Uncork, Untap, Unwind, for West Park Hospital

I got to tag along with my friend Natalie who was invited to attend Uncork, Untap, Unwind, a charity fundraising event that benefits West Park Hospital Centre.  A rehab centre that is very highly regarded and the funds raised will be used to build a new hospital.

Normally when we attend events we see a lot of familiar faces but this time there was only one other Blogger that we knew.   But it was a very interesting evening.  It's nice to go to something that's a bit different with different people around because it becomes too familiar sometimes.

The event was held at Airship 37, a tucked away event space just behind the Distillery District.  I have been there once before so I knew it would be nice there.  It was set up completely different this time with 2 separate rooms adjoined by the entrance and coat check.  They even had different food in the 2  rooms all catered by Chef Mark McEwen's Catering team.

Former Bachelor and Chopped Canada Host Brad Smith was the host who got a little frisky with the women on stage.   I saw Noah Cappe also from Food Network around the crowd and I thought he was going to go onstage but he didn't.

There was a live Auction with some great prizes like a cruise and a whole BBQ package that included steaks even.  A couple of smart bidders got a pretty good deal on those prizes.   There was also a silent auction with a lot of fantastic restaurants and other great packages.

There was a live band and a female roaming Violinist and a DJ.  There were raffle tickets being sold for $25 with a chance to win cash or the final prize of a Jeep.  I purchased a ticket and crossing my fingers and get lucky and win new wheels.  It could happen... I wish..

The food as expected was fantastic.  The appetizers were amazing, from miniature lobster tacos, seared tuna with mango salsa, fig and goat cheese crostini's and duck confit and Natalie's favourite were the mushroom tarts.

There was also pickled beet salmon and slaw and braised short ribs with barley risotto.   On the other side was Mark's own Gnocchi and chicken popsicles and mashed potatoes.

We stuck around to hear the winners and see if there was dessert and we were rewarded with delicious and light Churros with chocolate and caramel sauces.

There was even a Volkswagon photo booth bus and of course we did the silly photos to add to our ever growing collection.

The one thing we both noted was the fantastic staff, from the friendly volunteers selling raffle tickets to the lickety quick waitstaff.   You would put something down and 5 seconds later it was gone.   No glasses and plates piled up anywhere.  When you attend a lot of events these things stand out.

t was a very well organized event and I was really impressed with the venue and the fact that they could open a huge garage door to freshen up the place when it got really hot and people could go outside to an astroturf patio for a breather.

All this was to raise funds for a new Rehabilitation Hospital for West Park Hospital Foundation.

I hope they raised a lot of funds while everyone was having a great time.


West Park Healthcare Centre
82 Buttonwood Ave
Toronto, ON M6M 2J5
T. 416-243-3600
E. feedback@westpark.org
Twitter https://twitter.com/westparkhcc

Syria A Living History at the Aga Khan Musuem

World Premiere of Syria: A Living History
October 15, 2016–February 26, 2017

I have wanted to visit the Aga Khan Museum for a long time. It's been open for 2 years now and it's an incredible structure with nothing like it in North America.  In a area of Toronto with mostly office and industry this Museum really stand out.  I was lucky to be able to visit the Museum this week for a tour of the Syria: A Living History Exhibit and also a look through the beautiful gift shop and a dinner at Chef Mark McEwen's curated restaurant Diwan where we dined on a flavourful array of Syrian dishes.   

Some of the dishes sampled were:

Lamb meatballs braised with sour cherry sauce, Fattoush salad, RedLentil soup, Pickled turnips and labneh, "Tarator" salmon crusted in walnuts and topped with pomegranate seeds, Lahana salad with cabbage and beets and a vegetarian filled phyllo pastry.

The exhibition brings together over 5,000 years of art highlighting the contributions that the diverse cultures within Syria — Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Persian, Ottoman, and Arab — have made to world heritage. A collaboration of museums and private collections in Europe, North America, and the Middle East with 48 artifacts displayed.

 Exhibition highlights include:

·       *   An eye idol from Tell Brak, Syria, carved around 3,200 BCE;

·       *   A stele with a depiction of a prayer from Tell Halaf, Syria, (10th–9th centuries BCE), still bearing the   marks of a Second World War bombing raid in Berlin, Germany;

·       *  Contemporary works by Elias Zayat (b. 1935) and Fateh Moudarres (1922–99) that merge personal   experiences with reflections on modern-day Syria.

Lion’s Head

Historic Syria, 9th–8th centuries BCE

Ivory, carved

With permission of the Royal Ontario Museum © ROM.

Additional programming highlights include:

·       An illuminating symposium on Syria’s art and architecture (October 29, October 30)

     Co-organized with Professor Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT

·       Lectures with leading scholars (November 10, November 13) Featuring Dr. Ross Burns, historian and author of Monuments of Syria and Damascus – A History, and Jens Hanssen, Professor of Arab Civilization, University of Toronto

·       Showcase performances with Syrian artists (October 29, November 26, November 27, December 11)
With artists such as vocalist Lubana Al Quntar (Syria’s first opera singer), composer Kinan Azmeh, and visual artist Kevork Mourad

Lion’s Head

Historic Syria, 9th–8th centuries BCE

Ivory, carved

With permission of the Royal Ontario Museum © ROM.

   

       Backgammon/Chess Box

    Syria, 19th century

Wood, wood veneers, bone, and mother-of-pearl; inlaid

With permission of the Royal Ontario Museum © ROM.

The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, has been established and developed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The Museum’s mission is to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the contribution that Muslim civilizations have made to world heritage while often reflecting, through both its permanent and temporary exhibitions, how cultures connect with one another. Designed by architect Fumihiko Maki, the Museum shares a 6.8-hectare site with the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, which was designed by architect Charles Correa. The surrounding park was designed by landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic.

HOURS:

Monday: Closed

(except holiday Mondays)

Tuesday: 10 am–6 pm

Wednesday: 10 am–8 pm

Thursday–Sunday: 10 am–6 pm

COST:

General Admission*

Friends: Free

Adults: $20

Seniors (65+): $15

Students:* $12

Children & Youth (6–13): $10

Family Package:* $50

LOCATION:

The Aga Khan Museum is located at

77 Wynford Drive, close to Don Mills

Road and Eglinton Avenue East in

Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Please visit

agakhanmuseum.org for directions,

parking information, and TTC routes.

General Information:

416.646.4677

WIN tickets to the Toronto FOOD & WINE Festival

There is a new show coming to town where anyone who is obsessed with food from beginners to professionals will be excited to attend. It’s the first ever Toronto FOOD & WINE Festival taking place at Evergreen Brick Works Sept 18-20, 2015

While this is the first Toronto Food & Wine Festival, it’s an extension of the larger Food & Wine festivals that are all over some of the biggest cities in the United States.  Some of the top names in the culinary industry attend these festivals and it’s a pretty big deal that we now have one here.

5 Reasons You Need to Visit Toronto FOOD & WINE Festival 2015

1. Curtis Stone, Tyler Florence, Gail Simmons, Chuck Hughes, Roger Mooking, Mark McEwan, Antonio Park and many more will be taking to the stages for demos, talks and workshops throughout the three-day event.

2. You’ll be able to sample, sip and savour all the flavours from 130 purveyors of premium products, fine foods and beverages from Ontario, Canada and around the world in the Grand Tasting Pavilion – presented by PC Black Label.

3. For the first time ever, Cochon 555 is bringing its flavour-packed marquee events series to Canada allowing guests to sink their teeth into over 1400 pounds of expertly prepared pork dishes by the hottest chefs including Chuck Hughes, Matty Matheson and more. 

4. Expert-level educational workshops welcome legendary masters like Kevin Kent (Knifewear), Tetsuya "Ted" Iizuka (Soba Canada), and Antonio Park (Park Restaurant) to share their knowledge regarding time-held traditions like knife skills and soba noodle making.

5. Canada’s Best New Student Chef will be crowned after an exciting and unique cooking competition called Taste Canada Cooks the Books. Some of the brightest up-and-coming culinary talents from schools across Canada will gather in front of a live audience in the Miele Kitchen to make a dish from a well-known Canadian cookbook, with the author on stage!

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!   

CONGRATULATIONS TO VANESSA STOTT on winning the tickets!  Hope to see lot's of festival tweets in September!

I have a great chance for you to WIN TICKETS to the festival. I have pass for 2 general admission tickets to giveaway for the festival (each valued at approx. $70).

Here’s how to enter:

1.     You must follow me on Twitter @lindamatarasso.

2.     Tweet the following to me:  @lindamatarasso I want to win a pair of tickets to the #TFW15  http://www.torontofoodandwine.com/show-info/about/

One entry per person.

Contest starts Monday, July 27, 2015.  Cut off time for entry is Friday, July at 12PM EST.  Winner will be announced at 4PM EST on July 31.  Must be 19+ to enter.  

FESTIVAL INFO:

Chef Chuck Hughes

Facebook: /Toronto FOOD & WINE

Twitter: @TOfoodandwine

Instagram: @tofoodandwine

The hashtag is #TFW15.

Show Venue: Evergreen Brick Works
 
Show Dates & Hours:
September 18-20, 2015 11am to 7pm
September 20, 2015 11am to 6pm
 
Admission:
Adult box office: $36.00
Adult online: $28.00 (until August 21)
Adult online: $32.00 (as of August 22)
Youth (6 to 15) online: $16.00
Youth (6 to 15) box office: $18.00
Children 5 and under are free with a paying adult
3 Day adult online: $78.00 (until August 21)
3 Day adult online: $90.00 (as of August 22)

 As Chuck Hughes might say... "What's not to love"? 

FOOD CHEFS FUN

Top Chefs return to the Taste of Toronto

The Taste of Toronto brings some of Toronto and North America's Top Chefs of Toronto's Historic Fort York for a fabulous weekend of fantastic food sampling and demonstrations.  The Taste Festival came to Toronto for the first time last year but by no means is this a first time festival.  It operates in 22 cities in North America and is considered a very high end food festival that attracts the best of the cities restaurants to participate.
It hosts about 25 of the top Toronto restaurants that set up shop at the Festival from July 2 -5 that are broken down into 4 hour sessions.  Ticket entrance fee is $19-$25 depending on the day and to purchase food samples you load a credit card called a Crown Card for as much money as you would like.  Each dish costs between 6-10 crown points.  1 Crown point = $1.

This is by no means an inexpensive festival if you add up the cost of parking in a nearby lot at $14 and the entrance fee of $25 and then for 4 dishes plus 2 drinks could cost you about $50 and that's not over doing it.  It does turn into an expensive day/night out but the benefit of this festival is it's like restaurant hopping or somewhat of a Tapas experience in one place.  You get tapas sized plates but from the best restaurants in the city all in one location.  It's a bit like Summerlicious with small plates in one location.

I think it's a great way for people that don't have the time to get to all of the restaurants or who want to see what the food is like at a restaurant without paying for a huge meal.  If you don't like a dish there is always another one to try and you can set up your a la carte meal the way you like it.   My friend joked that I would write about her only having desserts at the show which she did mostly.

The features of the show include the Metro masterclass sessions which I have yet to experience because they fill up so fast.  I am determined to try and get to one with Chef Lynn Crawford this sunday though as she is always hilarious and I am sure it will be a great session.

There is also the Cadillac Theatre where Chefs like Iron Chef Masuharu Morimoto, Michael Bonacini,  Mark McEwan, Masterchef winner Eric Chong and Alvin Leung and Jonathan Waxman have had cooking demos.  I was lucky to attend all of these sessions and they were entertaining and informative.

The demo that blew my mind was Iron Chef Marimoto breaking down a 100+ pound fresh Tuna in about 15-20 minutes all while cracking jokes and promoting his upcoming restaurant opening Morimoto Toronto in April 2016.  

He is much funnier in person than he appears on Iron Chef and I had a little fun with him at the Morimoto booth when he got up close and personal with my cell phone camera.

I also had a chance to chat with Demon Chef Alvin Leung from Masterchef Canada.  He was super friendly and his demo was so funny.  I wish he was that funny on Masterchef instead of his demon chef persona.

Another feature at the show is the Toronto Life talks with Chefs doing more informal sit down talks.  I didn't get to any of those sessions so I don't know exactly how they operate.

Besides the 25 restaurants with food booths there are a large number of other vendors set up either selling or sampling their products or both.  Some of my favourites included Craft Soda, a farmer's market, Blackbird bakery and I also stopped by the KitchenAid booth where the ladies were telling people about the Culinary Showdown that is coming up in November to raise funds for Breast Cancer.  I am participating in fundraising and you can find more info on a previous post.

Now to the Food.  I have to say that you really can't try it all in one session and I went both thursday and friday and am returning with a friend on sunday to try a couple of things I missed.   You can't try it all in one session for a couple of reasons.  The sessions are 4 hours long and by the time you walk around to check out all the booths to decide what to eat you have spent a lot of time and then some of the popular booths have lineups to get the food and if you want to do any of the sessions it doesn't leave you much time to get in a lot of food unless you just power through and load up all in one shot.  My stomach doesn't allow me to do that so I have to spread it out.

I tried the following dishes:

Paella from Patria, this humungous dish takes 30 minutes to make and there is a video monitor that counts down the time until it's ready.  It was the first thing I tried when I got to the festival on the thursday and I had some from the very first batch so you could say I got the freshest plate you could get.  It was the best Paella I have ever tried with the rice perfectly cooked and not too salty and perfectly seasoned for my taste.

Babi Panggang Roasted Pork Belly, chili sauce, bean sprouts and red onion from Little Sister, the smell of this pork belly was incredible and it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  It won the Silver Taste award and I can see why.

1.  East Coast Fish Fry with Clams and Haddock by The Drake,  this was actually the last thing I ate on the second day after my food blogger friend told me it was great.  This one was worth it for 6 crowns.  Also worth getting for me because I don't like to deep fry food at home. The fish was perfectly cooked with a simple batter.
2.  Uni Carbonara from Morimoto Toronto,  It's the first time I have ever tried Uni which was pretty interesting.  It was a good dish but not my favourite of the day.
3.  Toro Tuna from Morimoto Toronto, this was a tiny little bit but full of flavour with the caviar, sour cream, wasabi and dashi soy sauce.  This one was 10 crowns.
4.  Funnel cake, vanilla ice cream and blueberries from Richmond Station, I love Richmond Station and their desserts but this wasn't one of my favourites, it was just ok where most of their desserts are spectacular.  I do plan on going back for their signature Station burger though.
5.  Fried Chicken from Weslodge, it was great fried chicken with a jalapeno sauce but the coleslaw and biscuit weren't as impressive.
6.  Ceviche from Los Colabris/El Cabalito,  It was ok but I have had better ceviche recently.
7.  Crispy Black Vinegar Chicken from Bosk which was one of the winning dishes. It really hit all the flavours and was worth the 10 crowns.
8.  CSB (char siu bao) bbq pork buns, I liked this so much that I had it on both days.  It's a sweet bun with a special glaze put on the top of the bun that really sets this milk bun apart from all of the other regular dim sum pork buns that you normally see.


This year I figured out how to do this festival with a lot more enjoyment.  The first day I took the TTC and found a much easier and faster way to get there.  Last year it took me an hour and a half of multiple transfers, standing and waiting.  This year it was one subway and a streetcar and a closer stop to the entrance.  On the second day my friend drove and I found a closer lot although parking is still expensive but it was the same distance as the streetcar stop to the entrance.  I also tried to pack light and make sure you skip the high heels because you will have to walk on gravel to get there and the whole festival is set up on the grass.

I wish I could get some of the foods I tried at take out restaurants because some of the dishes would make perfect quick lunches.  Something to hope for the future of food.

There are still a couple days left for the festival at the time of this posting so I hope this reached you in time to check it out.  Maybe I will bump into you in one of the food lineups at the festival.

Disclaimer:  The entrance ticket was complimentary but the food was paid for by me and as always the opinions in this post are my own.

Top Chefs cook up a showdown to Crush Cancer

Do you know someone that is dealing with Cancer or have you lost someone to some form of Cancer?  I bet everyone that reads this is saying YES right now.  In my life I have lost my father to Cancer,  I have lost most of my aunts and uncles to Cancer and have had close friends lose their relatives to cancer as well. I also have a few friends who have either had their own Cancer challenges or are dealing with it now.

 It is a horrible disease that I would like to see disappear one day.  Chemotherapy ravages the body and makes most people suffer a number of side effects that put a strain on their quality of life.

I worked at Sunnybrook Hospital for many years and would walk into the Cancer wing to get my lunch sometimes.  You realize how much it has increased when you see a whole wing of a hospital being built to deal with the treatments.   While research has been great in detecting the diseases earlier and the treatments have been getting better, there is still an increase of people getting Cancer due to environmental factors and I believe because of our diets and stressful lives as well.   There are lot's of people that don't smoke, eat well and exercise that get Cancer so it sometimes doesn't care who it affects but we can try and do our best to try and raise money to help further research on how to manage it or better yet cure it.

This week I went to a private event of chefs and foodies that was an encouragement to get more people to sign up for the Celebrity Chef's Culinary Challenge that will be held at the Royal York in December.   I decided to take on the challenge of trying to raise funds to participate in this challenge.  I have the time now and would like to do something in honour of my Dad and the people that I have lost to Cancer and friends that are in the midst of it now.

There are several levels of fundraising goals but the main goal is to reach $2500 to be able to join a Celebrity Chef and compete with their team against other Celebrity Chef teams in a Culinary Challenge.  While I am not a trained chef I will get some Chef training/mentoring before the competition.

If you want to see me cook with some of the best Canadian Chefs like Lynn Crawford, Mark McEwen, Chuck Hughes, Vikram Vij or Corbin Tomaszeski then drop a little bit of cash toward the cure.  Tyler Florence and Dean McDermott will be the Host and Emcee for the Event.

You can donate through this link and you will receive a Tax Receipt.

Click on this link to Donate:
KitchenAid Cook for the Cure

What makes a Great Restaurant?

I saw an article that stated that Canada doesn't make the list in the world's greatest restaurants.   Normally I wouldn't agree but with some great restaurants closing down or their quality declining or the trend towards chain restaurants I feel that it may be time for a Restaurant shake up so that we can prove that we have great chefs in this country that pull from all the diversity that we have in this Country.

So what makes a Great Restaurant?   These are the things that I think should be on that list.

1. Consistently great food.  Not 1 good dish once in a while...but all dishes on the menu great.

2. Value for the Money.  I don't mind paying more if the value is there.

3. Great environment.  It makes you feel great when you spend time there.

4. Beautiful decor.  I like to see restaurants become inspirations for how decor should be. If I am going to leave my house I want to spend my time in a place nicer than my home.

5. Originality.  I live in an area that has about a dozen Sushi restaurants.  I can only think of one Sushi restaurant in the city that has stood out in excellence in preparation and presentation.  The rest are pretty much the same thing.  Restaurants start to follow a trend and then before you know it they are all serving the same thing.  With a country with the most diversity in the World we should have the most diverse food influences.  I would like to see restaurants develop their own food personalities that don't copy anyone else's.

6.  Great Service.  This goes without saying.  Even if you have a great meal it you may leave feeling less than satisfied.  I once sat in a restaurant where the wait staff bent over hand over foot to serve a woman that was sitting close to me but she totally ignored me and leaving me there to wait for the bill with no food on the table for over 20 minutes.  The woman that was served well even made a comment to me as I left so it was noticed by someone else besides me.  I will never go back there.

7.  Accessibility.   I know a great restaurant in Toronto that only has 40 seats so you can't eat there unless you plan well in advance.  I don't usually plan to go out to eat 2 months in advance so that doesn't work for me.  Restaurants that can't accommodate an event dinner like a Birthday party.  I tried to reserve a table for 9 but found it difficult to find a restaurant that could accommodate this on a saturday night.    People want to go out to celebrate occasions and sometimes want to go out as a group to a restaurant as a great meeting place.

8.  Clean.  Yes every restaurant should be clean.  In the front of the house and in the back of the house.  I recently went to a Sushi restaurant that looked like nothing had been done to it in 10 years or more.  The booths were set up so that it was probably difficult to clean them well even if they tried.  If a restaurant gets to that point it should be renovated.  It was the ugliest decor I have seen in a long time and could have used a fresh coat of paint and a good scrub up.

9.  Ambience.  There are a few restaurants in the city that are so loud that you spend the whole night yelling at your dinner party guests.  Leaving a restaurant without a voice and a headache isn't a great experience.

10. Menus.  One of my pet peeves are menus that are impossible to read.  The Keg has beautiful mood lighting but it's so dark that you can barely read the menu.  Other menus have fonts so small that you need a magnifying glass to read them.  And there are others that don't have a clue on how to design a menu that makes it easy to disseminate.  Red writing on a purple background doesn't work, so don't do it.  A funky scribble font that is in a light 8 pt font is impossible to read if you are over 40.  Give your menus to some grandmothers and see if they can read them in the dark.  If they can then they are good to use.

There are a few great chefs in the city that are doing great meals that should be applauded.  They produce great tasting food and rank very high on all the points in this list but they don't hit all of them all the time.

My picks of great Toronto chefs include:

1. Lynn Crawford
2. Roger Mooking
3. The chef at Frank's Kitchen
4. J.P. Chalet
5. Mark McEwen
6. Donna Doeher
7. Jamie Kennedy
8. David Adjey
9. Brad Long
10. Michael Bonacini

There are tons of restaurants in this city but a lot of them could use a lot of improvement.  In a city full of foodies it seems that the food trucks have the right idea.  Make quick, fast, cheap, original and tasty food.  Isn't that what we all want?