Category: Friends

Tasty, mild aftermath

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I was hoping for a quiet couple of weeks following my return from Europe, but that it not what I got. There’s been stuff keeping me busy (in a good way, like a conference or lunch with a friend or visits from family) but also distracting me (a cold, everything in the house breaking at once).

Right after I got back I had a couple days’ work sprint and then went right into a conference — here in Toronto, so no travel, but it definitely consumed all of my intention for 2+ days. Always good to meet new people and re-gain some perspective (and have a nice dinner at Cafe Boulud), but the re-upping of the work to-do pile really made it feel as if I’d never even gotten back from vacation. I did wrap up the week over lunch with Matt at d|bar though, which was great.

Another consequence of that conference is that I developed a cold, my first in over a year as far as I can remember. It laid me low Monday through most of Wednesday. Fortunately it had mostly faded by the time brother #2 and sister-in-law #1 arrived. They were here for a visit, partially with us, partially with their daughter who lives just east of Toronto. On Friday they retrieved said daughter and we all had dinner at La Paella…

  • Medjool dates wrapped in bacon, stuffed with goat cheese, glazed with a guindilla sherry reduction
  • Croquetas
  • Tiger shrimps, garlic, guindillas, olive oil and sweet sherry wine
  • Artisan Sourdough Bread from Petit Thuet
  • a Paella which is not on their menu but which contained an extravagant amount of pork (ribs, pork belly, chorizo) along with red peppers, green beans, and butter beans

…followed by heaping bowls of ice cream procured from Craig’s Cookies, of all places.

Yesterday the three of them went to OssFest, then we played a game of Pandemic before they drove my niece home. We were all a bit tired, and the weather had turned to rain, so we just ordered some pizza and drank some wine and had a quiet final night together. This morning Bianca finally decided they were worth hanging out with, just as they were about to leave.

I could do without the cold or the work backlog, but I’ll take a nice family visit anytime. See you next year, guys!

Chula Volo 7

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It’s been a week of slight nostalgia, restaurant-wise.

A few days ago Lindsay had to go to the U of T library, so I tagged along and we went to Bar Volo for dinner. Or, rather, we tried to — it was much too full when we arrived. We figured we’d eat somewhere else and come back, but quickly remembered that stretch of Yonge is populated by nothing but cheap noodle and bubble tea shops. Out of a tiny bit of desperation we ended up at 7 West for cocktails and a few snacks. Both places (well, the original Volo, anyway; I’d only been once since it relocated) used to be regular haunts for me when I loved around Yonge & Bloor.

We tried our luck at Volo again, and this time got stools at a barrel-top. We sampled beers off the menu (I forgot how much easier it is ordering by letter) and sharing a mortadella pizza.

Then, yesterday, we met our friend Kirsten for lunch at Chula Taberna on Gerrard. We’d been ordering from this place for years but had never gone in — who knew they had such a great back patio? Not this guy. Anyway, I smashed some chilaquiles.

Afterward we went to Home Depot and bought a temporary fridge. More on that in a future post.

Sicily & Bulgaria

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A week of tiny firsts.

I had a work-related dinner at Bar ARDO (Ardo’s trendier sister spot, presumably?) for the first time earlier this week. Food (Mediterranean grilled octopus w/ cucumber, cannellini beans puree, mint; Golden beets w/ red endive, baked ricotta, dates, pumpkin seeds, micro cilantro, Ardo’s vinaigrette; Sua Maesta’ Rigatoni w/ brasato sugo, Sicilian pecorino, parmigiano; Branzino w/ chimichurri sauce) was pretty good, and the BTG wine list was pretty solid.

Then, later in the week, I met a friend at East End Vine where we sat in the window and availed ourselves of their funky list. I had a nice Melon, an excellent Sylvaner (which my friend liked so much she doubled-down on), an Italian rosé, and a Bulgarian cabernet (which the owner dubbed the “party wine”). As far as I can recall, it’s my first time trying wine of any kind from Bulgaria.

Stretch

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The last time I had dinner in person with T-Bone it didn’t get much of a write-up because of how busy the week was. If I’d known it would be the last time we’d see each other in person for nearly eight years, I’d have elaborated.

It used to be nothing for us to share a meal — we had breakfast together every Friday when we worked a desk or two apart — but kids and job changes and a pandemic and just life have made it tricky. To wit: we’ve been trying to schedule this since our birthdays last July.

This week, though, we managed to keep the date firm, and T-Bone booked Nobu. It was my first time there; it was her fourth. We had:

  • Cocktails
  • Yellowtail Jalapeño
  • Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna
  • Salmon wrapped in some kind of pear (special)
  • Black Cod Miso
  • Lobster Tempura with Tamari Honey (half order)
  • A5 Wagyu Dumplings with Spicy Ponzu
    • CB Champagne, Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs, NV
  • Buttermilk Donuts
    • glasses of Laurent-Perrier Champagne & Suntory whiskey

All of it was good, but the lobster and yellowtail were the stars of the show in my opinion.

Mostly, it was just good to see my friend and catch up.

Gganbu

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The last week’s been pretty social: two days of work meetings downtown which included a Blue Jays win over the Atlanta Braves, coffee from three good spots: the Spadina Neo, the University Fahrenheit, and the Union Pilot, and drinks at The Chase to close it all off.

Friday was a holiday. We basically just binged Squid Game, which we somehow avoided when it came out.

Saturday our friend Upasana made us a delicious dinner, and we had such a lovely time chatting we barely noticed it was midnight. We left feeling fat and happy, as they say.

Sunday night we were the hosts, as Ricky and Olivia came over for dinner. We provided salad and a cheese board; they brought delicious Filipino comfort food. We poured a bunch of fun wine, and served ice cream.

I took Monday off, and kept it chill. Lots of leftovers. Quite a bit of catchup. More Squid Game. Playoff hockey for the first time in four years.

Yorkies

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Thursday evening I met up with old friends BC and CBJ at The York Club, where BC is a member. I’d never been — obviously, given my utter lack of poshness — but I’d had a look at their wine list and was intrigued.

It was great to catch up over a drink at the bar, dinner (short ribs all around, plus a 2007 Hidden Bench Terroir Caché), dessert (I eschewed the beignets and had a glass of beerenauslese instead), and a Highland Park by the fireplace.

No pictures of the wine bottle, for fear I’d get scolded by the staff. No phones in the dining room, you see…a rule which, I admit, I do not hate at all.

Kirstrisma

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It’d been a while since we hung out with Kirsten, so we met for dinner last night at Carisma. I’d gotten up early (3:45 EDT) to catch a flight home, and Lindsay wasn’t feeling well, so we thought it would be an early night. We ended up closing the joint, though.

Here’s what we had:

  • Appetizers
    • Burratina w/ shaved truffle
    • Carpaccio di Manzo
      • A Negroni; glasses of Gavi Di Gavi & Falanghina
  • Mains
    • Pasta del giorno: agnolotti stuffed w/ ricotta
    • Pappardelle w/ wild board ragu
      • Bottles of 2018 Antinori Pian Delle Vigne and Tolaini Valdisanti Toscana
  • Dessert
    • Affogato
    • Classic Italian cheesecake w/ strawberry compote
    • Warm molten chocolate w/ house-made chocolate gelato
      • Glasses of Vinsanto & Reccioto

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.

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.

Lillybelle

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Some nice friend check-ins this week: first we met Laura for dinner at White Lily Diner, her first time in a while and our first time in…not that long. Pastrami sandwich as per usual, but also a bottle of Closson Chase. We went back to Chez Nous afterward and had a delicious bottle of Domaine Queylus Cab Franc.

The next night I met an old friend (Shannon) at a new place (Belle Isle) where the cocktails are made by another, newer friend (James). We had a couple bites (weird) and three cocktails each. All five we tried were outstanding.

I had:

  • divorced dad dinner: cinnamon toast crunch bourbon, averna, cacao, vermouth, amarena
  • these gays are trying to kill me: guava candy tito’s, st germain, apple soju, absinthe, lemon
  • going home with the drummer: planteray stiggins rum, citadelle gin, tio pepe, ginger, drambuie, chili

Shannon had:

  • i’m not much into health food: el dorado 12, plantaray 3, amaro, pina, coco, egg white, orange blossom
  • young, dumb, in love, and dumb: lot 40, cynar, candied ginger, maple, akvavit, lagavulin, hickory, apple cider (ed: I kinda can’t believe I didn’t try this one)
  • a divorced dad dinner

It was nice to see James and sample his excellent wares, but I was a good 20 years too old to be in that place.