A Foodie Weekend in Toronto

Had a wonderful weekend in Toronto – it was a last minute thing to escape – just too much going on and don’t feel like I’ve recuperated from the holidays. So Jon and I ran away. Saturday morning, we got up early and went to yoga at White Oaks – if you’ve never been, I think it’s Niagara’s best fitness club, it’s certainly the most luxurious.

After yoga we headed up to Toronto and checked into the Hyatt Regency on King St. I book this the night before because of the rate. They were giving away rooms at $119 per night. I almost didn’t book it, thinking it was going to be a bad experience, but the Hyatt has a great reputation so I took a chance. We checked in and it was beautiful! Our room was very contemporary – just the way we like it and our stay was fantastic.

We dropped off our bags and bundled up. We headed east on King stopped into Roy Thompson Hall to see what was playing – a Mozart concert! I love classical so we bought a couple of tickets and headed over to Queen for a bite to eat.

Queen street certainly has changed from my memory of it. No longer is it flooded with trendy restaurants, but more clothing shops have taken over and the restaurants are fewer and far between. We walked by one and it was packed with what seemed like locals, not tourists so we went in. It was the Queen Mother Café, the décor was very pubby, menu incredibly eclectic with healthy salads, Asian and Indian dishes. The food was great, the ambience bustling and noisy – perfect for big city dining – a great place with even better prices.

We walked the Toronto streets for a while going in and out of shops and found ourselves at the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was closing in less than an hour so we didn’t go in, but found the gift shop fantastic! This is where I’m doing my Christmas shopping this year.

We went back to the hotel, got out our iPads. I brought a bottle of Nyarai Cellars Sauvignon Blanc (it's my favourite these days!) (www.nyaraicellars.ca) so we poured a few glasses and headed downstairs. The hotel charges for internet service but Starbucks doesn’t so we picked a plush corner of the lobby close to Starbucks and sure enough, the internet worked. We sipped on wine and surfed the net in search of our next travel destination - dreaming of a warmer destination.

Still full from lunch, we headed to the concert – it was fantastic! No better than fantastic! Music Director Peter Oundjian did a great job and the symphony was stunning. I listen to classical all the time and don’t claim to know much about it except I like most of it, but listening to it live, it really takes you in and vibrates right down to your soul – amazing!

On our way back to the hotel we stopped into Oliver Bonnaccini’s new eatery O & B Canteen at the TIFF Bell LightBox Centre. The atmosphere is sleek and modern with a casual ambience. It was lively and while the menu was small, the choices great and the food delicious. I had the beet salad with salmon which was great but Jon had the steak which was a bit disappointing – a tough piece of overcooked meat even though we’d asked for medium rare. Oh well, all was still good.

The next morning we bundled up and headed over to Spadina for coffee. We stopped into a little place that I won’t mention. It was a bit dirty and their idea of Chai Latte and mine don’t really agree. We walked up to Chinatown and did some shopping in the many grocery stores that spill into the sidewalks with foods, flavours and smells as foreign to me as a trip to China. It’s an exciting discovery and we bought lots of stuff for Jordan, our vegetarian son including green papayas for one of our favourite salads.

Chinatown is getting ready for the Chinese New Year with all sorts or decorations and firecrackers. In the midst of the grocery stores I found Tap Phong Trading Company. It’s a giant store filled with kitchen utensils, dishes, pots and pans, machinery from toasters to restaurant quality mixers and ovens. We spent the better part of the afternoon just in Tap Phong’s and left with loads of new stuff for our kitchen. It’s really cheap too! – I mean dirt cheap!

We loaded the car and headed for new Longo’s on York street in Maple Leaf Square. Everyone in Niagara is talking about it so I just had to go. Parking is free if you spend more than $30 and if you’ve ever bought groceries, you know that’s no problem. The store really focuses on ready made foods, but Longo’s makes them themselves. They look wholesomely good and delicious. You can buy ready made take out or eat it in their cafe. The store is a little short on staple cleaning supplies, but that’s ok, we can shop at cheaper bulk stores for those items and shop here for fresh and delicious food. My only complaint is that I wished they’d offer more local foods. They also have a wine shop, kitchen for cooking demonstrations and a café.

But here in Niagara I’m loving my Commisso’s Food Store in Niagara Falls, it’s the closest thing to the new Longo’s with ready made foods. At Commisso’s they have in-house chefs that cook up delicious dishes all day and you can take them home or eat in their trendy, modern café.

Anyway, I’m home and in case you’re wondering where the pictures are – there aren’t any; my camera is still in for repair. A great foodie weekend!

Farmhouse Grill

On Saturday Jon and I found ourselves in Keene, Ontario with a few minutes on our hands. If you know Keene, you know there’s not a lot to do, so we looked for a place to have coffee and in the middle of a not-a-lot-happening place, we found the most amazing diner.

There it sat on the crosssroads of Keene’s main intersection – Farmhouse Grill. For 2 lovavores, this was the perfect place to sit and have our coffee. Jon turned off the road to park and out of the diner came a group of rather rough looking guys, they were a motley crew of hard core farmers for sure, almost made us city folk want to just drive by.

We parked the car next to a large tractor and more people came out of this little diner. We walked inside and it was packed. People were lined up at the counter ordering take-out coffee and more were seated, eating large platters of typical breakfasts of sausages, eggs and homefries.

We found a table and sat down. It was a busy little place, decor was exactly what I’d expected – I figured it would have to be casual and rustic to make its patrons comfortable and it was. The longer I sat and the longer I watched the activity, I found myself relaxing and warming to it. This place definitely had charm; at the very least it was completely organic.

Jessica, our waitress finally had a minute to come over. She brought menus and a cloth to clean the table. We decided we’d eat because the menu was absolutely irresistible! The Famished Farmer Special was the large meal we’d noticed when we arrived. Jessica tells us it’s popular, especially the homefries that are made from potatoes they peel themselves.

Jon was wavering between the Barn Raising Omelette and the Farmers’ Daughters Choice. I went for the Traditional Farmer’s Breakfast. All of the meat used in their restaurant is local. I’m not surprised, we were in Keene to meet a cattle farmer; this seems to be cattle territory.

I hear they’re famous for their Traditional Back Kitchen Burgers that Eva makes. Eva works the kitchen and often comes out to serve customers the meals she’s made them. Being totally unprepared for this place, I wrote my notes on a napkin.

If you’re looking for the real deal in country conviviality, then take a Saturday drive to Keene for lunch. Make sure your GPS takes you through the backroads and along the Trent River system for a great drive.


Farmehouse Grill
Located at the 4 corners in Keene
705-295-4242

Santorini Day Two

After searching all day yesterday, I finally found a loose, long sleeve, gauze blouse to keep me protected from the sun. Then I bought a paper, sun umbrella, ok maybe that wasn’t the wisest move spending 5 Euro on a paper umbrella that was destroyed by the sheer number of tourists you bump elbows with here.

We had done some unofficial research and identified some of the best restaurants on the island. Tonight we would start our taste testing. We went to Koukouuavolos just to the right of Hotel Atlantis. The prices were shocking. Considering that I ate at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, MAZE just last week in London England and the prices didn’t come close to these shocking numbers. We left for a nice looking seafood restaurant just down the street for more surprises.

There was only one thing to do until we had these numbers under control and that was to go to Nicholas. It’s a tiny, authentic restaurant in the heart of Fira. It’s communal dining here as people are seated next to each other regardless of them knowing each other. We started off with tzaziki (3 Euros), marinated octopus (11 Euros) and half a carafe of unnamed local white wine (4 Euros). It was chilled, I was hot and we got along all too well.

After dinner we went to Georges place; George is my jeweler. When I come to Santorini, Jon and I always have another date inscribed into wedding bands, the very bands that George made for us over 20 years ago. We had drinks with George, picked up our rings, cleaned and inscribed with 2010, then made our way home about 10 pm. It’s a much quieter night than last; the bars are not as loud.

This morning I got up, opened the shutters and the sun, the sea and cool breezes streamed through the window. This is a glorious view and a wonderful reason for getting up in the morning. It’s a day to take it easy, don’t know if it’s the sun, the heat or the copious amounts of Greek wine I consumed last night, but today is a day to take it easy.

We had our traditional breakfast of Greek yogurt and honey and made our way to the market. The market is just to the left of the main square in Fira. It consists of 2 fishmongers with boxes of fresly caught fish, mostly sardines and some sea bream and 2 vegetable sellers. Fresh food on the island is difficult to come by, the climate is too hot to grow much and by the time other vegetables make it to the island, the heat has wilted them. It’s pretty slim pickings. We looked at the Santorini tiny tomatoes and decide they looked better at the grocery store.

It wasn’t a total disappointment though. We found the village baker and ventured down to the lower level of the street. Here there were racks of freshly baked bread cooling off in the alley and inside they were packaging up bags and bags of baguettes, probably for some of the restaurants just above.

I’ve just heard of a fantastic restaurant in Perivolos Beach called Sea Side at Notos. It’s a bit out of town but I’m thinking the prices will be a little more realistic.

We walked over to the bus station and made note of the schedules for later exploring and inquired about car rentals. We made our way back to the apartment. We had found a really, really great Greek olive oil, some vinegar, salt and pepper. Now we needed the vegetables, olives and feta and our Greek salad would be ready to make in our tiny kichen.

The sun is way too hot and we settle down on our fantastically large and shaded balcony for an afternoon of heat, shade and cool breezes that come off the sea. Today, it’s me, a few jugs of ice cold water, some fresh pistachios from the island and a lot of sleep. Santorini life is pretty slow……. Oh my gosh, my feet have swollen in the heat……….