P.F. Chang's opens its first Canadian location at Shops at Don Mills

Ahead of today's public opening we were able to check out P.F. Chang's first Canadian location at Shops at Don Mills, Toronto's first open-air mall. In terms of food / drink recommendations, my favourite dish (and we tried many) was Chang's Spare Ribs, which were fall-off-the-bone tender with just the right amount of deep, rich sauce and a sprinkle of white and black sesame seeds.

Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps were a close second - they were so fresh-tasting and I loved the rice noodles which added some crunch.

At our table, our server made the restaurant's special sauce (perfect for dipping the lettuce wraps) by combining some Chinese mustard (it has a bit of a spicy wasabi kick) with a soy potsticker sauce and chili oil - it is customizable for how hot or mild you'd like it.

You can also add vinegar to it if you wish, but we left ours the way the server made it and it was a delicious accom-
paniment. Another unique, and apparently very popular, dish was the Shrimp with Candied Walnuts - it also had melon balls in it which I found added a softer texture and flavour aside the crunchy lightly-battered shrimp and the walnuts.

One thing I must praise P.F. Chang's for is their lighter batter - they use a starch (I think in some cases I heard potato starch, in others corn starch) to make a light coating rather than a really heavy thick batter.

As for their signature cocktails (they have quite a few) we really liked the Organic Agave Margarita (Mark and I aren't generally big tequila fans, but this drink was incredibly smooth). A couple other good cocktail choices: the incredibly fruity Jade Martini (coconut rum, pineapple juice, melon liquer) and the Asian Pear Mojito (Bacardi limon, fresh mint, slight hint of pear). The one pictured below wasn't one of our favourites, it was a bit too sweet, but the colour was phenomenally photo-worthy!





If you're over at  Shops at Don Mills it's worth popping in, even if just for a taste of those ribs (they are actually listed as an appetizer) and a signature cocktail.





Yours in food,
-Stacey

Welcoming Summer on the Patio at Joey Don Mills‏

If you want to avoid the G20 crush downtown, or are from the city's north east, the patio at Joey Don Mills is a fine place to chill out and have fun. Located in the Shops at Don Mills, Joey offers top notch casual dining, with a smartly dressed crowd. The vast space at Joey caters not only to the urban professional crowd, but to families as well. Joey Don Mills brings sophistication to the suburbs.





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JOEY DON MILLS
15 O'Neill Rd - 1090 Don Mills Road (At Lawrence Avenue East)
In the Shops at Don Mills Toronto - Don Mills | ON | M3C 0H2
Phone: (416) 445-6391
http://www.joeyrestaurants.com/location/don-mills


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The "F" Word and a Nipple-licious Bellini: Joey Don Mills Restaurant Opening and Interview with Chef Chris Mills

Mark and I headed out to the opening party for Joey Don Mills this past week. I must start by saying The Shops at Don Mills are pretty neat - it was my first time there. I'll be back to check out McEwan's new supermarket soon... but I digress. Okay, so here's the view of the restaurant from the outside.

Now before I talk about the event and the restaurant itself, let me start by saying Chris Mills, the Executive Chef of Joey Restaurant Group, was pretty fun to interview. I got to chat to him on the phone before the actual event and he fully embraced my weird request to have him answer our "You + Food: 10 Questions" thread on our Facebook group, where I've posted his answers on his behalf.

The long and short of it is that I like to see Canadians like Chef Mills doing great things. Joey Restaurant Group has 18 locations spread throughout B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, and even Washington in the U.S. Chef Mills has a global perspective and has done a lot of traveling, which heavily influences his cooking, but don't you dare drop the "F" bomb when trying to describe his signature style - he says what he does is certainly not "Fusion." He explained to me the word "Global" better describes his food.

I also think those of us who love food to the extent that it's creepy are always trying to pinpoint WHEN this love of food started. Was there a moment? Is it ridiculous to even try to pinpoint said moment? I have no idea when mine was, but Chef Mills remembers picking up one of his mother's cookbooks and baking bread when he was about 14 years old just to have the smell of freshly baked bread in the house. If there is such a thing as said pinpointable moment (yes, I said pinpointable, I make up words as I go), I'd say that sure sounds like his.

I met Chef Mills at the restaurant opening and he gave us the grand tour - men, don't miss the awesome "fireman shooting his hose" image above the urinals - I hope they have extra cleaning staff, as that picture could encourage some messy yet creative urination... We also saw what will be the patio by Spring 2010 - I think it'll be great once it is finished. They also had some great light fixtures which helped give a nice warm ambiance... All in all, the decor was what I expected - it was nice, though it felt a little suburban to me somehow as well, but who am I kidding - I'm not here to talk about decor, I'm here to talk about FOOD!

We visited a couple food stations where we tried the Panang Prawn Curry Bowl and the Bombay Butter Chicken (neither of which blew me away, though neither were "bad" by any means - they were just standard in my humble opinion). We also tried some of the samplers the waitresses were passing out. My favourite was the Ahi Tuna Taco, which had a square of lightly-seared sushi-grade tuna atop a sesame ginger coleslaw topped with wasabi-lime aioli. The taco was nice and crunchy - I liked the contrast it gave. The Lobster Grilled Cheese was my second favourite (a little on the greasy side, but if anything on this earth is allowed to be a little too far gone on the greasiness scale, it's grilled cheese).

As for drinks, Joey Don Mills has a really innovative wine serving system that preserves freshness and, as a result, gives them more flexibility to create paired tasting menus. We also had a few delicious bellinis at the bar - I think it was, in fact, the best bellini I have ever had. Sidenote: I don't have any reasonable explanation for why the bellini looks like a nipple... My goodness, with all the "F" bombs and nipples, this blog is getting a little X-rated...

And that, my friends, is my cue to call it a night!

Yours in food,
-Stacey