Author: Sheryl Kirby

Dinner in the Sky

Sometimes it pays to be critical. Many bloggers and writers work on the Thumper policy – if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all. But twice in the past few months, I’ve been offered opportunities to do something based on a snarky or critical comment I’ve made on TasteTO. The first was an offer to appear on a live call-in talk show on a local cable station (which I didn’t actually do) because of my “City of Toronto, What the Fuck?” rant about street cart vending, and the second was an invitation that showed up in my email box to take part in Dinner in the Sky, after I had referred to it as “some crazy-ass French scheme to feed people dinner while they’re hoisted 50 metres in the air”. The original company is Belgian, actually, but the folks running the Toronto arm are from Montreal.

And since I’m never one to turn down a challenge, I agreed to do it, dragging Greg along for support.

I predicted that Dinner in the Sky would be like an amusement park ride with snacks and I wasn’t far off the mark. Upon arriving at Yonge-Dundas Square and signing three pages of waivers (none of which were of the “I will not sue if I fall off” variety, but all disclaimers allowing use of video and photographic images if I chose to take part) I was directed to a swank lounge area to wait for my “table” to be ready.

We were given a brief info session where the construction and safety of the table were explained, and then were ushered out to a gigantic red carpet to be strapped into our seats.

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Sunday Brunch – Lula Lounge

lulahuevos

Lula Lounge
1585 Dundas Street West
416-588-0307
brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $34

 

“Hey, did you know Lula does brunch?” my husband asked, waving a colourful postcard that he had found on the sidewalk at me. “We should go!” And so we do, because we like brunch and because we’ve always wanted an excuse to go to Lula. As our musical tastes encompass jazz but tend more to west coast swing than salsa, and because we come more from the “unscrew the lightbulb” school of dance than anything so complicated as having to remember steps, there’s never been a really compelling reason to go there. Except – duh – the cooking of Chef Derek Crinson.

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Parkdale’s Got the Yummy Stuff

yummystuffmoragYummy Stuff
1660 Queen Street West
416-531-9732

All of the ladies who work at my vet’s office have been waiting with bated breath for the grand opening of the Yummy Stuff retail shop. For the past six weeks or so, while owner Morag Cleevely has been using the storefront as a industrial kitchen space in which to fill custom orders, the wafting scent of baking cookies and cakes has been travelling the three doors east past their office, taunting them with visions of frosting and pastry as they take their canine charges for a walk, yet leaving them frustrated and unfulfilled. While many neighbourhoods are becoming jaded by their selection of fancy treats, the folks here in Parkdale are excited by the prospect of our first real fancy bakeshop in, well, decades.

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Farmers Feed Cities – A Review of Apples to Oysters

applesoystersApples To Oysters
Margaret Webb
Viking Canada

Farmers feed cities. Deep down we know this to be true, but for most people the disconnect is so strong, we never think of the folks whose lives centre around growing the food we eat. But farming is not an easy job, and it takes a particular kind of person to dedicate themselves to the task, especially in a format of sustainable agriculture that concerns itself not just with making a profit but making the land and sea better than they were to start with.

In Apples to Oysters, author Margaret Webb spent two years travelling across Canada to learn about those farmers, visiting 11 farms from coast to coast to coast – one in each province and the Yukon, all family-run. In each case, she’s selected farmers who use sustainable methods, who have a respect and admiration for the natural resources they work with.

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All Ontario – Il Fornello Celebrated a Year of Eating in Season

ilfornellocheesecake

The jingle says “good things grow in Ontario!”, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy to find. Just ask owner Ian Sorbie or Chef Owen Steinberg of Il Fornello who have spent the last year adding Ontario-grown items to the menu for the 8-location chain.

Started last June, with a small separate menu of local, seasonal items that changed regularly, Il Fornello recently celebrated a full year of its All Ontario Menu, and in the past year, has diverted approximately $300,000 away from imported goods and back into the local economy, purchasing some 65 tons of local products ranging from root vegetables to oils, vinegars, meat and even grain from local farmers and suppliers.

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The Divas of R&B

Greg and I have been joking lately that we really need to find a hobby that doesn’t involve food. It used to be that we were in need of a hobby that didn’t involve music, but music is on the back burner these days. So earlier this week, when we were flipping through the paper to discover that the Toronto Jazz festival was adding a last minute “Divas of R&B” show to replace some blues singer, we ran around the apartment going, “Oh my god! Order the tickets! Order the tickets!!” Because the last time we saw Ronnie Spector in 2003, she blew us away. And this time she’d be on a bill with Darlene Love and Merry Clayton (one of the Raelettes, and who has also worked with the Rolling Stones.)

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Sunday Sips – Sip and Savour Ontario

sipsavourakroydicewineThere was a time when Ontario wine wasn’t especially respected, but local wine enthusiasts knew differently. Since its creation by Tony Aspler in 1995, the Ontario Wine Awards have flourished, now spreading over a full week and including a number of outstanding events such as the Sip and Savour Ontario event that took place this past Tuesday, June 17th at the Distillery District.

30 wineries from Ontario’s distinctive wine regions gathered together with their best offerings for a trade and media tasting event in the afternoon along with a public event the same evening that also included food demonstrations and pairings from local Savour Ontario chefs.

 

With the awards having already been announced in late April, wineries were able to display their medals and promote their award winning products to restauranteurs, media and consumers.

 

 

 

I didn’t make a point of sampling award winners specifically, but tried to get a good cross-section of styles and wineries under my tasting belt. Here are some favourites.

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June Peonies

I had this great plan that I was going to take my camera everywhere this spring and record the progress of winter into summer. The best laid plans and all that, and I seem to have missed lilacs, apple blossoms, tulips, those trees whose name I don’t know but which produce a gazillion tiny little white flowers that smell like yum, and chestnut blossoms. Oh, and the wild roses that always send me hurtling back in time to my grandmother’s house when I was little and the hedge of wild roses that surrounded her front yard.

I did manage to snag a bouquet of peonies though, and kept them on my desk where I could enjoy them all day. They are such a perfect flower for the end of June, all froofy and frothy and pink like prom dresses and wedding gowns.

Despite the only a bit of hot weather so far (a bonus for me – I hate the heat), here it is already, the first day of summer. Longest day of the year. Now we head back in the other direction towards fall. Maybe not just yet -there’s still many more summer flowers to enjoy a while longer.

Breakfast Shortcake

Who says strawberry shortcake can’t be for breakfast?

With berry season upon us, I’ve been shoving juicy Ontario strawberries into my face whenever I can get them, and while I like the idea of shortcake, I’ve never come across a recipe that I really enjoy, finding many that I’ve tried too dry. And those odd yellow spongy things from the supermarket and just odd… and yellow.

Enter the oatmeal scone. Perfect consistency to replace a shortcake, plus you know, oatmeal, so we can pretend it’s healthy. Top it off with sliced berries and vanilla yogurt instead of whipped cream, and suddenly it’s breakfast!

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