Duck for Brunch at Prohibition Gastrohouse

When my friend Stella first told me about Prohibition and its menu full of confit, I knew I had to try it. Sunday brunch seemed like a good as time as any to indulge in flavourful, comfort foods on the menu at Prohibition Gastrohouse in Leslieville.

I had scanned the menu first thing in the morning before making our way to Queen East and had no doubt that I'd be having the benny canard, poached eggs with duck confit, served with potatoes and side of salad. If you weren't sure how eggs benedict could get better, it JUST did. Duck confit on my bennies was exactly the right mix amount of flavour and meat. There was plenty of duck confit piled on the delicious biscuit, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. It was perfect and not as heavy as you might have imagined it to be. I'm admittedly not a big salad eater, but the salad was fresh and a nice flavour cut into my indulgent brunch. There were other things appealing on the menu, such as stuffed french toast, pulled pork sandwich, but ultimately, Tony opted for the grilled cheese with pulled pork. He added mushrooms to the grilled cheese (nice touch!), and upgraded the side to duck poutine. The grilled cheese was very good, delicious bread served with side of fruit compote. The duck poutine, like my benny, was piled high with duck confit. Fries, cheese, duck and lots of gravy...this was not a dish for the weak of heart!

Prohibition Gastrohouse was a delicious treat for Sunday brunch, definitely worth the trek to Leslieville if you're not in the area. Might I suggest a stop at Bobbette and Belle for some cupcakes for dessert after, mango passionfruit is my fave :)

Prohibition Gastrohouse

696 Queen Street East

416-406-2669

myprohibition.com

VEGAS: Glorious Food in Sin City!

Vegas is one of my favourite places to eat in the world. You wouldn't expect a strip in the middle of the desert to have great seafood and Japanese food for example, but you can really find anything GREAT in Vegas. Here are some of the favourites and new places we visited for my friend's bachelorette...it's really not a complete trip without great food, right??

Bouchon: This Thomas Keller bistro only offers brunch on Sunday, so we just had to make a stop. My last visit was nothing short of amazing, including indulgence in chicken & waffles...how can you go wrong?The unfortunate part of a good and popular restaurant is that there was a long wait. We managed to find 5 seats at the bar eventually....but the challenge of eating at the bar is also that the bar tender kind of has another job to do too! It was also too bad they ran out of the special, which sounded just delicious: lobster and mushroom benedict! I decided on the corned beef hash, as I recalled Merrill's was so tasty the last time we were there. Lis ordered a pastry basket, which turned out to be quite large! But have no fear, we packed it up for a late night/morning snack in the room :) The food was good as expected with BIG portions but our experience tempered by the long wait both for a table and food - I don't recommend Bouchon brunch if you come hungry! However, I do appreciate the attention to customer service, with the bartender treating us to a champagne cocktail to make it up. Yum!

Shibuya: I LOVE Shibuya...no one ever goes to Vegas without my insistance they must try this restaurant at the MGM. Sometimes I worry I've hyped it too much and will leave people disappointed; but so far so good! Shibuya is best enjoyed family style, so we just plowed through the list and ordered a number of cold, raw, hot and tasty tapa dishes. I can never resist the rich-but-so-delicious lobster and scallop in uni butter or the king crab miso soup, but we also had kanpachi sashimi with truffle oil and yellowtail with yuzu - both fresh as can be! For warm dishes, we had soft shell crab tempura with lemon shichimi butter sauce, black cod and kurobuta pork crisp (I ordered because I didn't know what it was) which was actually quite delicious - braised pulled pork rolls with seared tofu on top. We also wanted a bit of starch so we shared 2 bowls of shrimp tempura udon, and the tempura is nothing to turn your nose at for being normal because that was some really good, fresh, and hot shrimp tempura! Even the simplest dishes are outstanding at Shibuya!

Society: This was my first time eating at Society in the Encore. I had looked up the menu online previously and thought the brunch menu looked pretty inviting! I liked the extensive "classics" selection in addition to a menu of various sliders...who doesn't like sliders!? I ended up with the "ultimate steak & egg slider", which was seriously the best breakfast sandwich ever, a filet mignon with scrambled eggs and creamed spinach (I had mine on the side but ended up piling most of it on anyways) on a bacon-cheddar muffin. SO GOOD! They also had a "lunch box" menu, which was a really good deal for a smaller 3 course lunch. We all tried different things, with Julie and Kris trying out the cream corn soup, ahi tuna sliders with shrimp chips (which really didn't look like sliders, imagine a white soft taco...like a Chinese mantou - steamed bun), and Jenn had the Oscar benedict (poached eggs with crab cake, asparagus and hollandaise). After our BIG brunch at Bouchon yesterday, we all thought Society was quite perfect - the food was good and just the right portion for us. The menu is extensive and I highly recommend a visit! You can also make a reservation in advance :)

L'Atelier: I've frequented MGM several times, so no doubt many of the restaurants I like are also there, including Joel Robuchon's L'Atelier. We wanted a treat for Julie and no better than some French share plates. We were kicked off with a unique amuse bouche, an avocado and grapefruit jelly which I quite enjoyed. Our mix of dishes included Iberico ham, a very smooth beef tartar (which I think Julie and I ate most of!), a veal which honestly kind of tasted like salmon, suckling pig confit, sea bass with chorizo, snapper marinated with lime and tomato, which was one of my favourites for its very light, fresh and unique flavour. A highlight was again, another seemingly simple dish, the L'Atelier spaghetti (carbonara) and we just couldn't enough! We even had room for some outstanding desserts - I just LOVED the red berries with coconut sorbet and the pineapple cream, vanilla wafer, with lime and lemon grass sorbet. Both surprisingly light and refreshing! We were also treated to a selection of sweeter treats to celebrate Julie's stagette, a little taste of everything was just perfect. Always be ready for a rich meal when going French, but it was oh-so-tasty!

Late night: I cannot live without late night eats, and I favour noodles and soup! There are two places to visit if you manage to scramble out of the bar before 2am: Noodle Asia at the Venetian, which offers traditional noodles, dim sum and congee - nothing fancy but definitely hits the spot; and Noodles at Bellagio, which is by far way tastier but also a bit pricy for a bowl of noodles! Noodles is normally a must-stop for me in Vegas, whether it is late night or during the day. I had beef stew noodles this time around...soo good and absolutely hits the spot! Authentic and delicious, can't ask for much more!

MONTREAL: Brunch délicieux à Le Cartet

I was in Montreal this past weekend for a stagette with 7 other girls, and a weekend in Montreal is incomplete without some great food (I should mention that this can happen without much planning because there is so much of it!). Thankfully, brunch is the bride-to-be's favourite meal and so we started our adventure filled Saturday with brunch at Le Cartet. It is a chic, open and friendly restaurant lined with long communal tables, which I love for the fun atmosphere, and also individual tables if you prefer. The restaurant was buzzing with people and by lunch, the front door was jam packed with those waiting for a table and others waiting to pick up a coffee or maybe some pastries and other goodies. We were treated to a deliciously moist and fluffy pastry with chocolate as an amuse bouche, and it was AMAZING! I knew there would only be good things to follow. Weekend brunch at Le Cartet features some big (individual) platters, allowing you to get a taste of many things - the brunch Cartet was popular, which included scrambled eggs, ham croissant, salad, goat milk cheese, salmon cake and more (the picture above is the brunch Sante with poached eggs...but you get the idea!). Although this platter of goodness was very inviting, I couldn't resist the call of the brunch du mois, a stuffed scone with shrimp and crab, served with salad and fig and papaya on the side. I swear it sounds even better in French! My stuffed scone did not disappoint, it was every bit as good as I expected with generous shrimp and crab (including a claw for good measure!). Even the salad was beautiful, looking so perfect it could have been fake, and fresh fruit is always welcome for brunch, particularly unique selection like figs and papaya. I enjoyed my buttery scone and lapped up every last drop of the shrimp and crab!

Le Cartet was a great experience - a fun, buzzing restaurant with good food is perfect for weekend brunch. I would definitely go again, if even just for another taste of that amazing pastry! Thanks MAB and Catherine for taking us to this great spot :)

Le Cartet

106 rue McGill

514-871-8887

lecartet.com

Vive La Brunch at Bonjour Brioche

Brunch is very much a part of living in Toronto, there are options galore all over the city, and most are small, quaint little places that have unique offerings with varying specials week to week. Some of our favourite places include Saving Grace (amazing but I recommend visiting on a not-so-hot day!), Aunties and Uncles (the BEST waffles), and Queen and Beaver (this is a dinner post, but the brunch is something a little different and in a lovely setting). This weekend, my friend Julie and I stopped in Bonjour Brioche in Leslieville for a visit. Brunch is great because it's a chance to catch up with friends and enjoy some great comfort food. I often thing brunch could be one of the most unhealthy meals, but oh-so-good, right!? Like most other favourite brunch locations, there are no reservations and it's first come first served...and your whole party better be with you. This worked to our advantage this time, as Julie and I were the first in the line-up to be a "complete" party, and so we were quickly seated on the covered patio, intimately at our little table, ready for our meal! Bonjour Brioche offers daily specials for omlettes, quiches, and sandwiches. The asparagus, brie and apple quiche was very tempting...but I also couldn't resist the call of the croque madame for a savoury taste. I should mention at this point that we had just come from another GREAT place in Leslieville, Bobette & Belle, for cupcake tastings...that is definitely a MUST STOP in the area (try the mango-passionfruit, I guarantee you won't be disappointed, I don't even like cupcakes that much and I love!).

My croque madame was great, with a perfect fried egg on top, served with a healthy side of salad. Julie had the omlette with smoked salmon and caviar - the egg was actually a tad bland but I supposed you really had to mix up the caviar. Our highlight I think was the passionfruit juice - it was fresh and delicious; and best of all, no skimpy little juice glass which is often my pet peeve!

I think I will definitely have to give the quiche and sandwiches a try. There's always next time!

Scrumptious Brunch at Saving Grace

Some of the best brunch places in the city are a little out of the way and usually one-of-a-kind. Saving Grace is one of those local secrets, a little restaurant tucked away on Queen West, almost hidden behind trees and with no obvious signage. We met our friend Jen there for brunch last week and were glad to have make the short trek out West.

There are no reservations at Saving Grace, but a waiting list on a small clipboard just inside the door that you need to put yourself on...and the wait can be long, but it is worth it! We enjoyed the cool breezes in the shade outside on a bench while we patiently waited for a table. Fortunately, there were only two tables ahead of us.

Once seated, we quickly discovered the one major downside of the restaurant - no AC. I hate to sounds like a brat, but no AC really is an issue! I just prayed that the food would prove me wrong and suffering the intense heat would be worth it. While Saving Grace has a regular menu, it was the specials on the chalk board that intrigued us. I decided on the open omlette with capicolla ham, caramelized pears and provolone, and Jen had poached eggs on spicy Italian sausage. My omlette was every bit as delicious and satisfying as the description sounded, with plenty of ham and cheese and sweet pears.

Saving Grace serves an almost hippy, artsy crowd, with savory and unique dishes. I'd bear the "no AC" heat again (they provided lots of water!), but would definitely prefer cooler weather to visit and try more/new items on the menu. I also recommend going early, because Saving Grace is a secret no longer, even being featured on Daily Candy's Toronto guide this past week!

NYC 2009: A Vibrant and Delicious Lunch at The Modern Bar Room

I always seem to save a great meal to look back on after we return from traveling. On our last day in NYC, we had a wonderful brunch at The Modern, found at the MOMA. I have said before restaurants that feature something other than JUST food usually loses some of the "taste," such as turning restaurants in towers and often museum restaurants; The Modern, however, was fabulous. We were lucky to sample yet another Michelin star restaurant on our short visit to the Big Apple and another James Beard award winner (best chef in NYC!).

Our Menu from the Bar Room:
Flounder tartare with yuzu juice - a firm tartare that was refreshing and unique. This dish surprised us at how simple and tasty it was.
Liverwurst (pate) with pickled vegetables - although I was not a big fan of the pickled vegetables, the liverwurst was delicious and very filling.
Poached egg in mason jar with Maine lobster - this was highly recommended on several food blogs. It was indeed a very beautiful and delicious dish. Eggs seem to be the latest ingredient to show up in various forms on fine dining menus.
Braised tripe with chick pea in a sort of ratatouille - this was very hearty and delicious! Felt like French home cooking.
Duck breast with pistachio sauce - I admit my duck craving was from the amazing meal we had at Momofuku Ko, this couldn't compare, but was served with a delicious sauce. Pistachio is another ingredient we've seen show up in several places.
For desert, we had a beautiful concord grade sundae, served with meringue. It was lightly satisfying and a great way to top off our already amazing meal.

I think every item on the menu at The Modern is worth trying - we looked around at our neighbours' dishes and they were all very tempting, the soup seemed especially popular in the chilly weather. This is surely a restaurant we will visit again. The Bar Room was vibrant and lively, filled with patrons of various ages and backgrounds. Surely everyone was there to enjoy the delicious French inspired cuisine! Make this a visit whether or not you are on your way to MOMA (we were very disappointed that the Tim Burton exhibit was sold out).

Vegas: A Whirlwind Weekend for Foodies!

Every year, we go away on a little trip for Tony's birthday. While it would make sense for us to stick to the East side of the continent - the deals to Vegas are simply too good to be passed up right now! For the price of one night in NYC, we were able to spend a full weekend in Vegas...so I thought, WHY NOT? We love Vegas! Last weekend, we made the whirlwind trip there with our friends Merrill & Jackie from Toronto and Sam & Surina from Vancouver - it was great to have them join us. Food, shopping, and the company of good friends...the weekend flew by before we knew it (and yet, it felt like we were there for days and days!).

We landed late at night, but the time change was on our side - after meeting up with Sam/Sur the 6 of us went for a quick bite at Fix at the Bellagio. I often feel like I am not meant to eat there - Tony and I have missed a reservation there in the past, and this time, we landed late and missed the "regular" menu. The late night menu was...ok, but not spectacular. We had lobster tacos (in fact, everyone at the table did!) and yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno. Merrill's kobe sliders looked delicious...and maybe more filling :)

After our quick meal we took a walk around the casino - for a Friday night, Bellagio was relatively dead. In fact, we were able to play craps for $10! Is that normal?? It was a short night, as we had planned an early start to the outlets on Saturday...

My first couple trips to Vegas did not include Premium Outlets - I was never a big outlet shopper, felt like I get caught up in buying stuff I don't really need but felt compelled by the GREAT deals. Besides, there is such good shopping on the strip already - Caesars forum (everything from Abercrombie and Victoria Secret to Dior and La Perla) and Fashion Show Mall (Nieman, Macys, Saks AND Nordstroms!?). But I must say, Premium Outlets in Vegas is prettttty good: BCBG, Burberry, Coach, cK and Kenneth Cole...to start. The deals are good! I picked up a fantastic Coach bag for my mom last year at a ridiculous discount, and this time, Tony found Kenneth Cole dress shoes for $35! Maybe it's the recession? I'm doing my part to stimulate the economy! The 6 of us split up and made our merry way through the many stores. It was a good day half indoors, half out :) And I think we all picked up some great bargains!

I had made reservations at one of our FAVOURITE restaurants - Shibuya at the MGM. Our waiter at the Alain Ducasse restaurant (Mix) recommended it during our first trip to Vegas together - who knew sushi in Vegas could be so good!? Shibuya is also where we fell in love with sake, the menu is extensive and educational, including pictures of bottles/labels, regionality and thorough taste descriptions. With each sake you try, they also present you with a Shibuya business card with the name on the back - so you never forget the great little drink you had! Genius! But the food is the hero of the show of course: Merrill and Jackie opted for the Omakase, a 9 course meal, which was the initiation of our love affair with this restaurant. - you really get the best Shibuya has to offer! Sam and Surina chose the futari for two, a family style tasting menu. Several of our favourites were included with this menu as well - such as the albacore with crispy onions, and lobster and scallop in uni butter. In fact, we ALL HAD the lobster and scallop in uni butter - yes, it's THAT good. Tony and I also had lobster miso soup, kobe beef tataki, toro tartare, tuna sashimi, miso black cod, and braised kobe short rib and seared foie gras. Needless to say, we were stuffed after this scrumptious meal. We had talked up this restuarant to our friends, and I was a little nervous it wouldn't stand up to their foodie expectations....thankfully, everyone walked away happy and satisfied, which made us all the more happy to have brought them there.

Merrill and Jackie then made their way to see O (the BEST Cirque and any live show, in my opinion), while the rest of us went to see Jersey Boys at the Palazzo. The show was FANTASTIC, the 2006 Tony Award winner for best musical lives up to all the hype. Not going to lie, I wasn't sure who Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were by name, but apparently, I did know a lot of the songs - like Big Girls Don't Cry, and Can't Take My Eyes Off of You! And the crowd was adorable - the average age must have been 60, and they just sang along with their old time favourites. We enjoyed the show even more than we thought we would - it is well writen, well performed and the music is fun. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting!

We sadly said good-bye to Sam and Surina Sunday morning, and made our way to Bouchon, by Thomas Keller, at the Venetian for brunch. Surina and I had had a wonderful dinner there last year for her stagette - but Tony had never been! Our meal was AMAZING...and food-coma-inducing. We started with less than impressive moulets et frites, but the rest was heavenly: chicken & waffles with chives, in a bacon and mushroom sauce (seriously, how can you go wrong with that!?); butter poached trout with green beans (I didn't know I could like the taste of trout so much!); a Croque Madam ( toasted ham and cheese on brioche); and the best corned beef hash ever. There was no bad meal on the table - and I think I need to go again to try the French Toast. That was definitely the best brunch I have ever had!

We walked off our excessive brunch with some shopping at Fashion Show Mall (seriously, the sales were unbelievable), and eventually made our way for dinner at Michael Mina. Unfortunately, this is another restaurant we are not meant to try - the boys' shorts were deemed inappropriate attire (isn't this Vegas???) so we never even made it to the table. Tony and I had previously missed a reservation at a Michael Mina restaurant in Miami. Instead, we had a lighter dinner (probably a good idea in hindsight!) at Noodles in the Bellagio. I have been there before with my parents, and although it's ridiculous to pay twenty-some-dollars for noodle soup, it's pretty darn good! The brisket soup tasted like it had been boiling for days, and my laksa curry noodle was uber delicious! This is a nice change from the luxurious food we had all weekend, can't take the Asian out of us!

So we left Vegas full and happy - another great trip, and I know we'll be back again. We just can't get enough of the world class food, shopping and service. I've done the student trip, the romantic/food/theater trip, the girls trip, the parents trip, now the couples trip and I've even had a 24 hour trip! What next? I'm sure I'll find a reason.

Eating at the AGO: FRANK

FRANK opened at the renovated Art Gallery of Ontario (a Frank Gehry building!) many months ago, but despite being only a couple blocks away, we have not made our way there - largely because of mixed reviews and my bias against restaurants in hotels/museums/towers etc...I figure the novelty is always inversely related to the quality of the food since it is not their primary raison d'etre. We decided to give it a try anyways and had brunch there last week with our friend and realtor, Holly.

Our food:
- we started by munching on some fries and mushroom perogies. Although the fries were not spectacular, I did like the apple mayo it was served with!
- trout potato hash with poached egg: this was voted the winner all around - the dish was a delicious mix of smoked trout, potato, hollandaise and an expertly poached egg.
- truffled eggs: this was my original item of choice, but it turned out to be fairly disappointing despite my love of ANYTHING with truffle oil. It wasn't quite enough, and there was nothing but egg and a bit of mushrooms.
- seafood pot pie: I enjoyed this comfort dish and it was a nice change from "chicken."

Overall, I thought the brunch was good, there are a couple items I'd like to go back and try. It's a chic place to hang out on a late Sunday afternoon with friends to catch up; but, it was relatively pricey for a casual brunch. The restaurant also did not demonstrate any unique aspects relating it to the AGO or Frank Gehry other than simply being in the same building and sporting his name - it could have been a restaurant anywhere, which was a pity and waste of the space. And randomly, I loved the tea pot and cup I was served with - too bad they didn't sell it in the museum shop, I definitely would have taken it home!