Hawksworth Restaurant (Vancouver)

I finally had a chance to visit Vancouver last month, a city I haven't been to in more than 20 years (I blame the ridiculously expensive airfare). I spent one very chill week in and around Vancity just eating, drinking and hanging out. It was exactly what I needed; I came back home very well rested (7 lbs heavier!) and I didn't feel like I needed another vacation from my vacation (I hate that feeling). Anyway, researching which restaurants to check out naturally became my main mission before the trip. My final list consisted of around 7-8 places, with Hawksworth being on the very top of my list.

Hawksworth Restaurant (Instagram: @hawksworthrest, Facebook: Hawksworth Restaurant) has received an impressive number of awards and accolades since it opened in 2011, some of which include Best New Restaurant from enRoute Magazine, Canada's Restaurant of the Year from Maclean's Magazine, Second Place in Canada's 100 Best list, Chef of the Year, Sommelier of the Year, and Best Upscale Restaurant from Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, etc, etc. The list goes on and on (click here for the full list of awards). So, to say I was "excited" when my friend Mijune of Follow Me Foodie snagged a reservation there is clearly an understatement.

Located in the gorgeous Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Hawksworth serves contemporary Canadian cuisine. The restaurant's menu is seasonal and features local Canadian ingredients. We left it up to Chef de Cuisine, Chris Stewart, to feed us that evening. It's always better that way, trust me.

PUFFED BEEF TENDON (amuse)

Iberico ham, liquefied fat trimmings

Take a look at that iberico. Thinly sliced with a dark-ish red hue and some natural fat infiltration, the 48-month old iberico had a sharp flavour and an oily texture (amplified by the liquefied fat trimmings). The fried beef tendon puff had an intense crunch that quickly dissolved on the palate. Yum. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start the meal.

Wine Director, Bryant Mao, leads the award-winning wine program at Hawksworth. Here is Bryant pouring Mijune and I our first glass.

HALIBUT

Buttermilk poached halibut, fresh peas, pea puree, pea veil, pea tips, pea powder, edible flowers, puffed rice.

Pairing: Little Farm Riesling 2015, Mulberry Tree Vineyard, Cawston, BC. 

So much yes for pea season! Nothing symbolizes the sweet, light, and freshness of spring quite like peas. Underneath the velvety pea puree, the poached halibut was soft and flaky, and the puffed rice added just the right amount of texture to the plate (or bowl). Beautiful flavours, textures, depth and colour. This was a wonderful representation of the terroir of Vancouver, with land and sea uniting to form a perfectly made dish. 

Tasting Menu at Sidecar

I wrote a blog post about Sidecar Bar and Grill in May 2010, about a month after I started this blog. You can check it out here if you want. In a nutshell, it's about my friend Cindy and I trying Sidecar's prix fixe menu for the very first time and me falling in love with their steak frites (FYI till this day Cindy and I still go on a lot of dining escapes together!). Ughhh, looking back at old blog posts always make me cringe - I hate the way I wrote back then. Sometimes, I have an urge to delete certain old posts, but a friend once said I shouldn't because "it shows growth"...yea, seven year's worth! *Sigh*. Reading that post actually made me laugh though because of how I described my cocktail:

"This was so yummy and refreshing. I love fruity drinks!"

Kill me now! Oh, how I've grown. I despise fruity drinks nowadays. The boozier, the better. Actually, this is an excellent example of how a person's taste can change over time, which is why I always encourage people to try foods they previously didn't like because you may end up enjoying it the second time around (especially if years have passed). I used to despise sea urchin but now I can never get enough. Can you imagine? Hating uni? I don't even know myself anymore.

Sorry to veer off topic. Anyway, since that blog post, I've probably been to Sidecar a handful more times over the years. Admittedly, I frequent their second floor cocktail bar - Toronto Temperance Society - way more often. TTS is like my second home; it makes some of the best cocktails in the city and the atmosphere there is second to none. Seeing that I haven't been to Sidecar in a while, I was very intrigued when I heard that a new chef took over downstairs.

Before I start talking about the food, there are two things worth noting: 1) A minor change, but nonetheless important, is the restaurant's slight name change. Back in the day, the restaurant was called "Sidecar Bar & Grill", now it's Sidecar Restaurant (Instagram: @sidecar_restaurant), and 2) Since 2017, the restaurant eliminated tipping completely to become Toronto's first gratuity-free restaurant.

Helming the kitchen at Sidecar now is chef H ("Hyun Jung") Kim (@hhyunjkim). Graduated from George Brown in 2010, Kim started his career at Globe Bistro under chefs Kevin McKenna and Daniel Sanders, followed by a brief stint at C5 with chef Ted Corrado. He then worked at George Restaurant for chef Lorenzo Loseto as chef de partie and eventually moved up the ranks to junior sous chef. After two and a half years at George, he traveled around Europe for six months. When he came back to Toronto, he staged at a couple places and briefly worked at The Chase before heading back to George as sous chef. In December 2016, Kim took over the kitchen at Sidecar, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Move over fruity drinks! Nobody gets between me and my old fashioneds anymore.

OLD FASHIONED ($14)

Bourbon, sugar, bitters

I have a soft spot for restaurants that offer complimentary bread. There's not many of them out there anymore.

2017 Chinese New Year Dinner: Poon Choi ("盆菜")

Happy Chinese New Year to all my Chinese friends! 2017 is the year of the Rooster, and because I have no idea what that entails, I googled it. I found this nifty graph showing how people born in a year of the Rooster (i.e. 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, and 2029) will do in 2017 when it comes to work, love, wealth and health. Check out how scientific the folks at Chinahighlights.com made it all look:

This shows what's lucky and unlucky for Roosters. Note the cockscomb (obviously) and how Roosters should never, ever, venture east.

I'm not superstitious at all but it's fun to look at horoscopes sometimes, especially during Chinese New Year! But y'all know what's more fun than zodiacs during CNY? Eating the food my Mom makes.

This year, my Mom switched it up a bit. Instead of making multiple dishes, she made poon choi, or 盆菜, which literally means "basin vegetables" in Chinese. Ingredients are cooked separately, layered carefully and topped with an assortment of delicacies. Each person at the table takes food from the "basin", layer by layer, from the top to the bottom. Eating 盆菜, or "big bowl feast", signifies abundance and richness in the coming year.

FYI. According to Wikipedia, poon choi was invented during the late Song Dynasty. When Mongol troops invaded Song China, the young Emperor fled to the area around Guangdong Province and Hong Kong. To serve the Emperor as well as his army, the locals collected all their best food available, cooked it, and because there were not enough serving containers available put the resulting meal in large wooden washbasins.

There are all the ingredients that went into my Mom's poon choi:

⇒ Bottom layer: white radish, carrots, cabbage (白蘿蔔, 紅籮蔔, 長紹菜) 

⇒ 2nd layer: roasted duck, oil chicken, roasted bbq pork, brined pork stomach (烧鴨肶, 油雞肶, 烧肉, 鹵水猪肚) 

⇒ 3rd layer: fish maw, sea cucumber, shiitake mushroom, dried scallop (花膠, 海参, 冬菇, 瑤柱) 

⇒ Top layer: black moss, abalone, soy sauce marinated tiger shrimp, egg tofu and broccoli (發菜, 鲍魚, 豉汁明蝦, 玉子豆腐, 西蘭花) 

A short Instagram video of my Mom pouring homemade chicken broth into the pot on the stove. That sizzle thooo (don't mind my Dad talking in the background).

Each bite of the poon choi was such a treat - I wouldn't change a thing. The poon choi fed the five of us no problem..there was so much food in there!

Before I go, I want to mention the most precious ingredient in the poon choi, which was the abalone. My mom bought this "Gold Price" boiled canned abalone from the supermarket. With just two abalones inside, this can was close to $70. The mollusks were tender with a bit of chewiness to them, and due to the salt water they lived in, the meat tasted a bit salty.

Like always, my Mom totally spoiled us :) Thanks, Mom!

Related Posts:

2011 Chinese New Year's Eve Feast

2012 Chinese New Year's Eve Feast

2013 Chinese New Year's Eve Feast

2014 Chinese New Year's Eve Feast

New Summer Cocktails at The Keg Steakhouse + Bar

Hurray! It's finally summer! Well, not officially yet but close enough. Wasn't the weather on the long weekend just fabulous? It was so sunny and hot out I even went to the beach on Victoria Day and got myself a tan. Yes, you heard right, a tan in May! I seriously can't wait to see what the rest of summer has in store :)

To celebrate the warmer weather, The Keg Steakhouse + Bar (Twitter: @TheKeg, Facebook: The Keg Steakhouse + Bar) invited me to their King West location to try their newly introduced summer cocktails and martinis. Inspired by the beautiful new season, The Keg's range of new cocktails all feature a variety of refreshing herbs such as rosemary and mint, freshly squeezed citrus fruits, and premium liquors such as Boodles Gin, George Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila, Gosling’s Black Seal Rum and Lot No. 40 Whisky. I love all those things. All of it. If you can't tell already, cocktails are my weakness!

My friend and I tried a number of cocktails that evening, and because we both love boozy drinks, we "Keg Sized" everything (it's really the way to go). Without further ado, below are the cocktails and martinis we tried. Aside from the Keg Caesar, all the cocktails are from The Keg's new cocktail menu. The first price listed in the brackets is 1oz, the second is 2oz (Keg Size).

FAMOUS KEG CAESAR ($7.5 / $11.5)

Polar Ice vodka, Caesar mix, Tabasco and Worcestershire

LONDON BUCK ($7.5 / $11.5)

Boodles gin, fresh lemon and lime juice, simple syrup, muddled mint and raspberries, finished with a float of ginger beer

NEW YORK SOUR ($7.5 / $11.5)

Lot No. 40 whisky, fresh lemon and lime juice, simple syrup finished with a red wine float

BLACKCURRANT GINGER MARTINI ($11)

Casamigos Blanco tequila, Cassis, fresh lemon and lime juice, ginger syrup finished with a float of ginger ale

PINEAPPLE SPLASH ($7.5 / $11.5)

Gosling’s Black Seal rum, muddled fresh pineapple and mint, brown sugar, lime juice and a splash of ginger beer

DRUNKEN CHERRY ($7.5 / $11.5)

Casamigos Blanco tequila, triple sec, house-made drunken Bing cherry juice, agave syrup and fresh lemon and lime juice

MANGO MOJITO ($7.5 / $11.5)

Havana Club 3 Year Old rum, fresh lemon and lime juice, muddled sugar, mango and mint topped with soda.

NEW YORK SOUR ($7.5 / $11.5)

Lot No. 40 whisky, fresh lemon and lime juice, simple syrup finished with a red wine float

All these cocktails were really tasty in their own unique way, we actually liked them all. If I had to choose, my favourites would be the New York Sour (I tend to like sours), the Mango Mojito (mango is my favourite fruit) and the Pineapple Splash (I'm a sucker for anything ginger beer). My friend's favourites were the New York Sour (because it's the booziest) and the London Buck. Since we both really enjoyed the New York Sour, here's the recipe for it:

Zomato x FoodismTO @ The Good Son: A #ZomatoMeetUp

Maybe, just maybe, you're wondering "What the heck does she mean by Zomato x FoodismTO @ The Good Son: A #ZomatoMeetUp?" Meh, it's just my way of telling you guys I attended a Zomato Meetup dinner hosted by Zomato and Foodism Toronto at The Good Son Restaurant, that's all. I'm trying to be more creative with my writing these days. I'm failing miserably already, aren't I?

Last week, Zomato and Foodism Toronto, invited me and several foodies for an intimate tasting dinner at The Good Son, a restaurant that I've been dying to check out. As a matter of fact, The Good Son (Twitter: @thegoodson_to, Facebook: The Good Son Restaurant) is one of 12 restaurants participating in the #TOMealsForAYear giveaway, an amazing contest going on right now where one lucky winner will win a prize consisting of 12 meals (and drinks!) for two at 12 of Toronto's top restaurants. That's right, one meal every month for a year. Imagine that!

In association with restaurant listing and booking engine Zomato, Foodism Toronto has pulled together 12 of Toronto's most vaunted restaurants. The list is very impressive, if I may say so myself:

Cafe Boulud

Lisa Marie

George

The Good Son

Canoe

Carmen

Windsor Arms

The Chase

Miss Thing's

Miku

NAO Steakhouse

The Carbon Bar

You MUST love food if you're reading this, so what are you waiting for? GET ON IT and enter now! If you snooze you lose because the contest ends on April 1st. By the way, if you're not familiar with Foodism Toronto, you will be very soon. Foodism is, in fact, London England's largest food and drink magazine, and in November 2015, Foodism Toronto was born. It's a website and weekly newsletter, and coming September, they will be launching a  print magazine which will feature local trends, profiles, personalities, gadgets and stories from Canada’s food and drink capital.  

Whew. With that outta the way, let us now focus on All The Good Food at The Good Son! That was pretty clever, right? Right?! ;) First things first, sitting by the pass has its pros and cons. I love being close to all the action in the kitchen, especially this one with that beautiful wood fire oven imported in from Mam Forni, Italy, in the back. At the same time, though, it's the absolute worst when you're hungry. DAMN IT, JUST GIMME ALL THE FOOD RIGHT NOW!

Chef Vittorio Colacitti (@vittorioreo) and his team at The Good Son prepared a special seven-course tasting menu for the evening. The dishes were either entirely off-menu or a variation of what's normally offered on the menu.

SEA BREAM CRUDO

Tomatillo, apple, almond, avocado

Great start to the tasting. A beautiful and delicate dish that's rich in flavour and texture.

Cresta (formerly Pastizza)

New year. New menu. New name.

At the beginning of January, Pastizza - located on a cobblestone street adjacent to the historic St. Lawrence Market - was renamed to Cresta. I was told by Cresta's general manager, Dimitri Petropoulos, that the reason behind the change was because the owners thought the name "Pastizza" was conveying an inaccurate impression of the restaurant to Torontonians. As in, the name "Pastizza" sounded like a fast-casual Italian eatery serving only pizzas and pastas. Since that was far from the case, the owners of Pastizza decided to rename the restaurant to Cresta, after Cresta Ridge vineyard of Thomas George Estates, a California vineyard owned by Cresta's co-owner, Thomas Baker.

Despite the name change and menu overhaul, the interior of Cresta (Twitter: @cresta_TO, Facebook: cresta) remained pretty much the same (I didn't see any noticeable changes anyway).

Compared to Pastizza, Cresta's new menu offers a wider variety of appetizers and seafood options. The menu, overall, also carries a higher price tag than before. For example, the carbonara and lasagna I had at Pastizza were both priced at $13, whereas all the pastas at Cresta are now $20+. Another example would be the entrees; the guanciale di manzo (or braised beef) I had at Pastizza before was $25, all the mains at Cresta now are $34+.

I was invited by Cresta to try their new menu. As usual, we started off with cocktails. As you may have guessed, the cocktail menu was also revamped.

THE CRESTA NEGRONI ($13)

Bombay sapphire gin, campari, dolin dry vermouth, sparkling brut, grapefruit

ISLAY HOLIDAY ($14)

Tromba tequila blanco, bowmore 12 scotch, grapefruit, lime, grapefruit bitters

WHISKY SOUR

Back at The Spoke Club

Dinner at The Spoke Club is always a treat, especially when you have Executive Chef Rob Klunder (Instagram: @rkbones) cook for you. I was all set for another visit since the last time I was at the members-only restaurant was more than six months ago (truth be told, I heard through the grapevine that chef Rob had a new menu out so the eager beaver in me wanted to check that out ASAP).

Seeing that my brain is usually fried by the end of the work day I knew doing a tasting would be my best bet because at times, deciding on what to order can be a very strenuous process for me. I'm sure questions like "What should I order?", "Should I have this, that, or both?", "Can't I just order everything?", or "Is this too much food?" have killed plenty of brain cells. Considering that I'm not getting any younger and keeping my brain in top shape is priority, I usually get around this by asking the chef whether he/she can prepare a tasting for me; a smaller, tasting portion of selected dishes from the menu (sometimes the chef may bring out several off-menu dishes too). Some chefs do this, some chefs don't. Either way, if you're ever interested in doing a tasting you can always ask when you're making a reservation. Anyway, having chef Rob tell me "I'll keep on bringing food out until you tell me to stop" was literally music to my ears. Just make all the decisions for me, please and thank you, chef! I'm not sure about you but I always trust that the chef knows best. After all, it's their food and they're in charge of the kitchen. They are in their element so they must know what's good.

So that's essentially what happened at The Spoke Club (Twitter: @TheSpokeClub, Facebook: The Spoke Club). Chef Rob fed me until I couldn't handle another morsel of food. Here's what I had:

TARO CHIPS

Artichoke Dip

CAST IRON BAKED BRIOCHE

Cafe Paris, Parmesan Snow, Shaved Black Truffle

VEGETABLE POT STICKERS

Marinated Tofu & Vegetables, Lime Soya Dipping Sauce, XO Sauce

CRISPY TYPHOON CHICKEN

Tender Chicken, Spicy Soya Ginger Glaze, Ripe Mango, Chilies, Scallions

FIGO

FIGO, offering Italian-inspired cuisine, is the newest restaurant to join the Icon Legacy Hospitality and INK Entertainment empire of restaurants including Byblos, Patria, NAO Steakhouse and Weslodge (Citta closed a few weeks ago). Located at the corner of Adelaide St. W. and John, FIGO (Twitter: @FigoToronto, Facebook: Figo) officially opened on Monday, November 2nd, and is serving lunch and dinner Monday to Sunday, with a lunch menu that offers puccia (oven-baked sandwiches) and a $19.95 three-course prix fixe.  Sunday brunch features classic brunch plates and an assortment of pastries.

The FIGO space is stylish and elegant, with an open kitchen at one end of the restaurant framed by a subway-tiled archway. The traditional wood-fired oven is for their pizzas and sandwiches.

A shot of FIGO's long dining room. This was taken from my table which was at the direct opposite end of the restaurant from the kitchen. Notice the beautiful hand-painted roses on the ceiling. I really like the interior at FIGO - the whites and pastels give a very contemporary and stylish feel to the restaurant, and it's very different compared to Byblos, Patria, and Weslodge, where darker shades dominate. The restaurant seats 13 people at the bar and 105 in total, with plans for an outdoor terrace in the summer with seating for 80.

FIGO's cocktail list includes shareable beverages, like this Punch Americano, a four-person cocktail served in a crystal decanter:

PUNCH AMERICANO ($15/ glass, $60/decanter)

Cocchi americano + cocchi rosa + bacardi superior + vino bianco + white cranberry + fresh lemon + peychauds + angostur

Nothing against Sangrias but it's nice have another shareable cocktail choice. This punch didn't seem boozy until five minutes in....that's when you will feel it :) 

FIGO's dinner menu is divided into eight sections: House Ricotta, Salads, Starters, Pizza, Pasta, Seafood, Meat, and Sides. Below is what I had for dinner last week at FIGO:

SEA BREAM CRUDO ($14)

Chili, basil 

With less than a handful of ingredients, the delicate sea bream was allowed to shine on its own. This plate was very light and fresh.

The 2015 Almanac Dinner

On Monday, April 20th, six of Toronto’s top chefs – Kevin Castonguay (Provisions), Steve Gonzalez (Valdez), Robbie Hojilla (The Harbord Room), Basilio Pesce (Porzia), Scott Vivian (Beast) and Nate Middleton (Home of the Brave) – collaborated with Ontario farmers and beverage producers for The 2015 Almanac Dinner in support of The Stop Community Food Centre.

Hosted by Provisions and Pass The Table, The 2015 Almanac Dinner (#2015AlmanacDinner) took place at The Burroughes Building. The evening began with a cocktail reception at the beautiful loft space.

Photo Credit: Brooke Wedlock (IG:@brookewedlock)

Delicious cocktails + Canapes = No more Monday blues!

Photo Credit: Brooke Wedlock (IG:@brookewedlock)

I enjoyed the following tasty snacks prepared by the chefs:

OYSTER AND PEARLS

Squid ink rice chip, lemon grass, ginger and Acadian Sturgeon caviar

ORGANIC SALMON SASHIMI

Crispy salmon skin, avocado, anaheim chili and raw cucumber

DRY AGED WEST GREY FARMS RAW BEEF

Multigrain raw cracker, kozliks mustard, parmesan cheese and chives

GREY OWL GOATS CHEESE

Walnut and goats yogurt espuma, anjou pear and earl grey raisin puree

Photo Credit: Brooke Wedlock (IG:@brookewedlock)

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.