As you know, I kind of keep my eye out for new restaurants, coffee shops and other interesting places! It’s just the way I roll.

Here’s two concepts that I recently discovered:

1. SQUISH Candies

This is a gourmet candy store (err, artisanal candy store) that just opened it’s first Ontario Store on the concourse level of the Bay (176 Yonge St). They have a roster of 100 different gummies, with flavour profiles to match any mood. Not to mention that these gummies are vegan, non GMO, organic, dairy free, and have no artificial flavour or colours!

I had the good fortune to chat with the lovely founder (Sarah Segal) who launched this idea in Montreal in 2014.

Sarah was the chief tea developer and head of product development for David’s Tea and it’s evident that SQUISH is going to have the same “marketing genius” that David’s Tea has.

2. MAMAN – Toronto:

Maman, is a New York City bakery and cafe that recently opened a second location at First Canadian Place on the Mezzanine Level (100 King St W). One of the owners is originally from Toronto so it made perfect sense to bring the concept back to her hometown.

This is what the bakery looks like on the outside (plus there’s a magnificent patio).

On the inside, there’s communal harvest tables and a very “European” feel to the space. What’s great about this bakery is that they also serve pretty awesome cocktails!! I like how they are mixing it up a bit and you can drop by for a coffee, breakfast, lunch, a cocktail or from cinq-a- sept. (5 to 7 pm).

Hours of operation are Monday to Wednesday from 7am to 7pm, and Thursday and Friday from 7am to 9pm for breakfast, lunch and cinq-á-sept. The café and bakery will be closed on weekends.

For more information:

SQUISH Candy: The Bay (176 Yonge St) – Concourse Level. Twitter: @SquishCandy, Instagram: @SquishCanady, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/squishcandy

Maman Toronto: First Canadian Place (100 King St. W)  – Mezzanine Level, Twitter: @MamanToronto, Instagram: @_MamanToronto_; Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mamantoronto

Trader Joe’s recently opened in Buffalo!!  This is great news for foodies like me. Naturally I had to stop enroute back to Toronto from Greenwich Conn last week.

I’ve been a fan of Trader Joe’s ever since I went to visit their store in Detroit. Lot’s of amazing products with pretty good prices too. Definitely not your average grocery store.

When you walk into the new Buffalo location, you are greeted by this mascot!!

Then the fun begins as you walk thru the aisles looking for goodies to buy!! Here are a few items that went into my grocery cart.

1. Ginger Miso Broth: at $1.99 a box! So I bought two. The other night I used it and now I’m kicking myself that I didn’t buy 6. Arghhhh.

2. Dried Kimchi: Haven’t tried it yet but it intrigued me.

3. Milk Chocolate Covered Toffee Popcorn: I served this the other night with on a cheese platter and they were inhaled.

4. Speculoos Cookie Butter: Described as “A deliciously unusual spread reminiscnet of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits”  I spread some of this on a cracker and even though it was sweet – I enjoyed it. Basically, I’m a sucker for anything with the word gingerbread in it.

5. Soap. ..that’s right..Soap!!  I bought one bottle on my last trip to Trader Joe’s in May and this time I bought 3 bottles. I’m getting smart!!

Definitely worth visiting!!

For More Information:

Trader Joe’s (Amherst) 1565 Niagara Falls Blvd. 716 833 4687

Hours : Monday to Sunday 8 am to 9 pm.

 

I was in Greenwich Connecticut for the weekend to attend a Bat Mitzva.  This means that there was a Friday Night Dinner, A Saturday Night Service/Party, and a Sunday Brunch.

I basically had FREE TIME between 10 am and 2 pm on Saturday. I knew that I was going to use that time to do something that involved FOOD!! (surprise surprise). The best way for me to experience A LOT of food in a short period of time was to head to Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, NY. I had been to this amazing outdoor food market four years ago on their opening weekend  and knew that it would even be bigger and better. I was right!

The first thing we ate was a RAMEN BURGER: This vendor is only 12 weeks old but a HUGE HIT with the public. I was also  thrilled to  have met Keizo Shimamoto (the guy in in the top right photo) who is the brain behinds this idea.

We also ate:

Molasses Spice and Marshmallow Sandwich cookies (from S’mores Bakery),

Cornmeal Crusted Cod topped with Chipotle slaw served with Old Bay Chips (from Bon Chovie)

Apple Cheesecake with Bacon (from Bite Me Cheesecakes)

Pumpkin Milkshake (from Milk Truck Grilled Cheese)

Our visit also included:

Tomatillo Juice (from ??…sorry…can’t remember)

Pumpkin Pop tarts from (The Baking Bean)

Pumpkin Chai Ice cream Sandwich (from the Good Batch)

Lobster Roll from (Hook Lobster Pound)

Oh yeah one more thing we devoured….

Here’s a few photos of other items we wanted to try but we were just too full. Sad but true.

Smorgasburg is definitely something that should be on your radar if you live in NYC or are visiting!! There a few locations so please click here for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve done food tours in New York with Urban Oyster and knew that I would love to go on a food tour in Israel. Thanks to Twitter and @funjoel – my cousin and I had the opportunity to have a food tour thru Mahane Yehuda with Joel.

Please meet Joel!!

Joel is originally from the New Jersey and is now a licensed guide in Israel. He’s also a foodie and knew exactly where to take us in Mahane Yehuda, which is a popular food market in Jerusalem.

Here are the highlights.

Jachnun Bar: (30 Ha Egoz) This is a Yemenite restaurant that recently opened in the market.  I ordered a Fatut salad and would order this again in a heart beat. I loved the texture and the originality of this dish. What is Fatut? small pieces of malawach fried with egg, cheeses and toppings. Joel brilliantly described it as “kind of like matza brei”.

Halva King: (10 and 72 Ets Hayim St) These guys sell a gazillion types of halva (pure halva – not sugary, processed halva) AS WELL as a gazillion flavours of tehina. I was so impressed with how they make the tehina (see the photo) – that I purchased a container of tehnina to take home!! This is indeed AUTHENTIC tehina.

Manou Bashouk. At this restaurant we enjoyed a sliver of some meat pie. I say a “sliver” cause we were so full from lunch!!

Oozi Eli: At this store, we were introduced to some interesting combination of natural juices. i.e Gat juice, Almonds and Dates, Lemon Mint and Etrog, Passion Fruit and Goats Milk and more. We even shmeered some lotion on our necks in the hopes that we stay young and youthful forever!!

We even visited a family member of the Dr. Laffa owners. What a small world!

My cousin has lived here for 4 years and said (early on in the tour) “I would have never found these places”. Clearly Joel was instrumental to our  tour thru Mahane Yehuda. It would not have been the same visit without him.

I am also eager to connect Joel with many of my foodie friends and other friends who visit Jerusalem on a regular basis. Fun tour guides are hard to find and Joel was definitely fun and knowledgeable. Once again, I’m thankful to twitter!!

Our night ended at a restaurant that was suggested to me by three separate Toronto foodies (@rosieschwartz, @abeworno and @foodie411). Once again, my twitter friends guided me to the most amazing restaurant in Jerusalem called MachaneYuda (10 Beit Ya’akov St) The menu changes daily so I’m not going to list exactly what I ate as there is a good chance that it wont be on the menu the next time!!  What I can tell you is that the flavours, execution, presentation, service and atmosphere will be flawless!!

There is a reason why this is one of the top restaurants in the country!

Sadly my trip to Israel has ended.  I’m really really sad about leaving but know that I will be saving my loonies for another trip soon!   However my  vacation continues and the next blog post will be about my food adventures in Barcelona! Stay tuned.

For more information:

Joel can be found on twitter (@funjoel) or on facebook and has a great website too.

 

 

Thought I might jot down some “reflections” regarding 2010. I’m a pretty positive person so naturally I only think of the “GOOD TIMES’.

I even have a napkin that reflects this positive outlook:

Here’s my list of some “good times” that occurred in 2010.

-completed the Niagara Sprint Triathlon and ran the Sporting Life 10K too.

-worked as a food sales rep for DSM Foods and opened up many  new accounts (double digits).

-enjoyed a variety of tweets ups in Toronto and in Ottawa as well.

-travelled to New York to attend the Speciality Fine Food Show in June.

-went skating on the canal in Ottawa for the first time in decades and had a blast.

-discovered new coffee shops and restaurants like a good foodie. (ha)

-2010 could be called “the year of twitter”. I’m addicted. It’s official

-bought an Ipad and a Macbook in 2010 and loving both. (i hope my iphone isnt jealous).

-read some great books (Repairing Rainbows by Lynda Fishman) and saw some great movies too (Black Swan).

-blogged for Urbanmoms for almost a year and then created momwhoruns in October. Blogging, for sure was a huge part of 2010.

-was introduced to Zumba at GoodLife Fitness and now I’m hooked.

-tried hard to eat breakfast. (think egg whites or quinoa flakes)

-enjoyed the summer by travelling to Kingston, Cobourg, Elora, Stratford and Niagara on the Lake. We live in a great province. Really.

-Continued to be surrounded by awesome family and friends!!

Looks like 2010 was a good year. I’m certainly looking forward to 2011.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.