Eat to the Beat 2012

Last Tuesday we were at Roy Thomson Hall for this year's Eat to the Beat, benefitting Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada.

Eat to the Beat is Canada's only fundraising event that brings together top female chefs who donate their time, talent, and materials to raise funds in support of women living with breast cancer. Sixty of Canada's top female chefs participated this year in a cornucopia of sweet and savoury food, wines, and premium beers and spirits. The event also included live music, a silent auction and a raffle draw.

This is one amazing food event. If you haven't been, check out their website next year and support this worthy cause.




More photos on Flickr:




Posted by: Mark Rodas

Do you remember the first thing you and your significant other ate together?

Think back - in any of your relationships, current or past, do you remember the first thing you and your significant other ate together?

Mark and I are coming up to six years this August since we began dating. We were set to meet each other in-person (we had chatted online, but never met) by the fountain at the Eaton's Centre and from there we were planning to go to the Chinese Lantern Festival. It was actually me who asked him on our first date because I didn't have any family or friends who were interested in coming to the festival and he seemed nice and we really enjoyed chatting to each other online, so what the heck - why not! Must say it was the best decision I've ever made! Upon meeting at the fountain, Mark surprised me with a lovely little bag of Monsieur Felix and Mr. Norton cookies which we munched on together while we rode the streetcar. I have a fond memory of that day, and also of those cookies - I had never had them before.

So when we heard from the folks at Monsieur Felix and Mr. Norton a couple weeks ago, we were thrilled because we hadn't really seen any of their storefronts in downtown Toronto anymore and we missed their soft, chewy cookies. We tried out their frozen cookie dough, available at Sobeys (check out this product locator to see exactly where you can get them). Actually, since you bake them yourselves, they work out to be cheaper than buying them from the storefront. There's also the convenience involved with having them on hand anytime, and you could tell the quality of the ingredients was good. They tasted exactly like the ones we remember (just make sure you don't overbake them).

I prefer the container packaging to the ubiquitous cookie dough tube packaging because the cookies are already pre-cut so there is no need to fuss with it.

The funniest part was all I wanted to do was eat the cookie dough, while Mark demanded continually that we bake cookies like normal human beings do :) I know eating cookie dough is not really considered safe and, as I recently learned, it's not necessarily the raw egg that can be an issue but it can also be the flour that poses a concern. As people in the comments of that article say, there are much riskier things we do everyday and the sheer joy we get from eating raw cookie dough is just something most of us are not willing to give up!

Yours in food,

-Stacey

Fondue Feastivul at the Esplanade Bier Markt

Here's a great date idea: "Me, Yu, Und Fondue" at the Bier Markt for their Fondue Feastivul.

I love how the Bier Markt runs these themed festivals throughout the year. At other times there's an Asparagus Feastivul and a Gamey Meat Feastivul. I also love how the Bier Markt makes my spellcheck go awry, haha Feastivuuuul...

The Bier Markt has 2 restaurants, but I always find myself at the Esplanade location. It's in the funky yet peaceful St. Lawrence neighbourhood, and it represents my idea of Toronto's original gastropub. The Bier Markt, along with another favourite, Beer Bistro, have an astounding selection of brews from all over the world. They also have the high-calibre food to match.

We started off with some Paulaner Dunkel, a smooth, malty Bavarian beer. It was dark, crisp, and fragrant, a great way to wake up the palate.

For apps we had the Cheese and Lager Fondue: appenzeller, emmental and raclette cheese, Stella Artois lager, asparagus, grape tomatoes, cornichons, and fresh baguette.


That was a big appetizer. I'm glad we shared. Needless to say we mopped up all the cheese with the baguette.

For our main, we shared the Surf and Turf: Atlantic lobster, AAA center cut striploin, asparagus, rosti potato, peppercorn demi-glace, with a Leffe Brune Ale broth.

The lobster looked pre-cooked, and was a little tough. A side of salted, melted butter would also have been nice, but was sadly missing.

The striploin on the other hand was amazing! It was so soft. We were also warned earlier by the couple sitting next to us who just had the same fondue that the green peppercorn sauce was to die for, and we should try not to fight over it. She was right. The sauce complemented the meat perfectly.

For dessert, Stacey had the Caramel and Toffee Fondue: ladyfingers, French macaroons, biscotti, bananas, strawberries, and housemade marshmallows.

I had the Belgian Chocolate Fondue: Valrhona dark Manjari chocolate, French macaroons, biscotti, ladyfingers, bananas, and strawberries.


The housemade marshmallows were great with the caramel, and the French macaroons were heavenly with the chocolate. That's gotta be one of the best chocolate sauces I've ever had.

Get thee to the Bier Markt.


Click here for more mouthwatering pics.


The Fondue Feastivul runs from Jan 13 - Feb 28, 2010.

www.thebiermarkt.com


Posted by: Mark Rodas

Captain John's Seafood and the good ship Jadran

For as long as I’ve lived in this city, I’ve wondered what it was like inside that old ship moored at the foot of Yonge Street. Like the CN Tower, Captain John’s Seafood was just one of those places the locals took for granted since it’s presence displaced not only water, but any notion that it would go anywhere else other than where it was berthed. Why go now when it’ll always be there?

The ship may remain, but alas Captain John is set to retire. So we scurried to his boat on a blustery winter day to get a final glimpse of this Toronto institution before it closes its doors for good.

A driving force in closing Captain John’s Seafood besides the passage of time is that the city considers the ship a structure, and hence subject to hefty property taxes. The actual vessel may remain where it is, while prognosticators and potential investors speculate upon the ship’s reincarnation as a fancy club or some other extravagantly themed venue.

As we approached the boat, we noticed that it certainly had seen better days. Random patches of mismatched paint covered swathes of the her hull. Not to be deterred we entered into a kitschy waiting area loaded with marine paraphernalia.

We waited for a maitre’d and were greeted by a charming old man in a bright blue nautical blazer. He escorted us to our seats in an elegantly dated dining room that screamed old folks home. This room was surprisingly comforting, not unlike visiting your grandparents. It's as though we fell through a rift in space-time. Neither did it feel like downtown Toronto, nor did it feel anywhere near 2010. “This is nice,” we thought, as we looked forward to our meal.

On our table was a photocopied menu with the life story of “Captain” John Letnik, and the good ship Jadran.

From humble beginnings in Slovenia, Captain John escaped poverty via Austria to finally find himself alone and penniless standing outside Toronto’s Union Station at the age of 17. Luckily, a young couple sensing his dilemma struck up a conversation with him in German no less, the only language the three had in common. John soon had a place to stay and a job as a houseman at a golf club. Through hard work at various kitchens, he finally scrounged up enough to buy his own restaurant. Later on, he got caught up in the idea of opening Toronto’s first floating restaurant.

In November of 1975, the MS Jadran (Adriatic in Yugoslavian) finally arrived from her transatlantic voyage to dock at it’s current location. Purchased from the Yugoslavian government in the fall of 1975, the Jadran has 5 levels, 355 staterooms, and a capacity of 700 people. We later found out from one of our sources that the ship used to be Marshall Tito’s personal yacht! Who knows what cold war mysteries she hides?

We ordered the combination platter for two: “A delicious array of Crab Clusters, Shrimp a la Scampi, Fried Shrimp, Sole, Scallops, Chicken and baked Fish. Served with rice and fresh cooked vegetables, with soup” for $31.95.

We munched on some really yummy, garlicky, butter soaked bread while we waited for our order.

Next up was the very satisfying Manhattan clam chowder. Unlike most chowders we’ve had, it was less creamy and very tomatoey. We loved the huge tomato chunks.

Between the rich bread and hearty soup, we were already feeling sated before the main course had arrived. And then it came... the seafood feast.

As you can see from the photo, there was an abundance of seafood, and we wound up quite full. There was a lot more crab and baked fish than we expected, and we were very happy with our meal.

Captain John’s was a good experience. It’s not haute cuisine, so if that’s what you’re looking for, we suggest you look elsewhere. It’s a cozy and laid back place for families or couples to enjoy a decent seafood meal in the heart of the city.

Too bad it’ll be gone soon. If you’re interested in carrying on the legacy yourself, the Jadran can be yours for a paltry $1.5 million here: MLS listing

Click here for additional photos: Captain John's Seafood