Paese Ristorante

"Inspired in Italy, Made in Canada"

Paese Ristorante has been serving Italian inspired food for over 25 years in North York. Owner and operator Tony Loschiavo was three years old when he moved to Canada from Southern Italy in 1965. Growing up with a passion for food and its preparation, Loschiavo’s early start in the restaurant industry was with two acclaimed Toronto restaurants of the time: Fenton’s and Noodles. In 1983, he founded L-eat Catering and in 1989 opened Paese Ristorante (Instagram: @paeseristorante, Facebook: Paese Ristorante). The L-eat Group cultivates a 3,000 square feet urban garden in midtown, producing fruits and vegetables used for their catering events, and everything from tomatoes and chili peppers for the chefs, to mint and lavender for the bartenders at Paese.

I visited Paese for some Italian cooking on a Saturday night. As usual, we started with cocktails.

PAESE COLLINS ($14)

Beefeater gin, lemon, thyme-infused syrup

OLD ITALIAN FASHIONED ($14)

Campari, Maker's Mark bourbon, sugar cube, orange

COMPLIMENTARY FOCACCIA

Tapenade made of tomato, roasted eggplant and red pepper. 

Paese's dinner menu features a selection of salads, antipasti, pastas, pizza, fish and meats, and sides.

GRILLED OCTOPUS ($16)

Potato, grilled escarole, mint, lemon and chill

This was a marvelous appetizer, and it's no wonder that this dish is so popular at Paese. Coupled with an impressive presentation, the grilled octopus here is soft and tender yet still had good texture and chew. The creamy sauce and the hearty potatoes were perfect accompaniments to the octopus.

New Dinner Menu at Mildred's Temple Kitchen

I made my way to Mildred's Temple Kitchen (Twitter: @mildredstemple, Facebook: Mildred's Temple Kitchen) several weeks ago for their newly launched dinner menu. Hidden in the heart of Liberty Village, the restaurant prides itself on serving flavourful dishes cooked simply and using the freshest locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible. 

"Mildred’s Temple Kitchen opened with a heartfelt philosophy. We’re here because we love food, people and the simple pleasures of life: our temple is the place where we practice our devotion. Here you’ll find seasonal fare, prepared with reverence for its source, and served with pleasure." - Mildred's Temple Kitchen.

Mildred's Temple Kitchen used to be my go-to place for lunch when I worked in the area, and I didn't realize just how much I miss the place until this very visit! That high ceiling, those beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows, the super spacious room, and the casual and relaxing ambiance...yeah, not many restaurants in Toronto can claim they have all these elements (actually a lot of restaurants these days are crammed, dark, and loud).

Mildred's open kitchen.

Sunday Brunch at Città

Hear me out. Sunday brunch is not my forte, it's just not in my "dining-out" vocabulary. Actually, I'm the last person you should ever ask about brunch, where to go, the best spot for pancakes, etc. My answer to you would be "Sorry, I have no idea. You should ask so-and-so". I could name you a few places if you insisted but it'll be followed by the "I've never been to them myself but I've heard good things" disclaimer. What can I say? I'm just a dinnah kinda gal! So does this make this post irrelevant? No, because although I hardly go for brunch it doesn't mean I can't tell you the reason(s) why I like those blueberry pancakes. The downside is I probably can't tell you where to get even better blueberry pancakes. So, the question is, how did I find myself at Città on a Sunday? It was a blogger brunch event hosted by Città and as a food blogger, I gotta show my face. Meh, who am I kidding? It's free brunch!

Città (Twitter: @CittaToronto, Facebook: Citta Toronto) is a new Italian restaurant located at CityPlace, the condos on Spadina across from the Rogers Centre. The rustic urban Italian eatery is the newest restaurant venture by Hanif Harij, the successful restaurateur behind Patria, Weslodge, Byblos and NAO Steakhouse. Harij has brought on board executive chef Ben Heaton of The Grove and David Mattachiono of Terroni to helm the kitchen at Città.

The Città space is basically an L-shape with a dining area on each side. As you can see from the above photo, the restaurant is encased in floor-to-ceiling windows that let in a lot of sunlight. When you walk in, you'll notice the dining room on your right has a bold and majestic decor with black and gold chandeliers, gold-trimmed mirrors, tiled floors and large royal green leather banquettes.

The dining room on your left has a more laid-back, less shimmery rustic decor.

A closer look at the bar.

The Saint Tavern / Amsterdam Brewery Brewmaster's Dinner

On Thursday, February 20th, The Saint Tavern (@thesainttavern) hosted their inaugural Brewmaster's Dinner. The restaurant teamed up with Amsterdam Brewery (@amsterdambeer) to kick start the exciting dinner series.

The four-course dinner consisted of select beer and collaborative food pairings by The Saint Tavern's Chef, Jesse Vallins and Amsterdam Brewery's Brewmaster, Iain McOustra. 

Here's a recap of the evening:

TO START
PARKER HOUSE ROLLS, CONFIT POTATOES, HOUSE FRUIT KETCHUP
Cooked sous vide in butter and herbs, the potatoes were then breaded with potato starch and dried potato flakes before deep frying.

FIRST COURSE

IRISH ORGANIC SALMON TARTARE

Everything bagel, cream cheese, pickled beet puree, shaved onion, dill pesto

Pairing: Order and Choas - Chardonnay Barrel aged Wit. Aged with Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus for one year

SECOND COURSE

HEIRLOOM CARROT AND IPA SOUP

Carrot bacon compote, shaved carrot salad, birch syrup

Pairing: Boneshaker - Classic American style IPA

SPiN Toronto: Not Your Average Ping Pong Hall

SPiN Toronto (Twitter: @SPiN_Toronto, Facebook: SPiN Toronto) is a massive 12,000 sq ft ping pong social club located at 461 King Street West. SPiN Toronto is one of five outposts belonging to the SPiN Galatic group (you can currently find SPiN in New York, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Toronto and Dubai). SPiN Galatic's mission is to spread the love of ping pong across the "Galaxy" with entertainment venues where people can hang out with friends and play ping-pong while sipping on cocktails and munching on snacks. 

Fun Fact: Did you know that Susan Sarandon is one of four owners of SPiN Galatic? The Academy Award-winning actress is a self-described "ping pong propagandist" and has been giving ping pong tables to friends and to inner-city schools ever since she helped open SPiN New York in 2009.

SPiN Toronto boasts 2 fully licensed bars, 12 ping-pong tables, cocktail menu, full food menu, a lounge and a private party room. It is open 7 days a week from noon till 1 am from Sundays to Wednesdays, and till 2 am on Thursdays to Saturdays. 

Fun Fact: Did you know I went to SPiN Toronto for a blind date once? Lets just say playing ping pong was the best part of the date haha.

Please don't feel intimated when you're at SPiN; you don't have to be a pro to go (trust me I suck at ping pong but I love it there; then again maybe because I'm Asian it's in my blood to love ping pong). Anyway if you're a hard-core ping pong player then by all means get yourself a SPiN membership but otherwise, anybody can drop in for casual socializing and play or even take part in SPiN Toronto's nightly events. It's all in good fun.

If you absolutely refuse to give ping pong a chance *insert sad face* you can always pig out on food and drinks there. I was invited to taste chef Jon Lovett's (@iamjonlovett) new menu a few weeks ago at SPiN where we had a variety of shared plates and finger foods. 

We started off with a few cocktails. SPiN has a modest list of cocktails, beers and wines, as well as three different kinds of punch bowls (minimum 4 people, 9 ounces of booze in each).

BFF - Ciroc peach + elderberry + bubbles ($12.40)

Gin Blossom - Tanqueray + St Germain + Lemon ($12.40)

Origin North

The newest venture by chef Claudio Aprile is Origin North (Twitter: @originnorth, Facebook: Origin North Restaurant & Bar). Located in Bayview Village near Bayview and Sheppard, Origin North is the third restaurant under Aprile's "Origin empire". The Origin umbrella began with its first location on King Street (2010) followed by a second location in Liberty Village (2012).

This uptown restaurant is massive. With 12,000 sq ft, the space houses 200 seats indoors and 138 seats on its two patios.

Much like the Liberty Village location, an enormous bar in the middle of the room catches your attention right away. The floor-to-ceiling windows allows a lot of light in, highlighting the dark plush leather seats as well as the brown wooden beams. Really spacious and comfortable here.

Right of the bat there were several items on Origin North's menu that I recognize from Origin Liberty like the spicy Spanish fries, truffled popcorn and beet salad (I used to work really close to the Liberty location). I made an exception this time and did not order the spicy Spanish fries - I used to order it every single time 'cause I love them! But this time I resisted...I wanted to save room for new dishes instead.

Round 1 of cocktails:

MAPLE SOUR - Bulleit Bourbon + Maple + Lemon + Bitters ($11)

LA DIABLO - Don Julio Blanco + Cassis + Ginger + Lime ($11)

Per Se, NYC

CHEF'S TASTING MENU AT PER SE

7 Course Lunch Prix Fixe

Amuse bouche

Amuse bouche

"OYSTERS AND PEARLS"

"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters 

and Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

CHILLED SPRING LETTUCE "VELOUTE"

Black Truffle "Beignet," Romaine "Relish," 
Meyer Lemon and Celery Branch

Chococrepe's Skillet Cookie...

is something I would want to have EVERY SINGLE DAY.

That is all ^_*

Have a great weekend everybody!

Macau Goodies & Other Delicacies

My day trip to Macau consisted of the following activities: 1) Eating 2) Sight-seeing and 3) Watching The House of Dancing Water show at City of Dreams (a show very similar to Cirque du Soleil shows). 


In terms of "Eating", I've blogged about my lunch at Solmar Restaurante where I had traditional Portuguese / Macanese food. This post will focus on Macau's street food, traditional delicacies and snacks. And breaking away from the norm, I will actually do a quick post tomorrow about the "Sight-seeing" part because I really want to share some of Macau's beautiful Portugal-influenced architecture. For example, the above picture is The Ruins of St. Paul's, which is an iconic symbol of Macau. Gorgeous!


Okay enough of that! Below chronicles everything I ate in Macau ^_^

ON THE WAY TO MACAU

Ferry Food - A cold and hard piece of cheese and a cold and hard piece of cold cut sandwiched in a cold and hard baguette. I had no idea what that jello-thing was either. Tofu packet produced in China. I did not eat any of it *gag*

IN MACAU

We were on our way to lunch at Solmar Restaurante when I couldn't help but stop here for some...

Meat Jerky - Extremely popular in Macau that it is hard to avoid. So many vendors sell them out in front of their shop and they are more than happy to let you to try a slice (they will use scissors to cut a small piece for you). Price depends on the type of meat and the flavour.

Bought half a pound of beef filet jerky. 

Stopped at Koi Kei, a very reputable and well-known store for their almond cake, egg roll, crunchy peanut candy, and filet of beef and pork. They currently sell over 300 varieties of product and is known as a traditional shop but they now also sell new varieties in pastry, cakes, cookies and nougat.  Koi Kei is a reputable Macau brand - it has13 stores in Macau and three chain stores in Hong Kong. 

Peanut Candy - Like all the other goodies in  Koi Kei, I got to sample these freshly made chewy peanut candy. 

Bought a bag. This one is with black sesame.

Almond Cookies - Referred to as almond cakes or almond biscuits, they are so incredibly dense and full of almond flavour. Bought a box.

After our shopping (and eating) spree at Koi Kei, we went for some traditional Macau snacks....

Steamed Egg Pudding - Which you can get either warm or cold (we got warm).

Hip + Urban Girl Guide's Cookies & Champagne Party 2011 (GIVEAWAY)

It's that time of year again, ladies! HUG's Second Annual Cookies & Champagne Party ^_^

Not sure what this party is all about? Read my blog post from last year's Cookies & Champagne party where I baked my favourite chocolate chip cookies! I had such a great time and I can't wait to attend this year =)

HUG describes their Cookies & Champagne party as: 

"a champagne-infused all-girl networking sesh + modern cookie swap"

Interested in going? 

I'm giving away ONE ticket to this awesome party. 

Your ticket includes:

♥ A complimentary glass of Barefoot sparkling wine

♥ Access to the cookie exchange, networking party and mini Christmas market

♥ Delectable sandwiches & refreshment from Yes to Fresh and FIJI Water

♥ Interactive Photo Booth & Red Carpet Arrivals from Olympus Canada

♥ With more SURPRISES to come

To enter, simply leave a comment below, telling me what your favourite cookie is and I will randomly draw a winner on Friday, November 18th (Hip + Urban Girls ONLY please).

GOOD LUCK! 

Click here for more information on HUG's Cookies & Champagne party. 

Click here to purchase tickets to the HUG's Cookies & Champagne party.

Table 17 - Table d'Hote

This is my third Table 17 post. My first post was several months ago when I went for their regular dinner menu; my second post was around several weeks ago when I went for their Sunday brunch; and this post is about my dinner with four friends this past Sunday where we tried Table 17's Table d'Hote menu.


Table 17 offers a Table d'Hote menu every Sunday and Monday which features three courses for $32. Pretty awesome, right? Well there's more - what's even better is that there's also no corkage fee for Table d'Hote!


If you want to see more pictures of the decor at Table 17's please click here. I only took this one picture on Sunday because for the previous two visits I always sat at those two-person tables against the wall; I had a different view this time =)

My friend ordered a Caesar and I ordered the Pomegranate Sour (Stoli vodka, grapefruit juice, pomegranate juice, fresh citrus juices). I love Caesars but I wanted to try something new (also because I tried their Caesar last time at brunch already). The Pomegranate Sour tasted alright, no complaints, but for $12, I expected some kinda garnish...a lemon wedge, a lemon curl, a tacky umbrella even... just something so the drink would look more appealing than just three pomegranate seeds at the bottom.

*Sigh* we did not take advantage of the BYOW / no corkage fee deal as we did not get to LCBO in time to buy wine =( O well, next time.


Moving on to the food~ Before our first course came, we all shared a plate of Hot Balls, pictured at the top of the post. Three out of the five of us never had them before but because of Twitter, they have heard so much about them so it was a "must-order" anyway. As I expected, everybody loved them. Those Hot Balls with the accompanied sauces are simply irresistable. You can read more about Table 17's Hot Balls here. 

APPETIZERS

Shaved Ontario Asparagus - Pea shoots, heirloom radish, ricotta salata, mint & hazelnut vinaigrette.


My friend, Cindy, loved the pairing of asparagus and pea shoots. She thought it was a great salad over all - everything was very fresh and the hazelnut vinaigrette was very flavourful (maybe a tad bit too flavorful as she sometimes found bites that were too salty). Cindy liked the salad as it was different, delicious, and very well portioned.  It was her favourite course of the night.

Hip & Urban Girls at Lux Spa

Last Thursday, March 10th, I attended Hip & Urban Girl's Spa Party and Networking Event  at Lux Spa in Yorkville (hashtag #hugLux). This is the second hugTO event I've been to (first one being the Cookies & Champagne Party) and already I'm pretty much hooked on hugTO parties. I can always count on Lisa (@hipurbangirl) & Wendy (@BossLadyWendy) of Hip & Urban Girl's Guide when it comes to throwing cool and fun parties; they never disappoint! Last time the theme was cookies & champagne, and this time, for $30, I get a mini-manicure ($18 value) while networking with other ambitious and talented HUGs. I'm totally in.

I arrived a tad late and this was the scene at Lux Spa already:

The logical thing to do usually, for any girl, is to either grab a drink, start mingling, or start lining up for the the mini-manicure, right? Or maybe a visit to the restroom first? Well not me...all that can wait once I saw these platters:

Complimentary platters, snacks & nibbles from The Healthy Butcher (@healthybutcher).