Food & Drink Early Summer Issue

[KevV]

Nope - haven't tried their vodka smoked salmon (and how do you say that in Italian?). But I think it's been mentioned here before, and so I've made a mental note.

...regardless, most of the fish they have are called by their name of origin, hence Branzino

So, you're saying that their Banzino is from Italy, they have merluza from Spain, sardinhas from Portugal and so forth? ('Name of origin'?)

Edited May 5, 2006 by KevV (log)

[sadistick]

I believe so...at least one of the first times I was there my Venezuelan friend there told me everything is flown in fresh that day...in particular we were talking about the Porgi and Branzino from Italia

[KevV]

I very much doubt the fish is that fresh. But what I meant was, you wrote: 'most of the fish they have are called by their name of origin'. And so do the staff say, 'That's branzino' as opposed to 'that's sea bass caught near Italy'?...

Anyway, forget about it. No need to sell it to me. I've been there a few times and it's alright. Toronto's not a fresh seafood mecca, however, as we know, for obvious geographical reasons.

[sadistick]

It actually is that fresh Kev, the stuff is shipped overnight, and gets there in the morning and is on display that day...

What I mean is they use the same name for the fish as it would be called where it was caught.

I have yet to find a better fish place in the city, if you can find one, do let me know.

[KevV]

I, also, know of no better TO fish place. (Although I found out about CF through this site and don't really know the rest.)

Yes, the fresh stuff at City does seem fairly fresh. I'm just saying that it can't help being a bit less fresh than it would be if the shop were closer to the sea. That said, you fellow foodies probably know of Tsukiji market in Tokyo where, like, 10% of the world's seafood passes through daily. Massive place, and it really arrives ASAP from all over the globe, but yet, as you'd expect in Japan, it's still really pretty darn fresh.

(Freshness is nice, in my opinion, but the effects of dredging up the ocean and then express-flying fish around the planet so that we have great seafood is a whole other issue, as I'm sure you know. Given this, maybe better that there isn't too much fresh seafood around TO.)

[sadistick]

I still remember when we were deep sea fishing in Aruba, were out there for 3 hours, and not even a nibble! Just as we were about to decide to pack it up, one of the rods got something...something BIG! My dad and I took turns reeling this sucker in for a good 20 minutes, finally brought this 35lb Yellowfin Tuna on board...captain comes down with a reeeal sharp knife, slices the thing up right on deck, washes it off, hands us each some with some limes...

Now thats fresh!