sadistick

Whats the price like?

Took a bottle of 'Vintage 2000 Hardy's McLaren Vale Tintara' Shiraz last night to a BYOW restaurant. Great wine, good body, very fruity aromas, long......long finish. I dont claim to be able to evaluate wines as many seem to do on this board, but this wine was really tastey!

The GF took me out for our 6 month anniversary last night to Zucca. Found out they participate in the BYOW ($25) so I booked reservations for us for last night. Let me first off say that from the moment we walked in the door, till when we departed, the service was FANTASTIC! We started off with a split pea soup with fried pancetta and sauteed spinach, which was unlike any 'soup' I have seen, it was more of a puree, but very tastey regardless. I had the chantrelle flan with truffle oil, which was the highlight of the meal for me. Zucaa makes all their pastas in house by hand, so my GF had a the pasta with tomatoe sauce and peccorino cheese, quite nice, the pasta itself was amazing. I then had the quail, which was served on a porchini 'wheat berry' almost risotto...and a pomogranet glaze...very tastey. We skipped dessert as I had prepared something special at home Then asked for the bill, and was surprised when our lovely waitress brought 2 complimentary Moscat Di Asti's for our anniversary. A really nice touch. Under $100 even with the $25 BYOW - This meal was more than worth it, and I would highly recommend Zucca to everyone I know! Cheers.

Its really interesting to read this thread, as it seems it has somewhat gone off topic, but a good read regardless. First off, Kev...the first time I saw your avatar, I was literaly 'LOL'...that has to be one of the funniest comedy characters ever! Second...My cousin works at Tutti Matti...and apparently the food for winterlicious is great there, some new dishes that the chef has not made for the regular menu before...as well, the customers are apparently tipping VERY well! (Fri & Sat double shift netted $500!!!) Even though he is VERY happy winterlicious is almost over. Anyways...off to Zucca on Fri for our 6 month anniversary dinner...hope its as good as it was a year back when I was there last.

I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!! EEEEK!!!! Ok, now that I hopefully have your attention... I have everything planned for tonight (not as lavish as your menu, Daniel) but I am serving Chilli, BBQ Wings, Nachos, and Micro Brews... Only thing is, I want to make a dipping sauce for the BBQ wings, but it cannot include sour cream! This is something I have never made before...Help! PLEASE!

I have it downstairs, still havent read it though...here's another review which came out recently... http://www.martiniboys.com/stew/main.php?p...undation%20Room

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, NonDoc. George, it seems you know more about Jamil than I, however I only met him once...How do you know 'em? Have you been yet? edit - I remember now that he is married, as my dad told me about his INSANE bachelor party not too long ago...

jay, I would be very interested to hear what you thought ASAP - I too arranged to pick up some pre-release, however I will only be going tonight, so if you can post back sooner than later, that may be of some help. As well, my buddy at Vintages mentioned theres 2 reds from portugal released tomorrow that he says are as good if not better than the Donis.

Cool... ...How did you like it?

Haha nope...I dont think Jamil has any kids...I dont even think hes married? My Dad's just one of the investors. How do you know Jamil?

Funny you mention this sorbet topic... I have a batch of Strawberry-Mojito's in the freezer, just forked it through a second time... Basic ingredients - Mint Cane syrup Lime juice Cointreau Dark Rum (El dorado) mashed strawberries Let this all mingle for a while, strain, and freeze! Add some Soda at the end when you put the sorbet in the glass.

Will post a thread on it once the Media opening has happened, they just opened a week or two ago...and without any marketing so far they have been doin really well... Its a really funky space, lotsa couches with lots of pillows and places to sit, they serve tapas there as well as a wide variety of funky drinks.

The name eludes me...Its the place at the northern section of the market, they have a few tables outside during the summer... You walk in and the open kitchen is right on your right hand side, space is limited...and the same short sweet little lady (owner?) is there to greet you... They have some wicked tomatillo and chipotle salsa on the tables though!

Such a beautiful weekend we just had this past saturday, so we (GF & Parents) decided to head down to the market, and see where it took us... Typical traffic on Spadina Found a parking spot right on spadina, very luck!! Heading in to Kensington Market... (excuse the photography, still getting used to this new camera) Stopped off first at my favourite Latin Shop...Love this sigh infront of the beans hehe.. A great selection of dried chilis outside...and inside, tons more! The GF loves Mexican food, so we went to one of my favourite mexican joints in the city, and had the staple; Tacos Al Pastor...and some other goodies... No trip to Kensington can be complete without a stop to the Global Cheese store, and to talk to my buddy there, Brian... Got some really nice unpasturized Goat cheese from france, and a few other really nice spanish Manchego and a few other sheeps milk cheeses. Then we headed down to Front St. To check out my Dads new Lounge/Bar (The Foundation Room) Wasnt able to take too many shots as they were just cleaning up for service...but got a shot of the semi clean bar... FEWF...that didnt take me as long as anticipated...hopfully everyone enjoyed...next time maybe ill post some of my 'artsy' shots Cheers -Justin

Ontario is becoming more and more well known not only for their icewines, but for their whites (which they have been for a few years now) but as well for their reds. Here are a few vineyards to check out with regards to Red wines: Stratus NCT Lailey Stratus has a gorgeous Merlot, as well as their signature blend 'Red' NCT is the Niagra teaching winery, run by a well known wine maker, and they buy their grapes from local vineyards and make their own...Recently had their 2004 Pinot and it was stellar. Lailey I just so happened upon on my last visit to the region. Their Cab/Merlot blend was outstanding, as was their Pinot. Cheers

Yah, Pina Coladas were a huge failure... Couldnt find Coconut Cream, so I used Coconut Milk...Couldnt find fresh pinapple juice, so I used pinapple chunks... Tasted awfull! At least I had a bit of this El Dorado rum afterward, that kinda made up for it

Just thought I would let you folks know... Went to the big LCBO near me today, and chatted with my Vintages buddy, he suggested the El Dorado as well, they had both the 12 and 15 y/o bottles...seeing as how I am new to Rum, and there was a $20 difference, I picked up the 12 y/o for $32... Just wondering if I should use this for Pina Coladas tonight, or some regular old Bacardi...

Cuisine of India (at yonge and sheppard) is my other go to... I told em to make it how the chef makes it, they didnt really offer an option, but it was quite hot, and tastey, not bland at all... And I sent my mom and her friend (who considers herself an indian food guru) and she said that Bombay Bhel was right up there with the best... You go in and try their Eggplant Curry or their Chickpea Curry and you wont want to go anywhere else, at least...I dont!

Just thought I would share a discovery of mine, as I am always on the lookout for good ethnic fare. Bombah Bhel at Yonge and Eglington east of yonge...went there a couple nights ago with the GF...although the server was a tad forgetfull, he was very pleasant, and the food was fantastic. I would highly recommend the eggplant curry, it was out of this world...also had the Vindaloo with lamb which was delicious, and the GF had chicken curry, also very good. The Naan was great (half of the reason i go out for indian) and it was very reasonably priced ($45) with a beer and 3 main courses.

Fair enough. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions... I would be interested in hearing other reviews of zuppas compared to other joints listed here though...

If when you say "not in the same league" you mean not as dry or bland then I would agree with you. The corned beef and/or pastrami is served on rye, with good ol french mustard, piled VERY high (even the small ones) with a pickle on the side, and even coleslaw. You sure you went to Zuppa's?! Zuppas meats are much more moist and flavourfull than any other delis in this city. Moist being the key in my books.

Yes, Zuppa's on Adelaid, few blocks east of spadina. Beats all competition hands down. I dare you to say otherwise!

Easily the best deli in the city is Zuppas. All of their Meat sandwiches (Corned beef, Mtl Smoked meat, etc) are amazing. Just as good as in Montreal.

Ed, Thanks for that...which of the ones you mentioned would you say is the 'sweetest' as that is what I tend to like in Rum's...I think.

So now that you guys have seen what the LCBO has, which would you best recommend? From the reviews here, I would prefer a 'sweeter' rum if possible... Thanks