite pricey) but fail to be worthy of that state... I suppose I enjoy finding the best value for my dollars, and given how vast the Toronto dining scene is, I felt ORO's offerings (and mediocre - nothing against our server, I'm just not sure how fine, fine dining ORO is trying to achieve - high end service) left much to be desired. One could argue that the Winterlicious event makes it difficult for individuals to fairly assess a restaurant, and I am sensitive to that, however I do take the liberties of leaving the prix fixe menu in favour of the regular menu (or at least look for the stand out stars being offered) if the latter sounds more attractive. Excuses could be made for the kitchen on not being prepared for regular offerings, but I would beg to argue that if that is what they do 345 days a year, then it shouldn't be an excuse (if one looks at the ingredients featured, they are common enough, except for the squid ink pasta, to which I'd rather the restaurant pre-warn us that they may not have been fully capable of giving us a quality product - i.e. good pasta - because the kitchen wasn't prepared... if this was their quality product, than I must appologize as the price did not justify the product. Same goes for the 5 courses of lamb. I'd rather have stellar 2-3 choices, than 5 mediocre, dry, itty-bitty bits of lamb shrivelings (only the sausage fit in this category) on a plate). If the restaurant was unable to handle this, then they should have followed the example of C5 (which is in its first year in the event, while ORO has participated in the past) and focused on the prix fixe option alone (although a smart move, it made me a little sad). After seeing both the prix fixe option and what sounded great as the a la carte, I'm left with a "been there, done that" opinion. I don't see myself rushing back anytime soon, but would not shun the opportunity if invited. All the silverware were etched with ORO, something I didn't noticed until I looked at my pot of Earl Grey in the candle light.

Probably several hundred thousand dollars of coral and dzi beads here ===================================================== Ornaments make up most of the life savings of many Khampa families, and so play an important role in Tibetan families' lives as well as in announcing the social status of the wearers. They are saved up for over many years and handed down for centuries from generation to generation within families. Until very recently, these families were nomadic and have to move every few months because of the snowy seasons in the Himalayas, so Khampas have always needed to store their wealth in portable form. So being unable to store wealth in the form of estates or houses or land or in a bank, for millenia wealth has been stored in art, precious fabrics, and particularly into ornaments. Their culture is very conservative about the type of ornaments favored: for thousands of years jewelry made from amber, turquoise and coral have been worn because the stones are believed to hold spiritual power. Gold and silver and also naturally found in Tibet, and the use of these metals by the wealthy also goes back thousands of years. Their ornaments are very chunky, bold and colorful. While the gold earrings that Khampa women wear may have cost them a year or maybe several year's of their salary, ornaments carry so much social status in their society that probably didn't have to think twice about the purchase. To the Khampa people these ornaments have the utmost sentimental value and significance, because they are the physical remnants of generations of their ancestors hard work or success. what these people are wearing is not just their life savings, but also their family history and treasure. this culture has been around for millenia - archeological finds from the 1st century AD in the khampa area unearthed ornaments that are essentially the same in design and materials as today's are. there are also beliefs that the stones provide good luck and protection to disease. dyed red coral is the most sought after stone, but interestingly tibet is very very far from any oceans - all the coral is imported by traders! Religious symbols from Tibetan Buddhism frequency form the designs of pieces, however archeological finds show that the role of ornaments in Tibetan society and peoples' lives long predate the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet. Indeed the beliefs of spiritual protection being provided by coral, amber and turquoise probably originate from the ancient shamanic Bon religion.