Category: Food / drink

"That's called a hangover, Amigo."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Busy day yesterday. We went downtown to see a movie, heading first to Cora’s for brunch, but the lineup was halfway to Hamilton so we settled for Milestone’s instead. While I normally despise that place, there were no Bellini-sucking wankers at 11 AM. Anyway, it served it’s purpose: fast, and close to the theatre.

We were there to see Children Of Men (imdb | rotten tomatoes) at the Paramount. It was as good as the 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes suggests: interesting, compelling, action-packed, terrifying, cautionary, visually stunning, well-acted, and a little too familiar to feel entirely like fiction. Highly, highly recommended. When I re-do my best-of-2006 list in a month or so Children Of Men will be on it.

.:.

Last night CBGB has us over for what they called the veggie fiesta. Basically, they cooked us an amazing meal: we started with the smoked cheddar and Roquefort cheese we brought along from Pusateri’s (as well as some Prosecco), then had asparagus wrapped in a phyllo pastry, followed by a salad with green mango & chilies (with a very nice white), a red curry for the main (with Nellie’s favourite: a Tedeschi Amarone) and an amazing strawberry/rhubarb pie topped with ice cream (with dessert wine). It was a better meal than I’ve had in a lot of restaurants. If I keep eating like that I’ll forget that I ever ate meat.

.:.

OK…have to go shake Nellie out of bed and get ready for the Raptors game this afternoon.
[tags]cora’s, milestone’s, children of men, pusateri’s, strawberry rhubarb pie[/tags]

"We just f***in' got it done."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Highlight of my day: Canada winning gold for the third straight year at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Montreal Canadiens prospect Carey Price was named to the all-star team, named best goaltender and named tournament MVP. Forward Jonathan Toews, also named to the all-star team, was so excited that he dropped the F-bomb live on TSN immediately afterward.

.:.

Today — day 5 of vegetarianism — was the day I discovered the veggie burger at Harvey’s isn’t bad. Good to know that I can still get a decent junk food fix if need be.

In recent days I’ve realized that a lot of the food I find the most satisfying has little to do with meat. For example, we’re about to get some dinner at C’est What before we go to the movies, and I can still have the yummy antijitos and yam frites.

[tags]canada, wjc, vegetarianism, veggie burger, harvey’s, c’est what[/tags]

Stuffed like a gourmet turkey

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Nellie and I just had a scrumptious feast: 3 kinds of swiss chocolate, 2 kinds of cheese (including an amazing smoked English cheddar), herbed focaccia, a baguette and strawberries (all from Pusateri’s), crackers, olives (which I don’t like, but Nellie digs) and a Tomasi Amarone that I gave her for Christmas last year. It was all deeeeliiiiiish.

[tags]best ploughman’s lunch ever[/tags]

Final thoughts on our holiday trip

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It seemed like we were gone longer than nine days. Some parting notes & elaborations:

  • First of all, travel: flying on WestJet kicked ass. Both legs of the trip were on time, smooth, entertaining (seriously…the staff is actually friendly and quite funny at times) and free of incident. Our rental car and hotel room were the same, a claim my brother could not make.
  • Spending time with my family is, as always, the thing I look forward to the most. I only get to see my family once or twice a year at most, and wish it were more, so the visit — especially over the holidays — is always rewarding. Endless games of crib with my dad, silly laughter with my brothers, delicious treats prepared by my mom, gentle ribbing with my sister-in-law and SWMNBN and lots of playtime with my fantastic nephew and two nieces.
  • Speaking of my nephew and nieces, my oldest brother and I agree: my other brother and his wife have raised the three best kids we’ve ever seen. I saw plenty of not-so-good kids on this trip, and it made me appreciate even more the job their parents have done.
  • The time Nellie and I spent with my brothers and their lady friends for dinner a few days ago was especially memorable as we had yet another great meal at Da Maurizio and found a new wine bar (which I’m pretty sure was called Mosaic wine bar, though I can find no trace of it online).
  • Halifax now feels so different than when I lived there…perhaps it’s because I now have money and can afford to visit nice places, or perhaps it’s because those nice places have sprung up in recent years. Perhaps it’s because friends like MLS live there now. I don’t know…for the first time since I moved to Toronto I felt like I could live in Halifax again.
  • Finally, according to my siblings, I apparently still come across as surly. I’m a little surprised at that; I’m genuinely very happy. Sarcastic and introverted, sure, but I love every minute I’m awake. I just don’t want people — especially my family — thinking I’m depressed or despising everyone. My life, compared to most of the planet, is remarkably easy; to paraphrase David Cronenberg, the reason I can be so dark is because I’m so well grounded in what’s light.

And that’s it. I’m glad to be back home after nine days away, but already I’m trying to figure out how to see my family next year.

Here’s the flickr picture set.
[tags]westjet, family, halifax, da maurizio, surly[/tags]

Readying for takeoff (from the hotel, that is)

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After last night’s eating extravaganza we slept like babies. I woke up around 9 AM, called mls to schedule brunch and got cleaned up. We met her and baby Kennedy at Cora’s where I had the biggest banana & chocolate crepe I’ve ever seen. It was nice to see her (and meet Kennedy, obviously) if only for a few hours. Full once again, we picked up another DVD on the way home and retreated from the cold wind into our hotel room. I’m just charging up the blackberry while I type this and Nellie packs. Can’t wait to get back to Toronto!

[tags]halifax, toronto, cora’s[/tags]

The Farewell To Meat tour continues

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We just got back from dinner at Da Maurizio — and after-dinner drinks at Mosaic* (sp?) — with my brothers and the ladies who love them. Dinner was, as always, impeccable. Sweet saucy shrimp, pumpkin-filled ravioli and duck breast in a citrus sauce, and a stuffed chicken breast.

It was great to spend time like this with my brothers et al. We do it too rarely, so I’m happy when we do it at all.

* Mosaic is apparently a joint effort between Da Maurizio and Seven wine bar.

[tags]halifax, da maurizio, mosaic wine bar[/tags]

Like calling oneself a teetotaller while drinking a beer

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Our second shipment from Green Earth Organics came this week, and we were much happier with the quality. Nothing slimy or wilted; in fact, everything looks a lot better than I’d normally expect in local grocery stores. Our fridge is now loaded down with quality fruit & vegetables. Nellie has pictures that she plans to upload to prove to our mothers that we actually are eating well.

.:.

Speaking of vegetables, Dino sent me a link to this article:

Ten-year-olds with higher IQ scores may be more likely to be vegetarians at age 30.

So say British researchers including Catharine Gale, PhD, a senior research fellow at England’s University of Southampton.

I have a question for the 123 people who called themselves “vegetarians” despite eating chicken and fish though: what do you think the word means?

Hmmm…I just re-read my segue. Dino, I wasn’t calling you a vegetable, I swear.

.:.

Girlfriend du jour: welcome back.
[tags]green earth organics, iq, vegetarian, university of southampton study, girlfriend du jour[/tags]

The market at work

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

The Broker’s Bier Borse: how to drink beer and learn about economics at the same time. Brilliant. [via Freakonomics]

.:.

The Winterlicious menu is up. It’ll be tougher to pick restaurants as we’ll be fully vegetarian by the time it rolls around. Thankfully they mark the restaurants with vegetarian options, and Canoe has a sweeeeet-lookin’ gnocchi…

[tags]broker’s bier borse, freakonomics, winterlicious, canoe restaurant[/tags]

Foie gras

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This month’s issue of Toronto Life features a story on foie gras, in which the author Sasha Chapman sees for himself whether the practice of gavage (force-feeding) is cruel, and ponders whether Toronto will ban it as Chicago has, California plans to and New York seems to be considering. It’s a good story, a report on a personal experience, but it doesn’t offer a complete picture of the issue; surely not every producer is as well-run as Aux Champs d’Élisé.

Personally I didn’t eat foie gras, even before I started this going-off-meat plan. I tried it once or twice (and didn’t like it) before I really knew much about how it’s produced. Obviously I feel there’s a moral issue with eating meat, and I feel foie gras production is more cruel than most meat production, but I can’t say how much more cruel exactly. The UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Israel have all banned the production of foie gras (though you can still buy it there) so this protest obviously isn’t limited to a few humane societies.

If — and it’s a big if — the general public concedes that foie gras production is more cruel than regular meat production, is the difference in cruelty enough to spur a ban on foie gras? Obviously it was in Chicago, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it happen here in Toronto.

[tags]foie gras, chicago, toronto[/tags]

At the end of the day they choose the nerd.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We’re a bit dozy today. We were out until 2:00ish last night celebrating CB’s birthday with dinner at Rain and drinks at the Chez Victor bar, and didn’t end up going to sleep until 3:30 (see below). We feel fine (which I suspect is better than how CB’s feeling this morning) but we’re still just tired. We’re trying to figure out how we can not go outside at all today. So far it’s our inability to conjure groceries from the air that’s getting in the way.

By the way, driving through clubland at 2 in the morning gives you a brief but entertaining glimpse into the drunk, retarded & homogeneous segment of our population.

.:.

Because I was still completely awake when we got home I decided to watch the Leafs/Canadiens game, recorded earlier in the evening. It’s the first time I’ve been able to watch a Habs game in hi-def, and what an amazing game it was. The Canadiens were atrocious in the first period, just pathetic. Down 2-0 nothing early, and it wasn’t even that close. They managed to claw back into the game though, on the back of Saku Koivu, who practically willed two shots into the net. It went to overtime, then to a shootout, where Sheldon Souray (of all people) scored the winning goal.

Honestly, the Canadiens were lucky to get this one. They twice spotted the Leafs 2-goal leads, were outshot (and outplayed) badly in the first and parts of the second, and watched the final Leafs shootout attempt go off the crossbar. What really seemed to give them life was Francis Bouillon knocking Darcy Tucker out with a straight right to the nose after Tucker had run him into the boards. There were a bunch of big hits all night, and Mike Komisarek had an all-out war with Mats Sundin, so passions were running high…it must’ve been a hard loss for the Leafs to take.

.:.

Stephane Dion, Liberal party leader. I certainly didn’t expect that, but I can’t say I’m disappointed. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next election though. As Rick Mercer put it,

“Liberals see a saviour who will bring them back to power and the Tories are rubbing their hands in glee over the prospect of heading into battle against a French guy who has a dog named Kyoto.”

Please god…no more dog jokes.

[tags]rain lounge, maple leafs, canadiens, stephane dion, liberal party, rick mercer[/tags]