Prenup Pub - New restaurant

Event: Prenup Pub Blogger Tasting
Date:  Dec. 3, 2014
Location: 191 College Street, Toronto

I spent another dinner with a great bunch of Food bloggers at the new Restaurant Prenup Pub for a great tasting of a very diverse menu.

The Prenup Pub (named for what the owner will leave his 5 children), has only been open for 2 months but on our arrival for our dinner the 2 level restaurant was packed with groups of people.  You would have thought it was a weekend night from the hum of the bar/restaurant.  There were large groups of students and some tech geeks and then there were the group of us foodies doing what my friend Mary and I call Speed Eating and Speed Blogging.   We got there and just got seated and organized and then the food started coming.   First there were plates set up for us to take photos of. Imaging what paparazzi in an elevator trying to get a great shot of a baby or something and that's what it's like.   A bunch of dishes on a couple of small tables surrounded by mostly women with cameras and  cell phones trying to get the perfect food porn photo.  Yup that's us if you see us in a restaurant.

Then we sat down and the family style platters came around for us to share and sample the food.  We passed food down the long and packed tables and served up portions on to our tiny side plates.   We all felt like we had to eat fast because all the food practically came at the same time so we had to fill up our tiny plates and pass the food down and then inhale the food so that there was room to scoop up more food from the next platter onto our clear plates.   Why?  Well the tables were small 2 tops pushed together in a booth style/chair set up.   I think there was a dozen of us there.  Large platters, drinks, plates and candles and whatever else was on the table didn't leave much room for platters to linger.
We basically inhaled the food as quickly as we could to make sure we had a chance to try everything.   We all thought it was the fastest tasting ever.

Ok so how was the food?  It was a bit of an eclectic menu I thought.

                                                      What we tried:

Wurst Salad - sliced sausage salad
Waterzooi - Belgian chicken stew from Ghent
Mussels of the Day - Chili tomato sauce
Madame Monsieur Waffle - Ham and cheese on a waffle with a fried egg on top
Prenup Pizza - grilled vegetables on puff pastry
Beer Braised Lamb - Wrapped in phylo pastry served with stoemp, a mash and vegetables.

Pork Schnitzel - with fries and a mushroom sauce
Tiramisu - Italian dessert

So thinking of the origins of the dishes we surfed Italy, France, Belgium and Germany.
My favourite dishes were the Mussels which were perfectly seasoned and flavourful without being overpowering.  The schnitzel and frites were really tasty.  The frites were well made, not greasy and very Belgian style.  The waffle dish would probably be the perfect dish for the hangover crowd on a sunday brunch menu with the sweet and savoury covered in one dish.

I wasn't a fan of the pizza though.  Because it's made with puff pastry it doesn't have the puff it would without the vegetables and it was a bit greasy on the bottom and I wasn't a fan of the tomato sauce.  I prefer a passata fresh tomato sauce.

What I really loved though was the way the restaurant was renovated with solid wood and warm walls and really beautiful chandeliers and great separate rooms that give you that private group feel while still feeling like a huge place.  It had an upscale pub look and feel.   This is the perfect place to meet your friends for beers because they have a whopping 70 beers on Tap.  Not being a beer drinker I can't tell you anything else about the beers so you will have to go and check those out for yourselves.

It's located in the heart of the University of Toronto student scene so expect to see lot's of students looking to have a bit of fun to blow off a bit of studying steam.

Prices might be a bit steep for some students but I bet they will just go for drinks and have some of their great frites.  

The Artisan Tasting Fair - Event

My food adventure today was attending the Artisan Tasting Fair at Wychwood Barns (Christie & St. Clair) in Toronto.  

This event showcases local Artisan Cheese makers, craft beer makers, bakers and sausage makers.   This isn't the big automated huge warehouse manufacturers,  it's the smaller high quality producers.

This event is put on with the Leslieville Cheese Market which is located on Queen Street East.  A tiny little shop in Leslieville that sells quality, meats, cheeses and breads predominantly.


Some of the Cheese makers at the Tasting Fair included:  Upper Canada Cheese Company, Monteforte Dairy, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co., Back Forty Artisan cheese,  Mountain Oak Cheese, Glengarry Cheesemaking and  Gunn's Hill Artisan cheese.  I think I sampled most of the cheeses today.  I'm all cheesed out for the day now.  I had so much.  I think most of the vendors sampling were cheese.  

There was also a lot of Pork products at the Fair from Sanagan's Meat Locker, The Healthy Butcher,  VG meats, Speducci Mercatto.

And then there was also Craft Beer to wash it all down by Sawdust City Brewing Co., Barnstormer Brewing and the Granite Brewery.

Other vendors at the market included  Propeller Coffee Co. who I first saw at the Delicious Food Show recently.  Le Dolci who make cupcakes and other desserts, who also seem to be everywhere lately,  EPI Breads who cater to people with different allergies,  ready to cook food company Prepd,  Foodie Pages was there with a draw, Farmer's Pantry with dips, STASIS preserves, Evelyn's crackers, and new to the food world in the city is the Cookery store, a kitchen store that also has cooking demos, and I am probably missing a couple.

 

I tried my first taste of Haggis from the Healthy Butcher today and I am happy to say that it tasted surprisingly good.  It sounds a whole lot worse than what it is.

I think I tried most of the samples.  I skipped the Beer since I am not a beer drinker though.  But I do like to cook/bake with beer because of the yeasty chemical reactions with foods.

If you are gluten free, lactose intolerant, don't eat pork for religious or other reasons, don't drink beer or you are diabetic then this isn't the show for you.. but if you do then knock yourself out on the high quality of foods available and the best part is that you most likely will get to chat with the actual producers of the foods.  They are generally the owners of the companies which are smaller businesses and this fair focuses on Local foods from Ontario and Quebec mostly.


I love to support local food producers because it's a tough go making a living and their care and attention to the quality of their products is the way food was produced more than 50 years ago and seems to be becoming more of a trend to go back to that style of food production.  It can only be a good thing when you support this.  You buy from someone that owns a business in Ontario or Quebec and also lives in the Province thereby supporting the same local economy.  The money isn't going to fat cats with hidden bank accounts in Switzerland or such and each dollar they makes generates a whole community effect.  Shopping at the fair reminded me of the food that I got when I was a kid.  Real food and the stores were a lot smaller.  There was actually an apple farm across the street from my house when I was a kid.  We used to play beside the farm.  Now it's a Church and Ambulance Headquarters... shame it's gone.  Anyway back to the Artisan fair.  It's a small event but if you like to meet the people that make your food then I think it's a good idea to try and get out to events like this.

Some of my favourite things were Sanagan's terrine samples, Le Dolci flourless cake, Leslieville Cheeses and I even liked the Haggis from the Healthy Butcher.

Unfortunately by the time you read this the show will be over for this year. But I hope that you can check it out next year or check out one of the vendors whenever you see them.

Kids in the Kitchen

Carol Harrison teaching kids to cook at Sobeys test kitchen

The Food Revolution Team in Toronto has grown a bit this year with some new Ambassadors.  As a group we decided to try and do some events in advance of Food Revolution Day and not just the week of Food Revolution Day as we have done in the past 3 years.   Last night our new team member Monika Strzalkowska who works for Sobeys and Carol Harrison a dietician, in her second year as an Ambassador both joined forces to host a Free Kids Cooking class at the Sobeys test kitchen in Mississauga.   Myself and fellow Ambassador Mardi Michels joined in to help out with the class.   Carol started losing her voice so Mardi, myself and Carol's student assistant Samantha all pitched in to do a demo each to save Carol's voice and keep things moving along so that we could show the kids as many things as possible in the 3 hour class.

Monika, Mardi, Linda, Carol

New Ambassador Susan Ng came to support and brought her 3 kids with her and a friend with his kids as well.

Surprisingly it was a group of boys who were eager to learn how to cook some really healthy but tasty Jamie Oliver recipes of simple things they can make at home.

We taught them how to make:

Herb yoghurt dip with veggies (Carol)
Baked Chicken fingers (Mardi)
Granola (me) with a Strawberry Raspberry compote and Vanilla yoghurt
Smoothies (Samantha)

The kids loved watching us do the demos and then they got their chance to get hands on literally with the food and make some themselves.  They loved the chicken and loved the smell of the granola and the color of the smoothies.

Mardi helps the kids at Sobeys

I could tell it was a successful night when one of the kids said "can we come back again tomorrow".  That confirmed that we were getting them interested in being in the kitchen and learning an important skill for life.

Samantha teaching the kids smoothies

We hope to do some more cooking classes in the New Year so hopefully more to come along with Food Revolution Day events in May.   Susan and I are teaming up to do an Event in North York since we live in the same area.  So I hope it will be bigger and better than all of my events in previous years.

Linda and Susan at Sobeys test kitchen with Jamie Oliver looking over us.

I am looking forward to inspiring more kids to love cooking in the kitchen.

Food Revolution Day Toronto Ambassadors:

Carol Harrison on Twitter @GreatMealIdeas
Monika Strzalkowska at Sobeys
Mardi Michels Twitter @eatlivewrite Blog http://www.eatlivewrite.com
Susan Ng Twitter @susanssavourit  Blog http://www.susanssavourit.blogspot.ca/
Linda Matarasso (me) Twitter @integrityfilms and you obviously know my blog since you are reading it right now. :)

Follow the Toronto Team on Twitter @FoodRevToronto
Join our Facebook Group  Food Revolution Day Toronto

Not at event:
Christine Barisheff  Twitter@typeaconsult
Cerys McLellan  Twitter @cerysattable  Blog http://www.thetabletoday.com/

For More info about Sobeys and Jamie Oliver Food Programs:
Sobeys Better Food For All
Jamie Oliver Foundation

Find Food Revolution Ambassadors in your area http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/ambassadors/