Dufflet High Tea

After 40 years in the bakery business, Dufflet Pastries' name is now synonymous with delicious and creative desserts and cakes in Toronto. The reputable bakery now boasts three retail cafés and a wholesale division that supplies over 500 restaurants, cafés, hotels, caterers, grocers and specialty gourmet shops throughout North America. Using only premium ingredients, with no hydrogenated fats or oils, no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives, each Dufflet (Twitter: @dufflet, Facebook: Dufflet Pastries) product is handcrafted from scratch, never made from a mix. I must say, this is all very impressive! Speaking of being impressed, I had the opportunity to try some of their gluten-free chocolate fudge tarts back in September (the Dufflet Gluten-Free line was a finalist for the 2013 SIAL Innovation Award). I mentioned in the blog post that I'm always skeptical about gluten-free products (in that they won't taste as good as the original version) but I was completely blown away by those Dufflet tarts! They were rich and decadent, and never in a million years would I have guessed they were gluten-free.

I was invited by Dufflet recently to try their High Tea. Available every Sunday from 1PM to 5PM exclusively at the Dufflet beach location (Facebook: Dufflet Beach), guests can enjoy a selection of sumptuous desserts and canapés from Dufflet Pastries paired with a premium selection of Sloane Teas.

This 24-seat café is open seven days a week and offers a wide selection of signature cakes, pastries, pies, cookies, as well as light lunches and specialty beverages for eat-in or take-out. 

They also have a lot of cute greeting cards, gourmet candy and chocolates for sale at the café.

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.

London Calling High Tea at Shangri-La

Executive Pastry Chef Nicholas Patterson from soon-to-open Shangri-La at The Shard in London made a guest appearance at Shangri-La Toronto last week (Twitter: @ShangriLaTO, Facebook: Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto). Known for his wealth of patisserie experience and accolades, chef Patterson brought to Toronto - all the way from the U.K. -  his best selection of signature pastries. Chef Patterson's London Calling High Tea menu (#londoncallingslto), which debuted on January 13th at the hotel's Lobby Lounge, is priced at $40 per person and is served daily from 2pm to 5pm. And don't worry everybody - this High Tea menu will continue to be offered well after the chef Patterson's departure on the 19th.

Named ‘UK Pastry Chef of the Year’ at the Craft Guild of Chefs’ awards in 2008, chef Patterson - prior to joining Shangri-La - was most recently head pastry chef at Claridge’s, where he created some of London’s most eye-catching edible gift items and awarded the Tea Guild’s ‘Best London Afternoon Tea’ in 2006 and 2011. He also spent two years between Paris and Tokyo as Chef De Poste with the renowned French Pastry Chef, Pierre Hermé. 

Shangri-La's 90-seat Lobby Lounge.

The Lobby Lounge is very spacious. It still manages to be very cozy though with all the leather sofas and chairs, and of course that incredible fireplace. I also love the natural light coming in through those large floor-to-ceiling windows.

 Large statement paintings and sculptures can be found throughout the lounge.

Afternoon Tea at Four Seasons

After my back to back disappointing afternoon tea experiences at The Library Bar at Fairmont Royal York (first time with my Mom and then with my friend Julia, both bad) I had zero expectations for The Lobby Bar at Four Seasons not because I have heard bad things, but more so to prepare myself in case Four Seasons turns out just as bad. Thank goodness that wasn't the case - Julia and I thought The Lobby Bar was many many times better than The Library Bar for afternoon tea (why do they both have such similar names?!). We walked out of Four Seasons happy, content and satisfied, instead of unhappy, frustrated, and ripped off like our last time at Royal York (can you sense my bitterness?).


Before I go on, please note that I will be comparing Four Seasons with both the Royal York and Windsor Arms as those are the only places I've been to for afternoon tea.


Unlike Windsor Arms and the Royal York, the atrium at Four Seasons was pretty quiet (went on a Saturday). I'm guessing due to two factors 1) no live music and 2) just overall less busy compared to Windsor Arms and the Royal York. The decor at Four Seasons was also a lot more simple with light colours, in contrast to the Victorian style rooms at Windsor Arms and the Royal York. There was a lot of natural light here.

We opted for the regular afternoon tea menu with assorted sandwiches, pastries and scones. Other options were: a class of Veuve Clicquot Champagne (add $19), glass of any custom made martini (add $10) or glass of Astori Prosecco (add $8).

The tea menu. We chose the Floral Jasmine and Four Seasons Summer Blend.

This mirror was right across from where I was sitting so I didn't have to move one bit for this picture.

I didn't really like the tea set here - the square pattern with the silver rim has "hotel" written all over it. I prefer the more flowery and girly patterns =) To be fair though, this pattern on white do really match the decor at the Four Seasons.

Flora Jasmine tea, "delicately perfumed with Golden Jasmine blossoms of the first perfume and fresh mellow overtones with a slightly astringent finish", came out a nice deep red. Hurray for true loose leaves not in a bag! For those of you who do not know, my biggest pet peeve at Royal York was their use of tea bags and telling me they switched because strainers caused too many accidents with people getting burned O_o

Afternoon tea at Fairmont Royal York

I brought my Mom to the Fairmont Royal York for afternoon tea for Mother's Day this year. Last year, I also took her to afternoon tea, but at Windsor Arms, a place that I've been to a handful of times (last time I had tea there was in their Russian Room).


I've only been to Windsor Arms for afternoon tea and have always wanted to try other places so when a WagJag coupon came up for Royal York, I bought two coupons right away; it was tea for two, valued at $79, for the price of $38. Let's just say I regret getting two coupons because after this experiece at Royal York, I now appreciate my afternoon tea experience at Windsor Arms so much more. I have no desire whatsoever to go back to the Royal York. My Mom and I were really disappointed at the service and the food at the Royal York.

Royal York's afternoon tea is only served on weekeends. We went several Sundays before Mother's Day for a 3PM sitting (their only available time that day). The room was packed full and was extremely noisy. My Mom was sitting across from me and we both had to lean forward to hear each other - the sound level was similar to a Chinese dim sum place, no joke. There was also a guitarist, which was nice if the room was actually quieter as I couldn't even hear the music much and because of that, the music merely added to the noise in the room. 

Aside from the noise level, I do like the decor at the Library Bar. It was very cozy and warm with the dark wood, carpet, and the beautiful drapes. I also liked the variety of seating there.

School Dinner x 3

My last four times at School were all for dinner: one occasion being Cheese School, and the other three times were dinners with my friends - all within maybe, 3 months time? Pretty crazy, right? Well I love the food at School so what can I say? Anyway, to make it easier for myself, I combined the three dinners into this one mega dinner post. And in case you haven't seen my School brunch post, you must check that out too.


Oh and funny news guys! In a few months time, I will be moving office; out of the financial district (bye bye PATH) and into a building at Liberty Village that's literally a 2-minute walk from School!  IT MUST BE FATE! Instead of staying in the boring financial district, which I fully anticipated was going to happen, my bosses chose Liberty Village~ Hurray! 


K, back to dinner talk :)


I usually go for dinner right after work so I'm always the first one at School.

For all three dinners I sat at the same table, not on purpose, it just happened like that - it's the table by the window and directly below all the "3:30 clocks".

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.

The School Gets an A+

I like school (yes even the ones that involve studying), but I have another thing going with School and Bakery Cafe. I like their concept, I like their decor, and most importantly, I like their food!  I've been there 3 times now, and I would go again in a heart beat. It is one of my favorite spots for brunch.

I have read reviews where people claim that the food is mediocre, and the waiters are terrible. Well, obviously I can't say I agree since I just said School is one of my favorite brunch places. First of all, I like their food. If you check their menu, there is certainly a wide variety - fresh bakery goodies, fruit, crepes & waffles, french toast & pancakes, and savory plates. The portions are just right, and I don't think their prices are unreasonable at all. As for the bad service, maybe I need to go a 4th time to experience it? Not sure, because for the 3 times I went, I really didn't find a problem at all. It can get really packed and very busy during brunch there too, so I don't know about anybody else, but given those circumstances, I don't expect waiters to be standing around doing nothing, waiting to serve, or be able to appear right at your side when you need them - they are going to be roaming around trying to keep up with taking orders, bringing out food, bringing in plates, and other waiter duties. In my point of view, cut them some slack! This is not fine dining! Also, if you are in a hurry to go some place on a Sunday morning, have you considered that maybe brunch is not your thing? Weekend brunch is meant to be a relaxing meal, and not part of a hectic schedule where you only allot 30 minutes for it. You must enjoy brunch without a time constraint. Better yet, you should take a nap afterwards too. Ok, rant done. Moving on.

I have included pictures from all my 3 visits to School (some have no captions because I forgot what they are). Seeing these pictures again make me want to go back right now.


These yummy looking pastries were all on the counter to the right of the waiting area. I just want to grab and eat everything