The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 1)

[Marlene]

It was an honour and a pleasure to dine with the Ladies Who Lunch today. They rock. And I had so much fun! Plus I snagged the perfect Christmas gift for my hubby during one of our various store visits. That recipe on the wall? If you can read it, you might want to scale it down a touch. 8 lbs of tortillas? 2 gallons of veg stock? 6 gallons of chicken stock? !! But, Kerry says the soup was really good!

Edited November 12, 2010 by Marlene (log)

[maggiethecat]

I gnash my teeth with jealousy whenever I read this topic. I'm with you in spirit,Ladies.

[Chris Hennes]

Am I reading that soup recipe correctly? Maple syrup?

[Kerry Beal]

Am I reading that soup recipe correctly? Maple syrup?

We said the same thing! A traditional Canadian tortilla soup addition I'm sure.

[Chris Hennes]

Do they add enough to give a perceptible maple taste? Or even a perceptible sweetness? I can't recall any tortilla soup I've had as being particularly sweet, but I guess as a seasoning in small quantities...

[Marlene]

Am I reading that soup recipe correctly? Maple syrup?

As Kerry said, we thought it was a little strange. But she didn't mention being able to taste it in her soup, so I'm guessing miniscule amount.

[Marlene]

I gnash my teeth with jealousy whenever I read this topic. I'm with you in spirit,Ladies.

You're always with me in spirit, Dark Lady.

[Kerry Beal]

No maple flavour noted - and no significant sweetness. I'm sure a bit of sugar would have served the purpose.

[Anna N]

I was so looking forward to a day out with Kerry and we had planned on finding an Indonesian restaurant so we could sample Bakso soup. This has been in the news as Obama’s favourite food when he was growing up. The descriptions and recipes really appealed to us. However, life got in the way.

You must all have had days (weeks) when it seemed you had been asked to climb one mountain too many. That describes me yesterday morning when I had to cancel plans for lunch out so I could deal with other issues. Kerry suggested she grab a take-out and bring it over and asked what I wanted. I said “anything” but in my heart of hearts I wanted a big, comforting bowl of Pho. And so here’s our lunch:

Pho in all its comforting glory.

A bag of herbs and bean sprouts and hot peppers for add-ins.

Green papaya salad with shrimp and pork. My first experience of this refreshing dish.

Steamed rice flour rolls with ground pork and crispy fried onions as a garnish.

I wish you all a friend who can read your mind when it’s as close to cracking as mine was yesterday and show up with a bowl of your favourite comfort food. Bring on another mountain.

Edited to add the name of the Indonesian soup!

Edited November 25, 2010 by Anna N (log)

[JTravel]

I would count myself lucky to get such a high quality Vietnamese lunch, on a good day or bad. To have it delivered on a bad day is really a blessing.

The Roommates Who Lunch have been slacking off, but this week it will be "Rochester Italian". It's not Pho!

[Kerry Beal]

LWL needed a break yesterday - we were a little late getting started - didn't think we were going to be able to go out - but at the last minute things fell into place. Anna consulted the 'list' that she keeps of places we see that we want to try sometime - and came up with Nando's - a portuguese piri-piri chicken spot.

We really liked their dishes - and my tea came in a cup and saucer that matched them.

We shared a platter with chicken done 3 ways - went for the lemon/herb sauce that was the mildest and jazzed it up with the table sauces. A fresh mediterranean style salad with it and piri-piri fries which were just fries with a bit of a hot sprinkle.

Saw this little guy waiting for a doggie bag as we left!

[Kerry Beal]

We headed out yesterday to find the indonesian restaurant to have the aforementioned soup (bakso). Well it was quite a disappointment to see the restaurant gone and a sushi joint in it's place. How can they still have a website????

We did a bit of driving around - then settled on Owl of Minerva for some bibimbap. We considered the possibility of the favoured pork bone soup - but both realized we needed even more comforting comfort food.

Bibimbap

Had a little Kalbi too.

Of course the kimchi must be shown.

And some quite lovely miso soup.

After lunch we cruised Pusatari's to check out the foods we can't afford. They were selling gianduja for $66/lb!

[plum tart]

I had a Christmas lunch with colleagues at Le Select Bistro yesterday. I hadn't been to their new location and it is lovely and jam packed with eaters celebrating the Christmas season.

I had a kir to start, followed by braised cokscombs and mushrooms in a wine sauce. They were delicious and interesting at the same time, mild in flavour and gently chewy. This was followed by skate in brown butter with a lovely Alsatain reisling. The skate was impeccably fresh with the flesh removed from the wings and annointed in brown butter. I enjoyed it. My colleagues had French onion soup which Andy, a serious francophile says is the best in Toronto. Andy followed with choucroute garni, the chef's specialty and Maggie had the duck confit in a gorgeous jus.

For dessert we shared rum baba and iles flottant. We lingered over dessert and coffee until about 3 pm. The restaurant emptied and became peaceful with only a few hangers on at the bar.

The food was very good at Le Select and I am surprised that Toronto Life doesn't list them in their guide. I know there are many bistros in Toronto now, but Le Select prepares the bistro classics well, it is not expensive and the service is better than in many trending spots.

It was a good beginning to Christmas dining.

[Anna N]

I had a Christmas lunch with colleagues at Le Select Bistro yesterday. I hadn't been to their new location and it is lovely and jam packed with eaters celebrating the Christmas season.

. . . .

Sounds like a great lunch. Thanks for sharing. It's always so much more fun when others share their lunch experiences and even more so when it's a local (to us) place.

[plum tart]

I am very envious of your lunches So much fun and so delicious!

[Mjx]

Hm. I have a friend I get together with every time I come back to NYC, and lunch at Viceroy, on 18th and 8th. I'm not entirely certain why (we discuss that topic every time we get together), but it has become somthing of a ritual: I get a burger, every time. Usually, so does he. Quite good burgers, actually. He flirts with the waiters, I leave him to it, go downstairs to take photos of myself making faces at the mirror in the loo.

[plum tart]

My favourite kind of food story! Please keep on with your ritual - it might evolve, it might not. We will be kept guessing.

[Anna N]

Very unusual for Kerry and I to plan our Wednesday but that’s exactly what we did this week. Kerry needed to pick up a Christmas gift at Lee Valley Tools and I wanted to wander through HomeSense and I asked if we could have a lunch of Asian appetizers at Thai Coconut a restaurant that has recently re-opened after a fire did extensive damage.

We took our time wandering through HomeSense looking at all the cooking gadgets and the gourmet food selection but left with only two garlic presses and Food & Wine’s Best of the Best Vol. 11. Then it was off to lunch.

We each ordered soup, Tom Kha for Kerry and Tom Yum for me.

We asked for the assorted appetizer platter and a serving of calamari and then settled in to one of the longest and most relaxing lunches we have managed in quite some weeks.

So I always consider the washroom to be part of the restaurant experience and WOW what an experience this was. First, let me assure you that the washroom was totally unoccupied when I took the photos but I have never before felt like such a voyeur. I was terrified that someone would walk in and see me with the camera and have me hauled off to the local cop shop as a weirdo. I could just see the headlines in our local paper. But you have to admit this is an over-the-top facility that gives new meaning to “rest room”.

After lunch we dropped into the ReUse Centre where I found a collapsing silicon colander for my daughter and this little gadget.

For next week we are thinking that everywhere will be a zoo and if we want a nice relaxing lunch it had better be at home so I have been challenged to make the elusive Bakso soup .

[KatieLoeb]

Shared a big plate of smoked salmon, whitefish salad, olives, sliced tomatoes, extra capers (by request!), cream cheese and a toasted everything bagel with my girlfriend today. All washed down with a bottle of Freixenet Rose cava. Delicious! It was definitely a "Lady Lunch" once we included the bubblies. This was all served at Sabrina's, one of my very favorite funky little byob cafes in town. Even on a snowy Thursday afternoon at 2:30pm the place was still packed. Good for them. Makes me happy to see little independent places like that succeeding with a vengeance.

[robirdstx]

My girlfriend and I selected Floyds Cajun Seafood (Webster location) for our December "Ladies Who Lunch". She had never been and I hadn't visited in way too long. She had the fried oysters and onion rings with sweet tea while I had the crawfish half n half (1/2 etouffee with white rice and 1/2 fried tails with tartar sauce) and a dos equis with lime to wash it down. She loved the oysters and my crawfish were awesome. Neither one of us needed a "doggie bag"! After we finished we browsed through a nearby Tuesday Morning to walk off some of our lunch.

[Anna N]

The holidays, health and weather issues kept these two Ladies Who Lunch from their appointed rounds for too many weeks! But finally, last Thursday the holidays were over, health issues largely resolved and the weather at least bearable so we headed back to one of our favourite lunch spots West Plains Bistro.

The place was packed so we had to settle for seats at the bar. This was no great inconvenience as we thoroughly enjoyed looking at the bar offerings and discussing their merits. Kerry even spotted a bottle still sporting the old Canadian Customs and Excise seal of long, long ago. Canadians will remember these seals.

We did not indulge in any of the bar offerings but are always delighted with the way the bistro garnishes a glass of water with both a lemon wedge and a cranberry.

/

Both of us ordered the mussels and frites. I ordered the mussels in a curry sauce with the bistro’s version of poutine – fries with cheese and a veal reduction with carmelized onions.

Kerry went with mussels in a tomato and fennel sauce with plain frites

[Kerry Beal]

On Tuesday I took a little trip down to Buffalo to pick up some supplies and to have lunch with Patris.

We went to a little place called Shish Kabab Express. The food was very satisfactory - and we were struck by just how clean everything was behind the counter.

They brought us a complimentary humous.

Never seen sumac in a salt shaker before.

Patty had the falafel - perfectly crisp outside - almost creamy inside.

I had chicken tikka - moist and flavourful.

[Kerry Beal]

Anna and I headed down to Niagara on the Lake today to talk to the folks at Niagara College about the upcoming Chocolate Conference. We had an excellent visit with the gang there - but some decisions will need to be made about what we want to eat for our Saturday dinner at the conference. Some suggestions were batted around.

Chef Mark Picone suggested that for lunch Anna and I go to Itt's Thai which was opened by a previous Niagara College student. It was an excellent suggestion.

I started with a pot of ginger tea - very refreshing.

A bowl of Tom yum for me.

A green salad for Anna.

We shared a mixed app platter - with shrimp toasts, 'tropical shrimp', a thai version of arancini and spring rolls.

We shared a pork panang curry.

And a red shrimp curry.

And I've got the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

[Anna N]

For the first time in ages Kerry and I had a play day -- day of doing exactly what caught our fancy. First stop was a large Asian market. We strolled slowly up and down every aisle and the only thing that kept us from serious budget-busting was Kerry’s upcoming out of town trip and my upcoming family obligations. The fresh produce was the hardest to resist. I did buy a massive bag of bok choy sprouts (really just very tiny bok choy) and this package of mushrooms.

They are fresh not dried but look nothing like the shiitake mushrooms I usually buy. Anyone care to comment?

I stocked up on lime leaves and some curry leaves as I want to attempt

vadouvan this weekend.

The meat at this market is so cheap it is unreal. Well-marbled strip loins for $3.99/lb. I got almost 8 lbs of pork shoulder for $9. I also took home 2 lbs of BBQ pork cut right from the hanging side for less than $10. The fresh produce was also less than half the price I am paying even at our discount supermarket.

I also found these:

Discussed at length here.

Too bad it’s a bit far to drive for a weekly shopping trip!

After the Asian store we headed for lunch.

We ordered the calamari which was twice-fried (and suffered for it!).

Kerry went off the program and ordered three grilled meats with broken rice.

I stuck to the known -- a bowl of pho with its (sparse) garnishes.

After lunch we stopped in at Value Village thrift store but found nothing food-related that we needed (or just wanted).

[heidih]

Anna- that is what the fresh shitake look like from my markets. You might give one a test drive by quickly cooking it sliced into a pan with a bit of butter or oil. That way you will get an idea of the taste and how you would best enjoy them. I am not a fan, but then again I do not like them dried either. They are visually appealing so I often give into impulse and then wish I had grabbed king oysters instead.