Dufflet After Dark: Dessert & Wine Night at Dufflet Beach

Happy New Year everybody! Sorry for going MIA for almost a month 😄 Looking back at previous years, I seem to always slack off in December when it comes to posting. I guess it's hard for me to want to stay home and write when there are so many things going on during the holidays. Come January, I would feel extremely guilty for slacking off; seeing all the backlog also makes me cringe! So, enough with the excuses, right? Let's get straight into it and start the year off with something sweet, Dufflet After Dark.

A dessert and wine night held on Friday evenings between 8pm to 11pm, Dufflet After Dark at Dufflet's Beach location offers guests a quiet and cozy oasis to relax, sip on wine and indulge in a variety of delectable cakes. 

What a warm and pretty room! The soft glow of tea lights creates such an intimate ambiance. The snowflakes combined with the view of the garden makes the space extra cozy; it's winter outside, yet it's warm and toasty at Dufflet (Instagram: @duffletpastries, Facebook: Dufflet Pastries).

I've been to this location before when Dufflet introduced their high tea service. Take a peek here if you're curious to see how this room looks like during the day (hint: it's just as pretty).

For $25 per person, guests at Dufflet After Dark can enjoy:

1) 8 different kinds of desserts, including a selection of cakes, pies and petit fours;

2) A complimentary glass of red, white or sparkling wine; and 

3) Dufflet drip coffee, Americano, espresso and Sloane Fine Teas.

Additional red, white and sparkling wines are available for $6-8 (5oz). Baileys coffee is also available for $5.

Upper Deck by Fran's

We've been having quite the summer, huh? That heat! You won't hear me complaining about it though because I absolutely despise winter. I hate everything about the season - the frigid temperatures, the snowstorms, the freezing rain, the drive. Ughhhh. So, if you're like me and are scouting around the city, trying to enjoy the last of summer and chilling on patios, then I highly recommend you check out Upper Deck by Fran's (Instagram: @upperdeckbyfrans, Facebook: Upper Deck by Fran's)

Upper Deck by Fran's, which took over the two upper levels of Fran’s flagship College Street location, is less of a classic diner and more of a casual eatery. Open for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, the restaurant's menu focuses on Americana and international flavours. Customers can expect generous diner-style breakfasts and home-style comforts with contemporary twists.

The first floor of Upper Deck by Fran's is fully indoor and features a large wrap around bar.

Take a look at this cool art installation of the College subway station on the way to the second floor of Upper Deck by Fran's.

Azure Restaurant & Bar (2016 Summerlicious)

There are two more days left of Summerlicious! This year, the citywide restaurant event began on July 8th and will end on July 24th, so you still have this weekend to check it out. With over 220 restaurants participating, including 24 new participants, I'm confident that you'll find a 3-course menu to whet your appetite. Summerlicious (Twitter: @LiciousTO, Facebook: LiciousTO) prices range from $18 to $28 for lunch, and $28 to $48 for dinner.

Lunch:  $18  |  $23  |  $28

Dinner:  $28  |  $38  |  $48

Thanks to Azure Restaurant & Bar, I was invited back to the restaurant once again to try their Summerlicious menu (this visit marks my fourth time at the restaurant!). Located in the open lobby of the InterContinental Toronto Centre (Twitter: @ICTorontoCentre, Facebook: InterContinental Toronto Centre). Azure's floor-to-ceiling windows never fail to 'wow' me. I love how their open space and glass canopy can give the ambiance of outdoor dining all year long.

Drinks are not included in Summerlicious but they are a requirement for me :) Azure serves VERY boozy drinks (note the bold, italics and caps for "very")!

MAPLE MAHATTAN ($14)

Knob Creek bourbon, maple syrup, sweet vermouth, Dillon's DSB bitters

OLD FASHIONED ($14)

Canadian Club Rye, cane sugar syrup, angostura bitters, water

For Summerlicious, Azure is featuring a $28 lunch and a $48 dinner (both with vegetarian option available). My friend and I dropped by for dinner last night, and before I talk about what we had, I want to let you know that I'm quite sad that Azure got rid of their bread basket. If you take a look at all my previous Azure write-ups (links at the end of this post) I always made it a point to mention how great their bread basket was. However, during this visit, we were given two pieces of bread each. It's better than nothing, of course, but I do miss that bread basket very much. When I asked my server, Coco, she told us that it was more economical and less wasteful this way because the restaurant always end up throwing out a lot of bread (since most diners do not consume all the bread in the basket). Totally makes sense but I can still be sad :(

APPETIZER

TRUFFLE HONEY FIG & PROSCIUTTO TARTINE

Focaccia, mascarpone, balsamic & baby watercress

Azure substituted figs with blackberries because they ran out of figs. Boo. I was disappointed because I love figs, and the entire time I couldn't stop thinking about how perfect truffle honey figs would go with the savoury prosciutto and the sweet-tartness of the balsamic. Thankfully, the blackberries worked well too. The baby watercress added a very welcoming "lightness" to the appetizer. I also thought the presentation was very pretty.

CRAB & SWEET CORN FRITTERS

Pea shoots, shaved fennel & rémoulade

These fritters tasted much better than I expected, not that I thought they would be bad but they certainly exceeded my expectations. I couldn't taste much of the crab itself but the sweet corn flavour really came through. Fried to golden brown, the crispy fritters were delicious with the cool and creamy rémoulade underneath.

Boralia (formerly "Borealia")

People ask me this a lot: "So where have you been lately that's good?" and of course by "where" what they really mean is "what new restaurants". Normally I would need at least a good 20 seconds to recap in my head all the places I've been to in the past couple of months (which is usually a lot) and at times, to his / her disappointment, my answer would just be "Nowhere really". Sure I may have had a few good / decent meals but to specifically name a place knowing that the person may end up going because of my recommendation? That's pressure, guys. Major pressure. In my head their question actually becomes "So where have you been lately that's spectacular? Somewhere you would go back to again and again" Well, these days my answer would be "Boralia". No hesitation whatsoever. Boralia (Twitter: @Boralia_To, Facebook: Boralia Restaurant) is certainly one of the tastiest, and one of the most interesting dinners I've had in a very long time.

Unlike the other two memorable dinners I had earlier this year at Buca Yorkville and Splendido, Boralia doesn't offer a tasting menu. Instead, a group of us (five to be exact) ordered Boralia's entire menu minus three dishes (that would be a total of nine "To Share" dishes, three "Snacks" and three "Desserts"). The actually worked out quite well for us; we didn't leave feeling gross or overly stuffed. Just right.

So, what makes this cozy little restaurant on Ossington so unique? Well, it's the fact that there's no other establishment in Toronto that serves their kind of food. Boralia's menu showcases Canada's indigenous cuisine; think dishes inspired from historic recipes of Canada’s early settlers and First Nations, with some plates dating back as far as the 1600's. As Boralia puts it, their dishes are

"...created through the inspiration provided by the wealth of tradition and history in old recipes melded with the simplicity of Chef’s preparation and modern techniques and a lighter, more sophisticated touch." 

Chef and owners Evelyn Wu and Wayne Morris' distinctive dishes celebrates the rich bounty of Ontario farms, and feature game and sustainably sourced seafood. Long story short, prepare yourself for one-of-a-kind dishes like braised whelk, bison bresaola, mussels smoked in pine needles and pigeon pie. To me, Boralia's menu is a breath of fresh air in a city saturated with fried chicken, bone marrow, and Mexican food (there's a time and place for all of those things but it's getting extremely redundant).

Boralia’s space is modern and polished, with a definite European feel to it. I really like all the wood accents especially the arched thick wood beams wrapping the ceiling. 

Fall Menu Preview at Earls Kitchen + Bar

I was invited to Earls Kitchen + Bar's new fall menu tasting several weeks ago at their 150 King Street West location (@earlskingst). In case you are not aware, all of Earls' menus are designed by a group of talented, award-winning chefs called the "Chef Collective". Here's a quick introduction about this group of elites.

It all started this summer when Earls (Twitter: @earlsrestaurant, Facebook: Earls Restaurants), a Vancouver based, family owned restaurant group, opened a brand new Test Kitchen in Vancouver. Although the kitchen is not only open to the public, it asks for feedback as they test new dishes - it is the first chain restaurant in North America to let the public in on how they create unique new dishes and methods those dishes are created with. 

(Photo Credit: Earls)

Instead of working with a small team of in-house culinary development chefs with guest chefs and chef consultants contributing a menu item, or with a “celebrity chef” putting their name on the entire menu, Earls decided to hire some of those consulting chefs to work for the company, some full time, some part time, but to have all of them work together collaboratively. Their talents are vastly different, yet equal, as are their positions in the kitchen. They noticed dishes that started with a brilliant idea from one chef could be elevated even further by another, or the reverse, a complicated fine dining recipe one chef brought to the table could be simplified and reworked to make a great Earls dish. Chefs working together brought new ideas, new cooking techniques, new ingredients and new inspiration into Earls Test Kitchen, so instead of a group of chefs working individually, it was a group of chefs working collectively. 

Meet the Earls Chef Collective

A series of Earls Chef Collective videos.

These awesome chefs flew in to Toronto to join us for the menu tasting and I had such a great time chatting with chef Dawn and chef Hamid during dinner! Anyway, enough about the chefs, right? Here's a look at what I got to taste that evening:

CRAB & LOBSTER ROLL

Lobster & prawn salad, capers, parsley, lemon, aioli, grilled brioche

BBQ PORK BUNS

Hoisin hot sauce, cilantro, roasted peanuts

Home of the Brave

Welcome to Home of the Brave, an all-American diner brought to you by the La Carnita folks Andrew Richmond (owner) and chefs Jonathon Hamilton and Nate Middleton. Nestled above Lou Dawgs on 589 King St. West, Home of the Brave dishes out classic American cuisine that "feels different, but also feels like home". In less than a month since the second-floor restaurant opened, Home of the Brave has already become quite the popular spot in the neighbourhood. With modernized American comfort food, creative cocktails and the motto JOIN OR DIE, it appears that Torontonians are happily joining in on the good eats at the new diner.

I went for an early dinner at Home of the Brave (Twitter: @theHOTB, Instagram: @thehotb) last Friday with three friends. Since the restaurant only takes reservations for more than 10 people, we thought it's wise to go earlier than later. We arrived at 6pm and snagged one of the large orange booths on the side.

The bar at Home of the Brave features spiked slushies and root beer on tap, as well as a rotating selection of Guest Book cocktails imported from some of America’s finest cocktail creators.

SUMMER IN SAKON ($12)

Thai spiced vodka, pineapple, ginger beer, lime (that's a bottle of water beside the cocktail)

CNE Toronto 2013 Media Day

CANADIAN NATIONAL EXHIBITION

AUG 16 - SEP 2

18 days of fun, food, rides, games and great entertainment at Canada's largest fair

Yup! It's CNE time~ I know it's sorta bittersweet. Whenever CNE (Twitter: @LetsGoToTheEx, Facebook: Canadian National Exhibition) starts it essentially means summer is over :( but to me it also means it's time for GAMES and FOOD! GAMES as in "I don't care how much money I spend I want a MINION!" and FOOD as in "I want to eat everything that will potentially clog my arteries!" Don't believe me? Check out my deep fried adventure at the CNE two years ago.

This year, I was invited to CNE's Media Day. I arrived at Princes' Gate bright and early yesterday morning and whoa was it chilly! I was so glad to see Gourmet Gringos serving hot coffee and breakfast for us :) Gourmet Gringos will be one of the many food trucks participating in CNE's Food Truck Frenzy on August 23, 24 and 25.

Gourmet Gringos' hot breakfast burrito totally warmed me up.

Welcome remarks from CNE General Manager, David Bednar. 

Kicking off our media tour was husband and wife buskers, Mr. Spin & Pandora Pink.

The County General

Splendido's co-owners Carlo Catallo and Victor Barry took over Oddfellow's old space at Queen & Shaw late last year and opened up The County General (if you have nothing else better to do you can read my extremely old post on Oddfellows from April 2010 heh). Unlike Splendido, The County General is a casual and laid back restaurant. It also has great hours: you can have lunch there on weekdays, go for brunch on Sundays, dinner seven days a week, late night snacks till 3am from Thursday to Saturday and even takeout!


My friend and I went to The County General (@CountyGeneral) last Sunday night at around 6:30pm. There were only two tables available when we walked in and 5 mins later the other one was taken as well.


Ruby Tuesday - El Dorado 12yr, Cassis, Cranberry juice, Orange zest ($12)

SMALL PLATES FOR STARTING AND SHARING

Roasted Bone Marrow ($5)

It may be surprising, given that the bone looks tiny, that there was actually a lot of bone marrow in it. We both had a very generous layer of delicious bone marrow on our toast. 

Sausage League 2011

Sausage seems to be gaining popularity lately in Toronto with Wvrst Beer Hall that just opened recently and Marben's Sausage League (I like to call it "Sausage Fest" hehe). Sausage League takes place at Marben Restaurant where chefs from some of Toronto's hottest restaurants compete for the title of "Sausage Champion". 


How Sausage League works is that on various Wednesdays through out May to September, two chefs compete to determine whose hand-made sausages reigns supreme that night. Guests dining at Marben can order from the $25 Sausage League menu which includes the sausages from that night's competitors as well as a bottle of Steam Whistle (they have the option to order from Marben's regular menu as well). When the guests are done, they each cast a vote on which sausage they like better and the winner will advance to the next round. The final 3 chefs remaining will battle it out during the championship match on September 28. I went on May 25 when the competition was between Marron Bistro and c5. 

We knew we were all gonna order from the Sausage League menu. However, I was thinking about ordering Marben's burger too but was advised by my friends that maybe it was better to wait and see if we would be too full from the sausages. FINE.

We sat at the Chef's table with a clear view of the action in the kitchen.

Messini Authentic Gyros

Okay, I have not tried every restaurant on the Danforth, but I gotta say, so far Messini Authentic Gyros is my favourite place to go for Greek food, especially for gyros. 


For those of you who are unfamiliar with gyros, here's some background information about it straight from Messini's website:


"Gyros are a Greek pita sandwich generally made with chicken or pork. The pita is usually stuffed with meat, tomatoes, onions and tzatiki sauce. In Greece, gyros are usually made as a fast food, as hamburgers are in the Western world."


When you walk into Messini, you will see a variety of meats, rotating on a spit. Seeing this makes my mouth water.

A lot of people get their gyros to-go, that's why there is always a crowd waiting by the door. Messini closes at 1am on weeknights, and at 5am on Fridays and Saturdays - perfect for the after-club crowd.

Grace Restaurant

My first experience at Grace Restaurant was about two years ago. At the time I didn't have a food blog but I still remember this particular restaurant when Cindy suggested going to Grace for her birthday dinner last month - I remember it because of its name (my Aunt's name is Grace) but not because of the food - well I thought the food at Grace was only average two years ago, and my view of it didn't change after going last month; it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either.


The four of us, including the birthday girl, went to Grace one Tuesday evening in December and it was freezing that night, which probably explains why the place was so empty (we were also early). I regret coat checking my jacket too because the restaurant was so cold the whole time we were eating there.


The people at the table there were exchanging Christmas gifts.

We sat towards the back of the restaurant by these French doors; there was a beautifully lit Christmas tree inside. There weren't any seating inside that room though so I'm guessing the room is probably just for looks. 

Apple Crumble Pie

I love apple pie, especially when it's served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top - it's really the ultimate comfort food/dessert. To be honest, I don't know anyone that doesn't like apple pie.


Anyway, I found this simple apple pie recipe from allrecipes.com. It has gotten 561 reviews, with an average of 4.5 stars out of 5. I browsed through some of the comments and made some changes to the recipe on my own. I liked the pie a lot, especially when it was fresh out of the oven. However, after a couple of days, I found that the apples slices got all mushed up and gooey - it was no longer individual apple slices. Oh well, I guess like other baked goods, it is always best to finish it ASAP.


Apple Crumble Pie
(adapted from allrecipes)


Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
• 5 cups apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened

I bought 6 Granny Smith apples and ended up using only 5 (1 apple = 1 cup)

Montreal Food Journey - Day 1: Rockaberry

After our dinner at Le P'tit Plateau, my boyfriend and I walked over to Rockaberry for dessert. Mind you, I was a bit weary about having pies for dessert because I'm usually a waffle / crepe / ice cream person, but I was determined to try Rockaberry because it's a local Montreal chain. Here are some facts: 1) Rockaberry was first opened in 1989, 2) it now has 5 locations in and around Montreal, and 3) It's been ranked #1 five times as "Best dessert/sweets" category for Montreal Mirror's annual "Best of Montreal" issue. So although pies are not my "thing", I thought Rockaberry deserves a visit.

The pies are showcased immediately once you walk in.