Sunday Brunch at Città

Hear me out. Sunday brunch is not my forte, it's just not in my "dining-out" vocabulary. Actually, I'm the last person you should ever ask about brunch, where to go, the best spot for pancakes, etc. My answer to you would be "Sorry, I have no idea. You should ask so-and-so". I could name you a few places if you insisted but it'll be followed by the "I've never been to them myself but I've heard good things" disclaimer. What can I say? I'm just a dinnah kinda gal! So does this make this post irrelevant? No, because although I hardly go for brunch it doesn't mean I can't tell you the reason(s) why I like those blueberry pancakes. The downside is I probably can't tell you where to get even better blueberry pancakes. So, the question is, how did I find myself at Città on a Sunday? It was a blogger brunch event hosted by Città and as a food blogger, I gotta show my face. Meh, who am I kidding? It's free brunch!

Città (Twitter: @CittaToronto, Facebook: Citta Toronto) is a new Italian restaurant located at CityPlace, the condos on Spadina across from the Rogers Centre. The rustic urban Italian eatery is the newest restaurant venture by Hanif Harij, the successful restaurateur behind Patria, Weslodge, Byblos and NAO Steakhouse. Harij has brought on board executive chef Ben Heaton of The Grove and David Mattachiono of Terroni to helm the kitchen at Città.

The Città space is basically an L-shape with a dining area on each side. As you can see from the above photo, the restaurant is encased in floor-to-ceiling windows that let in a lot of sunlight. When you walk in, you'll notice the dining room on your right has a bold and majestic decor with black and gold chandeliers, gold-trimmed mirrors, tiled floors and large royal green leather banquettes.

The dining room on your left has a more laid-back, less shimmery rustic decor.

A closer look at the bar.

A Globally-Inspired Sunday Brunch at Marben

After taking over the helm at Marben a year ago and replacing Carl Heinrich as executive chef, Rob Bragagnolo (@RobBragagnolo) has successfully reinvented the previously meat-centric restaurant on 488 Wellington St. W. into one that offers diners a more sophisticated Mediterranean fare. Bragagnolo, a Torontonian with an Italian background, has spent the last 10+ years working in Spain and travelling across the world. With an impressive stint in Mallorca and a passport full of stamps under his belt, Bragagnolo is determined to share his love for international cuisine at Marben.

I visited Marben (Twitter: @MarbenResto, Facebook: Marben) two Sundays ago. It was a last minute decision (as well as a very late one) so the Sunday brunch rush was already over when we arrived.

 The Marben's brunch menu begins with the following statement: "A collection of my favourite brunch dishes from my travels around the world". I was excited just from reading that.

My brunch consisted of the following four dishes (it's a bit excessive I know):

TANGIERS ($14)

2 poached eggs on spiced cauliflower, quinoa salad, beetroot humus, baby kale & parsley

Brunch Preview at Earls

Starting this Saturday, August 3rd, Earls on 150 King St. W. (Twitter: @earlskingst, Facebook: Earls King Street) will be offering a brand new weekend brunch service (other Earls locations to start brunch service on Saturday, September 14th). Opening a half hour earlier than weekdays, Earls will serve brunch Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays from 11 am until 3 pm alongside their regular menu. Thanks to Jacque from Earls, I was invited to preview their new brunch menu yesterday.

Beautiful day. Perfect weather for a patio brunch.

Earls’ new fresh sourdough bread is really the star of their brunch. Rising slowly and naturally from an in-house grown sourdough starter, the dense, chewy new bread make its début on the brunch menu. Each of Earls restaurants has a starter of their own that they need to nurture and feed twice a day. 

Complimentary house made brioche cinnamon buns brushed with cream cheese icing for each table. 

Saturday Brunch at Nyood

I was invited by Nyood (@Nyood) to try their new Saturday Brunch menu last weekend. Nyood, formerly associated with celebrity chef Roger Mooking, is now under new management with a brand new chef, Ariel Coplan. Chef Coplan, who worked under Lorenzo Loseto from George Restaurant and subsequently at Café Grey (NYC) and Number One (a Michelin-starred restaurant in Edinburgh), has returned to Toronto as an executive chef at Nyood. Vittorio Colacitti (formerly George, Lucien) has also joined Nyood as chef de cuisine and the duo will be launching a brand new menu in spring (items on Nyood's current menu has been changed slightly).


I've never been to Nyood before this brunch. To be honest I never associated Nyood with "food" but more so a club or lounge. I mean if you've ever been to their Sunday Brunch or "Le Brunch" (I haven't been to one but here's a video of it) you will know why I never took Nyood seriously as a restaurant. Really, can you blame me? O_o Although it seems like "Le Brunch" is here to stay, I'm hoping that by bringing serious chefs on board with the addition of a no dancing, no extreme boozing and a no dress-code required regular Saturday brunch, Nyood will begin to appeal more to the locals...you know...regular people like you and I? I don't know about you but a tight dress with a pair of high heels will never be part of my brunch attire lol

Can't deny it. Nyood is gorgeous.

I brought a friend along for brunch. We had a tasting and tried five items from Nyood's Saturday brunch menu. I started off with their strawberry & lychee mimosa.

Sunday Brunch at Table 17

I've had dinner once before at Table 17 and I absolutely loved it. The food, the decor, the service, everything was phenomenal. I haven't been back since though; with my hectic schedule and my never-ending-and-always-expanding list of restaurants to try,  let's just say I don't have enough time to go back and visit some of my old favourites. I really wish there was more hours in a day, more days in a month, etc, etc...


So then, how did I end up at Table 17 for brunch? Well, Table 17 (@table17) has been really active on Twitter ever since it joined - they are fun, friendly, and extremely engaging on Twitter. They have also been doing a superb job in promoting not only their dinner menu, but also their brunch menu and specials. Needless to say I got curious about their brunch because of that, and was sold on it after seeing View the Vibe's "Sexy Sunday Brunch at Table 17". Anyway, I'm sure people on Twitter will agree with me that Table 17 has really made an impact in the Twitter community, so keep it up guys!

Before I move on, here is a newly released video of Table 17 from View the Vibe. Check it out! I'm confident that you will all be enticed to go afterwards too~

My friend and I went around 11:30AM and it was already really busy. We were seated at a table at the back of the restaurant. I think next time I will ask for a table by the window as it was rather dark where we were sitting, so the lighting is far from optimal for pictures =(

Globe Bistro - "Think Global. Eat Local"

Joel (@foodie411) and Jessica (@Jessica_Dexter) organized the first ever Brunch Tweetup last Sunday (#BrunchTO) at Globe Bistro. I haven't had brunch in ages so I was pretty excited about it. Thanks for organizing guys ^_^ And of course a special thanks to Ed Ho (@globeho), owner of Globe Bistro and Executive Chef Kevin McKenna (@ChefMcKenna ) for having us~

The last time I was at the Danforth was a couple of weeks ago when I went to Messini, my favourite place for gyros. I never noticed Globe Bistro before as it is located closer to Bloor and Broadview which I usually just drive by there to get to Messini =D

Initially, I was thinking of parking at a Green P since I hate parallel parking but to my surprise, I found street parking right across from Globe Bistro. 

Globe Bistro may look small from the outside but it is actually really spacious inside; although it is narrow, it is very long and deep with a very high ceiling. This dining area is where we sat; it's at the back of the restaurant (there is another dining area at the front). I think this space is beautiful.

Sam's Congee Delight ("黃三記")

I have the weirdest cravings sometimes, cravings that come from nowhere. 


Sunday morning, my boyfriend and I were thinking of doing some errands in the afternoon and thought it would nice to grab something to eat beforehand. And you know when it comes to "brunch in uptown" I'm always at a total loss; besides Bluestone Bistro, I do not know of any good brunch places in uptown (I have yet to try Fraticelli's and please, please do not tell me to go to Cora's). Besides, that morning I wasn't feeling French toasts, or eggs benedict, or pancakes / waffles - I wanted something Chinese.


Usually when my boyfriend asks me where I want to go for lunch, I draw a blank. This time around, I replied right away: "Let's go to 黃三記". Hmmm wait...no.... I actually said "Let's go to that congee place at Market Village".


Sam's Congee Delight is located inside Market Village, a Chinese mall in Markham (Kennedy & Steeles). It is a small "hole-in-the-wall" type of restaurant where you go in, eat, and then leave (I know technically, it shouldn't be considered a "hole-in-the-wall" as it's located inside a mall LOL but it is trying to give that effect). You won't find anybody lounging around, reading newspapers, sipping tea at this place - it is not dim sum.


There were a lot of people waiting when we went.

Sam's Congee Delight is known for their fried dough sticks ("油炸鬼").

It's great how you can see them up close making everything. Here he is preparing the dough sticks for frying.

Bluestone Bistro

If you've been following my blog you would probably know that I'm always looking for good eats in uptown. In particular, non-Asian, non-chain restaurants (so something like Moxie's, but non-chain, so similar to Joey's?). 


I discovered Bluestone Bistro from my 2010 entertainment coupon book. It had two coupons for dinner at Bluestone Bistro, both were along the lines of "buy one entree get the second one free, up to a value of $16" (may not be those exact numbers). The first time I went for dinner, I had their Gorgonzola and Portobello Mushroom Pizza (which had baby spinach, roma tomatoes, fresh herbs, portobello mushrooms, mozzarella and fontina cheese on a basil pesto base, topped with a gorgonzola-parmesan crumble) - it was really good. The second time I went I ordered a pizza again, that time I had their Thai Pizza (chicken sweet soy glazed chicken, shiitake mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, mozzarella cheese on a chili oil base, finished with a peanut swirl) - this was also very tasty. In general, I can say that the pizzas Bluestone Bistro did not disappoint. However, at the time, I can't vouch for anything other than their pizzas.


For this post, a group of us (6 to be exact) wanted to do brunch uptown. I didn't know Bluestone Bistro had brunch until my friend Kat, suggested it; she got the 2011 entertainment book and had coupons for Bluestone Bistro (coupons expire at the end of October for each year). I was excited to see whether the brunch at Bluestone Bistro is just as good as their pizzas.


When you walk into Bluestone Bistro, this is what you will see - a long bar to your right with beer glasses lined up, tons of hanging lights, and a glass table in the middle with a huge vase filled with flowers. It feels a bit clustered in my opinion but really not a big deal at all - the dining area is not like this. 

See? No cluster. Very comfortable actually. 

Amore Trattoria - Worst Brunch Ever

My two friends and I went to Amore Trattoria for brunch one Sunday a couple of months ago. It was a last minute get together and we were looking for something around the Yonge & Eglinton area. There are a lot of restaurants on that Yonge strip (I find that most are Italian restaurants) and because I don't frequent that part of town often, I didn't have a preference on where to go and so we stumbled into Amore Trattoria.


After I set foot into Amore Trattoria, I was pretty sure I have been there for brunch before a few years ago but I can't be 100% sure. Can't say if that's a good sign or a bad sign.

Pretty empty for Sunday brunch. It was around 11 at the time so it's not like we were super early. Please excuse the quality of the pictures by the way; these were not taken with my SLR or my Samsung point and shoot but rather with my iPhone4. Not too shabby still, no?

Pizzzaaaaaa! Nobody is even manning the oven so obviously no pizza brunch for me.