wine food yum

crepes a gogo, 18 yorkville avenue, toronto
just north of bloor and yonge

i finally *finally* got the chance to try crepes a gogo this past sunday, after 2 years of dwindling and trying to sink my teeth into this place. they claim to have crepes better than those you'll find in paris.

fantastic cozy little place, great patio. warm little cafe/bistro tables. espresso machine. crepes are fresh and made to order on crepe pans. all the staff speak french and speak to each other in french - which makes you feel like their crepes are even more authentic. they have savoury crepes, sandwiches, snacks, coffee. i got a chocolate crepe avec bananes - 4 dark chocolate sticks melted and folded with bananas. not too bad - but married with the cute paris cafe feel, it's just right.

cafe crepe, 246 queen st west, toronto
at queen and john, just across from citytv

now maybe i've crossed the line when it comes to crepes (is it more authentic to have chocolate sticks or heaps of yummy nutella), but there's something about cafe crepes spread of delicious nutella, array of hazelnuts or almonds, strawberries and vanilla - that is like music to my palette. serve it up with an illy espresso or latte, and it's perfection.

the feel's a little more modern/upscale, not as cozy as crepe a gogo, but is definitely a favourite. too bad they close so darn early! their crepes are a bit thicker than crepes a gogo, but crepes a gogo folds their crepes a lot more. i think the perfect crepe should be a balance between filling, flavour, thickness - all in a consistent bite-by-bite ratio.

in any case - cafe crepe is probably my favourite on my list so far of toronto crepe restos/cafes.

crepe it up, downstairs at st. lawrence market (95 front street) or 507 church street, toronto

is a great crepe restaurant story in toronto - owner's name is chris lee. him and his team make it out to a lot of events, and can be found weekly on thursdays at king street metro square farmer's market - where i like to pick up buttertarts :)

good savoury crepes, not usually overstuffed, can be a bit juicy/watery, but great for a light snack.

marche/movenpick, 42 yonge street, toronto (yonge and front)

always go to the movenpick downtown at yonge and front - everything tastes better and is done better. this goes to show that the franchise is not always consistent.

marche/movenpick was my first when it comes to dessert crepes - but is usually inconsistent, depending on the crepemaker. sometimes the crepes can be too thin, too burnt, too undercooked - but they fill with fruit/icecream and top with choc/vanilla sauce - the marche crepe is still part of my standard when it comes to enjoying crepes. Read the full story »

we just got back from chicago - known for its deep dish pizza, and so i thought it would be appropriate to write a quick post on pizza :)

i've come to wonder why (as is my job as a philosophy grad) it is that meet-and-greet group games often force you to answer such absolute questions like "what is your favourite food?" - when it's obviously a completely unfair question - but one that requires an answer to which your new-found-friends (whose names you've forgotten by the time it's your turn) will forever judge you, if you ever see them again (and don't pretend that you don't see them because you don't remember their names).

the following "why" question to my first "why" question is - why is it that "pizza" is always the default answer? you'd think it might be chicken. and why is pizza always the default food for serving the masses? i'd argue that i'm not sure it deserves to be held in such high recognition :\

thus, here are my "confessions" to my rather new-found realization that i've begun to have quite particular and strong feelings against pizza.

now, this wasn't always so. there was a time, i'd beg my dad to let us order pizza for a midnight snack. he'd order it from pizza pizza over the phone and we'd go pick it up, piping hot from the oven, extra cheese and all. three whole pieces and most of the crust would be gone by the time we got home.

but it seems that 10-15 years ago, the caliber of pizza coming from pizza pizza chains was 10x better than it is today. it just doesn't cut it for me anymore, even when it's piping hot from the oven.

i think that with the age of dipping sauces, stuffed crusts, salads, and chicken wings at the pizza parlour, came a long downhill slide of quality in many pizza shops, sadly.







panago pizza - is the sworn favourite of all westcoast and vancouver-ites. i have yet to see what the big deal is about, i find that panago's crust is often soggy and rather doughy. i'd put it on the same level with pizza pizza.

2-4-1 pizza, domino's pizza, pizza hut - can you even call this pizza? it's either flat and oozing with oil and waxy cheese - or see-through at the bottom from all the oil that's seeped through its super crusty crust that's trying to be a deep dish pizza.

mama's pizza - is probably the best take-out pizza i've found so far (of easy access in toronto) that appeases my taste at the moment: variety, good ingredients, thin crust - and a glorious pesto, sundried tomatoes, feta pizza.

as for the chicago deep dish pizza - we had a quick lunch at pizzeria uno's sister resto, pizzeria due, just around the corner a hop and skip away from the "magnificent mile" on michigan ave.

although i have an aversion of deep dish pizza, our bbq chicken deep dish was a great balance of enough dough to make a deep dish, yummy toppings, crunchiness, not too much seeping oil, without having soggy slices.

it was a nice surprise :) but i'm not sure if it has re-kindled my faith in pizza. Read the full story »

The day I met Piave, the very first taste was love. You think I'm joking, but it's true.

Let's Talk About Cheese Shops, Baby

This past Saturday, we went cheese-trying, which quickly turned into cheese-buying (as it often does) - to test and try out some cheeses for our first wine and cheese party this Saturday. The first stop was Alex Farm Products at Bayview and just south of Eglinton, while the second, the Cheese Emporium, was just around the corner at Avenue and Eglinton. Both had quite the variety of cheeses, while different in selection - but being Saturday afternoon, it seemed that store keeps and the real cheese experts, had little patience for those "trying" rather than "buying."

All day I searched high and low for my beloved Prima Donna, a cheese I discovered last year at my beloved Global Cheese store in Kensington market (by far one of the best cheese shops in Toronto, in terms of knowledgable, friendly service). Cheese Magic is good, too, but the claustrophobia often takes over. CM's great because they refrigerate a lot more than GC, though. Cheese Boutique on South Kingsway is amazing, but a little farther off :)

Back to our story. Alas, neither CE nor AF had to me, what was my "grail" of cheeses.

It was then that Rico at CE (his name wasn't really Rico, but I like calling him Rico) suggested I try a 4 year old Gouda - which would be "better" than my Prima Donna. That finished on the tongue as rather salty and so I declined.

The mark of a real cheese expert, like Rico, despite his impatience at 2 foolish beginner cheese appreciators - is his/her mastery and skill to match a cheese to a person. Much like Ollivander with wands, this skill must be appreciated: to be able to read one's very distinct and specific taste preferences, and try and match the perfect degree of saltiness, age, moistness, dryness, nut or fruit flavour, taste experience - all in one palm sized piece of cheese. Truly a gift, and possibly required years of intensive training in monasteries to develop.

That was how I met Prima Donna last year, and how I met Piave on Saturday. Piave is made in the Piave River Valley region of Belluno, Italy - and is a sweet and delicate cheese, and the block we tried was slightly aged and thus dry, but had a full and bold flavour with a little bit of crunch and nuttyness, especially near the end. Absolutely beautiful.

It was as if I was flying free, high in the skies - until I met Roquefort (scary music duh duh duh) - and fell 50 feet in the air, while breaking my arm hitting the ground.

Despite my love and my experience in cheese, I have learned that in the world of cheese, humility is always required. And so it was at CE, soonafter Piave, that I met my greatest challenge thus far: a very blue, moldy, and veined Roquefort that stung the tongue and made my head spin. Roquefort is known as one of the "king of cheeses" and I know that, much like coffee when you are 5 years old, Roquefort is something that grows on you with enough cheese experience.

Until then, I am amateur enough to be able to say - should someone really eat something with that much moldy blue in it? ;) Don't forget to RSVP for the Wine + Cheese Party by Wed/Oct/31/07 - you'll meet Roquefort in the "try if you dare" course. Read the full story »