Playa Cabana

It felt so good to be back.  I’ve had take-out a few times recently, but hadn’t been back to the restaurant in a long while.  There’s something about scoring a last-minute reservation and then finding a friend to eat with that is so satisfying.

In terms of drinks, I love the playa paloma.  It’s my go-to and favourite cocktail (aside from some of the delicious concoctions I’ve had at Toronto Temperance Society – but that’s for another day).  Grapefruit and tequila.  The best margarita.  So smooth.  Not too boozy tasting, but very boozy.  I just wish they made it in a pitcher…

I love Mexican food, but I’ll confess, I hate guacamole.  I’m not the best sharer for some of my friends.  I started with the nachos a la plancha.  They aren’t conventional nachos.  Fried tortillas topped with beans and crema and some Mexican sort of bbq sauce (no clue at all what it is).  They come with a little pile of pickled hot peppers that might be one of my favourite condiments ever.  I also really like their chicken quesadillas – not your typical quesadilla, more like a pulled chicken pizza pocket covered in corn and crema.  Some other great apps I’ve had are the super spicy chicken wings, or the crazy addictive shrimp in a bucket.  My friend had the ceviche which she loved.  It comes with their fresh, housemade tortilla chips.  These are the real deal.  Straight out of the fryer, covered in salt.  Perfect for eating plain or with any combination of guac, salsa, ceviche…

For mains, I had my #1 favourite restaurant item right now.  I can’t get enough of the braised short rib-brisket tacos!  They come in a crispy tortilla shell with crema, a little salsa and a wedge of lime.  It’s perfection.  The meat is so juicy, tender and falling apart, the perfect contrast to the crispy shell.  Mmmm.  Mouth foaming.  Thinking about when I can go again.  If I’m hungry, I’ll go for a side of rice and refried beans.  I don’t always need it (I didn’t this time because I had the “nachos”).  My husband always offers to pick these up for me if I’m having a bad day (it helps that we live 2 minutes away).

My friend had the fish tacos, they were halibut on the day we went.  She gets them grilled – sinful.  I thought about ordering them myself that day, fried of course, but am happy I stuck with my favourite menu item.  One day I’ll try them, but I never even want to give up one of my three tacos for a trade.

Best: Short rib-brisket tacos.  Have all three yourself or order them to share.

Not the best: Trying to get a reservation!  It’s getting easier now that they have 3 locations, but still… I don’t like to plan 2 weeks in advance.

Check out Playa Cabana.  It’s on The List.

http://www.playacabana.ca/

111 Dupont St (near Dupont and Davenport)

RedFarm – New York

Over the holidays, my boyfriend AG and I booked a last minute trip to New York! Having lived in that amazing city for a little while I will take any chance I get to go back. Over time my trips have changed from girls weekends to couples vacations, but one thing remains the same, I eat… A LOT! The last time I was in New York my step-father (the NYC based food photographer) told me I had to try RedFarm. I loved it so much I took AG back for a second try.

RedFarm is the creation of owners, dim sum master chef Joe Ng and Chinese food expert Ed Schoenfeld. They have created an amazing menu and the atmosphere isn’t bad either! Since my last trip  in August, it has become so popular they opened a second location.

It is recommended that you share 4-5 dishes with the table. AG and I went a little over board and ordered 6 so we ended up taking one dish home and having it for leftovers.

The décor of the restaurant is very industrial chic, with a few large communal tables and some booths, the space is not large, but can fit a lot of people. We arrived around 9:30 on a Saturday night and were told the wait would be 45 minutes (you can’t make a reservation at Red Farm), but only had to wait around 30 minutes.

We chose to sit at the bar. The bartender was very helpful and even suggested a few dishes that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. When he took our drink orders, I told him I wasn’t sure what I felt like, but I liked drinks with basil in them. What he brought back was the most amazing concoction of mulled blueberries and basil I have ever tasted, I might have had one to many… it was worth it.

Now for the food-

For starters we ordered the Spicy Crispy Beef – one of the most popular dishes at RedFarm and we understand why. The beef was cooked perfectly and the crispiness was just right. There was just enough sauce that it didn’t over power the beef, but you could taste the flavours and get the kick of spice.

The soup dumplings are one of my personal favourites and on this trip they had Black Truffle & Chicken Soup dumpling on their specials menu. I don’t know what they put in their soup dumplings that make them so amazing, maybe it is the broth or the small truffle they put on the top, but I could eat these little bites of heaven every day and not get sick of them.

my favourite soup dumpling

We then moved on to the Katz’s Pastrami Egg Roll – another interesting dish that I had to have a second time. The saltiness of the pastrami and the crunchy egg roll coating are the perfect combination and they don’t skimp on the meat! There is enough that you get some in every bite you take. This dish had a delicious dijon mustard dipping sauce that I  dipped my chop stick into to eat on its own (don’t judge me).

Next up, the ‘Pac Man’ shrimp dumplings- a suggestion the from bartender. The presentation alone was unique and cute, but the dish was even better. 4 different types of shrimp dumplings with a yummy sauce and a yam tempura shaped pac man. It was simple and hit all the right notes!

Cute little Pac Man dumplings

For our mains, we had the three Chili Chicken and the Wide Rice Noodles with BBQ Duck. I’m not sure what it was about the chicken dish, maybe I was already full from everything else but it didn’t do it for me. This dish was good, but not great. I felt like I could get it anywhere, but AG seemed to like it a lot! By the time the Duck noodles came I was bursting at the seams. I am not a huge duck fan so I opted not to try it but I did have some of the noodles and they were magnificent.

New York is filled with some amazing restaurants and chefs who spend their entire lives practising their craft. Red Farm is a great example of food done right! The next time you visit New York I HIGHLY recommend RedFarm.

http://redfarmnyc.com/

Scaramouche Pasta Bar and Grill

It was a pretty huge week of eating.  My husband just celebrated a milestone birthday and to us that means a lot of dinners.  We hit a couple of our favourite special occasion spots.  First we went to Scaramouche Pasta Bar and Grill. This restaurant is very close to our place (less than 5 minutes) and a place we go for special occasions, but sometimes just for a date night.  If you don’t know about Scaramouche, there are a couple of things to point out.  When you pull up (to complimentary valet), the first thing you see is a condo.  You wouldn’t think a restaurant this great would be in a spot like this.  There are two restaurants in one – the Restaurant is very high-end, and apparently one of the city’s best (I’ve never been ) and the Pasta Bar which is slightly more casual with pasta as the focus.  The views are spectacular.  You can see all of downtown and when we went, it was beautifully decorated for Christmas.  Now to the food…

Sometimes I get the soup special, it is usually not a combination you would ever guess.  I can almost promise it’s never a basic tomato.  That night, we shared a composed Caesar salad.  The romaine hearts are beautifully plated with a little chopped egg (we opted for no egg) and delicious Parmesan.

For mains, we always get pasta.  It’s fresh and homemade and incredibly interesting combinations that I haven’t seen anywhere else.  My husband’s (and mom’s) favourite is the peppercorn fettuccine.   This is a staple on the menu.  It’s a cream based sauce with beef tenderloin, mushrooms, pine nuts and bread crumbs.  The pine nuts and bread crumbs add a great texture.  The meat is always juicy and perfectly cooked.  It’s super peppery, but that’s what you need to expect when you order a dish like this.  I always sneak a couple bites.

The menu here is constantly changing with very few items that are always on it.  I usually go for the gnocchi.  They are bigger than most, but very light and airy.  Like eating little clouds with interesting and different sauces.  This time it came with mixed wild mushrooms (no button mushrooms to be found), crispy shallots, wilted (not bitter) greens and duck confit.  Sometimes I find duck to be too gamey, but this was tender and not too intense.  There wasn’t a lot of duck meat, but the mushrooms made up for it.  The sauce was more of a jus and believe me, I wasn’t leaving a drop.

The star of the show is always the dessert.  They have an amazing pastry chef, who I’m sure makes delicious pastries, but we keep going back for the coconut cream pie.  The crust is flaky and tender.  The filling is creamy, dense and rich.  It’s topped with white chocolate curls.  It’s really quite beautiful.  They also make it special for birthdays by writing ‘Happy Birthday’ in chocolate on the plate.  Even if you think you don’t like coconut, try it.  You won’t be sorry.  Whole pies are even available to go!

Dreamy cream pie

1 Benvenuto Pl (Avenue and St Clair)

http://www.scaramoucherestaurant.com/

Best Shortbread Cookies

There are some things that are so good you want to share them, but there are others that are so good you just want to hoard them.  These cookies are the latter.  I don’t know when I first tried them, but I’ve been hooked for a long time.  The good news is that I have easy access to them and now you can too!

They are made by my friend (and fellow blogger) Jess and her mom.  It has been a long time coming, but they are finally taking orders!  These shortbread cookies are buttery, flaky, light,with a generous piece of delightful milk chocolate.  The cookie melts in your mouth and the chocolate has just the right amount of crunch to it (it’s not really crunch, but a nice texture contrast to the delicate cookie).  Every cookie is made by hand and baked with love.  You can tell how much care goes into making these; from cutting each piece of chocolate individually, making a huge amount of dough, forming each cookie and baking to the perfect light golden brown.  The cookie is small, but mighty.  It’s the best possible combination and impossible to eat just one.

Best Shortbread Cookies!

I’ve been lucky enough to cook with Jess and her mom (an amazing cook) on several occasions and we’ve covered the map with the different things we’ve made, but the recipe for these cookies has always been under lock and key.  It’s probably better that way.  I can’t imagine having them around without devouring them all.

*Many cookies have been harmed in order to write this post.  I’ve been eating them forever and Jess even made me a huge tray to serve at my wedding.  None made it out of the venue alive.

Cookies at my wedding!

Check them out at http://www.bestshortbread.com

Contact Jess for your holiday order asap at jessica@bestshortbread.com  Your family will be starting a new tradition this year!

Now… what you’ve all been waiting for we’re doing our first giveaway!  If you follow us on twitter @not_foodies and start to follow @bestshortbread on instagram you will be entered to win a dozen of these amazing cookies!  We’ll choose a winner on Dec 25.   Cross your fingers!

 

UPDATE: Congrats to Eric Mecklinger on winning our first giveaway!

Stay tuned for more giveaway opportunities

PC Black Label Vodka Sauce

I’m not Italian.  I enjoy pasta like everyone else.  I like a tomato sauce, I’ll eat a cream sauce, but I love vodka sauce.  There’s something special about a rose sauce with a little something extra.  I’ve always found jarred/canned/anything-other-than-homemade pasta sauces so blah.  Then everything changed…

PC Black Label Vodka Sauce is, hands-down, the best mass-produced jarred pasta sauce I have ever tasted.  This was one of the very first PC Black Label products I tried.  I bought it right around launch and once I tried it literally bought every jar I could find.  Then it was out of stock for a couple of months – those were sad days, I tried a bunch of Loblaws to find it until magically it was back!  I am a huge evangelist about things I love (part of the reason this section of the blog exists) and believe me, I started spreading the word.  I must have sold hundreds of jars by now!

It has become a staple in our house.  A quick weeknight meal.  Penne, chili flakes for some spice and some Parmesan cheese.  The sauce has the right zingy balance of tomato, a little cream, vodka and cheese to add something a little different.  This isn’t your average tomato sauce.  I promise you won’t look at jarred sauces the same way again.  Try it, you’ll be hooked!

Photo from presidentschoice.ca

Morton’s Steakhouse

Sometimes I can be a bully, but for the most part, it’s in a good way.  I try to encourage (read: force) people to do things they might not want to do.  In this case, it was run a 5k race.  Punishment for not doing it: take me to dinner at Morton’s… not exactly fair to call it a punishment, right?

Morton’s was in full swing on Sunday at 6pm.  I saw a few people I knew then sat down for 2 hours of good eating.  I had a pinot noir and forced my friend to try it.  “I hate red wine” was followed with “oh that’s actually pretty good”.

We shared a Casear salad to start.  It’s a good Casear, but it’s hard to write rave reviews about a salad that can be found everywhere.  It’s a big salad with big slices of parmesan.

For the main, we went a little crazy.  We shared the single porterhouse which is a tenderloin and a New York strip with a bone down the middle.  It’s enough for two (no matter what the menu says) and we still took some home.  When I order meat and am asked what temperature I want it cooked, I always ask what the chef recommends.  You would like to believe that the chef knows how to prepare it best (especially at a nice steakhouse).  With a porterhouse, you get a variance in temperature due to the size of the piece and the giant bone in the center.  If you like meat more well done, stick to the outside.  More rare, go for the pieces on the inside.  UPDATE: I was recently told that I didn’t even mention if I liked the steak… of course I did!  It’s Morton’s.  Tender, flavourful and look at all the juice on the plate.

The big bad porterhouse

I have a confession to make – I asked for steak sauce.  So what?  I love sauce with anything.  Anytime I can dip my food I will.  So there.  It’s out.

For sides we went with my favourite – the hashbrown (a full dinner plate of golden, crispy, potato pancake deliciousness), creamed spinach (more cream than spinach, how can you not order it), mac and cheese with bacon (spiral macaroni, generous bacon and a super thick cheese sauce and bread crumb crunchy topping)  and grilled jumbo asparagus with balsamic glaze (gotta get some green in there).  We took home a pretty serious doggie bag.

For dessert, we also went big.  Key lime pie and the molten lava cake.  There’s the chocolate or no chocolate choice.  The key lime is one of the best I’ve had.  A huge slice, tart, great crust.  The lava cake is also stellar, perfect gooey centre with vanilla ice cream and a couple of raspberries.  It’s made to order, so you have to order it when you order your main.  Either make an excellent choice after this meal.

Best: Dessert!  Usually I’m a lady for the main course, but this was a great night of desserts.  How can you go wrong with the perfect combo of chocolatey and tart citrus?

Not the Best: Not-so jumbo asparagus.  It was good, just not the best.  But let’s be honest, November isn’t exactly asparagus season.

Unfortunately I swapped my phone in before putting the pictures on the blog.  So you will have to go to see what it looks like.

http://www.mortons.com/toronto/

4 Avenue Road (near Bloor)

The Stockyards

I didn’t know how to start this post because I can’t confess my love for this place enough.  Whenever I want something delicious and fatty, it’s my go-to. I’ve been at least 30 times and have recommended it to many friends.  Everyone that goes comes back with rave reviews.  It’s a small restaurant with counter service, a huge takeout business and usually a giant crowd of people waiting to sit down.

As sad as this is, this is a direct quote from one of my friends: “you are the unhealthiest eater I know”.  This is one reason you can trust me about comfort food.  I consider myself to be an expert of fried chicken.  This chicken is insane and it’s my #1 in the city.  It has perfect, super crispy skin and is unbelievably juicy and flavourful.  $14 for a half chicken (cut into four pieces) with fries, coleslaw and hot sauce similar to Frank’s Red Hot.  I also love their BBQ sauce – it’s sweet and tangy (similar to the delicious McD’s) and not smokey at all.  My strategy for devouring this meal is one hand with a fork, the other for ripping the chicken and picking up fries – one clean, one dirty.  I order the chicken 98% of the time.

the best fried chicken

The other things to get are the burgers.  I’ve had the classic, the butter burger (blue cheese, bone marrow butter) and recently Jess had the Beast (cooked with mustard).  They are made from mounds of beef, smashed perfectly on the griddle.  They have this amazing butter roller contraption that ensures each bun is perfectly buttered before toasting.

The Beast

Shout outs go to the green of the day.  I’ve had the brussel sprouts with bacon, balsamic and srirachi as well as the creamed kale with caramelized onions and golden raisins.  They are green, but that’s all that’s healthy about either of them.  Both are delicious, but my preference is the kale.  They usually sell out before the end of the night.

Brussels with balsamic and sriracha

My husband is a huge fan of the biscuits.  I’m a big fan of their weekend brunch chicken and waffles.  The grilled cheese is pretty great too.  They used to have an awesome limeade which recently disappeared from the menu (but I’m hoping that’s just for the winter).  I really haven’t had anything bad.

Oh.  And they also have smoked chicken and ribs on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.  Why just those days?  They take up to 18 hours to make them in a wood burning oven.  It takes time to make magic like this.

My recommendation for you is to get the chicken and share a burger.  It’s really the perfect combo.  You deserve a treat.

http://www.thestockyards.ca/

699 St. Clair Ave. West (west of Bathurst)

7 Numbers (on Eglinton)

Sometimes it’s harder to find old standbys that you can trust than new and hip places you will only go once.  I had been to 7 Numbers on the Danforth, but not on Eg.  It was a while ago and I liked it, but didn’t love it.  Recently a friend told me I should try the Eglinton location and then about a week later another friend suggested we go.  I’m happy I said yes.

Right when you walk in, there is an Italian grandmother cooking.  You can tell this is the real deal.  The menu changes nightly (from what I can tell, there is a lot of consistency, but no guarantees).  We got there around 6:30 so we had our choice of seats, but it definitely filled up as the night went on.  The prices are far below what you would expect and for what it’s worth, which means you can order more!  My recommendation is that you don’t order a la carte, but that you go with the AMAZING $29 per person family style meal.  Get ready for great value and a lot of yumminess.

To start, we had a plate full of 3 salads – tomato and bocconcini; arugula, goat cheese and roasted pepper (freshly roasted, not oily jarred peppers) and spinach and blue cheese.  The salads were equivalent to 2 generous salad portions at another place, but it was nice to be able to try all three.  They were simple, but tasty.  PLUS we got calamari.  I don’t eat it (due to a scarring high school science teacher), but my friend said the batter was delicate and light albeit a little greasy.  She still went to town on them.

three salads

For the second course, we tried all three pasta dishes on the menu that night.  Veal lasagna, orechiette with ricotta and linguine with rapini.  This may have been my favourite course and this is despite the fact that I am currently enrolled in a 6 week pasta cooking class.  These also all came on one plate all in a tomato sauce.  The lasagna was so tender (the star for sure), but we also kept working our way around the plate.  They served it with a jalapeno oil that added some zing, which was a bonus, but not required.  I took home some pasta and enjoyed a full other meal from this and some asparagus we got with our main.

Pasta and more pasta

For our third and final course, we were both able to select a main course.  I went with a beautifully braised lamb shank with peas.  My friend went with eggplant parmesan.  By this point we were stuffed, but it didn’t matter.  I would highly recommend the lamb – it was super tender, had great flavour and the peas were mushy, but it’s not exactly pea season.  We also got two sides – a bitter green salad and grilled asparagus.  Other mains I would like to try: veal meatballs stuffed with mozzarella (two covered in tomato sauce about the size of tennis balls) and the osso bucco.

Lamb and out of season peas

For a quick recap – $29 each, we shared: 3 salads, calamari, 3 pastas, 2 mains, 2 sides.  These are NOT small portions.  This is the deal of the century.  I wanted to have the flourless chocolate dessert, but just couldn’t eat anymore.

I look forward to returning again and again.

Best: Veal lasagna – just the way you expect grandma to make it, except grandma’s is never that good

Not the best: bitter green salad – it was a simple salad and not to my taste, but I know a few people who would love it

PS. After writing this post, Jess and I started talking about it.  She’s obsessed.  It’s now going onto The List.

http://www.sevennumbers.com/

516 Eglinton Ave West (between Avenue and Spadina)

Extreme Beans

If you are Canadian you have most likely had a Caesar (not to be confused with a Bloody Mary). If you live in the US, you are really missing out! The traditional Caesar comes with vodka, Clamato, hot sauce and Worcestershire (pronounced wuus-ter-sher). Many restaurants are doing amazing things with the Caesar – I had one at Garde Mange in Montreal with an entire crab claw as the garnish. Sometimes I feel like this drink is more of a meal and there is nothing wrong with that!

A few years ago while Ashley and I were at one of the many food show events we attend, I came across a booth that was handing out Caesars with beans as the garnish. With one bite, I was hooked. What were these magic beans you ask? Extreme Beans!

Matt & Steve’s Extreme Beans

Besides the amazing mix of spicy and salty flavour, these beans have a great crunch to them. Often, I will put two or three in my drink and even eat them straight out of the jar. The owners, Matt & Steve really know what they are doing and have made a business out of perfecting the Caesar. They even sell a delicious Caesar rim.  If you have yet to try them I suggest you head over to their website and purchase some online… like NOW!  They also sell them at most grocery stores if you need them sooner.

They also have a few other products that I have been meaning to try like olives. I’m sure they are great though!

http://w2.mattandsteve.com/

Richmond Station

I first found out about this restaurant in a round about way.  I originally met Ryan and Carl (the owners) at TUM when they were promoting West Side Beef.  They buy a cow, split it in to 15 bags and you end up with about 15-20 individually vacuum sealed pieces of beef (steaks, ground beef, roasts), but I digress (more about that another time).  I bought a bag and picked it up from Richmond Station even before it was open.  Fast forward some time (possibly a year) to the next time I went… a friend snuck me in to a Top Chef Canada finale event.  It was a work event for her and she pretended I was a colleague – a huge thank you for that (talking about that night could be a whole other blog)!  I have been back twice since then and I don’t typically make a habit of frequenting the same place when there are so many new restaurants to try.

I’ll start with drinks.  Both times I went, I was recommended the same drink by different people.  I tried the Great Gatsby the first time and it was a little too boozy for me (I know how terrible that might sound to some people).  The Jam Jar I tried on my most recent visit with lemon, vanilla and some brown booze was more my style.

Jam Jar – it was a little dark at our table

 

Since I’m talking about two meals now, I’m going to try to be succinct.

The polenta fries are a must even if you think you don’t like polenta.  Creamy on the inside, fried outside.  They come with Mexican style sauces (crema and tomatillo puree).  We devoured them between 3 of us.  I would have liked more.

Other apps I’ve tried:

• Gillian’s Green Salad – a simple, but tasty salad
• Chilled Corn Soup – a very smooth, creamy corny soup.  I liked it, but it wasn’t my favourite
• Carpaccio – tasty, but not what I would typically order (and I didn’t).  They specialize in meat so I’ve really been doing myself a disservice by not getting the Charcuterie.  I guess I’ll have to go again…
• A special of pakoras with cranberry sauce and spiced yogurt – a fritter of very finely cut sweet potatoes, corn and some other secrets
• And the quinoa – very beautifully presented quinoa salad with crunchy vegetables and tasty sauces (hummus and ranch).  You know it’s healthy, but don’t mind.

The burger is insane.  The restaurant partners are a chef and a butcher so you are correct to have very high expectations.  It doesn’t let you down.  It’s served medium rare.  This was my very first burger EVER without ketchup or pickles.  And I didn’t even care.  I have to confess I ordered it both times I went.  The only problem with it is that it is too small.

Quinoa in the back, burger in the middle and pakoras in front.

My friends had (and therefore I tried) the pierogies and the chili and fennel pasta.   Both were delicious.  Pierogies should be on more menus.  These ones come with mushrooms, swiss chard and onions.  It’s nice to be able to mix and match each bite.  The pasta was flavourful, but the sauce was a little too juicy (I originally wrote watery, but it wasn’t watered down, just very wet).  Both friends were worried that they didn’t like fennel, but there wasn’t any gross bitterness or licorice flavour – I think it has something to do with freshness.

The first time we didn’t have dessert.  But the last time I was there, we had an amazing dessert special.  I would say their menu is perfect if this makes it on to the permanent dessert menu.  It was very deconstructed (read splattered all over the plate).  Shortbread crust/cookie, lemon curd, cranberry sauce, sage cream, tiny crunchy meringues.  I wanted to lick the plate.

Delicious lemon mess

Best: The food is incredible, but the best thing is how amazing the staff are.  Super attentive and friendly.  They really make you feel great about coming.  Shout outs to Ryan, Stephanie and Carl (who for the record won Top Chef Canada and has been at the restaurant all 3 times I’ve been there).

Not the best: the dessert menu.  However, we had an amazing dessert special one time.  Mmmmm.  And they give you fudge with the bill.  Really, it’s hard to complain about this place.

Note: It is quite hard to get a reservation.  Book a few weeks in advance to get the time you want.

http://richmondstation.ca/

(Yonge and Richmond)