Rock Lobster thanks Leslieville residents with a FREE BBQ

I am not a Leslieville resident but I spend a lot of time in Leslieville because a couple of my friends live in Leslieville and I like to go to the Leslieville farmers market on sundays sometimes.

So when I heard that RockLobster Food Co. on Queen St. East was going to be throwing a FREE BBQ to thank the residents of Leslieville for their first year of business in the neighbourhood I had to let my friend know.   We had been to the restaurant fairly recently and she jumped at the chance to go to their community BBQ.   They had face painting for the kids and some really cool balloon animals too.   For the adults there were Caesars and lots of food.   While my friend is almost a total vegetarian she did try the hamburgers because the only vegetarian option was vegetable skewers.   On their menu they do have mac and cheese though, but on the BBQ was lobster tails, hot dogs and burgers and lobster frittata burgers.    They also had some fresh shrimp on cucumber rounds.   Since I am not a vegetarian but I do like vegetables I had lots to eat.

It was a very generous gift on their part as they only asked that people make donations as they wished to a jar set up at the bar for the RED DOOR SHELTER.   Key to success is it's owners with a big heart and concern for their community.   If you support your community they will in turn support you.


I commend all of the Rock Lobster staff for their friendliness and their big hearts.

I was waffling if I was going to go because at 10am it was pouring rain and a BBQ outside in the rain isn't exactly a good idea.  But magically it stopped raining just before 11am and the sky opened up and the sun started shining bright at just the right time for me to leave to get there in time for their start of the day.   Mother nature likes FREE BBQ's it seems.    So I made a quick decision to head down and meet up with a couple of friends.   The plan was to meet for lunch there and then head over to Word on the Street.    While the weather was dark and stormy in the morning and then it started raining at about 8pm it was a beautiful sun shining day all day for the BBQ and Word on the Street.   That's what I call good timing.    I also managed to squeeze in a FREE movie of Dr. Cabbie at the Bloor Cinema after the Word on the Street Festival so the Universe aligned for a good day.... in comparison to my flooded kitchen sink day the day before.   I still can't cook or wash dishes but at least I enjoyed my day yesterday in the sun while it's still here.

Follow them on Twitter @Rocklobsterfood

Thank you ROCKLOBSTER staff for starting my day off with some great food.   I hope to see you again for your 2nd year anniversary and many more locations too.   P.S.  think about expanding to NORTH YORK where a cool resto is badly needed.

Getting Piggy with it at Bacon Fest 2014

It was the 3rd Annual Bacon Fest this past weekend at the Leslieville Farmer's Market.   I love this market because they have great products and it has a community feel with all kinds of people just hanging around in the park eating, shopping and listening to whatever music is happening that week.

The last time I went it was extremely hot and I left to a ticket waiting on my windshield.  This time I found a better place to park and tried again and participated in eating as much piggy products as I could stuff in my face.   Not as much as I thought I could apparently.

It was a beautiful day with big fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky.   And the smell of bacon wafting through the air.  What's not to love about that.

First I had to stop and get my favourite Sesame Seed Baguette before they got sold out.   Then I walked around to see what the Bacon Fest vendors were selling and seeing what else I needed from the market.    I picked up a dozen Organic Eggs, smoked sausage, some Back Bacon, some garlic, some amazing cream cheese and I split a basket of peaches with my friend.  She picked up some Callaloo leaves.  She is from Gyana so it is native to her country.  I have never cooked with it but maybe I will try to one of these days.


There were a few very long line ups... and as I walked around I stopped at some of the shorter ones that had some yummy looking things.   I tried the Le Papillon booth for some Pulled Pork Belly on a bun with coleslaw.  Messy but good.   Then over to the Hooked booth for some bacon and white fish fried fritters.  So filling.  They kind of did me in but I wanted to try a few more things.   I was going to try the Smoked Bacon on a bun but while waiting in the line they ran out.   Just as well as I wasn't sure I could even finish it.  But I had to try at least one more thing so I opted for Be Good Gelato's Ice Cream Sandwich "Breakfast of Champions" with double smoked bacon, pecans, caramel sandwiched between dark chocolate chip cookies with cafe mocha gelato.  It was frozen solid and so large that I couldn't finish it unfortunately.

    

My friend only eats Chicken so the Bacon didn't appeal to her but she tried a few vegetarian/vegan options.   She got some of the bacon tofu on a stick.  I tried it and it tastes pretty close to a bacon flavour.  My friend not ever having eaten bacon wasn't as impressed because she couldn't relate to the taste of it.   She also had another appetizer that used dried eggplant as the bacon substitute.  I didn't try that one so I don't know how it was.   And my friends final taste was the fruit and cream waffle.

There was so much more to try but my eyes are bigger than my stomach as my mom used to say.   Although lately it looks like my stomach is looking as big but really I can't eat as much as I used to.  Not so good for a food blogger I guess.

 And the Winner of the 3rd Annual Bacon Fest was Sweet Sammies.  There were 3 dessert places to try so I didn't get to try their ice cream sandwiches.  I hope I will see them again at another event soon so I can try it then.

Also in the top 3 was County General, and I didn't have room to try their dish either.  I guess I wouldn't have been much of a judge if I couldn't eat everything.

And an honourable mention went to the Smoked Bacon Tofu on a stick.   Everyone seemed to be impressed with that bacon imitation.

It was a fun day and I hope I can go again next year and have more room in my stomach to try way more things.

Paulette's- Donuts and Chicken in Leslieville

I was reading about a new little take out place called Paulette's which is in Leslieville in Toronto.   I have a friend named Paulette so I remembered the name.  While I was in Leslieville for the Leslieville Farmer's Market I stopped into Paulette's to try some of the fried chicken for lunch.  

I have to say the Chicken was very good.  There aren't a whole lot of places that do fried chicken well in the city.  Only about a handful I think and mostly hard to find.  This tiny little cute spot had the friendliest counter help, dressed in old style diner whites with a black bow tie.   There was some thought put into the design of the shop, simple but with a retro and modern feel.    The chicken was crunchy and well seasoned without being overpowering and the chicken was juicy and tender inside.  The chicken comes with a choice of dipping sauces. I tried the tandoori sauce but realized that the chicken tastes great on it's own and doesn't need the flavour changing sauces.  I shared a combo with a friend and we got the Mac & Cheese as the side.   I would skip this one.  It was way too salty and didn't have that creamy comfort food taste that you look for in a good Mac & Cheese.

They have fancy donuts there too but since I just had a waffle at the farmer's market I skipped the donuts but they seemed to be popular with the other customers.

Paulette's is on Queen Street on the South side, the storeront is painted a minty green and it's just a tiny little spot but worth looking out for when you are craving some good fried chicken.