To T.O.: District Diversity

One of the things I liked most about Toronto was the diversity of neighbourhoods – it was great to be able to take in such a variety of areas even in the short amount of time I was there. I know there were many neighbourhoods I just didn’t get to – I look forward to exploring them on my next visit!

North York

On my first night in Toronto, Amanda and I stayed in her ‘hood of North York for dinner. What blew me away around Yonge Street was just how dense it was (the 2006 Census recorded a population of 635,370 in North York, only about 100,000 less than the entire population of Edmonton in that year).

High rises

With high rises all around us, it was a reminder of the kind of amenities that can bloom around that sort of density. One great example was a complex with a Loblaws on a ground floor, entertainment and shopping above that, and condo towers on top – and all connected to a subway station across the street.

Amenities galore

Unfortunately, it was clear what was the priority means of commuting in that neighbourhood: given the number of storefronts that lined both sides of Yonge Street, there was a dire need for crosswalks in smaller intervals. Instead, we saw innumerable pedestrians jaywalking across the five lane road.

Inhospitable Yonge Street

West Queen West

Although Amanda currently lives in North York, her dream neighbourhood in Toronto is West Queen West. An eclectic mix of boutiques and lofts, I could easily see why she’d want to move here.

Picturesque walk-ups

The Spice Trader, a great little shop

Cookie from Dufflet – tasted like a Reese peanut butter cup!

Harbourfront

On those hot and humid days, there was nothing better than standing out by the lake, taking in the cool breeze.

Feeling refreshed

I didn’t get to do this as often as we would have liked during that week, but I did really enjoy the stroll on the boardwalk we did get to take that night!

Out on the lake

Chinatown

Our trek through Chinatown was brief, and focused – Amanda and I spent most of our time trying to track down something for our Mum.

Gorgeous murals

Yum!

We also didn’t wander past the tourist-driven shops, a shame because I know it would have been a great area to eat our way through.

Couldn’t resist a picture of sushi-bobbleheads

Kensington

Kensington, with its hippie sensibilities, reminded me of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury (though maybe not as rough around the edges). I loved the colourful homes-turned-shops, with wares spilling into their yards and onto the sidewalk. The area actually closes its streets once a week as well for “pedestrian Sundays”.

Charming

Judith Deutsch Park

One of the most rewarding byproducts of exploring a city on foot is the things you end up stumbling upon. Judith Deutsch Park was a fun example of this, a narrow playground we came across on our way from Chinatown to Kensington.

Amanda loves to exercise!

The playground was made up of sturdy metal versions of popular gym equipment – everything from an elliptical to resistance machines.

Whee!

It just seemed so random, but was such a neat interactive little pocket that definitely livened up a dreary strip of pavement.

Distillery District

Historically, the Distillery District dates back to 1832, and represents the largest and best preserved collection of Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America. The area was purchased by developers and re-opened in 2003, offering a mix of cultural and retail experiences, as well as residential options.

Distillery District

Without a doubt the neighbourhood itself is picture-perfect: the area is enclosed, bastion-style, with brick and stone walls. Paired with the cobblestone, pedestrian-friendly streets, it was no surprise when we saw a wedding party traipsing through for photo opportunities. The Distillery has also been home to all sorts of interesting events, including food truck festivals and Toronto’s first Diner en Blanc.

Photo op

They had some interesting outdoor sculptures as well, which nicely juxtaposed the historic backdrop.

Arts market

Straight out of War of the Worlds

It was a great area to browse – an outdoor arts market was set-up, in addition to some funky gift and houseware shops. We especially enjoyed the art on display at Cube Works, all constructed entirely out of Rubik’s cubes.

Shopping

KD!

Only limited by their imagination…

We decided to grab a coffee at Balzac’s, which seemed to be a top-rated café in Toronto. We were puzzled, then, to encounter a sign that warned that no photography was permitted inside the shop. We had to wonder about this policy, especially for a third-wave coffee shop – wouldn’t they want the publicity from coffee addicts posting candid photos taken of their drinks?

Balzac’s

Mack defied the signage and snapped a quick photo of the interior, which was quite striking. The coffee, on the other hand, wasn’t a highlight.

For lunch, we stopped inside Mill Street Brewery, a microbrewery known for their organic lager (it can be found in Edmonton). The restaurant side was comfortable, serving up predictable, but comforting pub classics. Amanda liked her turkey club, and Mack’s beer-battered fish and chips were decent. My chicken pot pie was all right, though I could have done without the side of mushy, thawed peas and lead potatoes.

Mill Street beer

Inside the pub

Turkey club

Chicken pot pie

We stuck around for the free tour inside the small on-site brewery, which is now mostly used for R & D purposes (at that time, for example, they were trying out an Italian rice brew). Our guide reinforced how small they were in comparison to some of the big fish in the industry – what Mill Street produces in a year can be replicated by Labatt in eighteen hours.

Cheers!

Although it was a stunning neighbourhood to visit, I was hoping our food and drink experiences would match the grandeur of our surroundings.

Waterfront Night Market

A festival can be considered a temporary neighbourhood, which is how I thought of the Waterfront Night Market. It was such a serendipitous moment when I wondered aloud to Amanda whether or not Toronto hosted any night markets similar to the one found in Richmond, BC – then promptly stumbled across a poster advertising the Waterfront Night Market taking place that weekend.

As we didn’t have a car, we decided to take the free, advertised “fun bus” from City Hall down to the festival site (which happened to be the parking lot of the downtown T & T Supermarket). Apparently organizers didn’t learn from the previous year when similar problems happened – they again only had three buses, resulting in massive wait times. Although we waited an hour for the promised ride, they did avoid a #funbusfail.

The fun bus, living up to its name

When we reached the festival grounds, it was busy, but not quite as packed as I remember the Richmond equivalent to be.

I’m sure the smoke could have been seen for miles

It was clearly a food market, with merchandise vendors outnumbered ten to one. The hawkers in particular were entertaining, and reminded me of some of the Asian markets my family and I had visited long ago.

Meat on a stick

And though we had dinner not long before, we indulged anyway. To do so, Mack did have to get over the overpowering aroma of both stinky tofu and oyster omelettes though.

The bane of Mack’s existence

Thirst-quenching

The strawberry ice drink I ordered (featuring fruit popping pearls) had the consistency of ice cream!

The tornado potato was unfortunately not crispy

In addition to the vendors, there was a live music stage and an NBA tournament going on – the sights and sounds were almost overwhelming!

I’m happy we made our way to the night market – it was definitely something we wouldn’t have been able to experience at home.

Food Notes for January 30, 2012

January has just flown by! I hope you’re out enjoying the beautiful winter days and nights! On to this week’s food notes:

Everything Cheese is hosting an open house on February 8, 2012 (there’s a 10% coupon at the end of the e-mail as well).
Liane announced that Highlands Kitchen has been sold to Darren Zwicker and Maria Chau of Cellar Door. Hopefully some of the menu items that were featured on the recently filmed episode of You Gotta Eat Here will be preserved!
Chris pointed me to a CBC piece about De Dutch, a popular BC-based breakfast chain that is set to move into the Cambridge Lofts this June.
Maki and Liane posted reports of how the first ever Dishcrawl event in Edmonton went. While it looks tasty, and I like the idea of a food crawl (especially one that encourages pedestrianism), the fact that Sabzy was only given $4 to cover food costs, one has to think the profit margins for the organizer are unbelievably high.
Liane had a feature on the trend of restaurants merging philosophies of lifestyle and food.
New Level Pizza sounds an awful lot like an underground supper club – invite- and members- only, it is a way for Chad Moss and Jeff Johnson of Transcend to share their love of pizza.
Also from Kevin – a video montage of what you missed at the latest pop-up dinner from Nomad Mobile, in celebration of Robbie Burns Day.
Wanted a second opinion on Vivo? Here’s one from Liv.
Phil posted on an easy-t0-miss family-run eatery, Lan’s Asian Grill.
Hot on the heels of City and Dale’s list of restaurants to try in 2012, Cream and Sugar put forth their favourite places to eat in Edmonton.
Love macarons? Then you have to take a look at Valerie’s recap on Mirabelle Macarons’ Taste Tripping class that happened earlier this month.
I was sad to hear about Saxby’s bankrupcy – it will affect small businesses like Van Os Dairy (who will not be at the City Market for the next few weeks, and until they secure an alternate manufacturer).
Sounds like Calgary had a great event over the weekend called Calgary Eats, featuring a panel discussion about some of the issues that chefs trying to source locally face. Jennifer Cockrall-King recaps it here.
In a related story, the Calgary Herald asks: does Calgary have food deserts? I’d be interested in seeing similar data in Edmonton, cross-referenced against the current restrictive covenants.
Have you seen the recent McDonald’s campaign, targeting parents by using mommy bloggers as their spokespeople? I can imagine it is scarily effective.
While in the neighbourhood for a meeting on Friday, I stopped by Battista’s Calzones to pick up some of their frozen, pre-baked calzones ($6 each) for supper that night (they also have other take-home products, including marinara sauce, mama’s meatballs and homemade dough). We popped them into the oven on a pizza stone for about 15 minutes at 350F, and they came out hot and crispy. An easy but tasty solution to the question, “what’s for dinner?”, especially since Battista’s isn’t open late!

Frozen calzones

I was on hand for the Groundhog Day festivities at the City Market on Saturday, with an inspired poetry reading, among other things. I also came across a new vendor, called 100km Kitchen, based out of Drayton Valley. They make preserves from locally-harvested fruit and vegetables. Their jars are particularly lovely, and the apple butter I brought home to try was great on toast, but I think will be even better with some pork! They’ll be back at the City Market on February 25, 2012.

Can you see the groundhog made of balloons?

Margarita and Patty of 100km Kitchen

I met up with Annie and May at Gama Cafe (10418 82Ave) on Saturday to catch up and try the intriguingly named green cap milk tea ($5), featuring a layer of salted cheese (you can see the menu here). The drink itself was actually pretty good, less salty than we expected, with a creamy effect when combined with the tea. The green tea itself was delicious, and something I would consider going back for, sweetened just right. We also tried the Taiwanese red bean ($2 for 2) and melting gold cakes ($4 for 2), made fresh to order. I preferred the sweetness of the latter, but the fluffy cake shell was tasty. So although we enjoyed the food and drink, we couldn’t fathom why they took forty minutes to arrive. The hard wooden benches were also not particularly comfortable, so we probably wouldn’t have lingered if our order had arrived sooner. In the future, I think I’d opt for a to-go order instead.

Green cap milk tea

Annie with her melting gold cake

Better than a Buffet: Africa Restaurant

A colleague and I met halfway between both of our offices at Africa Restaurant the previous Wednesday for lunch. Last year, the establishment changed hands – Mebrat had been a community mainstay for many years, but the transition to Africa Restaurant seemed rather seamless, and I’d heard that the menu of Eritrean and Ethiopian dishes had been preserved. This was the first time at the restaurant for both of us.

We settled into one of the comfortable black booths just inside the doors. Natural light streamed in from the windows, making it a very pleasant place for lunch, especially on that cold winter day.

Interior

The menu featured the variety of meat and vegetarian dishes we expected, to be eaten with injera. But the random sandwiches and pastas didn’t seem to fit – I wondered if they were remnants of the previous menu that attempted to serve varied community tastes (similar to Pho Huong/Mama Pizza’s split menu of Vietnamese cuisine and pizza). We decided to try a meat and vegetarian combination ($24), which would give us the means to sample a large array of items.

The food arrived in expedient fashion, a colourful platter featuring lamb, chicken, beef, lentils and vegetables. All of the meat dishes were spicy, but they were nicely balanced by the green salad and beans.

Combination platter

The lentils are typically my favourite on such platters, and it was no different on this occasion – they were well-seasoned, creamy and were moderately spiced. The dorho tibsi was the most difficult to eat with the injera, the egg slipping between our inexperienced fingers, but was the most rewarding – creamy with a good kick. The lamb tibsi was probably the weakest link, lacking flavour, overcooked and chewy. Needless to say, with the deceivingly filling injera in our stomachs, we ended up with a large box of leftovers. With this buffet for two priced at just $12 a person, it was a fantastic value.

Service was perhaps a little too hands off, but I can understand how the server thought we wanted to be left alone to converse. In all though, Africa Restaurant is another restaurant I am fortunate to have within a stone’s throw of my office – definitely worth seeking out as an Ethiopian and Eritrean option in the city.

Africa Restaurant
10603 107 Avenue
(780) 756-1515

Food Notes for January 23, 2012

Looking to make chocolate instead of just receiving it for Valentine’s Day? Then Sweet Lollapalooza has some classes that you might be interested in.
The Dish has a great feature on Wednesdays – a cooking demonstration, a movie, and of course, dinner! Their films in February are all about “hot love”. Also from The Dish, a fun discount: if you show up in your pyjamas (and are willing to have your photo taken), your meal will be 2-for-1!
Mark your calendars: Karlynn (aka The Kitchen Magpie), has organized a mac ‘n cheese cookoff to take place on March 17, 2012 (it also happens to be a fundraiser for her son’s school, so you won’t feel guilty indulging at all).
Liane shared news about the new Organic Roots building on Whyte set to open in a month: Jennifer Ogle (formerly of Leva Cafe) will be opening a new restaurant called Under the High Wheel, to be joined by a Da Capo Lifestyle Cafe.
I missed this last week, but City and Dale posted their list of five restaurants to try in 2012.
The battle over the “Queen of Tarts” made national news.
A great story in the Journal today about the permaculture and aquaculture projects that have taken root at Jasper Place High School.
I was eager to find out more about CHARPOP, CHARCUT’s highly-anticipated pop-up restaurant. It turned out the secret location was the Sidewalk Citizen Bakery. Reviews here and here.
There is more fallout from Paula Deen’s diabetes announcement (and subsequent drug endorsement). Frank Bruni has a great point to add to the debate – the fact that most chefs don’t actually eat what they promote (and exercise, to boot) isn’t talked about very much.
Eater is jumping into the online dating scene with an interesting angle: instead of the typical profiles, one simply answers the question, “How about we…?” with your ideal date.
I hoofed it to the Robbins Health Learning Centre at lunch today, eager to sample something from the newest Filistix outpost. Unfortunately, there was a setback, and they likely won’t be ready until Wednesday (make sure to follow them on Twitter to be sure). The new digs look great though, guys!

Filistix

It was a busy weekend for us, celebrating Chinese New Year with family and friends. We had the usual potluck dinner, and even caught part of the show at City Centre Mall on Saturday. If you commemorate this occasion, I hope your year is joyous!

City Centre Mall celebration

Potluck goods (Mack’s favourite: the spring roll pyramid)

Good Takeout: Papa John’s

Panago is our go-to pizza take-out joint (we especially love their Italian meatball pizza). The nearest storefront on 104 Avenue is about a twenty minute walk though, so we inevitably end up driving there to pick up our orders.

When Papa John’s moved into a storefront a block away from our condo on 105 Street and Jasper Avenue, we were eager to give them a try – it’s great to have another option within walking distance of our place (Funky Pickle on Jasper Avenue and 102 Street is also close).

Their online ordering function wasn’t yet enabled for the new store, so Mack still had to call to put in our order. When he arrived to pick it up on a Thursday evening, he found the shop not the least bit busy – it will probably take some time for residents to know about their newest neighbour. Mack ordered two specialty pizzas for $25.99 (a price comparable to our usual Panago order): the Sicilian Classic (pepperoni, Italian sausage, Italian salami, ham) and the Canadian Classic (pepperoni, bacon, mushroom).

This was our first experience with Papa John’s, so the garlic dip and banana pepper we found when we opened the boxes were a nice surprise (to eat the garlic dip, however, is not recommended – it smelled like popcorn, and did not taste like garlic at all).

Sicilian Classic

We found the cheese topping to be extremely generous, one of the barometers of takeaway pizza. The crust wasn’t the least bit greasy, which might be ideal for some, but I still preferred Panago’s crunchier crust. The Italian salami added a bit of welcome heat to the Sicilian, but given I’m a sucker for mushrooms on pizza, the Canadian was my favourite of the two.

Canadian Classic

We’d definitely consider Papa John’s in the future if we were craving pizza and pressed for time.

Papa John’s
10540 Jasper Avenue (multiple locations in Edmonton)
(780) 429-7212
Sunday-Thursday 11am-11pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-2am

The Cooking Chronicles: The Magical Fruit

After reading Mark Bittman’s Food Matters, I was inspired to try and incorporate more legumes into our diet (his goal was for every family in America to have a bag of cooked beans in their freezer). Cheap and healthy, it would also help add some variety into our meals. Although we did try many more recipes that featured beans and lentils, I typically fell back to using canned legumes. In 2012, a resolution of sorts is for me to plan ahead, and make it a habit to cook up dried beans in batches so that I can just pull out what I need from the freezer.

Although we’re only halfway through January, I’m off to a good start! One batch of brown lentils led to two different recipes, plus some to store away. We’ll see how the rest of the year plays out!

Lentil & Mushroom Bourguignon

Spilling the Beans, a cookbook from prolific blogger Julie van Rosendaal and Sue Duncan, provides a great introduction to how someone can seamlessly incorporate legumes into every day meals. I’ve already bookmarked quite a few recipes to try – the first was their lentil & mushroom bourguignon, which was, according to the sidebar, a recipe that their “carnivorous husbands” loved.

Though it’s not much to look at (especially because I didn’t have pearl onions on hand to liven it up – we just sauteed two onions at the start instead), the mushrooms melted down into the sauce, while the lentils still had a bite to them. Served over egg noodles, we enjoyed the dish as an enlightened alternative to the usual tomato-based pasta accompaniment. And yes, Mack can testify to the fact that he didn’t miss the meat at all!

Lentil & mushroom bourguignon

Lentil Cookies

The next night, I used a cup of the brown lentils in Bal Arneson’s recipe for lentil cookies, which I had wanted to try for some time. The even measurements make it quick to pull together (the only change I made was substituting dried cranberries for the slivered almonds, because of Mack’s allergy).

Sure, there is quite a bit of butter and sugar in the cookies, but between the lentils, pumpkin seeds, rolled oats, cranberries and whole wheat flour, these were easily the healthiest cookies I have ever made. They were nutty and crispy, loaded with different textures and with the chocolate chips, really satisfying.

Lentil cookies

I brought part of the batch to a work meeting the next morning, and several of my coworkers asked for the recipe right away, particularly after I told them that they featured lentils as an ingredient. If you’re looking for a healthier snack, or breakfast for the road, these cookies would be perfect.

To T.O.: Tourism 101

Out of all the blog posts I write, I most enjoy recounting my travel experiences. If you are a regular reader, however, you know that this category is the most neglected. Because they are the most time consuming, I tend to procrastinate on them, a habit that is becoming worse as the years pass (I still haven’t finished writing about San Francisco, a year and a half later!). I hope to turn the tide with a short series on a week-long trip I took to Toronto in July 2011 to see my sister Amanda. Mack joined me there towards the end of my trip.

This wasn’t my first time to Toronto; I visited a friend for a few days back in 2006. It was a brief stay, but I managed to hit up some of the attractions that I had on my list at that time, including the Bata Shoe Museum and Casa Loma. This time around, although it really didn’t matter where we went, Amanda was game to look at her adopted city from a tourist’s perspective, and I was able to take in quite a bit of what Toronto had to offer.

Watching the Blue Jays

I’m not much of a baseball fan, but I’d never been to a Major League Baseball game before, and tickets were cheap – rail seats at the top level of Rogers Centre were just $10. It was also a beautiful night to be outside, not too muggy, with a breeze to cool things off just right.

Rogers Centre

The view of the CN Tower

All smiles!

The Seattle Mariners were in town, but the real star that night was Roberto Alomar, who watched the game from one of the sky boxes – he was in town to prepare for his entrance into the Hall of Fame at the end of the month.

Roberto Alomar!

I loved the jumbotron, and as a non-fan, being able to keep track of the players and their batting record so far that night – it really made it easier to get into the game. The other noticeable differences between this game and Capitals games I’d been to was the lack of aggressive beer sales in the stands and no “entertainment” between innings – mascot runs or little league pitchers or the like.

Batter up!

That said, I didn’t expect that number of extended innings – after runs in the first and second, it dragged on, scoreless, until the eighth, when tie runs resulted in extra innings. Five additional innings to be exact. Finally, after 14 innings and four and a half hours, Rajai Davis stole two bases and scored the winning run.

Finally

Being Part of a Live Studio Audience

I’m never really home during the day to watch CityLine, but I knew it was a lifestyle program, and that they filmed with a live studio audience. It seemed like it would be a fun way to spend a morning.

Holding room

After a short pep talk in the holding room, the audience (99% women) was herded down into the studio. Host Tracy Moore (a bombshell in real life – it’s hard to believe she had a baby a year prior) was gracious, welcoming everyone and making sure the audience felt comfortable.

With Tracy after the show

The topics explored in that particular episode (which would be aired exactly one week later), weren’t really of interest to either Amanda or myself – children’s activities, resistance training, pet safety issues and random kitchen tips – but it was interesting to see how the production crew had to scramble to arrange the different sets in the tight space.

Filming a segment on de-seeding tomatoes

And really, it was worth our time just for the parting gifts! We each received a $50 PetValu gift certificate and Body Shop package. Thanks, CityLine!

Experiencing the Humidity

Of all the weeks I could have gone, I ended up choosing the heat wave Toronto experienced last summer. Walking out of Amanda’s basement suite on the hottest of those days (in the morning, no less!), my camera lens literally fogged up when I took it out to snap a photo.

Seriously

Given it was +48 degrees with the humidity, people weren’t only joking about being able to fry eggs on the sidewalk – they were literally doing it.

Checking Out the View from the CN Tower

The mothership of tourist attractions in Toronto wasn’t really on my radar those first few days. But after seeing the CN Tower from almost every angle over the course of the week, we decided to just take the plunge…or rather, ascent.

The glass floor

As expected, the views were breathtaking, especially on such a clear day. Given it was the hottest day of the year, the outdoor platform/wind tunnel was also not a bad place to be.

Lake Ontario

Toronto from above

Visiting the St. Lawrence Market

Named by Food and Wine Magazine in 2004 as one of the “World’s 25 Best Markets”, we knew we’d have to check out the St. Lawrence Market on a bustling Saturday morning.

Outdoor arts and crafts vendors

Their produce was a sight for sore eyes – at that time in Edmonton, we didn’t have the same variety in our markets yet.

Ontario peaches (we noticed that there was a real emphasis on “Ontario” vs. “local”)

Multicoloured zucchini

Beans

Garlic scapes

The market was spread over several buildings, and was absolutely massive. The main building featured two levels, packed with permanent vendors that would enable anyone to do all of their grocery shopping in one trip. It reminded us of farmers’ markets in Calgary – imports like cheese and olives were permitted.

Rice vendor

Seafood

Whole pig, anyone?

Peameal bacon was everywhere in Toronto!

Yum…baked goods (yes, we indulged)

Great use of QR codes – links to the vendor’s recipes

Given how the market was such a tourist attraction, it was curious that there was no information table in sight – as a result, we couldn’t locate the one vendor we were looking for: Ewenity, a dairy cooperative which sells sheep’s milk ice cream.

We also ended up stopping into the St. Lawrence Market again on Sunday. The smaller building had been converted into an antiques fair. We didn’t buy anything, but we did did peruse the tables, and came across a Lucky Strike tin!

Antique fair

We had no idea Lucky Strike was a real company (we really miss Mad Men)

Taking in a Show

Toronto stages attract some big names, actors I wouldn’t have the opportunity to see in Edmonton. One example of this was Carrie Fisher, whose show, Wishful Drinking, was playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre that week. Based on her memoirs of the same name, Fisher discusses her family, personal life, career and mental health issues.

Wishful Drinking set

Mack and I are both fans of Star Wars, and though that part of her film career was referenced quite heavily in the play (i.e. the “social contract” she signed when agreeing to put on that metal bikini being that she would remain that shape for the rest of her life), we learned a lot more about her. She had many funny witticisms and wry observations (the most entertaining portion was “Hollywood 101”), and involved the audience at times as well. Fisher had a casual way about her, and it was clear that she was very comfortable with herself, her past and her ghosts. I’m glad we were able to go!

Dining with a Celebrity Chef

Or at least, dining in the restaurant of a celebrity chef. One of the only restaurants I had bookmarked prior to the trip was Lee Lounge. In March, I was fortunate enough to be invited to an Element of Taste with Chef Lee at NAIT, during his Chef in Residence tenure. He was humble, and from all reports, was a respectable teacher in the kitchen – I wanted to see if his restaurant lived up to the hype.

We arrived a half our before our reservation (the skies opened up just as we arrived), but were seated right away – later diners wouldn’t be so lucky, as the place was packed by the time we left. The interior was very dim (apologies in advance for the poor photos), but was tastefully decorated, with red accents and a wall-sized family photo at the entrance. And yes, Chef Lee was in the house! We saw him a few times checking in on things in the dining room.

The only blemish to our visit was the waitress – she pushed certain dishes (such as the Singaporean style slaw) much too hard, to the point where we felt guilty when we didn’t order it. All it did was communicate to us that it must have been his most profitable item.

But other than that, it was a note-perfect experience. The spicy crisp tofu was our favourite – well crusted on the outside, and silky smooth on the inside. The sauce also played between sweet and savoury flavours quite well.

Spicy crisp tofu

Mack in particular was looking forward to the cheeseburger spring roll (a single one for $7). It should have been pre-cut, but was flavoured with great spices, and really, we loved the idea of simulating a cheeseburger in another form. It begged the question – what other spring roll possibilities are out there?

Cheeseburger spring roll

The asparagus and green bean salad was wonderfully balanced – the vinaigrette first presented itself as tangy, but smoothed itself out. We also liked the braised beef ravioli, with thin skins that didn’t overwhelm the beef, and a slightly sweet finish.

Asparagus and green bean salad

Braised beef ravioli

We finished our meal with a banana cake, served warm, melding the fruit and chocolate in smooth and creamy bites.

Banana cake

We would recommend Lee Lounge – there is no doubt the care that goes into the food. That said, it wasn’t my favourite meal that I had in Toronto – I’ll be writing about that in another post!

Food Notes for January 16, 2012

Winter has finally arrived – can’t say we haven’t been spoiled up until now, though, so I think we can get through it. Stay warm! On to this week’s food notes:

Fork Fest is on! It runs January 15-19 and 22-26, 2012. Ten restaurants are participating; check out their menus online.
On January 25, 2012, Nomad is serving up a Robbie Burns supper, complete with haggis of course! The three-course dinner is $40.
Save the date: the Slow Food National Conference will be hosted in Edmonton this year, and you know what that means – good food! The gala will be taking place on May 5, 2012 at the Enjoy Centre, with dinner being overseen by Chefs Blair Lebsack and Paul Schufelt. Tickets go on sale March 1 – for more information, e-mail Valerie.
Bernard Callebaut announced the location of their new flagship chocolaterie this week, at 124 Street and Jasper Avenue. Although I think it will complement what is already in the area, a part of me wanted it to be closer to Kerstin’s – chocolate district, anyone?
From CBC: a whisky bar is forthcoming to 104th Street, and a sneak peek inside the Mercer Warehouse, where Roast Coffeehouse and a restaurant will open this year.
I had no idea you could get hand-pulled pretzels in Edmonton – check out Schneckels Pretzels!
The Queen of Tarts is now officially Dauphine.
The Journal loved Cibo Bistro.
I missed this last week, but it’s worth checking out if you love Mediterranean food – Vue Weekly reviewed Cafe Amore Bistro.
Is the concept of a Sunday night family dinner coming back in style? D’Lish has started offering it, Sundays from 5-10pm, and the Next Act and Ruth’s Chris have been serving it up for some time.
Liane had a great story about the “rise” of knives – it’d be great to see a specialty knife store open up in Edmonton.
Food Network is in town to film segments for its newest show, You Gotta Eat Here. It’s always great to see Edmonton presented on television – look for the episodes some time in the spring. Check out this Global interview with host John Catucci.
Marlow Moo went macaron making!
A bowl of homemade wonton soup would be perfect for a night like this – get Ming’s recipe here.
Love pie? Karlynn does too – and she will be sharing a new pie recipe with her readers every Friday.
Maybe we could bring the idea of a “coffee common” to 104th one day, given all the coffee shops we have brewing.
Speaking of coffee, Tim Horton’s is jacking their sizes up – their new extra large holds 24 ounces of coffee.
Does Paula Deen have diabetes?
Though we’ve never tried Papa John’s before, it’s always great to have another food option close by – this location opened next to MRKT on Jasper Avenue and 105 Street recently.

Papa John’s

I attended the City Market AGM last week – it looks like a focus this next year will be on increasing the foot traffic to the winter portion of the market at City Hall. Although the street market attracts an average of 17,000 visitors every week, they’ve only averaged 4,000 shoppers this winter.

New City Market insulated tote bags

On Saturday, I tried the Red Piano for the first time, for a friend’s stagette dinner. It’s clear entertainment and drinks are the focus, and not the food, given the average price of an entree and the fact that our food took over an hour to arrive. The short rib sliders were all right, but definitely needed the flavour boost from the au jus.

Short rib sliders

One of my teams at work had a belated holiday lunch at Sorrentino’s in Little Italy today. I enjoyed my pollo parmigiano and soup, but even more noteworthy was the service. Our server was exceptional, and handled our large group with ease and charm to spare.

Pollo Parmigiano (the roll was excellent)

Mack has been itching to go back to Mucho Burrito for some time, so I made sure to tuck one of their gift cards in his stocking this Christmas. We used it on Sunday, for a quick dinner before heading out to the Legislature grounds.

Happy with his burrito!

No Tau Bay: Quan Pho

If one neighbourhood could particularly benefit from an “open house” event like Taste of Whyte or an organized food crawl, it would be the Avenue of Nations. Because of a transient population and a stigma of a high rate of crime, among other things, people often shy away from visiting the neighbourhoods of Central McDougall and Queen Mary Park (around 107 Avenue from 101 to 120 Streets). But by doing that, they are missing many great small businesses, many run by hard-working immigrant families.

However, I understand how the area can be intimidating to those who don’t often frequent it. So an event, which could include restaurants like Pho Huong and Mama Pizza, African Safari and Acajutla, would definitely help increase awareness of these gems, and perhaps help people realize that the neighbourhood is more than its reputation.

I was hoping to add relative newcomer Quan Pho (10117 107 Avenue) to this list. It opened up late last year, replacing a short-lived hot pot restaurant (and before that, Viet Huong Noodle House, which has since located to 98 Street). I have passed it many times on foot, and it always seemed to be populated with small groups – not a bad sign, especially in an area saturated with Vietnamese eateries.

My colleague Heather and I met some associates for lunch there on Friday afternoon, Quan Pho being new to all of us. The interior is clean and updated with comfortable leather chairs. Their three page menu was bright and easy to read, and featured a variety of vermicelli bowls, noodle soups and rice plates. I was happy to see the option of beef balls and brisket – my two favourite meats, rarely offered together ($6.50 for small, $7.50 for large).

Unfortunately, both Heather and I were quite disappointed with the food. She had ordered the bun with shrimp, grilled meatballs and a spring roll ($8.25). She commented that the meatballs in particular were more reminiscent of spam than the usual flavourful pork.

Vermicelli bowl with shrimp, meatballs and a spring roll

My large pho was actually quite small, in both size and meat quantity (and could be compared with the small at Pho Tau Bay). The meatballs were fine, but the brisket resembled well done flank more than anything else. And although there was a generous sprinkling of green onions, onions and cilantro, the broth itself was one-note, and not particularly fragrant or nuanced.

Pho with brisket and beef balls

Worst of all was the service – we received the impression that the server wanted to do anything but look us in the eye. When she first started delivering the dishes (which we ordered by number, as delineated on the menu), she wasn’t able to tell us which dish was associated with which number, and instead of double checking herself, handed us a menu. Later, when we requested the bill, she provided us with a hand written total of our entire meal, with no breakdown of individual dish cost.

My hope is that the server was having a bad day, or the kitchen was off that afternoon. But because it wasn’t a very positive experience, coupled with the fact that there are a number of establishments in the immediate area that offer better food and good service (Pho Huang/Mama Pizza and Pho Tau Bay come to mind), I’m not sure I’ll be back soon. A shame – for the neighbourhood and pho lovers in Edmonton.

Quan Pho
10117 107 Avenue
(780) 761-0402

The Cooking Chronicles: The Gift of Inspiration

I love receiving cookbooks as gifts; they’re usually thoughtfully chosen by the person with some knowledge of the gaps in my collection. One of the cookbooks I was given this past Christmas was The Ultimate Appetizers Book, by Better Homes and Gardens. Mack’s Mom thought as people who like to entertain (but don’t do it often enough!) it would be a handy guide to have on hand.

It’s been great to page through so far, with a coloured photo that accompanies every recipe. Moreover, the book is chock full of serving and plating ideas, visually appealing but more practical and less stylized than Donna Hay’s tips.

Soon after we returned to Edmonton, I tried out two of the soup recipes so that we would have lots of leftovers for work lunches and convenient suppers.

Chicken-Wild Rice Soup

The chicken-wild rice soup appealed to me primarily because we’ve had a bag of wild rice from MoNa Food sitting in our pantry for some time, having only been touched once. And although I am not a fan of wild rice on its own, I thought incorporating it in a soup would be easier to take, and also mean I’d have less of a chance of undercooking it! (This is a similar recipe, but simplifies the thickening step.)

Chicken-wild rice soup

This wasn’t a low-fat soup, with the incorporation of what was essentially a gravy (with heavy cream!) to thicken it towards the end. But chock full of vegetables and a variety of textures, Mack and I ended up really liking this soup (even the wild rice!).

Italian Sausage Soup

The use of orzo was the attraction of the Italian sausage soup, cooked with and not separate from the dish. Besides that, the ingredients were similar to many other tomato-based soups that we’ve made in the past.

Italian sausage soup

Mack particularly liked the orzo, and noticed that the soup really deepened after a few days in the fridge.

We’re happy that both of the recipes we tried from the book turned out really well, and will be trying out more in the next few months.

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