Category: Food / drink

Elbow mists

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I’m in Moncton this week. A&D drove over for dinner this evening, which was the perfect excuse to finally try Les Brumes du Coude. It’s a lovely casual vibe inside, and the food was wonderful. We shared everything (except that glass of Pineau).

  • round one
    • house ciabatta
    • fromage: Alfred le Fermier
  • round two
    • steak tartare, all dressed w/ rosemary crackers
    • fancy stuffed pie of mushy peas, house bacon, lettuce chiffonade, and Fundy scallops
    • seared salt cod fish cake, boiled market vegetables in salt pork broth
      • bottle of Pouilly-Fumé
  • dessert
    • Carmélita
      • Pineau des Charentes

Carismaro

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I’ve eaten well the past week. Maybe a tiny bit too well.

First, for v-day, we made a return to Carisma. It was, as usual, superb. Wonderful food, and Adriano picked us out a winning bottle as usual.

  • Burratina Salad
    • glasses of Falanghina, Negroni
  • Penne w/ Pancetta & Fresh Summer Peas
  • some agnolotti special I don’t quite remember at this point
  • 32oz Grilled Bistecca Fiorentina Per Due
  • Sauteed Mushrooms
    • bottle of Brunello
  • Warm Molten Tortino Al Cioccolato w/ House-Made Chocolate Gelato
    • glasses of Vin Santo / Recioto

Then, just this past Wednesday, I met a work colleague at Ricky + Olivia. Yes, I selfishly wanted to go there for both the food and the proximity. We shared:

  • big mac steak tartare
  • r+o burger (actually my first time having it, and wow was it good)
  • turnip cakes
  • french fries
  • garlicky steak special
    • both reds on their BTG list and the two Pearl Morissette red specials

Fantastic, as always. Well worth hurdling a bunch of snowbanks.

The east-za end

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One thing I take for granted is how much incredible pizza exists close to where I live, in the east end of Toronto.

Danforth Pizza House may be in Greektown, but it is in my opinion (and many others) the best in the city. It’s classic, delicious, and I never feel gross after eating it.

Of all the Detroit style Pizza I’ve tried, Descendant is by a country mile the best — and most interesting. The flavours, the consistency…all top-notch. The fact that Slowhand, an excellent nearby shop in its own right, sits #2 in my mind, says a lot about Descendant.

I’m alone on this in my household, but I think Blondies kicks ass.

There’s even a Maker, which I find too greasy, but which scratches the itch sometimes. Especially when it’s one of the few places in Toronto that even makes an attempt at garlic fingers.

What a time to be alive.

Ace object bureau

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Last January I visited Winnipeg and Saskatoon for work, in the middle of a severe cold snap. It was my first time participating in what’s become an annual work trip; this year I was on the roster for visits to Edmonton and Calgary. Luckily the weather worked in our favour this time: in spite of some bouts of snowy weather, it was above freezing pretty much the whole time.

It was my first time in Edmonton. In between all the work stuff I had some bites at the bar at the JW Marriott and coffee at Coffee Bureau, Obj3cts, and ACE. There was also a fairly random lunch at a place called Continental Treat Fine Bistro (one of our party is gluten-free and we somehow ended up a completely gluten-free Eastern European diner) and a team event at Ashford House Pub. There was trivia. My team won.

The next day we drove down to Red Deer (hitting terrible weather, and very nearly going off the road multiple times) and then on to Calgary. Only one coffee stop this time: a Monogram location.

With business concluded, we all left early the next morning. I flew Porter both ways, and my experience was great. Definitely becoming my preferred method of flying west.

Hey guys, we’re over here

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A few days ago Streets Of Toronto (which is, I guess, part of Postmedia?) released their 25 best new restaurants in Toronto list. If we exclude the three geographical outliers (North York, Vaughan, and Etobicoke) and focus on the 22 in the downtown core, it re-awakened an old annoyance for me: no one thinks any restaurants exist east of Jarvis.

News flash, reviewers: we also eat east of St. Lawrence Market.

Twenty, One

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Last night we finally made it to Restaurant 20 Victoria, the only downtown Michelin-starred restaurant east of Yonge. It was an outstanding meal: the food which was excellent from start to end, the wine pairings which were consistently intriguing, the service which was timely but never obtrusive, and even the atmosphere which was busy and buzzy but intimate and not too loud.

  • Crab & citrus salad (Yves Dupont Bugey ‘Originelle’ Brut, Savoie, France*)
  • Mackerel on toast & cabbage (António Madeira Branco, Dao, Portugal)
  • Scallop & potato in chicken broth (Plume Savagnin, Jura, France)
  • Sweetbread & currant, with milk bun (Domaine Paul Ginglinger Muscat, Alsace, France)
  • Lamb & squash (Vino Gross Furmint, Gorca, Slovenia)
  • Cheese, lavash & apricot (Tissot Macvin Blanc, Jura, France)
  • Desserts:
    • Almond cake w/ sour cherry (Laurent Cazottes Guines & Guins Wild Cherry Liqueur)
    • Sunchoke & apple ladyfinger-ish (Finca San Blas Vino Dulce)

Every course was excellent, and if you had told me that the wine pairing for lamb would be a dry Slovenian furmint, I never would have believed you, but it worked somehow (probably the clam sauce). If I had to pick favourites, I guess it would be the crab & citrus salad, and the lamb, but there were no weak points.

Another point in their favour: we left feeling full, but not too full. Unlike some other Michelin joints I didn’t need a slice of pizza on the way home, but nor was I in pain. That’s a wonderful balance.

All in all, one of the best meals we’ve had out in quite a while.

Varutharachathu

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Just back from a week out east. A few days at the farm (where I got to meet brother #2’s newest dog, Yuki…timid chap), then back to Moncton for the work week. A company party, a few team meals. Three different seasons, seemingly: snowbanks –> rainy & warm –> freezing cold. Only one new restaurant excursion, a newish south Indian place called Darbar which satisfied my chicken 65 and parotta cravings.

Duck, always and forever

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Last Monday we returned to old favourite Richmond Station, along with a new-ish friend permutation: Laura from Chez Nous and Ricky + Olivia from…well, Ricky + Olivia. After a quick drink + Cosmo cuddle at Laura’s we walked over to Richmond Station and took our table. As usual, everything was excellent, and as five reasonably adventurous eaters we could cover a lot of ground:

  • Appetizers/shares
    • Cookstown beet salad w/ honeycrisp apple, crossroad farms sheep’s gouda, hazelnut cream
    • Penokean Hills beef tartare w/ garden kimchi, sesame dressing, ssamjang mayo, crispy taro
    • duck liver pâté w/ concord grape, almond crumble, toasted brioche
    • chicken fried oyster mushrooms w/ yuzu gastrique, kosho mayo, furikake
    • crispy polenta fries w/ truffle aioli, parmigiano, chives
    • Brigid’s brie brûlée w/ Ontario plum compôte, lavender, brioche crostini
    • bottle of 2018 16 Mile Cellars “Civility” Chardonnay
  • Mains
    • I had the duo of Muscovy duck w/ cranberry jus, Cookstown sunchokes, pistachio dukkah
    • Others had Station burgers, pumpkin mac & cheese, and organic chicken
    • bottle of 2021 Ponce “La Casilla” Bobal
  • Dessert
    • Absolutely not

Maybe a bit much for a Monday night, but we didn’t mind. It was fun and delicious.

Smoked heart nouveau

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I spent most of this week on the road. I was in Ottawa for ~24 hours for a conference, but I also squeezed in coffee at Little Victories on Elgin and a quick dinner at Riviera: my grilled octopus w/ green olive pesto, potato & guanciale was good (but a little oily) while the smoked duck breast & heart w/ cherries, yellow beans & pistachio was fantastic. Monday night I flew to Moncton, with a quick stop at the Ottawa airport Vino Volo.

The weather in Moncton the rest of the week was garbage so I didn’t get much of anywhere, but I did attend a Beaujolais Nouveau charity fundraiser!

Georgian Crothers Boss

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Over the past week I’ve done some fun stuff. The kind of stuff that reminds me why I like, or liked, Toronto.

Friday

Lindsay, Kirsten, and I finally tried Tiflisi, a Georgian restaurant in the Beach which made Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list the past two years. We had:

  • Assorted phkali (vegetable spreads with walnut sauce) + shoti-puri (traditional Georgian bread)
  • Lamb khinkali (traditional Georgian soup dumplings w/ lamb)
  • Kebab platter (w/ chicken, pork, lamb)
  • Bottles of Rkatsiteli and Saperavi wine, both aged in Qvevri

It was goddamned delicious. Even the vegetable spreads were seriously good, but the dumplings…holy crap.

Sunday

In the morning, we went for a walk / wee hike in Crothers Woods. We probably missed the height of the fall colors the previous weekend, but it was still pretty nice. At the entrance to the park we started chatting with another erstwhile hiker (and her beautiful black lab Grayson) and just began walking together. We had a nice little stroll, enjoyed the weather, and Grayson found a tennis ball that we used to play catch.

Wednesday

Early in the workday I received word that I had somehow lucked into an invite to the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Scotiabank Centre that night. I’m probably not the biggest Bruce fan but I know his live shows are legendary, so I went.

The set list:

  • Main set:
    • Long Walk Home (introduced as a fighting prayer for his country)
    • Land of Hope and Dreams
    • Lonesome Day
    • Candy’s Room
    • Adam Raised a Cain
    • Hungry Heart
    • Better Days
    • Letter to You
    • The Promised Land
    • Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
    • Reason to Believe
    • Darkness on the Edge of Town
    • The E Street Shuffle
    • Nightshift (Commodores cover)
    • Last Man Standing (acoustic)
    • Backstreets
    • Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover)
    • She’s the One
    • Wrecking Ball
    • The Rising
    • Badlands
    • Thunder Road
  • Encore 1:
    • Born to Run
    • Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
    • Glory Days
    • Dancing in the Dark
    • Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town
    • Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
  • Encore 2:
    • I’ll See You in My Dreams (solo acoustic)

Thoughts:

  • (I only really knew 10 of the 29 songs he played last night, and 3 of those 10 were covers…including “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town“, bizarrely enough, when a fan handed him a Santa hat)
  • My favourite song of the night was a hard-chugging blues version of “Reason to Believe”, the only song he played from Nebraska. Close seconds were “Adam Raised A Cain” and the Patti Smith cover.
  • The man is 75 and he played at high energy for three hours. Three fucking hours.
  • The E-Street Band is huge (I counted 16 members, including Bruce) but so tight. Nils Lofgren and Little Steven are icons, but seeing Max Weinberg power through that 3-hour set without so much as a few seconds’ break was incredible. And there’s some magic to a band whose core has been playing together for fifty years.
  • Most of the fans there were older than I was, and knew every word to every song, but I could see people in their twenties around me singing along too.

They were late going on — 8:45 instead of 7:30 — so the show wrapped up at 11:45. I left, tired but pretty blown away.