The (Gastro) Joys of Church St

As someone who lives in the village Pride week is like a giant party suddenly erupting in my backyard, bursting with positivity and boheme, and then leaving everyone happily shell-shocked. What’s not to love? That being said it’s not the week to spend time in leisurely dining within the area; there's too much going on to concentrate on anything more complex then beer and nachos. But if the day is still young (and the crowds still recovering) or on any other of the 51 weeks the options in the village are strong, for both the buying and consuming of excellent edibles.

Highlights

Cumbrae’s Butchers – almost a mind numbingly obvious choice. They were the first place I bought meat that a) I ordered from a counter and b) wasn’t packaged on styrofoam. Also probably the first time I ate animals that hadn’t graduated from in the mass meat industry. The meat here is just awesome. The Banker and I used to say that no one could actually screw up Cumbreas meat – it was idiot proof (then we found a really big idiot, but that should in no way reflect on the meat). Best steak I ever had was at Oblin Inn in Niagara on the Lake, sourced from Cumbrae's. Service it a little brusque – which can add to the charm, but sometimes doesn’t. I once in my early years had a bit of a breakdown when they gave away my duck legs and ran to Oliffes for a year. But I came back. They’re just too good.




About Cheese – New and shiny this store makes me happy. Staff that encourage you to taste and take the time to explain, interesting side products (still undecided about the birch beer, but I’m glad I tried it) and a respectable bread offering from Epi Breads (along with All The Best fruit and nut bread for blue cheeses) apparently equals joy in my books. I have never been able to pass the store without buying something. And I live blocks away. Scary.




Pusataries Fruit Market – The charming, awkward cousin to the polished uptown chain, this store has Ontario strawberries first, good options for decent and cheap olive oil and sells soup in the back. Easy and tasty.

Ginger’s – Okay, it’s a little generic but for cheap, fast and tasty food this Vietnamese joint nails it. A glossed up version of the Yonge St original, Ginger’s does Pho, Vietnamese Subs (which rocked my world in university – at the time only $2) and other simple dishes.

Kasiki Sukura – In the running for top Japanese restaurant in Toronto (I personally side with a seat at the bar at Hiro Sushi but it may be because my sister is in love with him after her year in Osaka. And I think he’s a little in love with her back). This establishment requires more than a blurb here. In fact I think I need to visit again. Always a winner.

French at Noon

Clafouti is admirable for not taking itself too seriously. Not to say the food offered is in anyway substandard (in fact the opposite), it simply means that you don’t get hit over the head with the feeling you are in a Serious French Patisserie and you are eating Serious Food. The small room bustles with French posters on one side and the day’s offering of fresh bread and food stables on the other. The food counter is pleasingly full of lovely to look at sandwiches, salads but mainly desserts (hence the name). The traffic is steady with most choosing to pickup and only myself and two others dawdling on one of the three tables. The service is informal, friendly and quick.

I disagree with the word on the street that Clafouti has the best croissant in Toronto. To bready for my liking and I harbor a suspicion that each does, not in fact contain the better part of a stick of butter. Sacrilegious. They do, however, make a strong clafouti which works out well, all things considered. In the past I’ve tended toward the berry variation which were, in hindsight, a better call then the bing cherry I opt for today. The pastry cream is nicely understated, happy to be subtle and rich instead of the cloying, sweet variation that one sometime finds. The fruit is therefore front and centre, something the bing cherry may be a little understated for. Not that it’s bad, just a rich subtle murmur instead of an emphatic shout. Next time I think I’ll chose the strawberry rhubarb.

Happiest Default

Apparently I was having a day in need of comfort yesterday; after gorging myself on dumplings at Mother’s I wandered over to the Toronto institution Terroni for some good food and company. For those who know it, and that list includes the majority of Torontonians, Terroni usually invokes strong feelings. Some love the constituency of the menu and the food, the tightly held beliefs of the management and the busy hum that sings over each of its outposts. Others find it totalitarian, power mad with rules, and unable to accommodate even a reasonable request. While I sympathize with the later, I firmly hold space in camp of the former. Not being able to make menu substitutions (Ever. They mean it. Don’t even ask.) or order a diet coke is a workable tradeoff in my books for the joy of consistently made excellent pizza and pasta, brusque yet friendly, competent servers and a approachable Italian wine list. It’s a great mid week, low stress place that requires little effort for maximum satisfaction.

Terroni is the only restaurant that for two years I have almost always ordered the same main. I have no idea why; other mains are great (I steal ferociously from The Bankers plate) and usually I balk at food ruts. The dish I pick, Rigatoni Arcobalen, is dead simple; Cherry tomatoes, zucchini, olive oil, basil and buffalo mozzarella (a personal weakness). And it’s perfect. Every single time. Which puts me in my only (happy) food rut.

All Around Adorable

Dumplings are comfort. Little bites of tasty comfort deep fried, steamed or poached. It doesn’t matter if they come from Eastern Europe or Eastern Asia. Something about bite sized food completely intact and ready to eat makes me instantly happy. You may think then the Mother's Dumplings, comfort with a side of maternal, is joy. You’d be about right.

Calling Mother’s Dumplings a restaurant feels like a bit of a stretch. It’s a little two room basement in Chinatown where none of the furniture matches and when full seats 16. The kitchen takes up about º of one room and the menu is logically kept small and simple. The dumplings have always been my reason for going but they also offer steamed buns, noodles and those chive pancakes that I’m inordinately fond of. I personally love the room, but you should enjoy a fair amount of quirk with your meal to dine here. In addition to the standard Chinese restaurant dÈcor of red tablecloths and hangings, a small TV sits in the corner, apparently showing a slideshow of tropical flowers. Roy Orbison plays throughout the basement, and at no point are you ever under illusion that you are not a basement. There is charm though, like in the little sayings on the order form (I learn Mr. Coles Axiom: The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing) and the day’s paper and books in the corner. It’s a homey spot, as anyplace invoking maternity in the title should be.

The dumplings are sold in 12's and 24's ready to eat, or 30's frozen to take home. I order 12 of the pork and chive steamed dumplings ($5.50) and have to take halve to go. The presentation is minimal (dumplings on the plate) and the sides are limited to the standard sauces (soy, hot and so forth). The dumplings are well seasoned with a 50% ratio of meat to chive. Wrapped in wontons and dunked in hot sauce houte cuisine they ain’t. What they are is pretty tasty.

Pretty Voices in the Afternoon

For three seasons now the Four Seasons Centre for the performing arts has been offering free concert series at lunch in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre (the pretty space facing Adelaide). The Food Nerd has wanted to go to these before but, sadly the unfairness of the working world constrained her workday hours to the point where the only free afternoon time was devoted to obtaining and consumption of food (obviously). Times have changed, shackles have been broken and the afternoon has been reclaimed. The last concert of the series happily enough fell on a rainy Thursday providing a happy indoor activity of lovely English songs delivered by a vocalist, pianist and viola.

The crowd is mainly (as in almost entirely) grey in the hair, not surprising as English Song isn’t exactly tearing up the charts these days (not to mentioned most of the younger crowd is sadly constrained with those pesky jobs). The door opens at 11:30 and the space quickly fills up. Despite the older crowd the vibe is decidedly casual, somewhat dictated by the space, which is more of a landing then a stage in the midst of stairs backed by wall of windows. The seating isn’t great and goes quickly, with most people standing or sitting on the ground on the fourth floor near the railing. Frankly I wouldn’t even try for a seat in the assigned area (given my relative youthfulness I’d be too afraid of my mother smacking me if she saw me reclining while the rest of the crowd standing). If you aren’t too fussy on seeing the action it can be pretty charming to sit next to windows upstairs and watch the city as the music pours forth.

The concert itself was dreamy, surreal. Sitting cross legged along side with suited gentleman, day dreaming to the tunes of the 1700’s is a meditative experience; doing so while watching the city go about its Thursday afternoon business gives one a unique perspective on the ordinary. A good portion of the concert was devoted to a premiere of the commissioned work, The Four Seasons, a lush sounding compilation of time passing. I realize how much of a child of my age I am when it jolts me to realize that I cannot buy, steal or copy this music as it is today to hear again. A singular experience. Huh.

Free Meat on a Bun - Must Get Wet

Torontonians will line up in the rain for certain things; new clubs, great brunch and a free burger. In a PR move only slightly damped by the rain the good folks at Hero Burgers spent the afternoon at Yonge and Dundas Square feeding the urban masses which eagerly and orderly waited in a creeping line in the spitting rain line for their piece of meat. Hey who doesn’t like a free lunch?

The Burger itself respectable with none of the over processed, mushy feel one finds at the typical chains. Its patties are made from 100% Agnes beef and retain a very satisfying meaty quality with a good char. It’s not the best burger you can find but it is reliably very good. Where the chain shines is in the topping selection with condiments, ranging from brie to Canadian peameal bacon and maple chipotle BBQ sauce. Fancy and pretensious for a burger chain? Maybe. Tasty? For sure. Unfortunately the fries are lackluster with little to recommend, a huge black mark against a burger joint. Whatever oil they use, and as transfat free as it may be, Hero fries lack flavor, colour and generally a reason for living. Very sad because I really, really like fries.

Hero is a relatively new Ontario wide food franchise started by the same people as the coffee chain Lettieri offering high end hamburgers and accruement. Full disclosure – The Banker was once in talks the buy the rights for Calgary before realizing that to do so would require moving to Calgary. Which is very nice for some people and I hear that the west has some fantastic food but neither one of us can wear cowboy hats convincingly and both of us like pedicures (not to mention the westerners might be a little tetchy about a couple of Toronto kids showing up and telling them how to grill meat). Better to stay where we are. Anyhow the chain seems to do best when in the roaming territory of the moneyed elite, beginning in the tonied Hazelton Lanes shopping complex in Yorkville and thriving in the TD food court where the suites line up ten deep to get a piece of 100% Agnes grilled meat. It’s been less successful in more modest circumstances notably the location on Queen West which has been limping along since it's creation. You never know though, Toronto has seen a boom of the gourmet burger establishments with successes, such as the impressive Craft Burger, and failures such at the departed Hal’s. We are a meat loving people and burgers are the kind of comfort food one clings to when the world gets scary. With enough exposure and a decent product Hero may still have its day.