Brassaii

A few months ago, my friend and I went to Brassaii (@brassaii) for dinner to celebrate my birthday. I've never been to Brassaii before and to tell you the truth I never knew exactly where it was, as in, I knew it was on King West but I couldn't for the life of me remember seeing their sign, ever. Finally found out why when we went; Brassaii is tucked really far into an alley way - we actually walked into a pub beside Brassaii, thinking it was well, Brassaii.


I always hear about Brassaii's patio and sure enough, it was the first thing I noticed, you can't miss it. With all that space, I understand why they can afford to have a nice patio out front. The area is huge!

Although I wanted to sit on the patio it was getting chilly so we went inside. I guess that's one bad thing about patios being in an alley; there's only so many hours in a day when the sun actually shines through. Another bad thing is just the fact that I always feel cold =( 


Brassaii is very spacious with an open kitchen and three long rows of seating. I liked how the windows on the other side lets in all the sunlight. There was a lot of different textures in the room: brick walls, concrete pillars, wooden floors, fabric drapes, exposed metal ducts, leather seats, shiny smooth tables, etc. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing...just an observation.

The view from my friend's seat.

The Killer King from Mickey's Pizza [VLOG]

I'm a huge fan of the stuffed pizzas from Mickey's Pizza. Their Stuffed Spinach & Cheese Pizzas are so friggin' awesome! And as as for their Stuffed Steak & Cheese Pizza? Well let's just say I drove through a snowstorm just to get it.

So imagine my excitement when I heard that Mickey's had a new Chicago style stuffed pizza called the "Killer King"!I knew I had to go try it and see what it was all about. Turns out Mickey's "Killer King" pizza was even more epic than their previous stuffed pizzas; it was thicker, loaded up with even more cheese and more toppings! Can you imagine? Watch the video below as I make my own Killer King pizza at Mickey's ^_^

Thanks for watching! Please click below and subscribe to my YouTube channel ^_*

Briscola Trattoria [VLOG]

Ahhhh another dinner date with Nicki from View the Vibe (@ViewTheVibe) and Andrew from Dobbernationloves (@dobbernation) - always a fun time with these two, guaranteed! The last time we met up was at La Société (@La_Societe) where we went a bit appetizer crazy. This time at Briscola Trattoria...hm...let's just say we went "all-around" crazy =D I want to begin by saying just how floored I was with our dinner that night at Briscola, so much so that I hope more people will know about Briscola (@BriscolaToronto) after my post because it is truly fantastic; I haven't been this happy and impressed with a meal in a long time - not just with a few dishes, but with all dishes, the whole meal, the entire dinner experience was phenomenal~

To truly understand our gastronomic adventure that night and how we endulged in an multi-course dinner at Briscola, you need to watch Nicki's Eye on The Vibe Blog: 

Read on to see what I thought of each dish ^_*

I have never heard of Briscola before our dinner. It is located on College, near Bathurst in the neighbourhood of Little Italy.

Even though I take a lot of pictures every time I am at a restaurant, I usually just pick a few to post. But at Briscola, it was really hard for me to just pick a few because the decor there is just so beautiful and exquisite that I want to post them all. So I figured the only way was to put them in a collage (to minimize the scrolling for you guys).

Like a lot of the restaurants in Little Italy, Briscola's space is really long and narrow. There are basically three sections in the restaurant. When you walk in, you will immediately see the first section with the cool car on the wall. This section has the bar on the left and seating on the right (red chairs, black wall, and chandeliers). The middle section has the white brick walls with black cushioned chairs on the right and white tiled walls.

The Table17 Giveaway Contest Winner Is...

@JsnJWlsn

Congratulations! =D Please email me at foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com with your mailing address. I will then forward your info to Table17 (they will be mailing you the gift certificate). Congrats again and I hope you will enjoy your gift card at Table17!

I also want to say a big THANKS to the 107 contestants who participated in the giveaway! There were a total of 602 legit 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. Even though my contests in the future may not be exactly the same as this one, be rest assured that I will go through the same process with due diligence ^_^


Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #T17GC 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 $50 gift certificate to @table17! http://bit.ly/pbjaYe #T17GC". Each subsequent tweet or retweet by that contestant (with the #T17GC hashtag) was given an additional ballot. Once all the ballots were accounted for in my spreadsheet, I went to check if the contestants actually followed me on Twitter (I also sent the list of contestants to Table17).

After weeding out the people that did not follow all the contest rules, I was left with 602 tweets in the #T17GC stream. I went to "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to randomly pick a winner for me from 1 to 602.

Well, that was fun =) More fun to come as I will be doing another giveaway verrrry verrrry soon so stay tuned!

Off to the Windy City!

I swear, I don't travel much. It may seem that way because I just came back from Las Vegas only a month ago (argh which reminds me I haven't blogged about the Las Vegas restaurants yet *sigh* backlog is me). But really, I usually don't go on vacation that often. Road trips maybe, but not in a plane kinda thing.

Anyhoo, I will be in Chicago with my boyfriend for the long weekend! Leaving Friday morning and coming back Tuesday night. Actually, by the time you read this post I may be walking around Chicago already, or maybe still on the plane, or maybe still waiting to board at YYZ? Not sure.

I ♥ Chicago! I've been there many times for work but never for leisure so I'm still very excited. My boyfriend has not been before (or maybe he did but when he was really young) so I'm eager to show him the Chicago, a city which I think is a hybrid of Toronto and New York; not as crowded as New York and with cleaner streets, but definitely a more beautiful version of Toronto. I can't get enough of all the incredible architecture and stunning lakeshore in Chicago, as well as the museums / aquarium / art institute / planetarium, The Magnificent Mile for shopping, and last but not least, the FOOD!

Not sure if you have seen my extreme planning in action before but many of you may know that I'm a big planner who loves using Microsoft Excel and Google Maps. Don't believe me? Check out my Montreal Bound post and my Diner's, Drive-ins and Dives Road Trip post (or simply just scroll down). 

So here goes for Chicago! First we have the Excel spreadsheet (I did not purposely use colours that match my blog but I really do love pink and purple ^_^). Blues are shopping / sight seeing, pinks are CityPASS attractions, and purples are restaurants.

Google Map. Planning for Chicago was a lot harder than the Montreal road trip and my Diners, Drive-ins and Dives road trip combined because we had a car for those, whereas for Chicago, we are relying purely on public transit, which means I had to make sure that the restaurants are on the way and what made the most sense.

This of course also means that I had to forego many restaurants listed in Eater's 38 Essential Chicago Restaurants and restaurants listed in The Eater Chicago Heat Map. Ah well, life goes on.

Nevertheless, here is a list of places that I'm planning to hit up in Chicago. It would be nice if we end up going to all of them but things change, circumstances change, so we may not end up going to ALL but I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

1. XOCO - A quick-service cafe from Rick Bayless that serves Mexican street food and snacks like churros and empanadas, Mexican hot chocolate (ground from Mexican cacao beans right in our front window), warm, crusty tortas (Mexican submarine sandwiches), and made-to-order caldos (meal-in-a-bowl soups) that feature everything from roasted vegetables to seafood to pork belly.

Photo credit: Mind Body Green

2. Lou Malnati's - Chicago-style deep dish pizza is a must! There are several places well known for deep dish pizza in Chicago but I picked Lou Malnati's.

Photo credit : Passionate Eater

Eatontario is a Diner's Dream

Thanks to the kind folks at eatontario, I received an eatontario membership card in the mail several weeks ago! Perfect perk for a foodie like me =D

Enclosed with the card is a welcome package that includes a list of participating restaurants closest to my mailing address (this list will for sure come in handy since I always have trouble deciding where to take my parents in 'Sauga).

Once you join eatontario's 12-month membership for $39.95, all you have to do is present your membership card when requesting the bill at one of their participating restaurant and you will receive one of the following 3 types of discounts:


1) 10 - 50% off the total food bill: Applies to everyone dining in the group. The restaurant may place a maximum number of people per booking (eatontario's website will indicate the specifics of each restaurant's offer); or


2) 2 - 4 - 1: An offer for two people and applies to all courses ordered (starters, mains and desserts). The cheapest or equivalent dish of each course will be deducted from the bill. In some cases the restaurant will offer a free starter with every meal; or


3) $25 - $50 off the total bill: Depending if it's lunch or dinner, eatontario members will enjoy $25 - $50 off the entire bill.


Note: An eatontario card cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offers such as set menus or during special holidays. Eatontario advises that you call the restaurant in advance for these situations to confirm whether or not you can use your card.


Browsing at restaurants on eatontario's website is easy too - once a restaurant comes up in your search, you will immediately know which type of discount is offered and any conditions / restrictions specific to that restaurant.

Let me show you what I mean.


When I did a quick search for restaurants, I immediately found three restaurants that I really want to visit:


1) Café du lac (@cafedulac)

According to eatontario's Legend Key, those mean that when I present my eatontario card at Café du lac, I will get 25% discount off my total bill with a maximum of 4 people per eatontario booking. I can use this discount every time I visit Café du lac.


I've been to Café du lac once before with my parents (see post here) but after seeing Nicki's (@ViewTheVibe) Eye on the Vibe Blog about the awesomeness that is Café du lac's new chef, Damon Ulmi, and how both her and her mom (who is French) were blown away by their meal there, I knew I had to visit Café du lac A.S.A.P.  Here's the Eye on the Vibe vlog that sold me =D

2) L.A.B. (@foodcult)

According to eatontario's Legend Key, when I present my eatontario card at L.A.B., I will get 15% off my total bill as long as I don't exceed 6 people per eatontario booking. The eatontario discount is not valid on Fridays after 6pm. I can use this discount every time I visit L.A.B..

The one and only time I got to experience the extraordinary food at L.A.B., a restaurant reputable for their molecular gastronomy, was when I joined The Culinary Adventure Company's (@culinaryadvco) Little Italy Tour (see post here). Everything I sampled at L.A.B. was fabulous that time so that's why I really want to go back to L.A.B. and try their regular menu.

3) Great Burger Kitchen (@greatburger411)

According to eatontario's Legend Key, When I present my eatontario card at Great Burger Kitchen, I will get 15% discount off my total bill with a maximum of 4 people per eatontario booking. I can use this discount every time I visit Great Burger Kitchen.

I haven't been to Great Burger Kitchen but after reading Andrew's (@dobbernation) review on GBK on dobbernationloves, I really want to try their burgers =)

Besides savings at restaurants, eatontario also accommodates to wine lovers and coffee/tea drinkers. They currently have several wineries, wine importers and wine clubs on board:

As well as roasters, premium cafe's, coffee and tea shops:

Visit eatontario's website and have a look for yourself. Make sure you also follow them on Facebook and Twitter for their latest updates and news!


Website: www.eatontario.ca
Facebook: Eatontario
Twitter: @eatontario

The Big Chill

Strolling along College Street, my boyfriend and I suddenly had the urge for ice cream. No...actually, I lied... we weren't strolling along, we were actually speed walking.  We had just finished dinner at College Street Bar and we were in search, frantically, for an ice cream place because we both had the biggest craving ever for ice cream. Not gelato, not crepes, not waffles, not cakes, it had to be ice cream, specifically ice cream in a waffle cone.


We saw several people walking on College with ice cream so we simply walked towards the direction they were coming from (aren't we smart or what?!) Lo and behold, with its big neon sign, The Big Chill (@bigchilltoronto) ended our ice cream search that night.


There were a lot of little kids (and parents) outside the old fashion ice cream parlour that night as it was a very nice and mild night. The Big Chill really caters and accommodates to kids - it has kiddie tables, benches, and various toys for kids to play with outside the shop. It has a very fun and cute interior as well - the bright colours, the retro neon signs, the colourful chalkboard menus and of course, the numerous cow figurines around the store.

See what I mean about the cows? So cute! ^_^

The Big Chill's main selling point is their 34 flavours of ice cream, including dairy free ices and sherbets. Remember, as the sign says, its "CASH ONLY".

This is just one of the two large ice cream displays; it was so busy in there I couldn't get a shot of the second one.

One scoop of Cookies & Cream in waffle cone w/o whipped cream ($4.95) - Mine
Two scoops (Pralines & Cream + Cookie dough) in waffle cone w/ whipped cream ($5.95) - The Bf's (he ordered two scoops because he was greedy. He also said two scoops was only $1 more than one scoop so it was a good deal. He later regretted his decision because it was ginormous).

Got our ice cream fix! =D

After taking pictures inside, we went out and walked around while munching away on our ice cream. Even though we got our ice cream fix, we both thought the ice cream at The Big Chill was just average. Yes the ice cream was very creamy, so I loved that part, but personally I thought the flavour was just not there. As in, I hardly tasted any "cookies" in my "cookies & cream" and my boyfriend didnt' taste much "pralines" in his "pralines & cream" either (same with the cookie dough, just tasted cream). Overall our ice cream tasted very bland to us. The waffle cone itself was superb though, very fresh and crispy~

Pappas Grill [VLOG]

Nicki from View The Vibe (@ViewTheVibe) and I headed down to Pappas Grill for some Greek food during The Taste of the Danforth a few weeks back. I do not go to the Danforth often and when I do it's almost always for my Messini fix. I haven't been to too many Greek restaurants in the area so I was glad that Nicki was taking me to Pappas Grill that night.


Taking advantage of its awesome location right at the corner of Bloor and Arundel, Pappas Grill's huge patio stretches from the front of the restaurant all the way to the back. What's even better is that the patio is extremely spacious and not narrow at all - it could easily fit three rows of seating with ample room in between tables. 

Who wants to be stuck inside during the Taste of the Danforth? Especially on such a beautiful day and that lovely patio? Nevertheless I figured I should go and take a picture of the decor inside. I really like how all the windows let in all that natural sunlight.

Watch Nicki's Eye on the Vibe Blog of our dinner :) Man did we ever have a tough time with the Greek names O_o The vlog will also show us having gelato for dessert at Dolce Gelato (@DolceGelatoTO) (Dolce Gelato will be a separate post).

My Deep-Fried Adventure at the CNE

I haven't been to the Canadian National Exhibit ("CNE") since, I have no idea when actually, possibly more than 5 to 8 years ago? Something ridiculous like that. I haven't been because I really hate crowds (I turn into a really grumpy person in a "packed sardines" environment) and I'm not that into rides or carnival games. The difference this year though, as most of you may know, is all the hype surrounding the wide assortment of weird / gross Deep-Fried ("DF") foods available at the CNE, along with that 1,550 calorie Krispy Kreme Donut Burger. Last year's DF butter alone was not enticing enough to get me off my fat ass, however, with this year's impressive DF line up, I was up early last Sunday and arrived at the CNE Food Building by 10:15 am.


I know it is not ideal to be eating DF stuff for breakfast but in all honesty it is not ideal to eat any of this DF stuff at any time of day anyway, so what the heck! Might as well go early to avoid line ups.


First stop: Mac & Cheesery. I was their first customer.

I was contemplating between getting DF mac-and-cheese curds or DF mac-and-cheese. Even though I wanted both I didn't feel like forking out close to $15 ($6.85 each) for DF cheese. I ended up choosing the DF mac-and-cheese. 

There were four big DF mac-and-cheese balls per order and they were all fresh and piping hot; the batter was really crispy too. Although there was a sufficient amount of cheese, the mac-and-cheese still tasted a bit bland (but ketchup easily fixed that). I will say now that this DF mac-and-cheese is one of my top DF pick at CNE this year. Also note that out of all the DF things I tried at CNE, this DF mac-n-cheese was the only thing that had a crispy / crunchy DF shell.

Next stop: Epic Burgers & Waffles.

I had to try The Krispy Kreme Donut Burger ($8) as it was getting so much hype. I had no intention of getting the Behemoth (two grilled cheese sandwiches with a 6oz patty, cheese, lettuce and tomato) at CNE as I'm sure the Burger's Priest version of it (called "The Vatican") will be a lot better.


Anyway, we added bacon ($1 extra for bacon / egg) to ours as my boyfriend didn't want the egg. When we were ordering, we noticed that the burgers were already cooked and laid out in rows so all they had to do was assemble the burger for us. Not a good sign =( After unwrapping the burger, we took a closer look - I seriously did not know what happened to the donuts. Why were they were so flat and deflated? The burger was wrapped up in the foil for not more than 5 seconds (which was the walk from EPIC Burgers to where we sat down) so the top donut shouldn't be that flat. I was disappointed already as the burger had zero visual appeal now.

I know my iPhone4 did not fully capture the true colours of the burger with the fluorescent lights up top but believe me, the burger itself had a light brown, almost grey colour to it O_o As for the taste of the burger, I did not like the sweet + savoury combo; the extremely sweet donut and the savoury from everything else was just messing up my tastebuds. The whole thing didn't blend well at all for me.  I think it would help though if the patty didn't taste so nasty too. It was room temperature, stiff, flavourless, with almost a rubbery texture. Both my boyfriend and I thought the burger was gross. (Note: see updated comment about the Krispy Kreme Donut Burger at the end of my post.)

The Food Network Wants US!

Warning. Shameless plug.

Remember that casting call post I had around two weeks ago? With Food Network Canada looking for contestants to be on their new food trivia game show? Well....................................

My friend Nancy & I got picked! ^___^

We have our nerdy glasses ready

Nancy & I are gonna be partnered up and will be competing with other Toronto foodies on the game show! WOOT! =D

That is all.