Culinary Adventure Co. Brunch Food Tour

I had an opportunity to join one of Culinary Adventure Tour's walking Tours recently.   I was able to choose from a few different tours and I chose to join their Brunch Tour of Queen and King Street West in Toronto.  Some of my favourite food places in Toronto are in that area but because it's not near where I live or work I don't get a chance to go as often as I would like to.  This was a great way to hit a bunch of places in one day and sample a lot of different bites.  Although I might call it the Carb tour because we had a lot of carb foods.  They jokingly called it the "diet tour" (not) but you do burn off calories while walking to each location.  We were super lucky that the weather was perfect that day.  It was sunny and clear and the perfect temperature for walking so I was super happy about that.  It always makes it more enjoyable when you can stroll around in comfortable weather.
The group I was with were mostly Food Bloggers and Instagrammers, although I have never met any of them before so some may be new to the scene or I just haven't crossed paths with them before.  There are so many Foodies in Toronto of varying degrees of seriousness from the odd Instagram of Food destinations to serious Bloggers who do it all.

We visited 6 locations and I will break it down in order of the tour we took.  They may not always do the same locations and order depending on the businesses but this was the tour we took.  They also have some special tours coming up for Canada's 150 Celebrations.  There will be a lot of new summer tours as well so you will want to keep checking their website for details.  They have also partnered with Meal Share a great organization that provided food to people in need with partnerships with Restaurants.  When you are on your walking tour you are actually doing some good for people that are in need so it's a great thing.

Culinary walking tours are a great thing to do when you don't know a city well.  If you travel and don't have a lot of time it's a great way to see recommended spots quickly.  For people like me who live in the city of the tour it's a great way to do a food crawl with new people and get curated food and because it's all pre arranged you are in and out quickly, no waiting in lines for a table or waiting to order your food.  It's a pretty efficient way to pack a lot in a short time.  Although I knew every location we went to I hadn't had a chance to get to a couple of them before.

Here is the recap of the Brunch Tour:


Stop 1.    PORTLAND VARIETY - Home of my favourite chocolate chip cookie and we paired it                      with a great coffee.

Stop 2.    LAMESA -  We were able to have a sit down plated Brunch dish of a fried egg, greens,                        potato hash and a chorizo patty.  We also had a Calamansi Mimosa.

Stop 3.    NORTH OF BROOKLYN - A well known Pizza place in Queen West.
               We had a great slice of white pizza.

Stop 4.    CUMBRAES - They are meat mecca in Toronto.  I have gone to other locations but this                      Queen Street location is huge and has a lot more than the other locations.  
               We enjoyed a piece of thinly sliced Parma Prociutto there.

Stop 5.    SUD FORNO - They are known in to the Queen Street hipsters for their authentic
               baked goods.   We sampled the Nutella mini Bomboloni - An Italian donut.

Stop 6.    DELYSEES - The best stop was the last stop.  I have been craving well made
               French pastries for a while and have been wanting to visit Delysees for a long time.
               It's owned by a French chef who looks for French trained chefs to hire for authentic pastries.
               We sampled their excellent light and buttery croissants and were in heaven looking at their                  works of art in their eclairs, macarons and other cakes and pastries.

EVERY BITE TELLS A STORY  #everybitetellsastory - Culinary Adventure Co.

This Tour was the King & Queen West Brunch Tour.  

It runs on SUNDAYS

11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
$99 /pp + HST

To book your spot or to see what other tours you can take:  http://www.culinaryadventureco.com/

*Disclaimer:  The tour was complimentary but the opinions and photos are my own.

Food Unites All of US - Food Bloggers Potluck in Toronto

TORONTO FOOD BLOGGERS GET TOGETHER FOR 1st POTLUCK

I am a member of the Food Bloggers of Canada Community and although I don't participate in the Forums on a regular basis I saw a post by the people that run Food Bloggers of Canada, Ethan and Melissa, on the Facebook forum about a discussion they had about getting people together over food to combat some of the terrible things going on in the world.   Local Community Kitchen The Depanneur had some success with having some Syrian refugees use their kitchen to make their own food and it brought a lot of interest in their food.

So when they suggested that each City in the Canadian Food Blogger world organize small Potlucks to meet each other and share foods from their Ethnic Origin to get to know each other I thought it was a great idea.  I have always believed that sharing food builds relationships or in some cases not so much when it's families who hate each other forced together,  but that's not what we are talking about here.  My fellow Food Revolution Ambassador and Food Blogger of Canada member (Hema - Nomadic Nutritionist) has a membership at workshare space C.S.I. in Toronto so she was able to book a room that we could hold our Toronto potluck in that space.

After going back and forth on the date we settled on March 12th on a chilly sunday afternoon.  We were supposed to meet at Noon but a few got a bit lost so we waited as long as we could before diving into the food we had.  In total we had a total of 6 people but the diversity of backgrounds and foods was amazing.  We had Bloggers from Poland, India, Jamaica and with Japanese mixed roots and me who is all over the place.  

I decided to make a simple dish that my mom made because I wasn't sure about people's intolerances and allergies, so I just made a simple carrot salad with a simple vinaigrette.  My mom was from Europe and made this a lot especially in the summer when it was too hot to cook.  I just happened to have carrots and not a lot of time to make something so this was what I was able to do.

My fellow bloggers got a lot more creative.   We had fantastic cabbage rolls,  Cassava Pon,  Ackee and Saltfish and Festivals,  Pavlovas, a quinoa and something else mixed in latke and some great cardamom and chocolate cupcakes.  It was a fantastic lunch and it was great to get feedback on what everyone was doing and what was working or what they were trying to do with their blogs.

We hope to continue to do this on a Monthly basis or at least every couple of months if everyone is too busy and I know that there were many more Toronto bloggers that weren't able to make it but wanted to.  We hope that we can form connections and knowledge and try new foods at future Potlucks.  It's great to share a meal with people you have never met but still have something that connects you like food blogging.
Thanks to Hema for organizing and booking the venue and to everyone that took a chance and showed up,  with hangovers and time changes and all.

Now that we have done the first one let's see who turns up for the next one.  I am looking forward to trying some new foods and meeting the rest of the Toronto Food Blogger Community.

Thanks to Ethan and Melissa of Food Bloggers of Canada  for making the #FOODUNITESALLOFUS  suggestion for a Potluck event.  It got the ball rolling and we appreciate it.

This event really falls in line with the things I try and do with my Food Revolution participation.  It's all about sharing food and educating people about different food and eating real food.

See you all next time.  I will bring my Dish and a spare and my appetite and of course my camera too.

A Hot & Fun Blogger BBQ

HOT SUMMER IN THE CITY WITH FOODIE FRIENDS

Event -     Blogger BBQ
Date -      August 20, 2016
Reason -  Getting to know fellow foodie people

Shuang (The Teleporta) and I hosted our 1st Blogger BBQ this month. And true to my luck it was one of the hottest days of the summer but that didn't stop us.  

We wanted to have all the Toronto Food Bloggers and food industry people that I know get together to just chill and meet each other and find out who we are outside of our social media handles. 

I wanted to get a chance to see what everyone thinks and share info and connect.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a date that worked for so many of the busy bloggers so we just went with this date.  The good thing is that we were going to do it the week before and it turned out to be a crazy storm that day.  So our group was small but mighty.  As usual I made enough food for double the amount of people.  But you never know what people will like.  Some of the people that attended I have known for a few years and some not as long but they are all becoming really great friends.  Shuang is a fairly new food blogger and hasn't met most some of them so she now has a bunch of new friends that understand the love of food and the need to take a photo of your food before you eat.

Attendees were:
Denise - Petits Chefs Academy - http://petitschefsacademy.com/
Loren - Aroma Outreach Manager - https://aroma.ca/
Natalie - Cooking Quidnunc food blogger - http://www.cookingquidnunc.com/
Jenny - Ice Cream and Knishes food blogger - http://icecreamandknishes.com/
Niki - Niki S lifestyle blogger - http://www.nikisblogger.com/
Shuang - http://www.theteleporta.com/

and me of course but you know that because you are reading this. :)

 

The MENU:

• Gazpacho- I made this
• Artichoke and White Bean Dip with Beet Chips - I made this
• Carrot salad with harissa dressing - I made this
• Souvlaki Chicken and vegetable skewers - Shuang prepared this
• Fresh shucked corn - Shuang prepped this
• Pesto pasta salad - I made this
• Grilled Peaches with Vanilla gelato and Dulce De Leche - Shuang prepped this
• Cheesecake brownie cupcakes that Jenny made were fantastic.
• Niki brought potato and macaroni salads
• Denise brought some wine
• Natalie made a Greek Salad
• Loren brought the Tzaziki and pita for the skewers, Loren learned what Tzaziki was.

Everyone literally pitched in to make this BBQ happen.  We needed all hands on deck to bring things up to the rooftop bbq and back down.  We only stayed up there to plate all the food and eat the main things but we had the dip and gazpacho and the dessert at Shuang's place.  It was just too hot when the sun moved and a couple of people had to leave for other events.

The Bean dip which I just made without a recipe was a big hit.   A bit of this and that.  I will have to make this again and measure everything so I can have the recipe handy.

The peaches were so sweet and juicy, those of us that were still there for dessert loved the peaches.

I would love to organize another Potluck in October and have more bloggers who couldn't make the date we had it come out and see what they can do to impress everyone.  A little time to get to know each other without the mad rush to get a perfect shot for a blog post.

Thanks to all for coming and for contributing to a HOT and FUN afternoon.  Hope to see everyone again soon at another Blogger get together.

Fudi by Foodies -New product contest

Fudi is a new Boil in Bag Frozen Food Product that you can pick up at your grocery store for under $10.  All you have to do is boil 2 bags for 15-17 minutes and just open and serve and you have a complete meal.  Fudi sent me 5 different samples of their new meals.  These are great for people that want a fast meal but maybe have small kitchens, or don't have all the chef skills it would take to make a meal like these.  In each bag you get a bag with raw Kale, unseasoned.  Another bag containing pearl barley and the seasoned Chicken.  The chicken comes in 5 flavourings right now.

Pollo Jerk, Pollo Tandoori, Santa Fe, Cacciatore and Cajun.  Fudi also makes seasonings so the flavours of the seasonings are spot on.  I preferred the flavour of the Tandoori one the most.

A few of Toronto Food Bloggers were also given some samples and we were all tasked with taking photos of the products and we are competing for the best photos that Fudi have selected.

They chose the photo of the POLLO JERK meal that I made.   You can help me win a Supply of these products that I will share with my readers if I WIN.

I just need your help to VOTE for my photo.  You can vote everyday until January 27th.  The most votes for a photo wins the products.   So if I WIN,  you WIN.  I don't have room in my freezer so I will share with many of you.

Here is the link to VOTE:  

http://bit.do/votefudi .  it's the POLLO JERK under my @lindamatarasso name

You can vote on their Facebook page or their website.

 Follow Fudi on Social Media to see who wins.

Twitter: @fudi_ca

Instagram: @fudi_ca

Facebook: Fudi Canada

Thanks for you support and let me know if you have tried any of these products.

This one is going to be tough since there are a lot of my Toronto Food Blogger buddies also competing in this contest so even if I don't win at least I will be happy for one of my pals.

*Disclosure:  I was not paid for this post but I was given 5 sample products to review.

Boneyard Grill opens second location in North York

Boneyard Grill opened it's second location recently in North York on Avenue Road just north of Lawrence Ave W.  Their first location is in Thornhill.

I checked out the new Avenue Road location with some food blogger friends.

Don't expect a light meal when you go to Boneyard Grill.   It's literally a stick to your ribs kind of food with the Ribs being their main dish but they have a mainly meaty based menu.

The food is simple but tasty.  It's classic football party style food.  

We tried an array of Miami Ribs, Burgers, Chicken wings, fries, Onion Brick (rings),  Pulled Pork and Coconut shrimp.

They do have salads and steaks and some other items on the menu but we didn't sample any of them so I can't tell you much more about those dishes.

I enjoyed the Onion Rings or Bricks as it is called on the Menu.  Lightly battered crispy stack of thin cut onions.  I have been craving Onion Rings lately for some reason so these hit the spot.

I also liked the thin cut Sweet Potato fries.  Very crispy and well seasoned.  I am not a fan of heavily salted sweet potato fries as I like the sweetness of the sweet potato to shine through and these ones had a nice balance.

The burger sliders were simple but tasty.  No fancy gourmet toppings on these.  I added some onion rings to my sliders and that gave them a nice crunch.

The Pulled Pork was also very good with a great BBQ sauce flavour coating the meat.   Tip.. eat them quickly before the buns fall apart.

The ribs were really tasty too.  Their BBQ sauces are great and they also have some great dipping sauces for the wings and the fries.  The Mango one was delicious.

We had a fun night stuffing our faces.   We were all very stuffed and rolled out of the restaurant.

Wear your stretchy pants and don't wear an expensive fancy white shirt... be prepared to get messy and enjoy some great grub with some friends.

Summerlicious Fun in the Sun

I have been Blogging for about 3 years now and sometimes I think nobody is reading my blogs and then I get an invite to something fun like a Summerlicious lunch event and realize all those photo taking moments are all worth it.

I got invited by the very lovely Mary Tang @TheMary_Tang
( maryshappybelly.wordpress.com)  who I met at a Mark McEwan special event recently to join her and a bunch of fellow food bloggers and foodies for a lovely friday afternoon Summerlicious tasting menu sampling at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on King Street.  I have been to the King Street Social room for Film Festival parties before but have never seen so much food presented to me ever before.

We arrived at noon and were greeted with a French Martini beverage.  So lovely even if I am not a drinker I can appreciate the beauty of this and so much lovely food prepared by Chef Wesley.

I was happy to see another blogger that I had met at the McEwan event there as well but other than her and Mary these were all new foodies to me.  But the one thing that all foodies, bloggers and writers have in common is the love of good food.  It didn't take long for all of us to mingle and chat about restaurants and events around town.  It was lovely to spend the afternoon with a bunch of people that totally understood why I do this.  Most of my friends aren't foodies and just know to wait for me to take a photo before we eat but they really don't appreciate food and food photography the way I do.  My food love and photography comes from an early age when i got my first camera in my teens and took photos of everything I could.  Mostly my friends then but I am sure there were food photos in there somewhere.   Anyway back to the event at hand before I start rambling on about other things.

We were seated in a private dining area with a massive sunlight.  It was an extremely sunny day after a week of rocky weather.  I don't know if it was the best for food photos as it was noon on a clear day.  Think direct sunlight and hot.  I was wearing black.   Not such a good idea.  If you understand photography you will understand that food on white plates on top of black table cloths in direct sunlight is a bit of a challenge then you will understand why my photos look like they do.  I used my compact camera so no sunglasses filters on these pics.

First we had about 45 minutes to sample some of the Summerlicious Summer menu items:

Menu:

Chilled Casaba Melon Soup 
with fresh mint, 10 year old balsamic vinegar

Apple and Watercress Salad
Soft Ontario's goat's cheese,
grape tomatoes, toasted walnuts and pomegranate petals

Toasted Portabello and Brie
Grilled fungi, toasted brie, asparagus, cold pressed Olive Oil

Polenta and Short Ribs
Soft creamy polenta, shaved asiago, grilled forest mushrooms, rosemary reduction

Captain Jack's Classic Fish and Chips
Fresh halibut, home style fries, signature tartar sauce

Pan Roasted Rock Snapper
Fresh snapper filet, watermelon radish salad, galette potatoes, martini aioli

Fire Charred Rib Eye Steak
Red chili and tarragon butter, roasted fingerlings, crimini mushrooms and arugula salad

From the Garden
Coconut sweet potato mash, summer grilled garden veg, red pepper and parsley oil


I am not a big mushroom fan so there were a few things that weren't on my radar.  My 2 favourite dishes were the Captain Jack's Fish and Chips and the Coconut sweet potato mash with vegetables.   The fish was lightly battered and crispy, flavourful and not at all greasy.   The vegetable stack was beautiful to look at and was cooked to bring out the peak of flavours of the vegetables.  Yes I love me some grilled vegetables and the addition of the coconut to the sweet potato mash was delicious but be prepared for the sweetness.

After all of these plates of food came all kinds of desserts from cupcakes, macaron's to tarts and cakes.  We were all stuffed and there was so much food left over that we could have had a few more bloggers join us.

After all of this food we were then brought up to the Rooftop Pool Bar where there were glasses of Sangria waiting for us and a whole array of their new Summer poolside menu of lighter fare dishes.  Although I am not sure the cakes would be a big hit for women in bikinis lounging by the pool.  Most of us didn't have enough room to sample the food so a few lucky girls in bikinis that were poolside were invited to dive in to the lovely spread of food.  They were very happy girls.

It was the most beautiful sunny friday afternoon and everyone was wishing they could just stay and enjoy the lounge by the pool, especially after a very rainy week, but unfortunately everyone had things they had to do so we parted with full bellies and some new friends.

As it turns out it was the lovely Mary's birthday the next day so I think this little get together was a nice little pre birthday gift for her and we all enjoyed being her guest.

I look forward to seeing Mary and the other fellow bloggers again soon.

This was a nice reward after working the past 6 months in an office on a contract job and not having the time to be available for events like this.  I hope to enjoy more summer food events like this before I get back on the working schedule again.

If you want to do a bit of Pool Lounging you can spend the day there whether you are a guest of the hotel or not with their NEW Pool Program.

Here is some information about Hyatt's pool deck program: 

The pool program runs from Thursday to Sunday. For anyone staying at the Hyatt Regency on King, the pool program is complimentary. For outside guest, the pass is $39/person per day. The price includes a complimentary glass of Hyatt's Signature Sangria, towels and locker for the day. 

It is best to make reservations due to the capacity. 

McEwan's All Access foodie's sip and nibble.

photo by Linda Matarasso

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to post anything about my evening recently attending Top Chef Canada head judge Mark McEwan's All Access 3.0 at McEwan's Grocery Store at the Shops at Don Mills.   Hosted by Abbey Sharp of Abbey's Kitchen.  A bunch of select foodies and bloggers were in attendance sampling donuts from Von Donuts, some excellent tender beef from Prince Edward County.  Mark McEwan's own pillows of love Gnocchi, Macarons from MAKARON, some amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and spring rolls, wine, specialty soaps and some Hot Bunz too.

photo McEwan group

Here's a photo from McEwan's Group website where you can see Top Chef Mark McEwan and me behind him and a bunch of other foodies listen to him talk about his experiences.  Chef Mark talked about how to make his excellent Gnoochi recipe and after giving everyone a chance to ask questions I spoke to him about my Food Revolution Day Workshop event the following week where I was planning on making potato Gnocchi but after tasting Chef Mark's Ricotta Gnocchi and speaking to him I decided to change it up and make them with Ricotta.  Chef Mark suggested that I should show my Workshop attendees how to make the Ricotta cheese from scratch and then make the ricotta gnocchi.   I made a batch of the ricotta cheese the day before but had a store bought on hand in case I failed.  I picked up Chef Mark's Rustic Italian cookbook and followed his recipe to make sure I had the right measurements for a recipe and then I doubled it up.   I made a huge mess in my kitchen but it worked out perfectly.  The next day I did the demo at the workshop and it was a lot less messy and it turned out great and everyone was amazed at how easy it really was.  I ended up using the store bought Ricotta cheese as a comparison to the freshly made one.   It was unanimous that the fresh one was 100% better.

 It was a fun night with people that all have a love of quality food and appreciated all the treats we sampled and we got to take home a goodie bag full of great stuff provided by Brands and Buzzing.

I am grateful for the excellent timing of this event even though I was exhausted from work and getting ready for my own event it was incredibly helpful chatting with Chef McEwan about tips for my gnocchi in my workshop and I provided recipes to the attendees so they can now all make their own Ricotta cheese and know how to make fresh gnocchi from scratch but there is always Fabbrica and McEwan's if they don't want to mess up their kitchens and still get the great quality Gnocchi.   I have to say that I have been to Fabbrica just after it first opened and had the gnocchi then and it was the best gnocchi I have ever had in a restaurant in Toronto.   The sauce is just the way I like it.   Classic simple Italian tomato sauce similar to the way I make mine.  I like to add a few chili flakes to mine but otherwise it's pretty much the same thing.

Besides the great food I got to meet fellow food bloggers and one that I have been communicating online with that I have never met face to face before.   So it was like a great cocktail party with friends.

I didn't get to sample the skull chocolates but I had to take a photo for a certain movie critic that I know who wears a skull ring.

I didn't have any wine but the rest of the food was really great.   I especially liked the grilled cheese and the beef.  Both melt in your mouth.

If you haven't visited McEwan's grocery store before because you thought it was too far away, you will be happy to know that he is opening another one in the TD Centre downtown soon.  The Bay streeters will be all over that place.

Thanks to Chef Mark and his team, Abbey Sharp and Brands and Buzzing for a fun event.  I hope there are more like it to come.