Adventures in travelling to eat, with a dash of culinary history.
In honour (and hopes) of the Jays moving forward in the playoffs and Torontonians will get to eat many more ballpark beauties, I delved into a surprisingly complex history of the hot dog and how it became to be the most popular baseball snack.
Earlier this week a few co-workers and I wandered down Yonge Street to check out the latest restaurant opening near work. Lbs., which stands for lobster, burger, salad, and is pronounced ‘pounds’ is a new concept restaurant that opened up at the end of June. The …
Last night I went to a cool event hosted by the Food Bloggers of Canada at Food Starter, a business accelerator program for people who are passionate about food. They help people commercialize their products by providing a production facility, commercial kitchen and baker equipment, seminars and programs, as well as lots of moral support. Us food bloggers were lucky enough to meet a bunch of companies in different stages of growth who were more than willing to share their culinary delights. Continue reading Pasta sauce made with crickets and mealworms? It’s a thing!
What a year the fourth has been! Another 365 days of events, flights and so much ham. This was a pork-filled year, from The Publican in Chicago to jamón ibérico in Spain. Countries visited? Spain, Mexico and the United States on several occasions. Michelin Stars? One. Weird animal …
It’s that time of year again, again!! Summerlicious is one of the best parts about living in Toronto, aside from Winterlicious (you can see my rave about that here). I have a tough time not going broke eating at all the restaurants constantly opening in the …
Every morning on my way to work, I walk past what has to be the busiest dermatological clinic in Toronto. People are literally waiting for the doors of AvantDerm to open at 8am to get an appointment in their prime Distillery location.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I strolled by and saw a pop-up restaurant in the space that is usually a waiting room.
TOAST popped open its doors the first weekend of May, the brainchild of three women — media producer Amrita Singh, designer Lindsay Agnew and Chef Jo Lusted — who fell in love with the concept on a toast tour in San Francisco (it’s really a thing, residents of the Golden City are going crazy for golden brown bread; even the New Yorker has written about it).
I won’t lie, when I first saw the excellently executed sandwich board for TOAST, the anti-trend pessimist inside me groaned at the clicheed hispter nature of the spot and the possibilities of overpriced bread. I was late to hop on the avocado-on-toast trend taking over the world and my Instagram feed, but this is just so much more; the breads, the spreads, the yum.
The space is modern, sparsely decorated in the trendiest kind of way with emerald green accents and succulents decorating the marble tabletops. You would never know this place wasn’t actually a restaurant if you just happened upon it on a walk through the Distillery District.
This is how it works: you choose your bread, you choose your spread, and enjoy.
Feeling breakfasty this past Saturday morning, I opted for the cheddar chunk ciabatta (say that three times fast) and the huevos diablos: The 416 combo ($6).
The bread was soft and moist, even after the perfect time spent in the toaster, and the chunks of cheddar were huge, and complimented the egg salad piled high and topped with hot sauce. The only thing that went a little a-rye is the egg salad was a little too cold, cooling off the toast quicker than I’d have liked, but you gotta keep those huevos fresh, right?
Adam went with the 905 combo ($6), with pumpkin seed rye bread and pudina cream cheese. This one was absolutely delicious, India on toast. The freshness and savoury pudina chutney blended perfectly with the cream cheese, and the little extra crunch on top with the sweet chutney was the perfect balance of flavours.
The ladies also brought over a small sample of the dark chocolate sourdough bread with ball park peanut butter and a little Maldon salt. The perfect last bite, and I was head over heels (and I hate the heel of the bread).
TOAST is set up for it’s last weekend at 45 Mill Street next Saturday and Sunday, and while the ladies are already talking about continuing, you’re best bet is to head down next weekend before this pop-up is toast.
Have you visited the top floor of the Hudson’s Bay Company on Queen Street West lately? Well let me tell you, it’s cloud nine for cooks; a gorgeous bright space with every kitchen gadget imaginable, a dreamworld with excited fianced couples running around with the …
Ah outdoor markets — what every Canadian fiends for for all winter long, anxiously waiting for days when purchasing fresh local non-root vegetables is an option. Last weekend, Adam and I decided to venture to the Evergreen Brickworks for the inaugural outdoor market of 2016. The …
Winterlicious is pretty much the best part of shitty ol’ winter in Toronto: I can wear a loose sweater to dinner and eat lots of high-end food for cheap prix-fixe prices all over the city for two weeks straight. I had to control myself on how many reservations I made this year considering we are going to Chicago next weekend, but The Saint Tavern was top of the list. I had been wanting to visit the Ossington watering hole and I was pumped to see fried chicken on their Winterlicious menu.
Continue reading Winterlicious at The Saint Tavern | Toronto
Cacao70 is a diabetic’s worst nightmare and a chocolate lover’s wet dream. An establishment devoted to cacao confections like fondue, crepes, hot chocolate, etc., the Montreal-based chain opened in the Distillery during the annual Christmas market, so naturally I avoided it like the plague until …
The following comments could possibly exile me from The Six, but I don’t see what all the fuss is about with The Drake Hotel. I went there for brunch last weekend to catch up with a friend. After consulting my Toronto Brunch Map and strolling …
Growing up I despised sausages: They looked weird and I hated how the casing burst in my mouth when I bit into to them. I was always a bacon girl — then one day out of the blue, I ordered a sausage with breakfast at some random diner and everything changed. What had I been thinking? The bursting case, the juicy meat inside; sausages really are the whole package. Young Gabby was just plain nuts! My dad, on the other hand, loves sausages, so when my parents were visiting for the weekend I knew exactly where I wanted to take them after a morning of shopping on Queen West: Wvrst.
Walking into Wvrst, we were greeted immediately by a super chipper guy who quickly explained how the menu worked and instructed us to pick a seat at one of the long wooden communal tables (classic beer hall!) while we perused the long list of links.
Navigating the menu goes something like this: pick your sausage (there more than 20 encased meat varietals, and a couple of vegan ones too), then choose if you want it on a bun or currywurst style (sliced and smothered in delicious curry sauce), then pick your fries, duck fat or regular — with a plethora of dipping sauces to choose from.
So we ordered at the cash, got some beers and waited for the meat. The tap list is always changing at Wvrst and they take their beer very seriously. There’s a list of dates on the wall documenting when the draught lines were last cleaned, and all the pint pourers are Cicerone-certified. Mom went with a classic German sweet lager, a giant stein of Paulaner ($8); I went with one of my faves from our trip to Germany last year, a tall skinny pint of Weihenstephaner ($8.5), a Hefeweiss (wheat beer); and Adam chose an Ontarian craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery.
And then the sausages arrived. Dad chose the Italian sausage ($9) on a bun with sauerkraut. Made with fennel and pork, this super flavourful sausage packs a lot of punch.
Mom went Venison ($9) made with dijon and red pepper on a bun, and Adam rounded out the bun-eaters with the Bratwurst ($8) made with pork, veal and wine.
He freaking loved it.
I had pretty high expectations for the currywurst — my mouth was already watering thinking about the fragrant sauce I had sampled for the first time in Munich’s famous beer garden in the Englischer Garten (check out my post on munching in Munchen here). The sauce that topped my Oktoberfest sausage ($8) tasted as good as it did sitting under the chestnut trees in Germany.
And we all had duck fat fries, of course (small $4.50, large $6.50).
These Belgian-style fries were AH-MAH-ZING, I cannot stress this enough. Wvrst has won the NOW Magazine Readers’ Choice Award for three years in a row for best fries (and best beer selection this year too) and now I know why. I could go there and eat a couple trays full no problem.
This place showcases all the good parts of a German beer hall — the sausages, beer and fun— while taking out the tacky kitsch, leaving behind a modern, trendy place with to-die-for fries and a freaking good time that is anything but the worst.
609 King Street West | Toronto, ON | (416) 703-7775 | wvrst.com