cherrypi

I'm sorry to hear about El Bodegon, not because their food was super-fantastic, but because they were such a comforting, un-trendy presence on that stretch of College. And they were the first Peruvian restaurant I ever tried, about 13 years ago. Glad to hear Nikolaou isn't, er, toast. Such a great store with helpful staff. I hope to see them back up and running soon.

Restaurants with communal tables (like at Le Pain Quotidien, which is coming to Toronto soon), where it’s okay to enjoy a pleasant chat with strangers over dinner. If I’m dining alone, I don’t always want to sit at some small table with a book, or sit at the bar with my back to the room and staring at the bartender, the silent TV, the loud drinkers, etc. Or worse, get the food to go in those sad styrofoam/aluminum containers... A Scandinavian restaurant. As far as I know, all we have is the IKEA cafeteria. An Indonesian restaurant. I, too, am eagerly waiting for that whole street food thing to finally get going!

I once had dinner at the Japanese Consul General's house back when Daisuke Izutzu worked as the CG's personal chef. The food was sublime and elegant; it easily surpassed any Japanese restaurant meal I've had in Toronto, including Hashimoto and Kaji. It's been 4 or 5 years now and I can't recall any specific dishes, but I do remember going into the kitchen to shake the chef's hand after dinner because I was enthralled by the meal. Based on that one experience, I will give the new restaurant a try.

Placewares in the St. Lawrence Market has wooden, 7.5-inch ones for $7 right now. I had the hardest time finding a muddler in Toronto several years ago, and ended up buying one in NYC.

Article on Kylie Kwong, with some recipes

This was one of the first threads I read when I joined, and I was riveted. There were some mighty interesting people around back then. Chinese food vs. French, why the Chinese kick French ass...

The smell of warm milk makes me nauseous. And if I had to actually drink the stuff, it would get ugly.

I've never tried City Fish's smoked salmon. My favourite is from Kristapsons, where it's all smoked salmon, all the time.

I'd been avoiding this thread till just now because the "cold turkey" in the thread title made me think it was all about, uh, cold turkey (turkey salad, poached turkey etc.), and I don't particularly like cold turkey. Wasn't it Mark Twain that said, "Quitting smoking is easy - I've done it hundreds of times"? Yeah, I've been finding it easy, too. Add me to the cheering section. Thanks for doing this.

Where are bier bistro and rebel house located? ← Rebel House is at 1068 Yonge Street, just north of the Rosedale subway stop (Yonge line). Some menu info here: Rebel House mini-review in Toronto Life Beer Bistro is at 18 King Street East, right at the King subway stop (Yonge line).

Oh-oh. Isn't that 'Shoeless Joe's'? ← It is indeed Smokeless, not Shoeless. If I recall correctly, it was named Smokeless because it was a smoke-free space in the days of smoky bars. You'll find it on the east side of John Street, between Richmond and Adelaide. Lots of beers by the bottle. Not much in the way of food, as they don't have a real kitchen - you can get things like sandwiches and bruschetta (none of it very good). Nothing deep-fried. I'm a Beer Bistro regular, because I work across the street. Huge selection on tap. Awesome frites. How about the Rebel House? You could call it a neighbourhood gastropub. Ontario microbrews, Canadian ingredients on the menu (bison, salmon, mussels, maple syrup). Not a fan of the Esplanade Bier Markt. Although the beer selection is competent, their food is bland, and the atmosphere feels somehow "contrived-upscale" and impersonal. Not surprising, as the place is owned by Prime Restaurants, the folks who brought you East Side Mario's and Casey's.

The Real Jerk: New Caribbean Cuisine (Lily Pottinger) Simply Thai Cooking (Wandee Young and Byron Ayanoglu) Asian Bistro Cookbook (Andrew Chase - whatever happened to him?)

Eating just before bed gives me nasty burps the next morning...

Does anyone make katsuo-bushi with a clump of bonito and a shaver (katsuo-bushi kezuri?) these days, or is that way too old-school? Maybe some Japanese chefs still do it? When I was very young, my mom used to make bonito flakes using her wooden box (kind of looked like a mandoline with a box underneath). She stopped doing that a long time ago, though - said it was too bothersome, although the resulting katsuo-bushi was much fresher-tasting. I'm thinking of trying to get my hands on this contraption and a hunk of bonito, as I'm fed up with the bagged stuff, which isn't especially fresh or cheap here in Canada. And I try to buy small bags and keep them refrigerated, but it invariably ends up tasting like wood shavings anyway. I reckon a hunk of bonito would keep better.

miso soup and rice manchego and membrillo

Jeepers, it's cold out. It's currently -23 Celsius here, which is -9 in Fahrenheit. I wore two hats heading out to work this morning. Under these conditions I should be cooking anything that reminds me of warmer climes - Mexican, Mediterranean and such. But the reality is that I can't bring myself to go grocery shopping in this weather, especially since I don't have a car, and I'm not about to start ordering groceries online. So, I always end up clearing out the kitchen cabinets and freezer, doing the "pantry cooking" thing. Last night I defrosted some meat, opened a can of tomatoes, opened a can of beans, and made faux-chili. Tonight, I'll defrost some bolognese sauce that I made several weeks ago. If this weather doesn't let up soon, I'll be eating tuna melts.

Latte. I didn't know that the proper term was cafe latte, until I went to an old-school coffee shop in the Italian part of town and ordered an iced latte. The waiter looked at me strangely, then brought me a glass of milk with ice cubes in it.

"Soba noodles". Drives me nuts. That's like saying udon noodles, macaroni noodles, or spaghetti noodles.

"Piri piri" - spicy, zappy. I've always wondered if this expression had any connection with the Portuguese hot red pepper. As far as I know, the Portuguese didn't bring in piri-piri to Nagasaki.

I actually got my VCR to work this time! I'm no big fan of CC, but this show was kinda fun to watch. I'll give her (or her staff) credit for being prepared for the "interview" ... she asked some pretty intelligent questions. One exception - she kept mispronouncing the name of the book (lay-all instead of laze-all. Tony looked tired! You TO people need to get the Red Bull into him early! Or at least some of that calvados! A. ← Actually, it is indeed pronounced "lay-AL". I used to think it was laze-all, until I was repeatedly corrected while in Paris. I missed the show, too.

Well... I don't buy my own smokes anymore, but I find myself mooching off any friend who hasn't quit smoking yet. I'm now buying more organic meat, and starting to cook more Asian greens. Keeping my knives sharp continues to pose a challenge. Yeah, I've read the very thorough and informative eCGI course on knife maintenance and sharpening, but the embarrassing fact is that I can't handle the sounds associated with knife maintenance, be it a steel, electric sharpener, or even a waterstone. I become physically ill. I've found a very good store for knife-sharpening, but it takes a week to get the knives back. What a pain.

Check out this previous thread for all things gross and wonderful... Guilty pleasures

Vanilla beans ain't cheap these days (damn those Madagascar cyclones!), so I rarely use it in my dessert-making. A friend recently came to my house for dinner bearing six plump vanilla beans. That was the most awesome, thoughtful hostess gift I ever received. (Edited for speling...)

Mmmmmmm......kabayaki....... I also love Unagi Pies, the palmier-like cookies from Hamamatsu. Eel powder and garlic are listed as ingredients, although you can't taste any of it; it's just a bizarre gimmick to sell the unagi-shaped cookies as a Hamamatsu souvenir (the region being a major eel-farming centre). I used to inhale Unagi Pies when I lived near Hamamatsu as a kid. Unfortuantely, they're a local specialty so they're not widely available elsewhere in Japan, and they're not exported. However, I am currently the happy owner of a box of these cookies, thanks to my parents who just returned from a Japan trip.

What day at City Hall? I've heard that is good, tho' small. Wednesdays at Nathan Phillips Square from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There is no farmers' market tomorrow though, because of the jazz festival. Toronto City Hall farmers' market