Toronto Social Review: Toronto Taste 2012

Toronto Social Review: Toronto Taste 2012: Join us for the most coveted culinary event of the year - Toronto Taste ! Presented by The Daniels Corporation , indulge your senses!

Second Harvest rescues perishable food from trade shows, restaurants, grocery stores, and distributors that would otherwise so to waste and delivers it to social services agencies in Toronto like soup kitchens and shelters. 40% of the recipients of Second Harvest's food are children.

Please go. There is no better food event in Toronto, truly.

Omakase at Yuzu

This is a super belated post about the breathtaking omakase I had in late April with mom at my favourite restaurant, Yuzu, at Adelaide and Duncan. The nine courses below were an impossible $70/person, which included two servings of toro each. How is this possible?


First Course: Oyster shooter with ponzu, quail egg, and uni. This is much less scarier than it seems. It tastes like the ocean.


Second Course: Okra stuffed with sea bream, rapini wrapped with napa cabbage, and miso duck breast. Like little savoury petit fours.


Third Course: Chawanmushi. Smooth and comforting.


Fourth Course: Toro and sea bream. The gold foil was perfectly a propos.


Fifth Course: Clear seafood soup. Beautifully clean with generous amounts of seafood.


Sixth Course: Breaded lamb. We were encouraged to pick it up by the tin-foiled handle and gnaw the meat off the bone.


Seventh Course: Sushi. I can't remember the two on the left, but the two on the right are amaebi and toro (again!).


Eighth Course: Gindara black cod with miso on magnolia leaf.


Ninth Course: Sake cheesecake. This was fantastic. I ate mine and most of mom's.

Yuzu is just too good to be true. I could eat there every day. For the omakase, make reservations at least one day in advance; otherwise, you can usually just walk in.

We ate everything on the menu at Amuse-Bouche

After hearing the sad news that Amuse-Bouche is closing, we immediately booked a table for Tapas Tuesday. Our seating was early (6PM)—good thing because the evening turned into a decadent 3-hour long feast where we got to sample every single item on the menu. We hadn't planned it that way, but just before diving into the arduous task of deciding what to eat, the waiter saved us by suggesting we share some multi-course tasting menus in order to have a little of all sixteen dishes. Who could say no? This is what we ate:

Ham and wild leek croquette with smoked apple compote—a wonderful, crispy start

Baby beet salad, fried capers, Baco Noir reduction—fresh and spring-like

Ontario beef carpaccio with truffle vinaigrette—Liana's favourite

House–smoked salmon tartare with potato confit—creamy and decadent

Bajan fish cakes with Amuse-Bouche tartar sauce and black Hungarian pepper sauce—hearty, satisfying, and conveniently portioned for the five of us

Ricotta and carrot gnocchi with Uncle John's parmesan hollandaise and baby vegetables—so smooth and delicious; my favourite

Duck confit poutine with house pickles—Darryl's favourite

Homemade duck and lamb chorizo with crispy polenta—lots of meaty texture

Garlic and nori–encrusted salmon—I ate the lion's share of this; yum!

BC prawn ravioli in lobster bisque—rich shrimp and lobster flavours

Wild garlic–encrusted BC herring with lemon aioli—delicious little fried fish

Pan–seared Qualicum scallop with fennel and orange confit—light and tasty

Giggie's pan–seared rainbow trout with Savoy cabbage and carrot emulsion—great crispy crust

Butter-poached Nova Scotia haddock with leek fondue and beurre blanc—velvety sauce with fresh fish

Ontario Yorkshire pork tenderloin with mushroom fricassee—generous amount of tender pork; loved the straw mushrooms

Cumbrae's grilled bavette with beurre maitre d'hotel and 100km potato—lovely, rare beef with crispy on the outside; soft on the inside potatoes

Everspring Farm roasted duck breast with spaetzle—generous amount of high quality duck

Pecorino Toscano and Brie—sharp, hard Toscano with mild, soft Brie

Front row (L-R): Flourless chocolate cake with candied orange, hazelnut chocolate mousse, berry mousse, macaron with chocolate. Back row (L-R): Gianduja parfait, white chocolate and apple crumble, lime and apricot panna cotta, creme brulee—everything fantastic, especially the Gianduja

The whole experience was magnificent. Even though we didn't tell the waiter it was a birthday dinner, he noticed the cards and gifts on the table and put candles in the dessert. So sweet. And the cost of all this luxurious food (for five people) plus one glass of wine each?: $270 before tip.

Last Chance to Amuse-Bouche

I was disappointed to read in Toronto Life's Daily Dish that Amuse-Bouche Restaurant will be closing at the end of May after five years in the King West neighbourhood. I met chef Bertrand Alépée and maître d' Sarah Lyons last summer at Luminato while covering 1000 Tastes of Toronto for Torontoist, and I had a chance to try their awesome pulled pork sandwiches with chocolate chipotle barbecue sauce. The restaurant is very close to my office, so I walked by at lunch and saw the big FOR LEASE signs plastered on the quaint facade—makes me sad.

I'm going next week for Tapas Tuesday, which sounds incredible. Savoury plates are $10, cheeses are $5, desserts are $5, and wine by the glass is $5. They also have 5, 7, and 10-course tasting menus for $40, $55, and $70, respectively. And they are one of the few restaurants who reliably take reservations through email (mail@amuseboucherestaurant.com). Amuse-Bouche closes on May 31.

Best Pho Restaurant Name Ever

I made Russell pull over so I could take a picture of this place in Cambridge. Why haven't I seen a pho restaurant with this name until now? Love it. http://www.phoshizzle.ca/

Halifax Donair & Pizza in Milton, Ontario

After hearing so much about this place for well over a year, we finally drove out to Milton to try Halifax Donair & Pizza, the place we heard is run by guys who used to work at King of Donair in Halifax.

This tiny shop on charming Main Street is clean and bright with an open kitchen, allowing customers to watch in anticipation as the food is lovingly prepared.

Just like King of Donair, Sicilian, and European Food Shop in Halifax, the menu consists of donairs (Halifax-style only, which is like a gyros but with a sweet sauce made of evaporated milk, vinegar, and sugar), subs (with donair meat and otherwise), pizza (again, donair and otherwise), and some other odds and ends. We ordered donairs (only $3.99 for a small) and garlic fingers (pizza crust topped with garlic butter and cheese, sliced into strips and served with donair sauce for dipping).

During the time we were there, lots of people came in, including several hydro workers in orange coveralls and two guys in tuxedos who must have been in a wedding. Halifax donairs are pretty different from other middle eastern fare in the GTA due to the sweet sauce (that I remember disliking as a kid, growing up in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia), so I'm glad to see so many locals enjoying them. The three guys working there, who I suspect are the co-owners, also treat everyone wonderfully.

We drove all the way to Cambridge (4o agonizing minutes) with our goodies to share them with more friends, so it was all a bit cold by the time we ate it (I forgot to take food photos!), but it was definitely the real deal. The experience was just as I remember from home. It's so wet and sloppy that you can't actually eat it as a wrap; you just eat the insides until the point where you can attempt to pick up the soaked pita while the sauce drips down your arms. I know that sounds awful, but it's really good.

I'll miss you, Ayngelina!

Tomorrow, my friend and Torontoist partner-in-crime Ayngelina will be taking off for a 12-15 month long trip of a lifetime to Central and South America. She's been saving and planning for well over a year, and I can truthfully say I've never seen anyone so prepared. I know she's going to have an amazing time. (If you'd like to follow her on her journey, she created a blog, aptly named Bacon Is Magic, and her Twitter handle is @ayngelina.)

Ayngelina and I met back in 1998 when we were both unfortunate co-op students at the communications department of the Canadian Space Agency (heard of it? It's our NASA) on the south shore of Montreal. We're both from Nova Scotia, so we got together a couple of times in Halifax, but we pretty much lost touch until around 2008 when we both coincidentally started blogging about food in Toronto.

In February 2009, I started writing for Torontoist and quickly realized my mad point-and-shoot skills weren't going to meet their lofty photography standards. So, even before she was officially on staff herself, Ayngelina enthusiastically made herself available and accompanied me to fancy store openings in Rosedale, flavour-tripping Miracle Berry tastings in Parkdale, and everything in between. Not only did she take amazing photographs, but she knew so much about food and PR, which made everything easier for me. Since she did such an fantastic job, Torontoist hired her in June of the same year. I'll miss our collaboration very much.

Since I'm such a sentimental sap, I thought I'd compile a list of my favourite posts we did together over the past year along with a few behind-the-scenes details.

Enough Already with the Bathrooms, Says Mildred - February 2010
Despite the exhausting media circus that surrounded Mildred's Temple Kitchen before Valentine's Day (click the title link to find out more), co-owner Kevin Gallagher graciously spent close to an hour on a busy Friday evening filling me in on his side of the story. Something that I felt was lost in all the hoopla is Mildred's has the most incredible food (Veda's Choice at brunch; there are no words). So, the morning after the interview, Ayngelina, her boyfriend Geof, and I went to the restaurant and she took some of the most beautiful food shots I've ever seen. It all tasted as good as it looked.

501 Queen Car Goes Splitsville - October 2009
On a beautiful day in late October, Ayngelina and I rode the 24-km Queen streetcar route from end to end to test the TTC's experiment of splitting the city-spanning route into two (in the hopes of improving service consistency). We met after work at Yonge and Queen at the height of rush hour and spent the better part of three hours negotiating transfers, picking out landmarks to photograph, and desperately trying to get Ayngelina and her camera as close as possible to an open window. By the time we reached Long Branch (in the shadow of Mississauga), it was pitch dark and Ayngelina had to travel all the way home to Yonge and Eglinton before editing dozens of photos for me.

Oh l'amour - September 2009
Ayngelina was 100% responsible for seeking out this amazing photography exhibit called Thirty in Twenty: An Exhibition of Photography, Food, and Wine. Over 25 years ago, Toni and Ria Harting embarked on what sounds to me like the most romantic trip. Toni had inherited some money from his mother who wanted him to enjoy it, not save it. So, they decided to spend it all dining at ten 3-star Michelin restaurants in France while travelling in a rented van and camping to save on expenses. Toni took photographs of the entire journey and they saved the menus (some of them handwritten!) from all the restaurants. The couple themselves were at the opening and they were the loveliest people. Their sense of adventure is something they have in common with Ayngelina.

Miracle on Queen Street - August 2009
On a hot, sticky August day, we received a last-minute invitation to a small, exclusive Miracle Berry (exotic fruit that make everything eaten afterward taste sweet) tasting at the home of a Parkdale couple who had just started berry distribution business. We were already booked that night to cover the fabulous SummerWorks Performance Gallery at the Gladstone (see below), but we squeezed in a short visit, during which we ate the berries then filled our poor stomachs with tequila, vinegar, sour candy, and lemons (oooo...the heartburn). We felt fortunate to be there as our party companions were all from the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, CBC, and the Toronto Star. No one else's photos were as nice though.

Night at the Performance Gallery - August 2009
We arrived late due to the Miracle Berry party (see above), so some of the performances we wanted to see were already done for the night. But happily, several of the performers offered to stay and do extra shows just for us. I fell in love with haunting opera singer Anthony Bergamin in Quietness and beautiful Hannah Cheesman in My German Lollipop. The performances took place in the small rooms on the 2nd floor, so Ayngelina took many of the photos while lying on the floor to get a good angle. These dark, moody images captured them perfectly.

Toronto Tastes Great - June 2009
The great people at Second Harvest very generously invited Ayngelina and I to attend and cover their swanky fundraiser, Toronto Taste, in Yorkville. We dressed up in our best and tenaciously interviewed some of Toronto's most famous chefs and Food Network personalities (Michael Smith, Laura Calder, Bob Blumer). Needless to say, I was scared to death and Ayngelina provided much needed moral support. All of the food photos she took were glossy magazine quality, but I think my favourite was of chef Marc Thuet. We couldn't get close enough to interview him during the event, so we gave up and started making our way to the subway. Then, all of a sudden, there he was—leaning against a nearby building, taking a smoke break with one of his cooks. We scooted over, chatted for a bit (he was so sweet), and Ayngelina took his picture. He's the most physically majestic person I've ever seen (not unlike a lion), and I think this comes across really well in Ayngelina's photo.

Small Boxes at Summerhill - June 2009
Thanks to my wonderful and talented friend Olivia Bolano (head chef at All the Best Fine Foods), I get invited quite often to events at the Five Thieves, a group of well-respected and long-standing gourmet food shops in Rosedale. The 19th-century era buildings have been undergoing lengthy restoration and renovation, so back in June, Woodcliffe (their landlord) held a press event to unveil of the first four shops to be completed. The stores were beautiful, especially Pisces Gourmet who had a stunning array of exotic fish on display. Funnily enough, even though there were tonnes of "press" in attendance, we were the only ones actually working that night. Some of the shops owners told us at the after-party that no one else took any photos or asked questions. And we didn't see any other articles about it in the following days. Score one for Torontoist!

The Original Fifteen - June 2009
"The Original Fifteen" is the nickname we gave to the Basic Culinary Skills Training program at the YMCA because they've been helping people on social assistance learn to become working professional cooks decades before Jamie Oliver. Ayngelina and I got up at the crack of dawn and visited them at their training facility before going to work. I can barely put into words how wonderful the whole endeavour is. The chef instructors are kind and caring, but serious, and they are always thinking about how to make the program better in order to get their cooks into stable and enjoyable employment. I've never seen anything better in my life.

Shang to Shang in Thirty-Six Hours - April 2009
This was a such a fun piece. Back in April of last year, Susur Lee had just opened his New York restaurant, Shang, on the Lower East Side. Since many people here were curious about the food being served there, Susur simultaneously offered a sampling of the same dishes at his Toronto restaurant, Madeline's. Coincidentally, I had a weekend trip to NYC planned at the same time, so within two days, I dined at both Madeline's (with Ayngelina and my friend Marcelo) and Shang. I was so nervous taking pictures that would be laid side-by-side with Ayngelina's!

The streetcar went by like I wasn't there - April 2009
I've been a big fan of Toronto textile artist Yasmine Louis for years. I cherish a dark (now faded) grey hoodie I bought years ago that has what might be my favourite line written by anyone screenprinted on it: "The streetcar went by like I wasn't there." It's vulnerable and sad; I love it so much. I was so happy to finally meet and interview her for Torontoist. Ayngelina and I visited her in her sunny, peaceful Queen West studio and had so much fun talking about her work and travels. Yasmine only sells through shows like the One of a Kind Show, so it gives her ample time to take long, adventurous trips to exotic places; much like Ayngelina!

Have a fun and safe trip, Ayngelina, and thanks for all the photos! I'll miss you!

Photo by Yasmine Louis.