The Yum Yum Factor

Check out my little feature on Parkdale's  The Standard Bar  over on Auburn Lane. It's a great little speakeasy, hiding away behind the Parkdale Pizza, accessed through what looks like a door to the alley or something, as speakeasy's are often accessed. Very smart move on the part of the owners of Parkdale Pizza, by the way - this way their space is utilized almost around the clock. Neighbourhood pizza joint by day, rollicking bar with tasty eats by night. Sublime Catering Insanity Michael Tong, Sublime Catering owner and visionary food master designed this insane foodscape for the opening of  Lot X performed by Adelheid  and I was thrilled to help with the execution. This dance performance, choreopgraphed by Heidi Strauss takes the dancers and the audience through several locations throughout Harbourfront Centre only runs until June 2 so if there are any tickets left, get on that. I would love to thoroughly explain the significance behind this food/art ins...

Ice Cask Whiskey from Gretzky was on the menu What a week in yum people. We grabbed Absinthe for The Kid and a few bottles of their Negroni for me from Dillon's It all started with a day trip to Niagara that got sidetracked in Beamsville after a stop at Dillon's Distillery to grab some Absinthe for The Kid. I asked the lovely young man who was helping us with our tasting where we should go eat. He sent us to Bench Brewing, which meant that we were going to be driving right by Malivoire so that sounded like a plan, even though I don't really associate The Bench with beer, but I like good food. Kew specializes in sparkling wines and is the winery equivalent of a chick flick and I mean that in the best way We drove past Kew, which is one of the prettiest little vineyards that I wrote about for Auburn Lane  , past Malivoire (we decided we would double back after a quick lunch) and found Bench Brewing  Bench Brewing Bench Brewing Wow, the parking lot w...

Leslieville Farmer's Market Last Sunday was not only Mother's Day, which I can take or leave to be quite honest, but it was the opening day of my favourite farmer's market, the Leslieville Market. It was a cold, blustery day, marred with rain and wind but I was determined to visit and pick up a few things for dinner. There were quite a few diehard shoppers, happily chatting with vendors who looked cold but enthusiastic and I managed to grab some new plants for my garden to go with the tasty Cider, bread and greens that I threw in my bag before the weather got the best of me. I was too cold to have my customary fish taco from Hooked and those oysters will be mine  another time but this Sunday but I wimped out. Alas, I have become a fair weather shopper. even terrible weather couldn't put a total damper on the first day of the Leslieville Farmer's Market Mimi's Mimi is one of my favourite places for Vietnamese in the city Because it was al...

Lamb Barbacoa from Xola Xola The Kid and I wanted to go out for dinner and we really wanted to eat somewhere kind of new. Xola, in the Beaches, is not new but we haven't eaten there in well over a year, it was a nice night and so we set out for a nice walk down to Queen St East for some tasty Mexican. This is not cheap, down and dirty tacos so don't go expecting that but the food in this tiny little, family run spot is great. I had Lamb Barbacoa - Ontario lamb braised in a rich, dark sauce of beer, lots of spices, and a trio of Mexican chiles. It comes with refried beans and a basket of warm corn tortillas. The Kid had Duck Confit Tacos which were good but left him still hungry and for the price (both entrees are approx $21), we agreed that the lamb is tastier and a better value. Haddock ceviche with a tomatillo/ash marinade was a fresh, delicious bowl of summer. Because we also ordered a mescal, our bill was higher than expected so it puts it in the "...

Mujadara, mujaddara, mejadra - I have seen many variations on the spelling and slight variations of the recipe, depending on which part of the Arab world it is coming from. Christian Arabs eat this during lent, it's popular with Jewish communities from Israel to Syria and Egypt and it should be popular with you too. Packed full of flavour and protein, it makes a great vegetarian meal alongside some steamed or roasted vegetables. I served it with harissa yogurt and shrimp fried in the shallot oil for these photos. You can drizzle some Zhug or other hot sauce, serve with yogurt or smother it in fresh herbs like mint, cilantro and parsley - that's all up to you. What I give you is a solid, basic recipe for mujadara made in the Instant Pot. Doing it in the pressure cooker means you don't have to cook the lentils and rice separately and no babysitting the rice on the stove is required. I do cook the crispy shallots in a small frying pan because I don't find that sauté ...

Austrian Cheese samples at SIAL Lots to share this week! Bootleg Smokehouse First up, my big news - big news for me, anyway. On Sunday, I had my first official meeting with the women of Auburn Lane so say hello to the newest member of the team - along with the addition of my good pal, Heather Lang, the Tasty Gardener /beer sommelier and all around amazing human , who is also now an official part of the Auburn Lane team - go follow her on the old Tweeter here  . I will continue writing about travel, food and eating while travelling as well as our newest section called "The Canna Commissary" where I share information on how to cook with cannabis, share recipes, and hopefully help the canna curious figure out this newly legal phenomenon. We met for a meaty brunch at Bootleg Smokehouse on Spadina, just south of King St. It was my first visit and we all enjoyed a tasty brunch consisting of the Piggy Platter, of course, cornmeal pancakes and some smoked berry fr...