summerlicious anniversary lunch - Fabbrica

Location: 49 Karl Fraser Road, Toronto

Description on Summerlicious site:
Authentic Italian cuisine, uniformly rustic and intended for casual enjoyment. Fabbrica houses a contemporary dining room anchored at the front with a long bar and at the rear, our wood-burn brick pizza oven from Naples. The atmosphere is casual and convival!

Price: $20

Appetizers:

   
Paul had Buffalo Mozzarella (fresh tomato, balsamic, basil and extra virgin olive oil) and I had the Beef Carpaccio (mustard sauce, capers, onions, grano padano). Paul's appetizer was really colourful and fresh and all the flavours of the ingredients stood out. As for me? This is now my favourite carpaccio dish ever. Everything just melted together into a delicious, light, fresh taste. I normally don't like capers (I find them too salty) but these blended in nicely and I barely noticed them. The only thing I didn't care for on the plate were the radishes, but I loved the rest of the dish so much I barely noticed them.

summerlicious anniversary lunch - Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill

Location: 2901 Bayview Avenue, Toronto

Description on Summerlicious site:
Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill, Bayview Village is the first of O&B's casual dining restaurants. This large urban space feels very downtown despite its North Toronto location. A gleaming open kitchen extends into the airy dining room, featuring washed tin ceilings, leather banquettes and dramatic and distinctive light fixtures. The menu offers something for everyone, including fresh, made-from-scratch soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas and fire-roasted pizzas.

Price: $15

Appetizers: 

   
Paul had the Organic Lollo Rossa Green Salad (Niagara Stone fruit preserve, Parmesan and Riesling dressing). He really enjoyed the dressing and the preserved fruit in the salad. Meanwhile, I had the Watermelon & Tomato Gazpacho (basil, olive and brioche), which was refreshing on a hot summer day. The gazpacho had a nice twang to it and there was very generous great portion for an appetizer.

summerlicious anniversary lunch - Bier Markt Don Mills

Location: 7 O'Neill Road, Toronto

Description on Summerlicious site:
Inspired by Belgium's passion and unparalleled reputation for the finer things in life, the Bier Markt brings you the ultimate dining experience; knowledgeable staff guiding you through the art of pairing beer to complement your meal in an atmosphere that balances sociability with sophistication. The dining menu is Belgian-inspired and boasts over 100 beers from over 24 countries.

Price: $20

Appetizers:

   
Paul had the Pork & Fennel Wurst (Kosher pickle, Gouda cheese, mustard, Backerhaus bretzel) while I opted for the Wild Mushroom Soup (wild & tame mushrooms, shallots, fresh herbs, mushroom broth). I loved my soup (really, I love anything with mushrooms) even though it was odd to order a soup on a sweltering hot day. The broth was light, with lots of subtle mushroom flavours and was loaded with a variety of mushrooms. Over on Paul's side, the pretzel was perfectly made and we both really liked the mustard that came with it (sweet, but tangy) and Paul really enjoyed the sausage - it was the perfect amount for an appetizer.

summerlicious for our anniversary!

Paul and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago and we celebrated by having a few lunches during Summerlicious.

For those outside Toronto, Summerlicious (and Winterlicious) are two food festivals held every year here in Toronto. Winterlicious runs during the first two weeks of February while Summerlicious occurs at the start of July (both typically slow times for restaurants). During both these events major restaurants across the city offer a limited menu of prix fixe lunches and dinners at a discount from typical prices. Currently the prices are $15, $20 or $25 for lunch and $25, $35 or $45 for dinner, with drinks and tips not included.

Some restaurants book up really quickly, but Paul and I don't generally choose a place based on popularity, but we go based on the menu. Plus, this year, we decided to try places that were in our neighbourhood.

I don't normally review restaurants here on kitchen frolic, but I wanted to share a recap of the places we tried and the menu items we ate. Watch for my recaps over the next few days!  :)

kawartha dairy - 2013 edition

Last year I had the ambitious notion that I would try every flavour on the Kawartha Dairy menu board. Boy, was I wrong! I only managed 14 flavours...but I loved every minute of it.  :)

This year I wasn't really thinking about trying the ice cream wall again, but we've been spending more time up in the Kawarthas and a few people have already asked how much Kawartha Dairy ice cream I've eaten this year, so here I am again! I'm pretty sure I won't be able to cross every flavour off the board, but I think this is a great idea to force me to try new ice cream flavours instead of eating the same one all summer long.

So far, between me and Paul, I've managed to try six flavours:

A few weeks ago, we kicked off the summer with our first trip to Kawartha Dairy (in Peterborough). I ordered the Wolf Paws, one of my favourites - "vanilla ice cream with chocolate butter fudge and soft brownie pieces" (YUM - I love brownies). Paul picked Banana Boat, "marshmallow and chocolate in a banana flavoured ice cream". Both were really great - but the banana flavouring of the Banana Boat was especially good. I never though ice cream could be so banana-y!


Our next visit to Kawartha Dairy had us craving colour! Ever since I was a kid, I've always been partial to Bordeaux Cherry (my dad's favourite). This one is described "a rich and full-flavoured cherry ice cream loaded with big pieces of sweet black Bordeaux cherries". Paul went even brighter and chose to have the kiddie-inspired Blue Bubblegum, "pink coloured gum pieces in a bubblegum flavoured ice cream with a bright blue colour". I LOVED the Bordeaux Cherry, while Paul's Blue Bubblegum was definitely bubble gum flavoured (and BLUE!), although I've never been fond of the gum pieces inside ice cream.


Finally, this past weekend, I chose to have the Mango, "a distinctive Mango colour and flavour", while Paul had his favourite flavour, Mint Chip, a "cool mint flavoured ice cream with semi sweet chocolate chips". The mango flavour was subtle, a little too subtle for my preference, but Paul was really happy with his Mint Chip.


I think we've gotten off to a pretty good start knocking off the flavours, but I'm still hoping to beat my "score" of 14 from 2012. :D

toronto food fest 2013 - vendor edition

The lovely Ashley from SmashCake was kind (and brave) enough to let me help out at her booth at the recent Toronto Food Fest. After doing the rounds at the event as a blogger/eater at the mediapreview hour, I slipped behind the table to join Ashley and Greg and saw what life was like as a vendor at a food event.

Although Ashley explained that most events start off a little slowly for her (people tend to save dessert for closer to the end), we were consistently busy from start to finish.

Ashley’s menu consisted of 3 different products, each with different flavours. Once I wrapped my head around the products on offer and their prices, my main job was to get the items that were needed as Ashley took the orders. Between the three of us, we managed to keep things going smoothly all day long.

Considering I was handling food for 5 hours straight, I’m proud to report I only tipped over ONE cupcake the whole day.

toronto food fest 2013 - eater edition

This past Sunday, I got to play two very different foodie roles at the same event. First, Paul and I attended the media preview hour of the 2nd annual Toronto Food Fest (what this post is about) and then I slipped behind the SmashCake booth to see what life was like as a food vendor at an event (which I'll write about in an upcoming post).

Some of the tasty treats available: (clockwise from top left) lemon meringue cupcakes from Bakin' Bits; vanilla and smashed smarties cupcakes from SmashCake; macarons from Francesca Bakery and gourmet sandwich from Bricks and Mortar

Some of the amazing reasons to attend the Toronto Food Fest:

• takes place on a Sunday afternoon so the whole family can enjoy together
• located in the suburbs, so there's lots of free parking
• a great mix of new vendors, pop-up shops and established businesses
• it's FREE to attend (that's right, FREE)

The event was split into two areas - indoor and outdoors. It was a beautiful, sunny day (although seriously HOT), so after taking a quick walk-around the indoor area we headed outside to visit those vendors first.

There were lots of great vendors set up outside, including:

Clockwise from top left: Dutch Frites, Sopsop, Liko's Hawaiian BBQ and Buster's Sea Cove

if there are bao (buns) to be eaten, i'm first in line

Bison Short Rib bun from HotBunzz

I had seen Hot Bunzz (@HotBunzzTO) around on Twitter for awhile but our first taste of their buns was at the September 2012 Toronto Underground Market where their Beef Basil Thai bun was a hit with both Paul and myself. I've been stalking following Hot Bunzz on Twitter ever since. Growing up in a Chinese family like I did, I ate a lot of buns (or bao as they're called in Chinese), especially meat-filled ones, so I'm always curious to see how these little snacks are interpreted by others.

For the past few months, Hot Bunzz have been hinting that something big was happening and I finally learned what the buzz was about - they were launching a permanent space! When Hot Bunzz's Mitch invited me to preview their new place inside the (also new) Urban Bistro (@UrbanBistroTO) at 21 St. Clair Ave. West, I couldn't be more excited and accepted immediately.

After arriving, I spoke with owner Mark about how Hot Bunzz came to be and he told me he was inspired by the traditional Asian bao after travelling through Hong Kong and Shanghai, but wanted to do something different with the fillings. He believes that "food is about adventure" and you can definitely see that philosophy in the HotBunzz on display - the flavours they were previewing were Sicilian Sausage, Canadian Elk and Bison Short Rib.

happy mchappy day - wednesday, may 8!

On Wednesday, May 8, McDonald's is celebrating the 20th McHappy Day in Canada and they need our help!

For every Big Mac, Happy Meal or hot McCafe beverage that's sold on May 8, McDonald's will donate $1 to local children's charities, including Ronald McDonald Houses. Last year, that totaled $8,000,000!

Did You Know?

• Last year, on McHappy Day, McDonalds Canada sold 402,802 Big Macs, 207, 246 Happy Meals and 709,907 hot McCafe beverages?
• 1,400 McDonald's restaurants will be celebrating McHappy Day on May 8
• 10,000 families stay in Ronald McDonald Houses each year

How you can help (super easy, I promise!):

• On May 8, go to McDonald's and order a Big Mac, Happy Meal or a hot McCafe beverage (or all three!) 
• Spread the word to your Facebook friends and on Twitter using #McHappyDay

Watch how Ronald McDonald House Charities give sick children what they need most - their families.

Disclosure: I am not sponsored by McDonalds Canada. For helping to spread the word, McDonald's Canada has made a donation to Ronald McDonald House on my behalf, otherwise I have not received any other compensation for this post. 

afternoon tea at butter avenue

Recently, Yvonne from th3hungrycat invited me to join her and her sister for Afternoon Tea at Butter Avenue and I didn't hesitate to accept. I was excited for a few reasons:

• Yvonne's tweets about Butter Avenue always have me drooling
• from their website, it looked like Butter Avenue's Afternoon Tea would have a modern twist
• one word: macarons. Yes, macarons for Afternoon Tea.

Butter Avenue is a small, peaceful little cafe, with a clean, simple look that really liked. After settling in, we were given a Tea Menu to choose our drinks from - you can actually open up each little jar to smell the tea before making your choice. Calvin, who co-owns Butter Avenue with his sister Tina, mentioned that Roasted Almond is one of their most popular teas, so that's the one I chose. It has a lovely, nutty smell and steeps to a beautiful deep pink colour.

Besides drinks, Afternoon Tea at Butter Avenue consists of three components:

1. amuse-bouche
2. macarons
3. mini tarts and cakes

After ordering our teas, we were invited to go to the counter and choose three macarons. It was a tough choice, I tell you, but I ended up going with a tea theme and chose Matcha, Earl Grey and Lemon.

the business of food trucks

Most people who like food and like to eat are aware of the growing trend of Food Trucks. I think my fascination with food trucks stems from my childhood memories of hearing the musical tinkling of the ice cream truck rollling down the street.

But Food Trucks are serious business and it's growing. Although many cities are now working on laws and regulations to keep the Food Truck trend in check, I think it's definitely something that will only continue to grow.

Now, I recently was sent this infographic about the business of food trucks and thought it would be cool to share it with my readers. To let you in on a secret: I'm a real sucker for infographics - they make reading facts so much more fun!

Anyhow, the information in this particular infographic is for the US only, but it's still interesting to me as I believe that the US is far ahead of Canada in the Food Truck game.

Have a look and let me know if there's anything in this infographic that surprises you!

Infographic provided by carinsurance.org

our first TUM (toronto underground market), part 2

(Note: This is the second part of a two-part series about our first TUM. You can read Part 1 here)

After the Thanksgiving Pucks, we headed to the back of the venue to a surprisingly short line up for Fidel Gastro’s (@fidelgastros). I had heard a lot about them on Twitter so was excited to try their food. After browsing the menu, I settled on trying the Gorgeous Jorge ($5) – a sandwich of peanut butter pulled pork, bacon jam and crackling. I think it was the word crackling that won me over. This was a little saltier than I expected (maybe it was the bacon jam?) and the combination of peanut butter and pork was a little weird, but the more I ate, the more I liked it. And the surprise crackling bits throughout the sandwich were really good. It was pretty cool how crunchy they managed to stay squished in that pork and jam mix.

At this point, the live music was really getting going and it was our only complaint about the event. Ok, I get it – live music makes for a really fun atmosphere, and the musicians were talented, but it was SO LOUD. Because of the venue, the sound was really reverberating around the walls. I couldn’t hear Paul, he couldn’t hear me (even when I was yelling directly into his ear), I couldn’t hear the vendors and vendors couldn’t hear my order. It was actually kind of annoying. Everyone around us was shouting at each other and repeating their shouting since no one could hear each other. Since this is an event that encourages chatting and sharing of food experiences, it was a little off-putting to not be able to speak to each other about what we were eating...

We then headed to the open pavilion section where I had the surprise of the night. We saw the sign for Shinaki Co. (@shinaki_co), a vendor I had never heard of, but they had Char Siu listed on their board, which is one of Paul’s favourite dishes, so we figured we should give it a try. As I headed towards their table, the girl who was taking orders and I looked at each other and just burst into laughter. It was my friend Sandy, who I’ve known since high school but haven’t seen in YEARS! How’s that for a coincidence? Her brother (to quote Sandy) “does pork like nobody’s business”. Paul and I ordered the pork belly plate ($5) (which came with some salted peanuts, a nice sweet bun, hot mustard and hot sauce) and was plated in a restaurant-like manner. Verdict – some of the BEST pork belly either of us have ever had and probably one of our favourite dishes of the night (and I'm not just saying that because I know Sandy!).

I was so excited to see Sandy again that I forgot to take a photo of our food from Shinaki, but before we left, I headed back there and asked if I could sneak behind the table to take some shots and she was kind enough to let me.

our first TUM (toronto underground market), part 1

(Note: We had so much fun at September’s TUM that I have A LOT to say about it, so I’ve split this post into 2 parts. Watch for Part 2 coming up in a couple of days!) 

Thanks to the super generous Jen of foodpr0n, Paul and I got to attend the nighttime Toronto Underground Market (TUM) this past Sunday. We were extra excited because not only was it our first time attending TUM, but it was their First Birthday Bash!

According to their site, “TUM is a social food market for the community to sample the food of Toronto home cooks. It is a venue for budding entrepreneurs to showcase their products. These vendors are not necessarily chefs, although some will be. This is a new kind of community market; not a farmer's market, or a food festival, but something completely unique and new to Toronto.”

I’ve been reading about this event and drooling over TUM photos from my fellow food bloggers for months, but every TUM seemed to fall on a date that we couldn’t make. But not this time!

Warning: Since this was my first TUM, I was so excited to attend as an “eater” that I forgot about approaching the event as a “food blogger” – hence I didn’t have my DSLR, only my iPhone. And of course, my iPhone had less than 30% battery life left before I even entered the building. So, I apologize in advance for the blurry photos – lesson learned for next time!

Taking useful tips from Jon of Chan's a Fan and Jen of foodpr0n’s blog posts, Paul and I arrived early and managed to snag a parking spot at the Evergreen Brickworks. We got into line and waited (impatiently) for the doors to open at 6pm. I was armed with a bottle of water (useful),Tupperware (not that useful) and moist toilettes (super useful).

Since we didn’t know we were going to TUM until the night before, we didn’t really have a plan, so we decided to just let our eyes and noses guide us in our choices. There were a few vendors that I recognized from all my time on Twitter, so I definitely made it a priority to give them a try.

pizza, pizza and more pizza

Pizza.

Who doesn't love a good slice of pizza? We sure as heck love it! Friday night is generally "pizza night" and although we vary where we get our pizza from each week, we generally stick to simple toppings, like pepperoni. Once in a while, instead of takeout, Paul will make his family-favourite pizza from scratch (lately he's been experimenting with different types of dough to try and get that elusive "perfect" crust).

So we knew we definitely had to eat some pizza when we went to Rome last month. Because some of the places we had wanted to try were closed for August holidays, and since we were spending most of our time sight-seeing in some intense heat, we didn't get to try as much pizza as we would have liked. However, every single slice of pizza we had while we were there was Amazing (yes, Amazing with a capital 'A').

Besides ordering whole pizzas and pizza by the slice, there's also get pizza al taglio (I love this concept). Pizza al taglio or pizza al trancio (Italian for pizza by the slice — literally "by the cut") is pizza baked in large rectangular trays. You tell the server how large a rectangular slice you want them to cut off and you pay for the slices by weight.

Over the course of our week-long trip, we had pizza six times, from four different places. I could write on and on about the pizza we had, but you just want to see the photos, don't you?  :)

Taverna del Corso

I noticed this little pizza restaurant as we were walking to one of the (many) churches we visited. Later that evening, when we were trying to find somewhere to eat (like I said, a few of the restaurants we had wanted to eat at were closed for the holidays), I mentioned this place to Paul and off we went. I think I remembered it only because it had that cheesy Italian decor - you know, the wooden chairs, red-and-white checked table cloths and a grumpy old Italian man standing in the doorway (who turned out to be pretty nice, actually).

They serve pizzas on a super-thin, crispy crust (very similar to the one Paul makes) made in a wood-fired oven. We went twice while we were there and tried a range of their pizzas, including a Pizza Margherita, Pizza Parmigiana and Pizza Diablo.

let's go to the ex...well, actually, i'll meet you in the food building

I've been going to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) for as long as I can remember. I may have missed a few years here and there, but generally, it's a summertime tradition (albeit a bittersweet one).

For my friends outside Toronto, the CNE (aka The Ex) is an annual event that takes place the last two and a half weeks in August - hence the "bittersweet" part since the start of The Ex signals the end of summer for many Torontonians. There's a midway with carnival games and rides and buildings full of exhibitions and product booths.

And then there's the Food building. In the past, the Food building was a mish-mash of cultural foods, chain staples and a place to find fast eats and snacks - a little repetitive (especially when the same place had four booths in the one building), but it never failed to provide some good eats (typical Toronto tradition - 99 cent spaghetti followed by a dozen Tiny Tom donuts). However, the past couple of years has seen a real focus on re-inventing the Food building, with the introduction of new vendors, lots of new and innovative (if sometimes artery-clogging) food items (like the infamous deep-fried butter that was introduced in 2010) and more involvement from local businesses (there was even a weekend-long Food Truck Frenzy this year!)

For the past two years, Paul and I have been heading to The Ex with his family. The bonus to this is that Paul's brother Mike and his fiancee Alex (the same two that have been helping me try all those Kawartha Dairy ice cream flavours) are generally as excited to try the new foods as we are, which ensures that everyone has a lot of new tastes.

Here are just a couple of the new vendors that we didn't get to try this year:

While Paul, Mike and Alex stood in line at Bacon Nation, I headed over to Dutch Frites (their booth was decorated like a mini food truck - too cute!).

kawartha cravings in peterborough

Last week I had four glorious days off from work so Paul and I scooted up north to relax and do nothing (well, Paul continued building a deck, while I relaxed). In between the sunning, napping and general laziness, we actually went to Peterborough a couple of times, including a trip on Saturday with Paul's brother, Mike, and our future sister-in-law, Alex. I was happy to discover that there was a Kawartha Dairy store in town so (of course) we headed there so I could continue my conquest of the Kawartha ice cream menu board!

I already had my next flavour chosen before I got to the counter (although I still had to take a look at everything on offer). I only went with one scoop this time and tried Muskoka Mocha - "mocha flavoured ice cream with mocha fudge sauce, mocha crumb, and chocolate fish". Yes, after the little chocolate turtles from the Caramel Snappers, I went with little chocolate fish this time. This ice cream is a nice subtle taste and the chocolate wasn't too sweet, with a hint of mocha. Loved it.

Paul ordered a scoop of Black Raspberry Thunder - "a smooth white chocolate ice cream with the tangy taste of black raspberry marble and white chocolate chunks", which I've been told is a very popular flavour. We can understand why. This flavour is now one of our favourites - a nice, strong raspberry flavour with the softness of the white chocolate. Definitely one that we'll be ordering again in the future!

Mike couldn't resist ordering his absolute favourite flavour, Moose Tracks, but was kind enough to also tack on a second scoop of something I hadn't tried before (see the sacrifices my family makes for my blog?). Seeing how he loves his chocolate and peanut butter combo, his second scoop had to be Chocolate Peanut Butter - "chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cookie dough pieces and a ripple of peanut butter". Moose Tracks is still number one. After an initial hit of peanut butter, the rest just didn't have enough PB taste to really leave an impression. Verdict? Moose Tracks is still #1 for him.

After taking a look at the choices, Alex settled on Heavenly Hash - "marshmallow ice cream and chocolate ice cream combined with chocolate covered peanuts". Not exactly the same as other Heavenly Hashes on the market, the chocolate covered peanuts really stand out and make this an enjoyable flavour. For all your purists out there though, this definitely isn't the same as the traditional Heavenly Hashes.

Of the four new flavours we tried, Paul's Black Raspberry Thunder was definitely my favourite of the day and is also one of my favourites overall.

Whew! FOUR more flavours off the list bringing my total up to 14!

another weekend, another kawartha dairy scoop

We spent Canada Day weekend up by Pigeon Lake again and, as always, there was lots of eating, socializing and sunning to be done. Did I mention the eating? More than once, someone was heard to comment, "It feels like all we do is eat up here!" How true.

But, not to fret - in between noshing on Nathan's hot dogs, thick steaks and homemade chorizo, I did manage to convince Paul to take a quick trip to Bobcaygeon so I could cross another flavour off my Kawartha Dairy checklist (actually I crossed off THREE flavours!)

Bobcaygeon was full of people, walking around and enjoying the hot, sunny summer weather (apparently we had just missed the Canada Day parade). The only disappointment was that our favourite place to get butter tarts was gone (after years and years of business) and its replacement...well, let's just say that the price was still high, but the butter tarts were much smaller and not as good.

Good thing I had my double scoop of ice cream as consolation! This time around, I definitely went with a caramel theme and tried Caramel Snappers (on top)  - "caramel filled chocolate turtles in toffee flavoured ice cream twirled with thick English Toffee" and unLOCKED and loaded - "caramel flavoured ice cream complete with a milk chocolate ripple, chocolate coated peanuts and sugar cone pieces". Both were pretty good, but two scoops of caramel-flavoured goodness ended up being a little too much for me. The Caramel Snappers was really sweet (a little too sweet for me), but the caramel filled little turtles were adorable. I liked unLOCKED and loaded more, and Paul enjoyed the sugar cone pieces (although neither of us understood where the name came from).

Paul surprised me again with another unusual ice cream choice. This time he went with Mango - "a smooth and creamy ice cream with that distinctive Mango colour and flavour". I've had mango-flavoured ice cream before, and usually it's never as good as the real fruit. This one was pretty much the same - the flavouring is a little too artificial, although it did resemble mango. Definitely the least favourite of the new flavours we've tried so far.

Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of the Mango ice cream, but here's one of the adorable little chocolate turtles that were scattered throughout my scoop!

So, for those keeping track - here's how I'm doing with my Kawartha Dairy ice cream challenge!