My two friends and I decided to meet up for drinks and appetizers at The Bowery (@TheBoweryTO) after work a few weeks ago. Aimee and Doina asked me to pick a place and I chose The Bowery since it recently opened and I wanted to try it out. When we arrived, a film crew was shooting Covert Affairs outside on Colbourne St. Anyone watch that show? I don't. All I know is the main character is Piper Perabo from the movie Coyote Ugly and she's a cop in the show. I guess if Suits were filming outside I would've been more excited. LOVE that show. Sorry, but I do.
We got a table beside the large windows by the front with an open kitchen on the right.
The stainless steel, the gray, shiny counter and the red & black colour scheme is pretty edgy and cool. The red walls remind me of the ones at Wvrst.
The Bowery has some really neat light fixtures and artwork. This is what was above us....
...and this was behind us.
A chandelier and random artwork. Notice the different coloured walls.
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 Seasonsnot 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
Thanks to Mary Luz and Mario of Sizzling Communications, Nicki of View the Vibe (@ViewtheVibe) and I were invited to CakeStar Sweet Boutique's (Twitter: @CakeStarGirlz, Facebook: CakeStar) exclusive media grand opening on Lakeshore Blvd in Etobicoke last week. Sisters Barbara Accogli and Monja Chiaravalloti have made their name creating stunning "Edible Art" around the GTA for quite some time now so I'm thrilled that this dynamic duo finally have a place to call their own because they totally deserve it. Here's why =)
CakeStar's creations have been commissioned by the reality TV show "How Do you Solve a Problem Like Maria", The Honda Indy, and the new NBC Network comedy-drama TV series "Suits" (I ♥ that show!). The sisters have also been on Rich Bride Poor Bride, BT Television, CityLine, CP24, in the pages of Canadian Living Magazine and Today's Bride, and will soon be featured on CBC's Steven and Chris Show as resident cake expert. They have also worked with area bakers at The Harbourfront Centre just past summer and broke the World Guiness Record for World's "Most Layered Cake"!
Pretty impressive, right? Anyway, back to the event! We started the night with some savoury treats provided by Barbara's husband, Chef Carmine Accogli (@TheRealBigRagu) of The Big Ragu restaurant. I've been to The Big Ragu before and I'm a big fan (see my blog post here).
Barbara, who was born in Rome and raised in Toronto, is the co-owner, baker and edible artist for CakeStar. The daughter of a pastry chef and an artist, she adopted her father's love for the kitchen with her mother's love of art and fashion at an early age. Barbara has practically lived in the family bakery for 26 years. Barbara also co-owns The Big Ragu with her husband, Carmine
Monja, born and raised in Toronto, spent a great deal of her growing life in the family's Italian Bakery. She attended college and worked in a variety of careers only to come full circle later in life to help out at her family's bakery and discover the magic of cake art. Being self taught she learned primarily by trial and error, punctuated with a few hands-on courses and a few years later, she partnered with Barbara to continue the family business with a focus on the modern art of today's cakes.
Carmine Accogli (left), Monja Chiaravalloti & Barbara Accogli (right).
Watch Nicki's Eye on the Vibe Blog as she interviews Barbara, Monja, and Carmine. Oh yeah make sure you don't miss Nicki losing her ball. I don't think I can trust her with baking again.
CakeStar had so many beautiful cupcakes on display *drools*
Congratulations! =D Please DM your email and I will forward your info to Omakase box (they will be mailing you the prize). Congrats again and I hope you will enjoy your tasty snacks!
I also want to say a big THANKS to the 77 contestants who participated in the giveaway! There were a total of 209 tweets in the contest~
To ensure my followers that I am 100% honest when I say the winner is picked RANDOMLY, I will always show you guys how I went about tracking each contest.
After the contest was over, I copy and pasted the #OBOX10 Twitter stream onto a Word document. This was 10/31 pages shown as an example.
Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #OBOX10 stream from day one of the contest. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first ballot entered right after the contest went live. An entry ballot was given for each contestant that tweeted "I want to win a FREE Omakase box from @omakase_ninja http://bit.ly/nGNAEO #OBOX10". Each subsequent snacks / treat related tweet or retweet by that contestant with the #OBOX10 hashtag was given an additional ballot. Once all the ballots were accounted for I checked the list of contestants to see if they follow @omakase_ninja and I on Twitter.
After weeding out the people that did not follow all the contest rules, I was left with 69 contestants and 199 tweets in the #OBOX10 stream.
I went to "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to randomly pick a winner for me from 1 to 199.
Voted as One of Canada's Top Ten Best New Restaurant in 2008 by enRoute magazine and the Best New Restaurant in 2008 by Toronto Life Magazine, Lucien is quite impressive on paper. Although it has been almost three and a half years since then and a lot of things can change during this time, Lucien remained on my list of places to try in the city because I wanted to see what the hype was about...back in 2008. I say it this way because I'm not sure if it's just me but I feel like Lucien has fallen off the grid somewhat. I never hear anybody talk about Lucien anymore...like ever. People know it's still there but the restaurant itself is just so...quiet.
Lucien was certainly really quiet, literally, when my boyfriend and I went about a month ago on a Saturday night around 6:30pm. Given, Buskerfest was going on right outside the restaurant so I'm sure that detered some diners as a lot of the streets were closed off. There were only 2-3 tables when we arrived.
The restaurant is long with the bar taking up most of the space on the right with seating on the left and the kitchen at the back. The large mirror at the bar tries to open up the narrow space. The dark brown wooden floor, bar stools, chairs and tables, with deep dark red curtains and black screen was just all a bit too gloomy for me (I tend to like cozy places). I don't like wooden floors at a restaurant either but that's just me.
The pretty chandeliers gave the room a bit more warmth.
Lucien has a tasting menu but it was a bit too pricey for us, especially because we weren't there for a special occasion.
Brioche and bread sticks. I like the variety.
APPETIZER
Bincho Grilled Octopus - fingerling potato, house-made chroizo, pimento, arugula, olive ($17) - I thought it was really unique and pretty with the octopus sliced so thinly at the bottom as I've never seen octopus presented this way before. The overall dish is very light in terms of flavours, if anything the only really savoury thing on the dish was the chorizo but it was still good since I could really taste the actual octopus.
See how Chef Scot Woods of Lucien prepares this appetizer.
Congratulations! =D You just won a pair of tickets to Beck's T.O.ktoberfest at Liberty Village taking place on October 1st & 2nd! I will be sending you a DM soon letting you know the details regarding tickets pickup. Congrats again and I hope you and your +1 will enjoy all the festivities, entertainment and food :)
Thank you to the 19 contestants who participated in the giveaway!
I was really disappointed when I found out that Chef Paul Liebrandt and Director Sally Rowe would not be present at TIFF Bell Lightbox for the opening night of A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt as all flights out of LaGuardia, NYC were cancelled due to weather earlier yesterday. I was excited about meeting them and I had a list of questions prepared too =(
What lifted my spirit was the fact that I still had a chance to try the dish that Executive Chef Jason Bangerter of Luma recreated specifically for opening night of the film - a signature Paul Liebrandt dish. So instead of going home after work, I dropped by Luma and chatted with Chef Bangerter. Watch as Chef Bangerter describes all the elements of this exquisite dish.
What strikes me immediately was the texture and flavour of the Kona Kampachi, a game fish farmed in Hawaii as a domesticated alternative to wild tuna. This was my first time having Kampachi and its texture reminded me of tuna, but even more thick and dense. The piece of Kampachi was actually very meaty and substantial =) Flavour wise, because the fish was cured and lightly dusted with Vandouvan, it was savoury and had a really slight hint of curry. Everything about the Kona Kampachi, from the way it was prepared to how it taste, was unlike anything I've ever had before...and I loved it! Paired with the foie gras chantilly, the sweet verjus jelly, and the slight tartness of the kiwi, this appetizer was incredibly outstanding and very unique. I'm so happy that I got to try it ^_^
Cured Kona Kampachi with Foie Gras Chantilly, Sorrel, Verjus Jelly & Ontario Kiwi
Although this dish was created specifically for the opening night screening, Chef Bangerter would be happy to recreate it for anyone who is interested in trying it. All you have to do is tweet him at @chefbangerter with your request (with a few days notice).
330 King St. W, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toronto, ON M5V 3X2
Congratulations! =D You just won a pair of tickets to A Matter of Taste's opening night screening tomorrow @ 7:30PM at the TIFF Bell Lightbox! I will be sending you a DM soon letting you know the details regarding tickets pickup. Congrats again and I hope you and your +1 will enjoy A Matter of Taste.
I also want to say a big THANKS to the 25 contestants who participated in the giveaway!
To ensure my followers that I am 100% honest when I say the winner is picked RANDOMLY, I will always show you guys how I went about tracking each contest.
Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #AMOT stream from day one of the contest. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first ballot entered right after the contest went live. An entry ballot was given for each contestant that tweeted "I want to win a pair of tickets to A Matter of Taste at TIFF BLB http://bit.ly/pPODKq #AMOT". I then checked to see whether or not each contestant follow me on Twitter (see contest rules here). I used the "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to pick a winner for me.
And that was how I tracked and determined the winner for this giveaway. The End =)
WHAT: For the first time ever an authentic Oktoberfest experience is coming to Liberty Village with traditional German music, food and Schuhplattler dancers (the German consulate will be attending as well). Original Oktoberfest beer brands Spaten and Lowenbrau join Beck’s to headline the experience.
PRIZES: A round trip flight to Germany will headline the daily prizing along with Bavarian hats, steins and a signed Torsten Frings TFC jersey (current Toronto FC and former German national team player).
HOW MUCH? : Tickets are $10 and available at http://guestli.st/70428. A portion of the entry charge will go to support the German International School and Hopewell Children's Home. All online ticket purchases will receive a commemorative T.O.ktoberfest stein. Toronto FC fans will receive half price entry with presentation of October 1st game ticket vs. New York Red Bulls.
WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS HERE!
I'm giving away a pair tickets to Beck's T.O.ktoberfest! All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what your favourite beer is along with your twitter handle. I will be picking a random winner from random.org.
Contest ends Friday, September 30th @ 12PM and the winner will be announced shortly after on Twitter.
My two friends and I decided to meet up for drinks and appetizers at The Bowery (@TheBoweryTO) after work a few weeks ago. Aimee and Doina asked me to pick a place and I chose The Bowery since it recently opened and I wanted to try it out. When we arrived, a film crew was shooting Covert Affairs outside on Colbourne St. Anyone watch that show? I don't. All I know is the main character is Piper Perabo from the movie Coyote Ugly and she's a cop in the show. I guess if Suits were filming outside I would've been more excited. LOVE that show. Sorry, but I do.
