An amazing project, led by Calgary’s Julie van Rosendaal, sprung up in the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.
After much hard work and help from 27 other food bloggers from around the world, Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti, is now available for purchase.
The paperback is $25 and the hardcover is $50. All proceeds will support relief efforts in Haiti through the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. If you buy your copy (or copies) by Feb. 12, the Canadian government will match the donation.
(Photo of cover by 1canoe2)
Then after you’ve supported this fabulous project, you can reward yourself with a free original grand slam breakfast at Denny’s on Tuesday, Feb. 9, between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Tags: cookbook, Denny's, earthquake, fundraiser, Haiti
I’ve been intrigued by the combination of waffles and fried chicken ever since I heard about it. Common in the U.S., it’s definitely not so common here in Canada.
So when Jessica mentioned a flyer for The Waffle Works, I jumped at the opportunity and convinced my sister and her husband to chauffeur us.
Unfortunately, our electronic helpers weren’t having a good day, with Google Maps as well as the GPS not distinguishing Lakeshore BOULEVARD from Lakeshore ROAD, sending us way past our destination and into the industrial belly of Mississauga.
The solution apparently is to search the address under Etobicoke and not Toronto. I include this tidbit so the same problem doesn’t befall you! It also turns out the 501 street car goes right past the Waffle Works.
UPDATE – Feb. 8, 2010: I got a nice email from an assistant in Coun. Mark Grimes’ office, who represents Etobicoke Lakeshore.
She wrote: “The trick to finding Waffle Works is to spell the name of the street correctly. In Toronto (including Etobicoke), it is legally Lake Shore Blvd. W. Lake Shore is two words in Toronto, one word in Mississauga and Oakville. It was legally named Lake Shore Boulevard West in 1961 by Metro Toronto bylaw 1548. It is also Lake Shore Blvd. E. in the east end.”
By the time we made it back to Mimico, we were starving.
Like all places run more on love than money, the Waffle Works is located in a strip mall, next to a laundromat.
The Southern menu can be summed up in three ways: stuff with waffles, stuff with fried chicken and stuff with both.
I went straight for the “infamous chicken ‘n waffles” ($9.99). The chicken, with a slightly spiced coating, was incredible. If I ever make it to the Southern U.S., I’m eating this every day. Unfortunately, the waffle was more golden than “golden brown.” It wasn’t crispy or hot enough, likely needing a much hotter griddle.
My side of fruit salad ($4.50) was small but did have some nice fresh fruit like blackberries and strawberries, rather than the syrupy pale stuff that come out of buckets.
Kevin got the Big Southern ($10.75) which was the same thing but with rice and red kidney beans. Next time I visit (and there will be a next time), I’m forgoing the waffles for the Southern savouries, like collard greens, grits and definitely more fried chicken.
Gigi’s side of macaroni and cheese ($4) left us craving another bowl of the white saucy cheesiness.
The Waffle Works, 2451 Lake Shore Blvd. W., Toronto, (647) 344-2020. Open Tuesday to Thursday 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 8 a.m.-4 a.m., Sunday 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Tags: breakfast, brunch, fried chicken, mac and cheese, rice and beans, Southern, waffles
Finding a spot in Toronto to catch up with some girls from work turned out to be a bit harder than we thought. We didn’t want to go to a pub so that ruled out a lot of places downtown. A bistro/bar was way too noisy and crowded. We finally ended up at Swish by Han, run by two brothers who cook up Korean-inspired dishes.
It’s a pretty spot with varnished wooden tables mixed with Korean details and pretty chandeliers. Best of all, it comfortably seated a group of us where we could all hear each other.
I think Swish does drinks and small plates best. Their infused soju ($20/carafe) — a distilled rice liquor — is a fabulous sipping drink. Choose from refreshing infusions including citrus, cucumber, ginger and apple pie.
For teetotallers, the yuzu tea is a great twist on iced tea with the sweet, citrus addition.
Purple yam frites ($5) come with a red chili aioli. The bi bim bap rolls ($7) are crunchy mixed vegetables wrapped in rice paper.
The house dumplings ($9) are quite yummy stuffed with Berkshire pork and chives, and the seafood crepe ($10) is a nice play on boring green onion pancakes.
These all work well to share among a big group, or you can order a few to make up a dinner.
Swish also has larger entree plates but they’re not as memorable as the smaller dishes. I had the 48-hour braised beef shank ($14) served with lettuce wraps, called ssäm here. Finely sliced and served cold, the shank had little taste and too much cartilage and tendon.
Cheryl gave her soy-chili braised short ribs ($15) a thumbs-up, while Jessica said a previous hot pot (called “swish” here, and offered with beef, seafood or mushroom) was decent.
Swish by Han, 38 Wellington St. E., Toronto, (647) 343-0268. Open for lunch weekdays noon to 2 p.m., for dinner Monday to Saturday 5-10:30 p.m.
I know this is likely the most contentious food topic in any city: where are the best wings?
In search of this quest exists a league of gentlemen to which I was recently admitted honorary membership. As with any quasi-secret society, I can’t say much about their initiations, rules, or even the name of this wing club, but I can share with you our recent findings.
The best chicken wings in Calgary are served at the Black Sheep West Coast Pub in a non-descript southwest strip mall.
How is that possible? First of all, the wings here are gigantic: plump, juicy appendages that actually taste like chicken. One Black Sheep wing is the size of two cheap wings at other places.
Secondly, they taste fresh to order, not like they’ve been pre-cooked, stored, and then deep-fried again just before serving.
Best flavours are hot honey mustard and chili lime. Curiously, death valley and hot are not very spicy at all.
Bonus points for great service. Go early on Wednesdays and Sundays when the wings are 30 cents each. There was a lineup for tables when we got there.
Don’t just take my word for it, hotwings.ca also has the Black Sheep ranked No. 1.
Black Sheep West Coast Pub, 7746 Elbow Dr. SW, Calgary, (403) 212-0304.
There’s only so much space I have in the Urban Foodie column in Metro Calgary to describe some of my eating experiences, which is yet another reason the internets is so wonderful. I can have all the space I want here!
In my writeup of Aladdin’s Casbah — a great Lebanese restaurant in the southeast — I couldn’t properly delve into the confusion its pita raised.
Aladdin’s pita is served in a small basket … in clear, plastic Safeway pita bags. The soft, fresh flatbreads definitely did not come from the chain store but we couldn’t figure out why they would be placed in the Safeway bags.
We asked our server about it. He confirmed the pita itself was not from Safeway, but they “fit better” in the bags. I’m still confounded.
This is a pic of ja leong, or Chinese donut wrapped in rice noodles and drizzled with hoisin and peanut sauces. It’s from Pebble Street, one of the most reasonably priced restaurants in Calgary.
And a TV food note: Paul Rogalski, co-owner and chef of Rouge in Calgary’s Inglewood neighbourhood, will be assisting P.E.I. chef Michael Smith in an episode of Iron Chef America that airs Sunday Jan. 31 at 9 p.m. ET on Food Network Canada.
Smith squares off against Bobby Flay in kitchen stadium. Maybe this time, a Canadian will finally topple that annoying douchebag, who tied Toronto’s Susur Lee (who totally should have won!) in 2006.
Tags: bobby flay, Chinese, iron chef, Lebanese, michael smith, rogalski, rouge, susur
Le Paradis in Toronto’s Annex area fits the bill for a relaxed, welcoming neighbourhood bistro with solid French dishes — at extremely reasonable prices.
A favourite of Toronto Chowhounders, the place is packed on a Friday night with what looks like a lot of regulars. To the left of us, a group of 20-something guys scarfing down steak frites, and to our right, two middle-aged couples with one pair looking like they’re on a blind date set up by the other.
Our sweet server brings us pieces of baguette from a basket which we slather with really good butter that’s on the table. I can hear snippets of French conversation, which makes me suspect all the staff are quite fluent, including our Asian waitress.
Ben’s grilled sardines ($7) come on top of tomato concassé. The first fish is great. The second one is mealy and has to be sent back. The server apologizes, offers to make a new one (which Ben declines) and later takes it off our bill.
Scott fares much better with his warm duck confit salad ($7). A garlic dressing brings together the duck, new potatoes, and frisée lettuce.
The main plates are all excellent. My rabbit ($17), braised with fennel, tomato, basil, garlic, white wine and pastis, transports me back to eating lapin for the first time in a French high-school cafeteria during a student exchange years ago. I can’t scoop up the mashed potatoes fast enough.
Ben’s choucroute garnie ($17) is a lovely — and heavy — cold-weather, stick-to-your-bones version of the Alsatian standby. A huge pork loin sits atop boudin blanc sausage, bacon, and cabbage braised with white wine. (Unfortunately, my photo of it is too blurry to post.)
Scott’s pan-fried flatiron steak ($17) was smothered in pepper sauce, alongside frites and green beans in Le Paradis’ version of steak frites. It was delicious and looked like one of the more popular dishes in the restaurant, judging by how many of them went past us while we were there.
The other thing we noticed was the increasing amount of smoke coming from the open kitchen and wafting toward the rest of the restaurant. Nothing was on fire; I think the exhaust system just couldn’t handle everything.
Desserts were fun. Profiteroles ($6) — all puffy and custardy — are a grown-up kid’s delight with ice cream and chocolate sauce. So was Ben’s coconut ice cream with bananas, chocolate sauce and whipped cream ($5).
As much as I wanted to love this place, it didn’t completely wow me. However, the extremely weak exhaust system left us smelling memories of Le Paradis for hours afterward.
Le Paradis, 166 Bedford Rd., Toronto, (416) 921-0995. Open Sunday, Monday 5:30-10 p.m., Tuesday-Friday 6-11 p.m., Saturday 5:30-11 p.m.
Tags: bistro, duck confit, French, lapin, profiterole, rabbit, sardines, steak
The scene of the crime: OddFellows, a hipster restaurant that’s cleverly embraced its strange, narrow space by seating everyone at a single communal table for 24.
Owned by two designers, OddFellows is a quirky, to say the least, environment: crazy light fixtures, a fireplace hung from the ceiling, a wall of colourful bubble alphabet fridge magnets, and even a stuffed beaver … and a table leg designed to look like a beaver’s been gnawing on it.
The crime: Cooking up a ridiculously gigantic cauldron of “breakfast for two” and charging only $24 for it.
In a hot stone bowl arrived layers of:
- roasted potatoes
- roasted cherry tomatoes
- several sunnyside-up eggs
- five or six sausages
- six slices of bacon
- two pieces of back bacon so big they could be considered pork chops
- asparagus wrapped with more bacon
- and six pieces of toast.
This is what my plate looked like on my first pass.
I believe the “breakfast for two” was good for several servings between me and my sister, two leftover breakfasts the next day, and a midnight snack.
OddFellows serves some other tasty brunch items. Kevin’s steak and eggs ($18) came with a nicely spiced flat-iron steak (pre-sliced), eggs, potatoes, fresh cherry tomatoes and toast.
I’d like to come back to try dinner (probably not on a hipster-packed Friday or Saturday night) which sounds like it’s full of hearty stews and comfort food.
Oddfellows, 936 Queen St. W., Toronto, (416) 534-5244.
Open for brunch on weekends 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Dinner menu Monday to Wednesday 7-11 p.m., Thursday to Saturday 7 p.m. to midnight. Late-night menu Monday to Saturday until 2 a.m.
This should be the last of the wedding-related posts, I swear! We’ve had a lot of friends ask about what we ate during our Chinese wedding banquet at the Victoria Chinese Restaurant (in the same complex as the Hyatt Regency Vancouver hotel). It was hosted by my parents and attended by 250 of their our closest friends and family.
So here’s a rundown of the 11 courses. Though if you ask my mother, there are only eight because the rice, noodles, and dessert “don’t really count.”
All photos below are by the incomparable Gracci and Rico who run Pelaez Photography.
I love that you really don’t have to worry about decorations at Chinese receptions. Victoria already had the gold charger plates, red tablecloths, gold chair covers etc. The stunning orchid and horsetail centrepieces are the exquisite work of my aunt who owns False Creek Flowers.
Almost all Chinese banquets start with a cold appetizer plate. Strands of jellyfish (海蜇) are a staple. There’s not a lot of flavour in them as there is a crunchy, chewy texture.
Along with that, there was delicious roasted suckling pig (化皮乳豬件). Pig used to be a symbol of virginity and it was tradition for the groom to present the bride’s family with a whole roasted pig.
Sautéed ostrich with honey peas (碧綠鴕鳥柳) was a fun twist, because my mom doesn’t eat beef, but my dad also wanted to add some flash to traditional courses. The lean ostrich was simply done like a stirfry — and tasted like beef.
A phoenix symbolizes the female role in a marriage. Some archaeologists believe ostrich may be the source of the legend of the phoenix.
Steamed dried scallop (發財玉環瑤柱甫) stuffed in cucumber with black moss was the third dish. Dried scallop, or conpoy, has a strong fishy smell, and is considered a gourmet ingredient.
Black moss, which thankfully you can’t see in the photo, actually looks like hair. It hardly has any flavour, but the Chinese name for black moss sounds like “prosperity.”
We declined to serve shark fin soup and instead went with a clear, double-boiled broth with fish maw, Chinese mushrooms, wolfberries and vegetables (花膠，北菰，杞子燉菜膽).
Like with so many delicacies, fish maw has little flavour, but has a distinctive texture. What is a fish maw? Well, it’s actually an “air bladder,” or an organ filled with gas that helps a fish control its buoyancy.
Wolfberries, also known as goji berries, are rich in antioxidants and have long been used in Chinese medicine. Goji also sounds like “several sons” in Cantonese.
I made sure we had time to properly enjoy the stirfried lobster tail and deep-fried claws (金銀龍蝦). Juicy pieces of lobster tail smothered in creamy “supreme sauce” and crispy salt-and-pepper claws were worth getting my fingers messy for!
Literally “dragon shrimp,” lobster symbolizes the male dragon role in marriage; it’s also red — the colour of happiness and joy.
Abalone is a delicacy reserved for weddings and other special occasions. Here, it was braised whole and served simply with broccoli with oyster sauce (蠔皇三頭鮮鮑魚). Abalone has a subtle, earthy, slightly sweet flavour closest to a scallop, and are soft and buttery if prepared properly.
The Chinese word for fish sounds like “abundance.” Served whole with head and tail, it symbolizes a life of plenty for the newlyweds.
Whole steamed fish (清蒸海上鮮) is a staple of big Chinese meals, usually done with soy sauce and ginger. It’s so simple yet so tasty and tender.
It may be a bit disconcerting for those who aren’t used to it to see the entire fish, including head and eyeballs staring back, but the nice thing at banquets is the servers whisk the plate away, debone the fish, and then portion it out individually.
Roasted pigeon (紅燒乳鴿) is one of my favourite banquet dishes. Succulent and finger-licking good. Yes, the heads are included in the presentation.
Pigeons are served to wish the newlyweds a peaceful future as they start this part of their lives together.
After this is the homestretch. I call it the “filler” dishes, because if you haven’t eaten enough yet for whatever reason (i.e. don’t like seafood), now is your chance to fill up with rice and noodles.
We don’t have a photo of the honeymoon fried rice (甜蜜鴛鴦炒飯) but it’s very traditional near the end of a meal like this. It’s a bed of fried rice topped with a tomato sauce with pork slivers on one side, and a cream sauce with shrimp on the other.
The sauces are displayed in a yin-yang shape to represent a harmony in dualism.
The long noodles in the shrimp dumplings in chicken broth (上湯水餃麵) symbolize longevity.
I barely saw dessert because I think we were already at the door saying goodbye to guests, but there were two sweet pastries (美點雙輝) and sweetened soup with lily, lotus and dessert dumpling (蓮子百合湯丸). I saw a really pretty platter of fresh fruit too including watermelon and dragon fruit.
Desserts wish the newlyweds a sweet life together. Lily stands for 100 years of harmony in the marriage; lotus seeds symbolize fertility and many children.
Whew. In writing this all out, it seems like a lot of food, but in between speeches and all that wedding stuff, it’s actually paced very well. I sure hope no one went home hungry!
Victoria Chinese Restaurant, 1088 Melville St., Vancouver, (604) 669-8383.
Tags: abalone, banquet, black moss, Chinese, conpoy, fish maw, jellyfish, lobster, ostrich, pigeon, reception, shark fin, wedding, wolfberry
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