Ladies of Leisure - Lunch at Mildred Pierce

Since Mildred Pierce is nowhere near my place or work (or anything) and I was taking the day off to recuperate from the race, Koto and I took advantage of our ample free time and went for lunch. I was wondering what kind of people would be there since it's kind of remote from any business centres and service is only between 12-2pm.

We got there right at the stroke of 12 and the room was empty except for the owners Donna Dooher and her husband, Kevin Gallagher, who were sitting having an early lunch. Quite the celebrity sighting for me. As time went on, people trickled in and the restaurant became a little over half full. The people who came were a mix of business people, retirees, and interesting intellectual types dining alone (in my imagination, they were novelists).

To celebrate the day off, we started with cocktails. I had a Pom Royale, which I've had before but was so good I had to have it again. It's champagne mixed with pomegranate juice and there are little pomegranate seeds floating in it. Lovely. Koto had a Peppermint Paddywagon, which was a minty, chocolatey vodka drink with shaved chocolate around the rim. I tasted a bit and it was pretty sweet and potent.

Koto started with the shrimp and crab cakes. I had them at dinner the other night and they were just as delicious at lunch -- beautifully hot, but not greasy, plump full of shrimp and shredded crab meat, and served on a bed of crispy Thai-like slaw. Delicious.

For our mains, Koto had the Mildred's club sandwich and I had the Clove-scented basmati biryani. What's great about having lunch with your sister is that you can share food. Koto's sandwich was on this really dark bread that tasted a bit like chocolate. It was filled was shredded, smoked chicken, ripe avocado, arugula, tomato, thinly sliced red onion, and garlic mayonnaise. It came with these beautiful, thin-as-paper taro chips. Both the sandwich and the chips were fabulous.

The biryani was complex and full of ingredients. The spiced basmati rice was mixed with dried apricots, currants, cashews, and pumpkin seeds, topped with fig and date chutney, and cradled in a ring made from two thin strips of deep-fried plaintain. The basket of rice rested on a grilled portobello mushroom surrounded by smooth lentil broth. It was perfect and expertly made.

Since this was a leisurely lunch, we shared a 'Pecan not so square', which was a thick, buttery crust topped with whole, fresh pecans and a caramelly glaze. Alongside was yummy whipped cream and a little bourbon butter sauce. Again, it was perfect.

I said it before, but Mildred Pierce is definitely the place you need to take people from out-of-town. They pay attention to every single detail and it's reliably amazing. And not too expensive for the quality. For one appetizer, two mains, dessert, espresso, and two drinks, the bill came to $75 before tip.

Mississauga Half Marathon

Well, we did it. Koto and I ran the Mississauga Half Marathon today in this beautiful weather. Darcy hurt his foot a couple of weeks ago, so he had to sit out (poor Darcy). He sweetly drove us there, hung onto our stuff while we ran, and took some great pictures. This one has the winner of the full marathon, Predrag Mladenovic (2:23), in it. He's the guy with the neon yellow singlet.

This was my second half marathon and I managed to improve my time by about 5 minutes, but I am absolutely destroyed. In the Toronto Half Marathon in October, I felt great and had lots of energy after the race. This time, the last 5k felt like a death march and I had to cheer myself on to keep going (you can do it!). The last km looped around a pond so you could see the finish way before you got there and I almost cried because it looked so far. Next time, I'll have to train harder. I really did do a sort of half-assed training program this time.

As soon as we got home, Darcy ran out and bought Alexander Keith's beer (for him and Koto) and KFC for all of us. KFC is Koto and Darcy's guilty pleasure. Me, I'm a pizza a girl but I dove in anyways.

I'm so glad I am taking tomorrow off. I predict the entire day will be spent in pain with my feet up. I may have to acquire a scooter to get around.

Cheap lunches in Bloor West Village: Falafel World and Astra Deli

I have eaten out so much this week. After I got back from getting my hair cut, I was starving and so was Darcy so I met him in Bloor West Village and we went to Falafel World to get me a chicken shawarma sandwich. It's my new favourite thing. For $5 you get a fresh pita stuffed with shaved roasted chicken, cabbage salad, lettuce, and tomato and topped with garlic and hot sauces. It's the complete food. I love it. It's the closest thing we have found to a Montreal shish taouk.

Apparently, Falafel World has been there for something like 20 years and I can see why. It's so good and cheap. And it's a family business, so it feels good to support them. Although, by no means do they need our business. No matter when we go, the place is always busy. But, the service is super fast so you'll never wait long.

Darcy was in the mood for a barbecued sausage from Astra Deli, so I braved the line-up and the cranky barbecue mistress to get him one (Darcy can't stand crowds). Barbecuing and selling sausages in front of Astra Deli must be the worst job in the world because no matter who is manning the grill, they're always in a horrible mood. They've been doing this for years and years, but the system sorely needs some process improvement. They have one person grilling and taking the money, so she has to handle both (ew!). They keep the take-out containers inside so if you need one, you have to go in and get it yourself. They don't have the price posted anywhere so the griller has to say '$2.75' like a million times per day. And the line-up always forms in front of the condiments so after you have your sausage, you have to fight through everyone to dress your dog. They're really good though. What's a little hassle for a great sausage on a bun?

A beautiful day to go to Pop Design

After 7 months without a haircut, I finally went this morning to Pop Design at King and Spadina. I usually go to Red Label Hair in Bloor West Village, but I met Pop Design's owners, Giselle and Sandro, at a party back in November and I really liked them.

Pop Design is a great, funky, unpretentious salon. Everyone is relaxed and friendly and the decor is cool, but unfussy. They use those red tool chests that everyone's dad has for storing styling implements. And even though Gisele co-owns the salon, she washed my hair herself before styling it. I like that. She knew immediately what she wanted to do with my hair, but she wasn't pushing me into anything I wasn't ready for. And she's super nice and fun to talk to. If you're looking for a great stylist in Toronto, I can't recommend her enough.

After doing some research online, I see that their salon is quite famous. The linked article says that they do work for print, television, and runway fashion. It makes me feel like I'm not worthy of getting my hair cut there, but I felt very comfortable and it wasn't that expensive ($70 for a cut by a Master stylist). I think that says a lot about them.

On a completely different topic, I took some pictures of the pond at Ellis on my way down to the streetcar stop. It looked so beautiful in the late morning sun. All of the trees are blooming and the swans are gliding around leisurely. I love our neighbourhood.

'Ladies Lunch' at Sushiman

Yet again, I ventured out for lunch today. Darryl was working from home on Monday when I had my sushi craving (and went to Bikkuri), so we got together today at Sushiman at Victoria and Richmond.

This place is practically across the street from my office, but I'd never been there before. I'd walked by many times and seen Japanese businessmen going in, so I figured it must be pretty good.

The interior was pleasant, sunny, and unpretentious. All of the adorable waitresses seemed to be Japanese (the real deal; not like me), which lends an air of credibility to the place.

I had great intentions of having a straightforward and healthy sushi lunch, but I was foiled again. There was something on the menu called the 'Ladies Lunch', which I had to order because I always wondered what a lady should eat. Darryl ordered the straightforward sushi lunch.

I wonder what sort of lady they had in mind when they created this combo. An Olympic shot putter, maybe? Darryl's straightforward sushi lunch was a standard size and came on an elegant, small wooden board. The waitress' arm strained under the weight of my 'Ladies Lunch', which was served in a bento box. It comprised of 6 California rolls, seaweed salad, a small piece of cantaloupe, and a whole mess 'o tempura (not again!).

The California rolls were the best I've had in a long time. They had actual fish roe in them and the avocado was ripe and creamy. And they were a nice, dainty size. The seaweed salad, however, was quite a disappointment. I thought that it would be that great wakame salad that you see at Bento Nouveau and St. Lawrence Market as well as many other places. It turned out to be the regular (and not very fresh) iceberg lettuce salad with little bits of chewy seaweed and lots of gloppy miso-sesame dressing. Ew. The cantaloupe was okay if a bit overripe and tasteless. And the tempura was passable, but not as good as Bikkuri. It's all in the crispy exterior. Bikkuri's was snowy, fluffy; Sushiman's was like the tempura I've made at home. There was a nice selection of vegetables in it though: pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, carrot, onion, mushroom, green pepper. Thankfully, Darryl had some so I didn't eat all of it.

The bill came to an astounding $20 for the two of us. Despite all my complaints, I'd definitely go again. This time I would order sushi and sashimi only. Or try one of their cooked dishes like donburi. It's quite a deal. Pretty much all the lunch items are under $10.

Mamma's Pizza for dinner

Well, since I had spinach and mushroom salad and soda water for lunch on Thursday, I was due for some Mamma's pizza for dinner that night. Darcy has been housebound for the better part of the week with a sore ankle (he woke up one day and it hurt and then we ran for 6 miles -- don't be like us!) so he was due for a treat. I've had more than enough treats this week, but what is one more?

Mamma's Pizza is a pretty big Toronto chain (23 stores in the GTA). I hadn't tried Mamma's until a couple of weekends ago when Darcy and I got slices there on a Sunday after being disappointed that Falafel World was closed. It's thin crust, floppy, tomatoey pizza with finely chopped toppings. We love it.

Our favourite pizza is what is called an 'All Dressed' pizza in Montreal, which is pepperoni, mushrooms, and green pepper. When I first moved to Ontario (Waterloo), I order an 'all dressed' pizza and ended up with a pizza that had almost everything on the menu. Yikes.

Mamma's pizza is great. It's especially good when you get a slice at the store and they warm it up for you in the pizza oven. The bottom gets all crispy and delicious. Sigh.

Flatiron and Firkin

On Thursday, I unexpectedly went to the Flatiron and Firkin for Matt's resignation lunch. Matt has been at my company for 5 years now and he's a sweet guy, so we had around 25 people.

We all sat on the patio at a long table and I wondered if they were actually going to try to have all of our food ready at the same time. They did try, so it took about 1-1/2 hours for it to arrive. I've been watching so many behind-the-scenes restaurant shows on the Food Network that I pictured this endless ticker tape coming out of the order printer in the kitchen and the cooks trying to choreograph finishing 25 plates simultaneously.

The Flatiron and Firkin is one many 'Firkin' pubs across the GTA. The food is typical pub fare (burgers, sandwiches, fish and chips, curry, salads, etc.) and it's definitely a safe choice for a large group lunch -- there's something mediocre for everyone.

I'd been eating out so much this week that I thought I would take it easy and have a soda water and a spinach and mushroom salad. The spinach was remarkably fresh and the hard-boiled eggs were just right (no green tint around the yolk from overcooking). The mushrooms were old though and the promised bacon bits were absent. For a pub though, it was pretty good. And I felt so virtuous. So much so that I stole a few of Tanya's fries, which were great actually. They were those thick, skinless ones that are probably frozen. I love those.

If you're downtown and you're entertaining a large group or dining with finicky eaters, this is the place for you.