Best meals (out) of 2013

As we head into 2014 with great enthusiasm, let's look back at some of the best meals we had in 2013. It was a year filled with trials and tribulations, no doubt, but also some really great food.

 Locanda Verde, New York City

We went during Legal Tech in February with some work friends. Jennifer came down from T.O. to spend a couple of days.We tried practically everything on the menu.  Meatballs so good you couldn't even believe it. Pasta fantastic. Atmosphere was super hip (a bit overwhelming for me, but I managed). Not very poetic, this is why I'm not a restaurant reviewer.

Topolopambo, Chicago

Rick Bayliss has been the inspiration for my Mexican cooking fetish. From him I have learned so much about flavours and textures as well as styles of cooking. Have wanted to eat at one of his restaurants for years and this year on my birthday, we did it.  The service was absolutely spectacular and as I'd been sick all day, the gentle touch went a long way with me. We had the tasting menu (which changes every few months) but the flavours, combinations, and textures of the beautifully presented food absolutely lived up to expectation. We will be going back (and here's the post about that adventure).

East Indies, Eighth Bastion Hotel, Cochin, India

The food during our trip to India got better every day. Eating in the state of Kerala in the south provided new tastes and adventures. The seafood, especially the giant blue prawns, was prepared simply and deliciously. It proved to me, that yes, I could eat Indian food every day. On our last day in India we went to East Indies in Cochin. The food was Dutch-Indian fusion providing a modern and artistic twist on the local cuisine. Just absolutely fantastic and a great way to end our adventure.

 

Taqueria El Farolito, San Francisco

I am all about the high-end restaurants but give me a dive with cheap food and off-the-charts delicious food, and nothing makes me happier. I was in San Francisco for a conference and wanted to have a Mission Burrito. There is much debate over the best burrito in SF but I landed on El Farolito. Outstanding. I had a tongue/steak burrito (no beans, sadly) with a horchata. Sat with a really interesting young chef who was off to see a concert with some friends. Enjoyed the whole experience of being human that night.

Now don't think that we didn't also have some great food at home in Toronto. We sure did!

Hopgoods Foodliner 

This was Jennifer's choice for her birthday. A bit of Atlantic Canada in west end Toronto. Go there, it's fun. Try the crab dip with triscuits. Also the Halifax Donairs (with sweet sauce), Digby scallops, and the Cape Breton snow crab (served cold on a tower with ice). All dishes made for sharing, so go with lots of people as you'll want to try many things and having pals with you means you won't leave so full you don't know what to do with yourself!  Again, another place with great service, which made the evening despite the cranky pants fella at the table next to us. 

Union

I have a great fondness for the charcuterie and it's quite the rage all over the place these days. So I have had quite a few, some good some not so great. Union's was probably the best I had this year. All made in-house (including the smoked meats). Definitely enough for a meal - hearty and delicious. Lots of comfort food and great drinks in this very small restaurant.

The Chase

I have a lot of business lunches and the food is often expensive and generally pretty decent. I'm not one to hop on the bus of trendy and "it" places (which this apparently is) but I am going to say that I had one of the best lunches I've ever had here. As a starter I had the avocado stuffed with a shrimp salad - who knew you could slice avocado so beautifully thin?! My main was scallops with quinoa, a pea puree and a soft poached egg. I can't describe the sweet, velvety deliciousness of this emerald green dish. I can taste it now just writing about it. I am actually afraid to go back because I don't believe it'll ever be that good again and who needs the disappointment.

 

Richmond Station

This downtown spot hidden away beside the ramp to the Bay Adelaide parking garage. Perhaps J's favourite of the year. Top choices: the suprisingly delicious quinoa salad and the best halibut in town. We were repeat offenders here (although not as frequent as our pal Sarah!).  

Of course, lot of great food made at home but that's another story altogether. We didn't actually eat out as much, or at least eat out at "fancy" places, as in past years. But usually we ended up at totally worthwhile places. There are always lots of great places to discover in Toronto, and we will continue our urban adventuring in 2014. Happy New Year.

New York adventures

I was recently in New York for a legal technology conference and took the opportunity to visit for a day or so with my friend Chris, who is a man about town with the foodstuffs on offer in the Big Apple. He lives in Brooklyn and picked me up at the airport (making me feel like a movie star), because he is awesome. Soon after dropping off my gear at his place, we headed for the subway for a wild ride to our first stop on my New York food adventure: Bark Hot Dogs in Park Slope. Delicious dogs accompanied by disco fries and white birch beer (which I'm going to describe as a cross between wintergreen Life Savers and root beer - so not sure I'll ever order it again).

Very delicious, all natural etc. I had the classic NYC dog with sweet and sour onions and mustard. In the back is Chris' pickle dog. The food was great and I was particularly amused by the nine-year-old-going-on-25 little girl who sat beside me. She was interested in my opinions regarding the food and the beverages. Obviously I'm so very pretty and smart that everything I said to her needed to be repeated with great gravitas to her father. There is no doubt that I am a role model on the hot dog eating front, send your children.

 After hot dogs, we ambled around a bit to the Ample Hills Creamery for some of the best ice cream I've ever had. And I have had a lot of ice cream. I was tempted by the Mexican hot chocolate because I'm that way but in the end chose the salted crack caramel. Fantastic. The best part is that you get to make a very informed decision on what you're going to order because they let you try everything in the place, especially on a late January day when it's not exactly lineups around the corner in there. Not to mention, the store is crazy cute.

Now there are few things I enjoy more than street food and in Toronto, we do not have a good variety, so non-stationary food vendors were on the agenda as well. For dinner (before contra dancing!), Chris hunted down the Kimchi Taco Truck, which combined my love of food on the go with Mexican flair. Now in Manhattan, we grabbed our bags of deliciousness and walked up to Union Square to eat on a park bench on a very warm January night. I had a combo of the grilled Korean bbq short rib taco and the pulled chicken taco. Woah! Those short rib tacos were out of this world!!

The next day Chris invited me to join him and a group of friends for dim sum at a local Brooklyn restaurant (which I can't remember the name of) and it too was spectacular. We arrived early in order to get a table, which when we left through a horde of waiting and hungry diners, I understood. There were about eight of us, so we ordered many delicious things to share. It's a good number of people because it lets you try many things but you don't have to have a lot of anything. So a couple of dishes stood out, one was chicken feet, which was the only thing I was not brave enough to eat but was the choice of the birthday boy for whom we were gathered to celebrate. While the feet were not my favourite dish of the weekend, they did come out as the best photo.

I did however take a chance on the jellyfish dish as I'd never eaten it and all the rest of the food was pretty excellent so I figured this was as good a time as any. It was tasty although the texture was a bit more rubbery than I enjoy. There was also some octopus mixed in with the dish and it was all good.

So overall, probably my best-ever dim sum experience. And it was followed by a bit of Chinese new year celebrations on the street, which were enjoyable and left me with glittery bits in my hair until well into the following morning when I finally got to bed!

I left Chris on Sunday afternoon and headed to Midtown to check into the hotel and get into a work state of mind. That night I met a lawyer friend and some of her colleagues and ended up having a really fun time dancing the entire night away. Her flight was delayed and my plans for a swishy Mexican place in Chelsea didn't work out but my favourite Times Square-area standby Virgil's barbecue was called up to the plate and didn't disappoint. From the gang who had never eaten bbq before, there were smiles all around. That's the way they roll at Virgil's. Good, solid bbq that you just can't get in Toronto.

After dinner there was much dancing and carousing and when we finally got back to our hotel in the 3:30 a.m. range, my companions were hungry. So off to Ray's Pizza for some pie. Not the greatest but it hit the spot and allowed us the chance to have a meaningful conversation about health care policy with a lovely man from Seattle.

On the Monday night, I went out with one of my fellow editors and her sisters who had come down for a little r&r. We ended up at a tapas restaurant near 42nd and 8th. Nothing spectacular but a big selection of tapas and a very enjoyable variety of sangrias. A fun night out with new people, can't beat that! (bad pic taken with ye olde BlackBerry). The hit of the evening, I would hazard, were the dates wrapped in bacon. They just work.

Over the course of the next few days, ate quite a bit just around the hotel. The usual oatemeal for breakfast at the Astro Diner at 55th and 6th, which I always try to do when I'm at this conference. Had an excellent Chipotle burrito bowl (fast and convenient) and tried this odd French restaurant/sushi bar mashup Rue 57 again and had a fairly spectacular chicken pot pie.

Now all over Manhattan are these halal food carts that serve up gyros and chicken and the like. Apparently the one that is at the corner of 53rd and 6th is the most awesome. There is always a line up there, particularly late at night on the weekends after the bars close. It's quite a sight. So as I was wrapping up the trip, I decided to have my final lunch at the cart. It is a giant plate of happiness (with a Diet Coke) for $7. Underneath all that delicious white sauce there's a mouthwatering blend of lamb gyros, chicken, rice and salad. Enough food to keep you going for the whole day. Just bring breath mints because there's a big garlic punch.

So long and thanks for all the eats!

Tijuana taco hunt

It's been a bit of time for the blog, I miss it. Not sure if you miss us . . .

Well we went away to San Diego for a week so we've a few food-related things to say about it. J was down there mostly for a conference and I was there mostly to tag along, mess around, and do no work. I succeeded on my end.

I did not realize that San Diego was as close as it is to the Mexican border. But it is. You can take the trolley/streetcar from downton San Diego to the border. It's a bit of a slow go at 45 minutes, or you can drive it in about 15 minutes. I also did not realize that a friend of ours who we met on the folk fest circuit also lived in San Diego. And he was most obliging and agreed to take me on a taco tour of Tijuana.

Thus Jimmy G and I set out on the trolley for the Mexican border. We had been down a few days before to an outlet mall and were suprised to see the "border fence" going right through the parking lot. So that a bit set the mood for me. Anywho, big red trolley down to the border and then toodle across by foot. It's easier than getting on the subway, because you don't have to pay. You just walk through a couple of turnstiles, no border check, no immigration officers, nothing. Bienvenidos a Mexico!

So Jimmy G and I wandered the streets of Tijuana for many hours and stopped at quite a few taco stalls along the way. We avoided the most touristy area and wandered through the town's nice and not as nice parts. It's surely not the prettiest place but the food was good. We had a few tacos and also tried some paletas, Mexican fresh fruit popsicles, which were delicious. I was wary of the ceviche on the hot street and the delicate disposition of my stomach, so I did not take the chance. My only disappointment was that I didn't get to have a taco de lengua. Next time.

Off all the ones I tried, the best came from our first stop at Asadero el Abuelo. It was carne asada cooked right there in front me over a charcoal grill. Kept simple with a bit of onion, cilantro, guacamole and hand-made corn tortillas. Toss in a bit of radish and a spritz of lime and perfecto!


Along with it I had my first (of many that day) aqua frescas. This is why you go with someone who's more familiar, because they'll make it feel safer to try stuff you might not otherwise. The first was horchata, basically cold cinnamon rice milk. Very refreshing and delicious. Over the course of the day I also tried papya, tamarind, and flor de jamaica (hibiscus flower). By the end of our wanderings, my legs were ready to fall off but one last treat as we approached the long line to cross back into the USA: freshly made churros!! The best ones ever.

So while Tijuana is not exactly what I would call one of my favourite places, the street food was fantastic! Oh and I got a new comal and some fabulous pottery bowls for next to nothing, so I am ready for more Mexican at home!!

Local eats in Puebla

Taking you back to my first full day in Mexico last Saturday, I had an absolutely brain splitting headache that I imagine resulted from both the altitude (7,000 plus feet above sea level) and a terrible night's sleep after a very long day of travel. None the less, I was not going to let that stop me from trying some of the local delights. I did have to wait until well into the afternoon though!

First stop, a local craft and flower market. I had been walking around looking for a taqueria but ended up going in a direction that took me past a whole street of handmade furniture and then into this market, where I might add a variety of unique orchids were available from some somewhat sketchy looking individuals. Who knows if they were legal or not but they sure were amazing. Anyway, one thing I learned quickly is that any place that people are gathered for anything, there'll be some stand set up selling tacos or whatever. Some are a bit more sketchy than others but at the one end of the flower and craft market was a whole series of tents serving food.
So I bravely took my chance and had a couple of tostadas - no beans - with various sauces and a giant pineapple drink. It was delicious and cheap and the people were very nice. We tried to have a conversation but man, my Spanish is bad, and well, their English non-existent. But it was fine. I was able to just sit quietly and eat and drink as fast movement was not on the agenda for the day.

I walked around the city of Puebla a bit, sat in the zocalo (main square), and did a lot of people watching. It being Saturday, there were just tons of people out and about shopping, eating, just hanging out. It was great. But all the walking around made me peckish, of course, so I decided to head into one of the taquerias that I finally found. Again, I'm guessing because it was Saturday, everywhere was just packed. But I wanted to get my hands on a taco al pastor and I would not be denied. And I figured if the places were full of people that the food had to be good. So I ended up at place called Las Renas.
They bring you a sheet and you mark on what you want, which of course I had no idea. So I just watched what other tables were getting and pointed to them when the waiter came. So I ended up with taco called a 'gringa" which is a taco al pastor with cheese, cream, and onions and cilantro in a flour tortilla. Now what makes a taco al pastor is that the meat is cooked in the same fashion as a schwarma - on an upright spit - with spices and unlike the arab version which has onion and tomato on top, this has pineapple that drips its flavour into the meat as it cooks. The pineapple flavour is not really pronounced but the hint of it is noticeable. Nothing to say but this was absolutely deliciously fantastic!! I could have eaten fifty, well I couldn't have, but I wanted to!

Tacos!!!

One of the best things about living in Toronto is that there are people living here from all over the world, many of whom bring parts of their culture with them.

I was reminded of this recently when making a visit to the Kensington Market. I was buying peppers and whatnot for my Latin inspired US Thanksgiving dinner, and we stopped into Perola's to buy the goods.

Perola's is a specialty food store with a great little twist, a table in the back where there are always ladies making some delicious food. They used to make papusas, but have since moved onto tacos. G and I poopooed the tacos the first time we went. Please, we smugly said, TACOS? No, thanks. Well, jokes on us and we now fully admit that we are dumber than we look.

On our trip to buy fresh chilis of different varieties, we decided that our stomachs growling was not conducive to a day of food shopping, so we headed back to the back to see what was on order. A woman dressing her tacos began telling us to order these, that they would be some of the best food we'd ever had. She went into a story telling us about how this was how she ate in Mexico and that there's nothing better than these tacos covered in the onion and cilantro mix then drizzled with lime. We were convinced.

I ordered three tacos and a tamale.

It didn't seem like a lot of food. But it was. And it wasn't cheap (about $13) but it was more than worth it...So we placed an order (in the wrong place, but what can you do?!), pulled up a chair next to the canned goods (there are no tables or proper places to sit and eat in this establishment), so it's a fight for the chairs near the ice cooler, but it's all good. The food is fast and the folks are friendly.

First up, the tamale...


Wow. It was amazing. The filling was tender, the tamale coating was savory, the salsa was spciy and the white cheese/sour cream sauce was really unbelievably good.

Then came out my tacos. The woman who was fixing her tacos told us that we had to get the pork because they were the best... and so I did. G got the chicken. The pork tacos looked amazing...


They are soft corn tortillas, filled with just meat and cheese, and then grilled for a few minutes per side. The pork was tender, and really wet, I had sauce dripping down my hand, soaking the four little napkins I had, making me beg for some of G's. But man alive, it was a most amazing lunch!!! I absolutely loved my tacos and can't wait to go back!