A Great Meal with Unique Touches at Table 17

It was a lovely long weekend to stay in town - fantastic weather made for some inspired outings.  We spent Sunday in the Beaches area, a nice getaway from our usual downtown life, walking along the boardwalk and strolling through the neighbourhood shops on Queen East.  After spending an entire day in the sun, we were ready for a nice meal to cap off our day and I immediately thought of Table 17 in Leslieville, on our way back into downtown.  Table 17 has an ever-changing menu, inspired by local and seasonal ingredients.  Sunday and Mondays feature table d'hote menu, a 3 course prix fix for $35 with 5 options each for appetizers and mains and 3 choices for dessert - plenty for any dining party!  Some items have additional cost but we were not swayed away and led our taste buds lead the way.  Not that the delicious 3 courses were not enough, but we also wanted to try the polenta with braised lamb shoulder, something for the table to share.  It was DELICIOUS, very fresh and not too creamy as is often my issue with polenta.  It was a nice way to start off our meal.

Now on to the prix fix:  to start, I had the pan roasted scallops served with fennel puree and candied orange.  Every bite was tasty, the scallops prepared just perfect, and the candied orange a surprisingly nice flavour accent.  Tony opted for an "off-menu" item, soft shell crab, fried in a light batter, seasoned and served in a fresh ramp soup/sauce (our server told us the ramps were picked at a local farm, picked and used at various restaurants in Leslieville!).  I thought my scallops were amazing but the special soft shell crab was definitely one of the highlights of the night!  It was prepared oh-so-lightly and I savoured every meaty bite.

For our mains, I was immediately sold on the trout served with Barrie farm asparagus with ricotta gnudi (I had never had gnudi before yesterday - it is like a "nude" ravioli, pasta filling without the pasta wrapping!  And sort of like a gnocchi but not so chewy and doughy...was GREAT!).  My trout was done well, and I loved the thick and delicious asparagus, it was a nice light meal for a hot day.  Tony had the cider braised pork with dijon spaetzle (another unique item, a soft egg noodle) which was also very satisfying, every bite was satisfying.  Our meals were incredibly well made and delicious.  Great food comes from simple flavours and fresh ingredients!

Dessert was also a treat, I opted for the apple bread pudding, served with this AMAZING apple butter.  I was extremely full but basically inhaled the dessert.  Tony was sold by the chocolate brownie served with a black sesame brittle.  It surprised us that the brownie was not too sweet, but very satisfying for a chocolate craving, and the sesame brittle was a unique touch.

We really enjoyed our meal at Table 17, it has been a little while since we've had such a great meal (hence the low posting activity...sorry!)  I have been following Table 17 for some time and regret not visiting earlier...but it's never too late to add a new favourite in the city.  It is a nice restaurant for a casual night out, intimate and warm with that neighbourly feel, or visit for a special occasion - the great food deserves some celebration, and you will be welcomed with great service.  The menu offers familiar favourites for a comfort meal along with some unique tastes and accompaniments.  Table 17 opened my eyes to several new foods and flavours, can't beat that for a good food experience.              

Table 17
782 Queen Street East
416-519-1851
www.table17.ca (reservations available on OpenTable)

CALGARY: Deliciously Wholesome Food at Boxwood Cafe

When we visit Calgary, we prioritize only two sorts of meals: steak and Vietnamese Pho (the best of all the places we've lived in Canada!). We have abundant fancy meal options in Toronto so we don't make a ton of effort to scope out new restaurants. Lucky for me, my friends know how much I love food and are happy to suggest cool new places that have popped up in the city. While looking for a place to catch up with my friend Andy, I could only suggest my old faves, Living Room, Brava and Big Fish - and since they are all still around, I assume they are still good! Andy had a better idea, and that's how we ended up at Boxwood Cafe, sister restaurant to long standing River Cafe in Princess Island Park.

Boxwood is standalone restaurant in Central Memorial Park in the Beltline area (bonus: ample street parking free after 6pm!). Upon entering, I immediately felt the bright, warm and welcoming atmosphere, like walking into a friend's contemporary cottage. There are small dinner tables for an intimate gathering, a tall share table for a more social experience, and I chose to sit at the end of the bar for a quieter catch-up and overlooking the food prep. Boxwood focuses on wholesome and sustainable food with a big of tree-hugger feel and I was ready to indulge!

To start, we nibbled on spiced almonds and pecans followed by house cured tuna served on creme fraiche. The two were great compliments, one boldly flavourful and the other simple and fresh. We also enjoyed refreshing drinks of ginger beer (not too strong and reminded me or the aromas we experienced in Thailand last year) and an unsweetened wild berry iced tea. Perfect pairing for our meal ahead.

I had the lamb with mint and white anchovy salsa

verde, simply served and very tender. As I expect, I was not asked how I like it cooked because I expect a great restaurant to show me how to enjoy it! The simplicity of the food highlights how fresh the ingredients are! Andy had roasted chicken served with a roasted butternut squash and tomato stew that had a hint of curry. Both dishes featured juicy, tender meat that was

good on its own, with a side of freshly made accompaniment to add colour and character. I really enjoyed the clean, natural flavours. To share with our mains, we had a fantastic brussels spouts gratin done with pumpkin seed butter. I could have eaten this as a meal myself and is definitely a must-have at Boxwood. If you ever need to convince someone to eat brussels sprouts, this would be the way to go!

I was warned in advance that dessert was a must, and we chose to try to daily special

of apple tarte tatin and the server's favourite, saskatoon berry bread pudding - I can rarely turn down bread pudding, something about that homey, warm appeal! Our tarte tatin (an upside down flat tart) was great, served with vanilla bean ice cream, but I really loved the bread pudding, topped thinly with caramel sauce and spotted with chocolate chips, it was none too sweet and uber delicious!

Boxwood was a great experience and was definitely my highlight meal of the trip! I love that more cuisine options are showing up in Calgary, particularly one focused around seasonal and local ingredients. This is a great place to catch-up with friends or visit for a date over deliciously wholesome food. Be sure to save room for dessert!

Boxwood Cafe

403-265-4006

340- 13th ave SW

www.boxwoodcafe.ca

A Favourite in the City: North 44

We were in a celebratory mood and decided to splurge on dinner at North 44, one of our favourite restaurants in the city; truthfully, we have only ever been during Winterlicious/Summerlicious but it was always an AMAZING experience and we were certain regular dining would be fantastic as well. I always say, it's important for restaurants to do Winterlicious/Summerlicious well.

I was surprised when we arrived at North 44, although there was definitely room it was decently busy for a Tuesday night. Some looked like they were celebrating an occasion and others looked like "regulars." The table next to us had their bottle of wine opened for them before they even arrived...how's that for service!

STARTERS:

First to come was the medley of lobster, crab and prawns, served with creme fraiche. This was an amazing seafood salad and I can still taste the fresh and succulent shell fish, served at a perfect cool temperature. The creme fraiche added to the refreshing and clean tastes of this dish.

Next we opted for one of the specials of the night, beef tartar with toasted capers. I really like capers with my beef tartar in general and this was particularly tasty toasted.

MAINS:

Tony had the pappardelle with braised veal shank (also available in starter portions!). I die every time I take a bite of delicious, thick, FRESH pasta. This was delicious, with hearty chunks of braised veal, a perfect homey dish for the cold night it was. I have no doubt this is a classic favourite at North 44 (pictured above!)

The first thing I spotted on the menu was the miso glazed BC black cod...

but then my eye was drawn away to the house special, pan seared Dover sole with saute of roe, chanterelle mushroom, lemon and brown butter. How can I pass up that description? There is seriously an art to menu writing, key is creating expectation and delivering! Little did I know this special dish was $65...and in a quick irrational moment I said fine. Eek. True to its name, the Dover sole is only found in European waters, so I guess the flight overseas makes it expensive! The fish was quite good, very well done and delicious. The mushrooms, served on the side, I loved as well. I don't know if it was $65 good (sorry!!) but apparently it's a MUST HAVE dish says Chef Jean Joho so I guess I don't have to have it again :)

TO FINISH:

Normally, I would never do this, but after a week eating indulgently in Madrid, we decided to have the medley of fruit with sorbet, which was EXACTLY what I wanted by the way. It was refreshing and clean tasting, exactly what we needed after our big meal. Don't ever think of "dessert" in the narrow sense, it's whatever helps finish your taste experience and this was perfect for me.

North 44

2537 Yonge Street

416-487-4897

www.north44restaurant.com

Great Casual Fare at O&B Canteen

I've posted about Oliver & Bonacini's Canteen in the TIFF Bell Lightbox before, we made a visit when they first opened. We were happy with our meal but only found it average - a good place to go but not some place I was actively recommending. For TIFF this year, we planned ahead for food (eating popcorn for dinner last year wasn't ideal!) and made a pit stop reservation at Canteen between movies. We were pleasantly surprised with a great meal, served quick and excellent service (thanks for taking care of us Joseph!).

Canteen has a wide variety of choices, We were still left with a great

selection of starters, standard mains like pasta, and quickie ones like sandwiches. To start, remembering how great the chicken liver pate was we had to have it, and it was WAY better than we both remembered. There wasn't enough crostini for us to lap it all up! Next, we had the seared scallops served on a bed of curried cauliflower and raisins, a delicious and unique mix of flavours. Yum! For mains, we decided to give the sandwiches a try, which are also available simply for the grab+go counter. I had the beef brisket croissant with havarti and sauerkraut. The croissant was buttery and the brisket was actually pretty lean...the sandwich was heavenly and every bite was a 10! Tony had the pulled pork sandwich with bbq chipotle. It was pretty good but I still think mine was tops!

I highly recommend a stop at Canteen, whether you're in the area because you're checking out TIFF over the next week or if you happen to be downtown and need a quick, inexpensive and delicious meal. This is a worthy place to stop in for something casual or for some simple, unique flavours!

O&B Canteen

330 King Street West (Bell TIFF Lightbox)

647-288-4710

www.oliverbonacini.com/Canteen.aspx (available on Open Table)

VANCOUVER: Mouthwatering Fresh Sushi at Ajisai

Priority for every visit to Vancouver is to eat as much sushi/sashimi as possible...but having not lived in the city since 2004, I feel like I'm no longer "in-the-know" on the best places to indulge. There's always the famous Tojo but one of the main reasons Vancouver is one of my fave places to eat is because you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for great fish. An old favourite in Vancouver is Ajisai Sushi Bar in Kerrisdale, so we decided to stop in for lunch last Saturday, a timely visit to the area for a sunny walk during Kerrisdale Days. Arriving just before 11:30, we were fortunate to arrive before most of the crowds and chose to sit at the sushi bar. We always love sitting at the bar, it allows us to to be close to the food action and see everything going on. There is mostly just raw food at Ajisai, with some selected cooked/grilled items but largely, the menu is raw and made quickly by the 3 chefs standing behind the sushi bar. It was amazing just to watch them make and serve beautiful assorted sushi plates, colourful chirashi special, create unique rolls, and even torch pressed salmon sushi. Sitting at the bar was definitely part of the great experience, it was fast and impressive! Watching them reminded me of the article I read in David Chang's Lucky Peach about Japanese chefs, how they pride themselves on doing one thing well and refining their expertise and skill over time instead of branching out to new forms or cuisines.

Our taste buds were treated to the following at Ajisai:

miso soup: you may wonder why waste precious stomach space with "ordinary" miso soup, but this was served with large chucks of fresh tofu!

special assorted sashimi: this included tuna, salmon, amaebi (sweet shrimp), scallop, octopus and others. Every bite was satisfying...this was finally the fresh fish we desired!

hokkigai (surf shell clam) and sea kelp salad, marinated in miso, a crunchy, light appetizer dish.

Ajisai special roll: this was truly a GIANT roll, and was amazing. The fresh crab meat alone is worth ordering and definitely the highlight and best part!

half orders of wild sockeye salmon sashimi (really, there is no other!) and toro sashimi (falling apart like it should be and simply heavenly!).

special unagi roll: although we were mostly full from our

initial order, we asked the chef if there was anything he recommended (I'm sure he could see us salivating over every creation coming over the bar). Truthfully, I don't remember anything he said but we thought if he can recommend it, we'll eat it! What we received was a delicious and healthy tasting roll made with unagi, asparagus, chopped scallop and avocado topped with wasabi tobiko. Although the many flavours masked the unique tobiko, I tasted it on its own and it had a nice tempered spike to it. No regrets on this roll!

There's no doubt why Ajisai has continued to be one of the most popular and favoured sushi spots in Vancouver. We'l be sure to stop in again next time we're in town...but willing to take any and all other recommendations! We can never have enough sushi on the West coast :)

Ajisai Sushi Bar

2081 West 42 Ave.

604-266-1428

VANCOUVER: Knock-out Flavour at Vij's Rangoli

For once, we showed up in Vancouver this past weekend without an eating plan. This is extremely rare as Vancouver is one of my favourite place to eat in the world, but we have been extremely busy with visitors this month and barely booked a flight out West to begin with so we literally just showed up. One of our first stops was South Granville for a visit to Williams-Sonoma....and to our most pleasant surprise, we saw activity near Vij's. I was convinced it was just deliveries, but Rangoli, which doubles as a market and restaurant, was actually just opening for lunch! We've tried to revisit Vij's in our last couple trips, but always too impatient (or hungry!) for the long line. I can't tell you how excited I was to have an unplanned opportunity to eat at Vij's Rangoli!

We decided to sit inside, right at the door, because I like to see all the activity in the restaurant. It's a casual, modern place, including doors hidden in the back wall behind wood panels (I heard one staff tell another the majority of his job is telling people where the bathrooms are!).

Sleek, but not pretentious...perfect. We were excited to crack open the menu and were quick to decide what to eat: I ordered the goat and jackfruit in creamy curry with coconut cabbage salad and Tony ordered my second choice, spicy pulled pork with sour cream chutney. We couldn't possibly just have 2 dishes so we also started with lamb, beef & lentil kebabs. This was the highlight of the meal - colourful and full of flavour! There were 4 kebabs, I made the mistake of stuffing the first one quickly into my mouth without indulging in the date-tamarind chutney. First, it was kind of spicy (but in a delicious "I could eat this all day" kind of way) and the chutney helped to cut the heat...but more importantly, the chutney was the BEST CHUTNEY EVER. It was so delicious, I was obligated to pile on as much as I could in every bite in my 2nd kebab. This is a MUST have at Rangoli. I was ready for more explosions of flavour in my mouth with the goat and jackfruit curry, but relative to the kebab, it was actually

pretty tame. I LOVE goat curry and this was every bit tender and delicious although not as creamy or spicy as I expected. The coconut cabbage was FANTASTIC. I lapped up every bite of curry, goat, cabbage, naan and rice on my plate. Don't worry, they are healthy lunch portions and I was not over eating. In fact, our meal felt pretty healthy, unlike most Indian meals we have had where I feel deathly after from the heaviness. Tony's spicy pork must be a regular favourite, it just had "staple dish" all over it and again, not too spicy. Honestly, I think we could have used a bit more spice but I also think we had the flavour knocked out of us by the starter kebabs.

Eating at Vij's Rangoli is a total experience. A suitably diverse crowd buzzed in and out of the market/restaurant, picking up frozen and ready-to-eat dishes from the market. There were also a number of single diners, finely dressed and also dressed down enjoying the food with a good book out on the patio. Someone also pulled up in a spectacular white Lamborghini - good food reaches all demographics :) While the restaurant was still quiet, I was able to interrupt my way into a conversation among the staff about David Chang's first issue of Lucky Peach after overhearing a familiar discussion about Ivan Ramen. It is the most amazing food journal, and yes, I have a subscription, thanks to my very thoughtful friend, Surina! Great food, great crowd, and crazy food lovers...what could be better? Oh right, being in Vancouver!

Vij's Rangoli

1488 West 11th Ave, Vancouver BC

604-736-5711

www.vijsrangoli.ca

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!

Vancouver: Ultimate Comfort Food at Burgoo Bistro

I love Burgoo. It must be one of the restaurants I miss most about Vancouver (plus the general seafood and fresh sushi, of course!). The Burgoo I frequent is off West 10th - since then, other locations have opened in North Van and on Main Street. This was a favourite of mine when I lived on campus...the perfect comfort food in a cozy, rustic setting. Who wouldn't love a restaurant that specializes in stews and soups??

Favourite items at Burgoo include the decadent French onion soup, Kenturky Burgoo, lamb tangine, cheese fondue and for dessert, the chocolate banana bread pudding. I originally fell in love with Burgoo over a Singapore Laksa, but it's been a long time since it disappeared from the menu...sadness. They always change and expand their menu, adding items of different origins and also a lighter offering during Summer, more suited for the warm weather. The Winter stews and soups, of course, are why I love it though!

Without any fixed plans on our "free" day in Vancouver last week, we made our way to Burgoo for lunch. Sure, we could have gone to Main Street, but I'm emotionally attached to the West 10th location :) We stopped in just before 1pm, and funny thing, it was PACKED. Late lunch for a lot of people on a balmy Friday afternoon I guess! The menu has expanded since I was last there, but the old favourites remain. We started with a delicious wild mushroom pate that was topped with salted hazelnuts. It was served cold and MUCH bigger than I expected. If I really had to eat 50% of it, I probably would have been full! Luckily, if anyone loves mushroom pate more than me it's probably Tony! We also couldn't resist ordering the Fonduemental fondue - Guyere and Emmenthal melted with white wine and other herbs, served with grapes and bread. Sooooo good! As you can imagine, we were already quite full after our "starters." But we pressed on, with a new item on the menu (new for me!), paella. It was quite big, so it's a good thing we didn't each order a "main."

It was as deliciously savoury as I had imagined, but I think not as unique as some of the favourites I like. Still, we inhaled it all. And sure enough, we bravely ordered the chocolate banana bread pudding. Even the waitress was impressed we could still eat....BARELY, but it was worth a try. The chocolate banana bread pudding is really AMAZING, with melted chocolate chips on top, it's actually not too sweet either, because it's dark chocolate with banana bread. The fruit crumble is actually quite good as well, but really, how can you have room for more than one dessert after all the amazing food to start?

Burgoo, will you please open in Toronto? I promise to visit all the time!

Burgoo Bistro, Vancouver

4434 W10th Ave/3 Lonsdale Ave (North Van)/3096 Main St

www.burgoo.ca

Valentine's Day: A Phenomenal Meal At Lee Lounge!

I wasn't sure where we were going for Valentine's Day...it was going to be a surprise! But I had a sneaking suspicion when by chance, I found Susur on twitter last weekend, and noticed that Lee Lounge was going to be open for the 14th, and I was right! Arriving at Lee, we quickly discovered Lee Lounge was really an extension of the always popular Lee, breaking through the East wall of the existing restaurant into a more laid back and open lounge/restaurant area. A case of mismatched expectations, we thought Lee Lounge would be a totally different restaurant like Susur and Madeline's had been in the past, but it actually shares the Lee menu. To be fair, we've always really liked Lee, it just wasn't what we were expecting for whatever reason. We were excited to see Susur in the house and knew we'd have a good meal ahead! There is a refreshed menu, which still boasts favourites like the Singapore slaw, braised beef, cod, orzo and others, but with some new items we were eager to try. Lee was also featuring a "double happiness" Valentine's special menu. We ultimately ended up with a phenomenal feast, a party for our pallets, and one of the best meals we've had in a long time. Susur, we've missed you!

We started with half a dozen oysters from the Valentine's feature menu, topped with a bit of salted chili, shallots and calamansi lime. It added just a hint of flavour to enhance the delicious oysters. And we were on our way for the food adventure! Next came something from the Lee menu, spicy tofu served on a thick honey glaze, coated with a secret mixed spice, aptly named "golden dust" and topped with mushroom and pepper compote. This tofu was AMAZING! You may read a lot of "amazing" in this post, but the tofu was one of the most surprising and enjoyable dishes we had all night. The firm tofu cubes was just loaded with flavour, and not actually too spicy. Every bite was exciting!

Then came the seared diver scallops, also from the regular menu. They were gigantic, seared just right of course, and boasted a familiar old school dim sum flavour while not being traditional at all. I can't tell you exactly what that familiar flavour was, but we felt like the scallops really embodied "modern" Chinese food with traditional influences. No one integrates flavours quite like Susur. We also had the peking duck from e Valentine's menu... served with a deliciously light foie gras mousse. This dish was so intricate and detailed, from the delicate rice wraps, to the exceptionally tender (and plentiful) duck, to the assortment of cucumbers, green onion and persimmon strips that accompanied. It was a fun course, making our fancy little duck wraps and topping it with foie gras, you really can't go wrong. It was light and just enhanced the taste perfectly! Could our meal get any betterr??

The answer is yes. Next came a new addition to the Lee menu, Susur's dish from Top Chef masters, where he scored the highest score on the show: green curry chicken with chili mint chutney and sun fried tomato jam. I don't exactly remember the episode to recall the judge's reactions, but simply this dish was WOW! I was expecting some normal curry dish (sauce like) with chicken; but instead, was served breaded chicken with a unique infusion of green curry flavour accented with other great Thai flavours scents. It tasted so amazing I felt obligated to tell the couple next to us they had to order it (they were already spying on our dishes, I might as well!). This is a MUST-HAVE if you are stopping by Lee, no over-rated dish here.

Needless to say, we were pretty full by the time we got through our dishes, but couldn't possibly pass up dessert. We had the combo platter with chocolate lava cake (always good and a favourite on the menu) with black sticky rice pudding (black barley), and also the new French and Chinese tong-yuen (glutinous rice balls filled with sesame, nuts and other goodies) served on individual spoons. Sooo good and totally worth stuffing our already stuffed bellies.

Lee did not disappoint us this Valentine's Day! We have found some V-Day menus to be sub-par in the past, but Lee's renewed menu along with the new, more luxe and spacious Lee Lounge was definitely a treat for us. Definitely one of the best meals we've had this year! Please stop by and eat the green curry chicken, the tofu and the tong yuen! My one recommendation for Lee Lounge is they need a bigger assortment of cocktails to live up to the lounge name :)

Lee/Lee Lounge

603 King Street West

416-603-2205

http://www.susur.com/lee/

More Cowbell

I've shared our experiences at Cowbell in the past, but we made a return visit last night and couldn't help but post more about the great food. It was perfect for a late dinner on Friday night...and I was starving! I was thinking of the Cowbell burger before we even got to the restaurant!

Last night, we had the Cowbell charcuterie, which of course, changes all the time: head cheese, elk and cherry, tenderheart liverwurst, curried coppa and venison chocolate chorizo. I liked the liverwurst the best but the rest were all tasty - the curry, cherry, and chocolate flavours were unique but not as foreign to the taste-buds as they sound! We also had the beef tartar which has such a great meat flavour because of how it is prepared...a must have.

I didn't stray from my craving and was rewarded with mortadela on my precious Cowbell burger...YUM! It felt so indulgent yet sooo good! Did I mention it's one of the best burgers ever?? Tony's duck confit with consomme smelled absolutely amazing and he inhaled it so fast I only managed to snag a quick bite!

Cowbell is always a reliable stop for good, fresh meat. The menu changes all the time, depending what fresh meat is being prepared - this week elk was popular on the specials chalk board, but who knows what will be on the menu next time we go :)

CURRY CRAB at Saigon Star!

Although we love to eat, we don't know enough about places off the beaten path and rely in particular on our "local" friends for recommendations on Asian food places in the burbs. Our good friends Jon and Stella brought us to Saigon Star during the Summer, and we were in LOVE. Saigon Star serves Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, and is most famous for its curry crab. This crab is no joke - it is heart stopping rich and indulgent, and is like no other crab or curry you have had before! The crab comes hot and fresh, drenched in delicious curry yet still has the sweet, fresh taste of crab meat. After our first time there, we knew we'd be back to try other crab preparations. The next time we accidentally found our way to the restaurant was just Tony and I. We confidently ordered a crab, pineapple fried rice (you always need something to have with the curry sauce!), and water spinach with shrimp paste sauce (tung choi). Obviously, we were way too ambitious and finished nothing but the crab. The servers were so gracious, although we got to the restaurant around 10:30pm (closes at 11:00pm), they assured us we could take our time...but we felt really bad anyhow, the staff was getting ready for their dinner!

On Friday, we made another trip to Saigon Star with friends. I was excited to revisit with more people - we wanted to try the beer crab and needed people to share it with! We made reservations and did our best to get their early - the restaurant is always packed. So many things on the menu look delicious at Saigon Star, I've always wanted to try the hot pot seafood rice pilaf with coconut milk & curry...but after curry crab it just seems like too much. We went with the standard: curry crab, hot pot beer crab served with clear noodles, pineapple fried rice and roti (a must for mopping up the curry), grilled honey pork neck meat (another famous dish), Thai tom yum shrimp soup , our veggie favourite the shrimp paste water spinach. Yum! Our meal was spectacular as usual, starting first with the curry crab, which you can't possibly eat without making a mess! The beer crab was also fantastic and I'm glad we had a chance to order it - it's very different from the curry crab, not as intensely flavoured, but delicious in a different way. The hot pot broth was very tasty, filled with vegetables and chewy clear noodles...I couldn't get enough. I can barely decide which I prefer more; but ultimately, the curry is the real outstanding dish. If curry crab were a 10 beer crab would be a very close 9.5...and felt a bit less dangerous to my heart.

It was a perfect meal for a Friday night, we were all ready to just collapse from food coma. Saigon Star is a real gem and is starting to be a regular spot for us to take visitors. Best crab in the city, I think! Having a cold beer or some young coconut juice is the perfect accompaniment to the meal...it's like being on a tropical holiday, a brief escape via food and drinks :)

Eating at The Beast!

I was sad to learn not long ago that Amuse Bouse had closed down - it was a great little French restaurant tucked away between residences, delicious although a little pricey. Our fabulous realtor, Holly, had introduced us to Amuse Bouche, and so it was only fitting that we tried the new restaurant in its place with her! I was sold on The Beast after taking a scan through the menu online - pig's head pasta? That sounded interesting enough for me to try it out! We had a lovely table on the patio, perfect for a hot summer day. The menu, from starters to mains to dessert was all very appealing - and the healthy eaters we are, we wanted everything! The waitress was a bit concerned for that all that we ordered, but she did not know how much we love to eat :)

Starters:

Of course, I had to have the Pig's Head Pasta, which was actually agnolotti and was DELICIOUS and my favourite dish of the night. It was served with an egg cracked on top, and was amazing...comfort food at it's best! We also had lamb ribs, which were tasty and had us licking our fingers, but admittedly, not that memorable. The smoked black cod was served uniquely with beet root and caperberries - I have never had caperberries before! And finally, we also had fried green tomatoes, which I actually really enjoyed even though I don't really like tomatoes that much! It was served with bacon and spot prawns that of course, made it extra yummy.

Mains:

Holly had the rainbow trout while I had duck confit with papardelle (that's a combo that I cannot resist!) and Tony had the braised wild boar with mac n cheese. Honestly, with those items on the menu how can anyone resist trying the restaurant? My duck confit was amazing - he duck leg was tperfectly done, served at the right temperature (I hate when it is mildly warm) and the papardelle was delicious. I, unfortunately, was first to tap out and too full to finish my main - not to worry, I packed it up to be indulged in later :) Tony's braised boar was another case of comfort food at it's best - it was saucy and tender and we lapped up every piece on the plate. We also had sides of green beans and mixed mushrooms - the mushrooms are a MUST if you visit. I know I'm biased because I love mushrooms, but it was truly a delicious preparation and plenty to go around.

Dessert:

Yes, somehow we still had room for dessert - a frittura dolce with corn ice cream and blueberry compote. I have never had anything like it and loved every bite - it wasn't really sweet, and was so unique, you couldn't stop eating it! The waitress told us it was a bit of a home made recipe from the chef's Italian mother. LOVED! We also had cream puffs with cherry mousse - these were delicious as well, and basically melted in your mouth. I was resistant to dessert being so full from mains, but I'm so glad Tony and Holly dived in because I loved both and it elevated my meal experience!

The Beast (I just love saying it) was delicious and unique - it is a bit of a splurge, but then again, you don't have to try and eat everything on the menu like us :) I guarantee anything you pick you will like. The food was just phenomenal. Items on the menu can change weekly, and I am eager to go back and eat more agnolotti and dessert!

A Day in Stratford with Dinner at Rundles Sophisto-Bistro

It's rare that we hang around town on long weekends, since we usually make our way back out West, so with the beautiful weather, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a day trip. We had heard great things about the town of Stratford so we started asking around about things to do and places to eat. A friend recommended Rundles to us, a highly regarded restaurant in the little town - reviewed by Fodor's and Frommer's. Of course, Stratford is also home to the annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival, a celebration of theatre through classic and contemporary plays and musicals May through early November. The most popular play this year is likely The Tempest starring Christopher Plummer (for those who don't know, he was Captain von Trapp in Sound of Music, and is famed originally for Shakespearean plays). While The Tempest was playing during the Sunday matinee we were hoping for, it was sold out. Fortunately, we found great tickets for Evita. One of the great discoveries we made while researching plays was becoming a Play On member - it is a program designed to promote theatre to those under 29, and offers $25 tickets for great seats at various shows! We ended up with fabulous orchestra left seats, row E, right beside some uber expensive seats and the view was great.

Evita: The show was good and very intense, with scenes moving quickly through. The music, of course, was wonderful, done by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Although most reviews had celebrated the actress Chilina Kennedy over the play, we loved Josh Young the most, who played Che and narrated the story. The story was powerful and captures just a small part of the glamour and mystery behind Eva Peron, but enough to give you a taste into her strength, determination and ambition. For better or for worse, the story is captivating.

Matinee was the perfect time for a show - we left Toronto around 10am, pretty leisurely for us, and made it to town in time for lunch and a quick walk around. We came out of the play around 4pm and had time to paddle boat along the river before heading to dinner. It was a beautiful day, and we were lucky not only to paddle boat but also to enjoy music on the barge that was going on - a really nice summer day to be out!

Rundles is located right by the river, in a beautiful building - a mix of traditional and contemporary style. We arrived at the restaurant a tad early but they were able to seat us. We originally made reservations for the restaurant (which was actually quite full) and ended up being seated in Sophisto-Bistro. We didn't know this until we saw the menus, but after taking a peek through, we were happy with what we were seeing and decided to stay. Sophisto-Bistro offers a 2 course prix-fixe menu for $44.50 and 3 courses for $55.50.

Appetizers:

Lobster bisque with salt cod croquettes - the bisque was light yet flavourful and frothy. I wouldn't normally consider bisques really healthy, but it did seem that way! The salt cod croquettes were also a pleasant surprise - i've never had good ones before, they are normally underwhelming friend dough balls, but these actually tasted of cod and were quite good!

Grilled calamari with shredded green papaya, kohlrabi and mango - the calamari was served on a skewer, grilled to just the right tenderness, and the salad had just a slight kick to it.

Mains:

The braised short ribs of beef was amazing!

It was tenderly falling apart as it should, and we were given a utensil resembling a fish knife for the meal - a telling sign of its tenderness. We've had great braised beef before, but what took this meal over the top was the fantastic horseradish cream. It looked like whipped butter, and because of the large portion served, we weren't even sure what it was. Eating the horseradish, as Tony said, was like eating a vegetable. It was light and you could put as much as you wanted on the short ribs and not be overwhelmed by its flavour.

I had seared sea scallops with peking duck and green mango salad, in a brown butter flavoured with yuzu. The sauce was amazing and I couldn't get enough. I cut my scallops into little portions to maximize the surface area to soak up the brown butter! Needless to say, I also made the most of my bread to soak up the sauce!

Dessert:

Vanilla-flavoured crème brûlée and chilled lemon grass soup. It was a really complex dish, very fragrant and with an assortment of flavours that all came together nicely in the crème brûlée, the ice cream it was served with, and the lemon grass "shooter" it came with. A truly unique and delicious dessert.

Dark chocolate cream praline, with espresso granita and "Indian Summer" zabaglione (light whipped custard). I LOVED the zabaglione, served with candied pistacios on top. I also dug deep for the dark chocolate, but I guess in my hurry to pick a dessert I skipped by the "espresso" part, and those who know me will know I'm not a fan of coffee. It was all delicious of course, but in the end I swapped for Tony's fabulous crème brûlée so we wouldn't waste the granita as I desperately picked through the top and bottom layer :P

We had a great time at Sophisto-Bistro and wonder how amazing the "restaurant" menu might have been, but just means we should take another trip back. In the end, we were happy with the menu choices and our delicious meals for a really great price.

We had a wonderful day in Stratford, and we were glad to have made the drive out (was under 2 hours), see a show and have a fabulous dinner.

San Francisco & Napa: Legendary Culinary Experience at French Laundry - Worth All The Hype!

When thinking about honeymoon and mini-moon locations, we knew we wanted some place that offered us great food; afterall, we live to eat! I don't quite recall how we ended up picking San Francisco, but perhaps it was the alluring possibility of visiting The French Laundry. We learned later that the little town of Yountville actually has the highest concentration of Michelin Star rated restaurants - boy did we pick a great place to stay! At first, we resisted The French Laundry - it seemed like an obvious restaurant for us to visit, but one, it's quite pricey, two, Tony had been before, and third, getting a reservation wasn't exactly easy. In the end, we decided that it was our mini-moon after all, and if we had to cut-back on other meals, this had to be worth it. We enlisted the help of our Amex and Visa concierges, who both managed to get us a reservation...and on this incredible food adventure we went.

The French Laundry is very nondescript, one could easily drive right by and not know they had passed one of the most famous restaurants in the world. It looks just like a European cottage. Before stepping into the garden of the restaurant, we visited the garden across the street - this is where the restaurant sources much of its fresh fruits and vegetables. Probably the most expensive garden ever to raid?? I wondered if there were video cameras! We had a short wait for our table, second seating, and had a chance to walk around the small, intimate garden - it was like being in the most beautiful backyard ever, pristine and with a quiet air of elegance.

We were welcomed to our seats in a cozy nook of the restaurant - inside is also pristine yet intimately warm. We were shown two menu's: chef tasting menu and the lighter, vegetarian option. Although I have no doubt the vegetarian one would be more unique than anything we have ever had, neither of could turn down the allure of rabbit and veal in the chef's tasting! The restaurant actually does not offer a standard wine tasting accompaniment, but the sommelier was happy to inquire about our tastes and recommended several over our "9" courses. I put that in quotations because the 9 on the menu did not include all the additional dishes we had - in the end we must have had at least 12 courses! I've numbered the official courses below.

*To start, we had a lovely pastry ball (malteser size) filled with something light and savoury, but I've already forgotten what!

*We were also served the famous salmon tartare coronets with creme fraiche. You'll find this recipe leading the French Laundry cookbook.

1. Oysters & Pearls: this was the first and probably my favourite course (what a way to start), pearl tapioca with oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar. Was a bit creamy, savoury, rich but not at all heavy or overwhelming. Was the best caviar serving I have ever had!

*White truffle-oil infused custards with black truffle ragout: We were ecstatic to have this "bonus" dish, as Tony had made this for me for my birthday - how nice to experience the "original". We devoured every bit of it - love!

*We were also served a wonderful pain-au-lait, cross between a croissant and brioche with salted and unsalted butter. The unsalted butter was amazing - incredibly smooth with great "butter" flavour although unsalted! Genius, and I wish we could have taken some home. Normally, I don't indulge much in bread (filler!) but the bread and butter here were so fantastic....more below....

2. Foie Gras (we upgraded from the Endive Salad): was served with a peach consomme - should not be surprised that this was one of Tony's favourite dishes. It wasn't the foie gras that made the dish for me, but that it was accompanied by fantastic brioche toast and 3 salts to be sprinkled on the foie gras. I had not tried it this way before and it brought out some different flavours when consumed together.

3. Sauteed Kanpachi: a lovely white fish.

*Another of my favourite courses (albeit bonus), handmade tagliatelle with black truffle. The dish looks so simple and tasted so fresh and amazing. Although I knew scarfing down pasta would not help me through this "9" course meal, I could have had another full bowl if given! This, I have to learn to make!

4. "Deconstructed" Caesar Salad with lobster: Don't be mistaken, this was not anything like a salad, but more like lobster inspired by caesar, served with petite lettuce and parmesan foam and compressed roe shaved on top. Nice touch! And honestly, it was salad the way I liked it - more lobster than vegetables :P

5. Rabbit: Even the potato salad it was served with was quite delicious - we were starting to appreciate the incredibly fresh vegetables our dishes were selectively served with.

6. Veal: This was the MOST amazing veal, served with a side of delicious vegetables - sweet pureed corn, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, and swiss chard served in a tarragon jus. (see top pic!). The veal was definitely one of my favourite courses.

7. Assorted cheeses

8. Apricot Sorbet served with a light foam on top (I love foam!).

9. French Laundry garden strawberries with pistachio and white chocolate sorbet: this was light and a great way to finish dinner; I even enjoyed the sorbet and I don't like white chocolate! Tony had the ricotta cake, which was very unique and served with blue berries and pine nuts and buttermilk sherbet.

*Of course, dessert was not quite done, we were also served a fancy peanut butter and jelly tart - upscale Reece's peanut butter cup, but light, flakey, and of course....delicious.

The French Laundry was really a wonderful experience. I expected it to be stuffy, but all the staff were warm, pleasant and chatty. The service was, of course, impeccable. Several times, I noticed our course being brought out to be served by our waiter - but because of any reason, like water was being poured, our neighbouring table was being served, or one of us was out of our seat, the server would quickly (and almost invisibly) disappear and return when we were ready for our food to be properly plated. Seamless and amazing. We also had the most spectacular wines - we loved in particular the whites that the sommelier recommended. Just smelling one in particular, Tony and I found it exciting. I don't think I could have ever described a white wine as exciting before! And he recommended just the right amount - a glass for every couple courses so we were not downing glass after glass without really enjoying it. And although we did not love the reds, they were great accompaniments to the meats and we recognize they were great recommendations.

I loved simple things like bread and unsalted butter, salt for my foie gras, simple (?) pasta, simply prepared veal, and even a P&J tart! Speaks to the exceptional quality of the ingredients used and the high level understanding of how to combine flavours, meats, and vegetables to bring out their best naturally. We would not have traded this experience for any other meal - it was simply AMAZING and we were thrilled to have celebrated our mini-moon there.

Once in a lifetime experience - must go!