Café Boulud Yet Again

This marks my fourth post on Café Boulud (Twitter: @CafeBouludTO, Facebook: Cafe Boulud Toronto & d | bar) which will now be tied with Splendido as being the most blogged about restaurant on Food Junkie Chronicles. I know it's redundant to blog about a restaurant that many times but hey, this is my blog and I can do whatever I want. Heh, just kidding! Actually, no, not kidding...

But honestly, I shouldn't have to bring my big a$$ camera with me. There's really no need for me to write yet another post on Café Boulud (it should be obvious by now that I love the place). However, I still spend hours on my photos, writing and editing because I want to share with you all the incredible things they're doing there. Simple as that.

So if you're interested in what I have to say about Café Boulud yet again, please read on :)

We started off with some cocktails (and mocktail). We also ordered a bottle of 2010 Thirty Bench Riesling ($62)

DARK & SPICY ($16)

Barrel aged, hot pepper rum, pear juice, ginger beer

NOT NORMAL ($9)

Mocktail (sorry I forgot what was in it)

BREAD BASKET

CHEESE GOUGERES

There has been a few changes to Café Boulud's dinner menu since the last time I was there, so more the reason to write about them again, right? Okay, I'm gonna stop defending my decision.

NOVA SCOTIA LOBSTER SALAD ($26)

Iceberg lettuce, marinated quail’s egg, cucumber, avocado cream, marie rose

Lot St: Locally Driven, Ontario Proud, Toronto Inspired

Did you know that in the early 1900's, Queen St. was called Lot St.? Paying homage to the neighbourhood's history, Lot St., which opened in August of last year, has also used "LOT" as an acronym for what diners can expect at their Queen West restaurant:

Locally Driven

Ontario Proud

Toronto Inspired

I was not at all surprised by the clever wordplay. Head chef Peter Pietruniak (@ChefPeteTO), who took over the Lot St. (Twitter: @LotStreet Facebook: LOT St) kitchen in September, has always been an advocate of local food. Petruniak once told me...

"Even before getting into this profession, I always try to eat local and make the effort to look for grown-in-Canada products. I also try to avoid eating at major chain restaurants. Supporting local has many benefits; it helps local farmers and small businesses, as well as reducing carbon footprint.  I will take a fresh Ontario peach over ANY tropical fruit; it is fresh and not ripening on a truck as it crosses the border.  I have read about many chefs who try to really show what their country has to offer. The best chefs Adria, Keller, and even Edward Tuson at Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island want to know where their ingredients come from.  Every chef should want that and every chef should know that food doesn't just come from the back of a truck."

There are both warm and cool tones at the restaurant. Reclaimed wood and exposed-brick keeps the room warm while the stainless steel and copper pipes elements give an industrial feel to the space.

We sat at the bar last Friday night. Chef Pietruniak was working away just 5 ft from us the entire evening.

Café Gray Deluxe (Hong Kong)

Café Gray Deluxe is located in The Upper House, a hotel situated above Pacific Place in Hong Kong.(@UpperHouse_HKG). Elliot and I went to Café Gray Deluxe for lunch one day (the restaurant offers breakfast, lunch, Sunday brunch, afternoon tea, and dinner). Thanks to Ali at Café Gray Deluxe, we were taken good care of and had more than enough for lunch. Do you understand the reason why I always turn into a fat piggy during vacation???


Chef Gray Kunz, born in Singapore and raised in Switzerland, moved to New York and opened the Lespinasse restaurant at the St. Regis Hotel in 1990 where he earned four stars from The New York Times. He has also won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef in New York City in 1995 and was inducted into the Restaurant Hall of Fame in 1998 by the Culinary Institute of America. Chef Kunz wrote The Elements of Taste (2001) and in 2004, he teamed up with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten in the opening of Spice Market, a restaurant that was awarded three stars by The New York Times. In 2004, Chef Kunz opened Cafe Gray at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. In 2007, he opened Grayz in midtown New York City. The opening of Café Gray Deluxe in 2009 in Hong Kong marked his return to Asia.

Being on the 49th floor, Café Gray Deluxe offers stunning views of the Victoria Harbour.

Seated at the bar.

Bread with yogurt with olive oil and sumac

My Bloody Mary

And me secretly (or not so secretly) wishing that it was a Caesar instead lol~

APPETIZER

Steak Tartar - Gaufrettes, Kunz Ketjap 

Lobster-Barley Risotto - Roasted Artichokes, Tarragon Butter

MAIN

Braised Short Rib of Beef - Soft Polenta, Meaux Mustard

Enoteca Sociale

Finally, my dear followers and readers, I finally made my way to Enoteca Sociale (@EnoSociale) for dinner. I honestly don't know what took me so long but I was there two weeks ago Sunday and that's all that matters right now =D


I tried getting a dinner reservation the day of (I know, not the smartest move on my part). I went online and there was nothing available until 10PM. Knowing that Enoteca Sociale leave tables for walk-ins, I tried my luck and went to the resto around 6pm. The only available table was indeed still at 10PM but I was told by the hostess that there was plenty of room at the bar. I took that offer up without hesitation as they had a very spacious bar with comfy stools.

I sat at the end of the bar.

I ordered a glass of Sauvignon blanc 2009 IGT, Bastianich, Friuli, while waiting for my friend to arrive. 

My friend Mike arrived shortly after. It didn't take us long to decide what we wanted due to the fact that we were both hungry and Mike's allergy to nuts gave us little choice on what appetizers we could have; if you check out Enoteca Sociale's menu a lot of their appetizers has nuts - hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachio, almond etc.

Bread and olive oil.

APPETIZERS

Grilled Octopus, Pepper Tuffo & Potato ($19) - Extremely tender octopus. We both really enjoyed all the different flavours and textures from the octopus, potatoes, beans, and sauce.

Arancini Con Stracciatella ($13) 

Deep fried risotto balls? Even if this had nuts I was going to order it anyway and just have it all by myself. Super crispy shell and I loved the al dente texture of the risotto. Mike thought they tasted a bit bland but the caramelized onions helped. I do agree with him to some extent on this.

Calphalon: Couples Cooking Italian

One of my Christmas presents from my boyfriend last year was a couples cooking class at Calphalon. I thought it was so thoughtful! With my love for food and cooking, and being able to cook with my boyfriend and learning new recipes together, it was the perfect present. I've heard good things about the classes at Calphalon even before getting this present so I knew the class would be so much fun. Thanks again babe for such a wonderful present =) 


(note: I suggested to my boyfriend recently that we should do one of these cooking classes at least once every year from now on ^_^).


The classroom. We were the first couple to arrive. The guy there is probably bbm'ing his wife.

We chose a station in the front row (there were rows in total).

The classroom assistant, Sasha, gave us two bowls of pasta while we wait for the class to start. 

Stonefire

I'm hardly in downtown on weekends that's why I'm always on the look out for new places to dine in the 'burbs. And in 'burbs, I mean Markham and Richmond Hill, and sometimes Scarborough too, which I refer to all as simply "Uptown" haha. You may have a different definition than me, which is understandable but considering that I'm in Mississauga, everywhere else that is not in the west end, or downtown, is termed "Uptown"  for me (except the Yonge & Eglinton area which I call "Midtown"). If I'm not in ANY of those areas, I simply do not know where I am =D 


My friend Adrienne recommended Stonefire to me a couple of months ago. It is located in Thornhill, near Hwy 7 & Bathurst. I'm excited since besides the big chains, such as Moxies, Milestones, Alice Fazoolis, etc) I'm oblivious to non-chain restaurants in Uptown for casual dining.


Once I walked into Stonefire I already feel good about it because it has an open kitchen. Haven't tasted their food yet but open kitchens are always a +1 for me. However, I can't say the same for their wooden floors. It looks a bit out of place for me; the thought of those chairs dragging on the floor haunts me.

The layout of Stonefire also seems a bit awkward. I think it's because I'm not used to seeing restaurants these days as just one giant rectangular space with booths on the sides and tables in the middle. I mean, I see that in Chinese restaurants all the time, but not in lets say, those chain restaurants I talked about before. I don't think I would feel too comfortable dining in the middle like that couple there - I would feel "exposed". Is it just me?

Coco Lezzone

For my friend, Ray's birthday, him and I went to Coco Lezzone for dinner. I've been there once eons ago, while Ray has been there a couple of times. 


Ray is my best friend and my original food buddy. Back in our university days, I would tempt Ray to skip lectures so we can go for out lunch instead.  We would also venture off to different restaurants around town after class and eat ourselves silly. After university, we discovered fine dining and would go through Winterlicious / Summerlicious meals like they were free. He is now in a different stage in life, and off to bigger and better things, which leaves me, poor me, in a constant search for foodie friends to fill the void he left behind. Anyway, he was able to spare some time out of his hectic schedule a couple of weeks ago so I can treat him for dinner =P


Coco Lezzone is located in the heart of Little Italy on College St. It is a pretty casual Italian restaurant with a patio out front. It also has sliding glass doors that can open all the way to the side for the summer.