I discovered Pukka via Twitter (does that surprise you?) and then found out that they  recently opened up a little over a week ago on St. Clair Ave. West.  I was eager to blog about Pukka seeing as I haven’t reviewed an Indian restaurant ever!!

Let’s start off with the space:

Not too dark. Not too bright. Plus I love the colour combos. It’s a pretty cool space for a restaurant in “North Toronto”. (in my humble opinion)

Now let’s talk about the food. Pukka has managed to make Indian food – INTERESTING. It’s not heavy, or greasy or boring at ALL.

Here’s four dishes that really were outstanding. They were interesting, fresh, extremely flavourful and light.

Top Left: Vegetable String Chaat – puffed rice, sprouts, chutneys and sweet yogurt

Top Right: Baby Kale Salad – dates, lotus chiops and spiced cashew dressing. See what I mean?

Bottom Right: Wilted Winter Greens – pickling spices.

Bottom Left: Tandoor Roasted Paneer – sweet peppers and pineapple

The meal continued with a few other winners:

Top Right: Chicken 65 – South Indian Fried Chicken (this is a MUST to order – and I’m not even a huge fan of chicken!!)

Bottom Right: Butter Chicken – tomato butter sauce.

On the Right: Vegetable Pakoras with Tomato Chutney

Believe it or not,…we managed to try dessert despite the fact that we were full.

Left: Eton Mess – rosewater meringue (my favorite), mango, pomegranate and sweet lassi cream

Right: Chai Pot Creme- candied pistachios, orange blossom creme anglaise, spiced shortbread (I loved the shortbread…hope they sell it separately one day)

Someone knows what they are doing in the kitchen and every dish was executed perfectly. I was super impressed with the flavours, textures, and presentation of each dish.

I have no doubt that the neighborhood is going to embrace Pukka. (which is pronounced PUCK – A).

For more information:

Pukka: 778 St. Clair Ave. West (West of Bathurst). 416 342 1906. They open everyday at 5 pm.

www.pukka.ca

Twitter: @pukkatoronto

Disclosure: Pukka is currently a client but I assure you that all opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.

Halloween is the perfect holiday for Foodies.

Here’s a list of what I will be eating on Halloween:

1) I will always select chocolate of candy. Love the names of these Nestle “Crave Yard” Chocolate Bars…Scaero, Scaries, and Coffin Crisp. Too Cute. (and yummy too)

2) Pumpkin Caramels  from Purdy’s. So pretty. Not to mention I love the combo of pumpkin and chocolate!!

3) Pumpkinstein Froyo at Yogurty’s.

4) OK I didn’t buy this cereal but the fact that the ghosts turns the milk green appeals to my inner child!!

5) Pumpkin Ale by Great Lakes

6) Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks….good thing I have been using my app and have collected a lot of free drinks to help me with my obsession with this flavour!!

7) I’m sure I will be making a pumpkin pie over the next few days. Feel free to send links to your favourite recipes!!

Happy Halloween!!

I went to check out the Delicious Food Show on Friday. I thought my visit would be brief but I ended up staying for hours. There were many more vendors than I had anticipated and no shortage of foodie friends for me to bump into!!

The show is taking place Oct 25-27th at the Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place and is a well layed out, and a beautiful looking show.

I’m in love with this display that is at the front and would really like two smaller versions for my apartment!!

I walked thru the aisles and discovered new product – like this Organic Chocolate with Mustard Seeds fromKozlik’s. How unique. Don’t you think?

I also bumped into some restaurant owners that I hadn’t seen in many years who are just to open a new restaurant (Pai Toronto). While talking to Nuit and Jeff, we discovered that we have known each other since 2008, when I visited their first restaurant (Sudkho Thai) on Parliament.

My food adventures continued and I must say that I had a lot of fun at the View the Vibe booth. They had a great set up – including a Lounge.

The highlight of the day was really Martha Stewart! She attracted a HUGE crowd. Please note that the Delicious Show has a variety of  high profile chefs appearing throughout the weekend. Take a peek at the schedule here.

Hope you get a chance to visit this DELICIOUS show over the weekend. You won’t be disappointed.

Show Hours: Oct 25-27

Friday: 11am-10pm
Saturday: 10am-7pm
Sunday: 10am-6pm

Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto

I had the opportunity the other day to visit the Chatelaine Kitchen and meet celebrated Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. I was familiar with these two chefs as many of my friends have their cookbook and I’ve often leafed thru it while chatting with them in their kitchens.

When I posted on facebook that I was at this event. ..there was a lot of very positive feedback. Clearly they have a HUGE following!!

The lovely Claire Tansey who is the Chatelaine Food Director, introduced both chefs and then asked them a few questions while they prepared a salad. (which I forgot to take a photo of..arghh).

Questions from the floor were also taken:

-What are some under used ingredients: They answered – Tehina, Maple Syrup, Rose Water and Sumac.

-Who would they like to cook for?: They answered – Nigella Lawson!!

I was thrilled to find out that all the guests would be receiving an autographed copy of their recently launched cookbook: Ottolenghi: The Cookbook!!

I’ve been flipping thru it and have  spotted a few recipes I’m sure I will be trying in the near future. Specifically:

-Portobello Mushrooms with Pearled Barley and Preserved Lemons

-Danielle’s Sweet Potato Gratin

-Fennel Cherry Tomato and Crumble Gratin

This cookbook features 140 recipes with bold and flavorful ingredients. I’m sure I’m going to love it!!

Happy Cooking!!

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever since I took my first cheese class years ago at Leslieville Cheese market with Julia Rogers, I have been obsessed with Cheese. I have even taken two courses at Murrays Cheese in New York City, while on vacation!! I even have a cheese diary. (please don’t judge me).

My love for cheese was clearly noticed by the good people at Dairy Farmers of Canada as they approached me back in August to take part in a social media campaign called  Simple Pleasures of Canadian Cheese.

It’s a pretty cool initiative that I was all too happy to be a part of. I will have the opportunity to eat MORE CANADIAN CHEESE and share my love for  Canadian Cheese on Instagram. If you aren’t already following me…please do. I’m easy to find: Just do a search for MOMWHORUNS. I will be using the hashtag: #Simplepleasures and #CDNCheese.

 

So far I’ve been munching on:

14 Arpents (Fromagerie Medard), Ricotta (Quality Cheese), Avonlea Cheddar (Cows Creamery), Figaro (Glengarry Cheese), and Five Brothers (Gunns Hill Artisan Cheese).

I was so excited about all these cheeses that I hosted a small wine/cheese party one night. My friends loved the cheese from Five Brothers. However my favorite was Figaro. It has all the right qualities that I’m looking for….so creamy, so rich, so strong.

I’m sure you will be seeing more blog posts about my love for cheese. In the meantime…please follow me on Instragram. Um…Like. …Right Now. LOL.

 

GoodLife Fitness opened a beautiful 10,000 square foot facility at Toronto Pearson Airport yesterday. This is great news for the 30,000 employees who work at the airport and the 32 million passengers who pass thru the airport as well!!

I love the concept that you can rent workout clothing as well at this location, as well as they have partnered with Reebok.  What a great idea in the event that you forgot to bring your workout  clothes or don’t have room to pack them.

They thought of everything. Even oversized lockers.

You wouldn’t want to miss your flight so these schedule boards were installed inside the gym too. Smart.

An opening party wouldn’t be the same without a VIP guest so Darryl Sittler was present at the opening party. Naturally I made sure I took a photo with this hockey legend.

Congratulations to Goodlife Fitness. I have no doubt that this is going to be one very very busy location.

For more information:

Goodlife Fitness, Terminal 1, Arrival Level, Toronto Pearson Airport, 905 671 3721

 

How could I say no to an invitation that had the word “Cake Boss” in it? I love cake as much as the next person does and was eager to join in the fun, as Canadian Tire was launching the Cake Boss Bakeware Line in Canada.

The event was held at  The Fifth Grill & Terrance and when you walked in there were about a dozen tables that looked like this.

I was a bit freaked to actually participate as I like to EAT cake but had never ever touched fondant before. Here’s proof of my total inexperience!!

However the lovely Gabby Parisi (@GabrielleParisi) who’s a cake decorating expert, came by each participant to help us out!! Clearly I accepted her help.

I finally got a bit more confidence and decorated my cake after being inspired by watching Pay Chen and Theresa Albert decorate their respective cakes!!

Next time you are in Canadian Tire, please look out for the Cake Boss Bakeware Line. Another great addition to their ever growing kitchen department.

Remember I mentioned that I went to three food shows in one week? Well, Rendez -Vous Quebec was the last one. This is a much smaller show than Grocery Innovations or CHFA but that’s just fine with me (and my waistline).

I’m sure this won’t surprise you, but I discovered a few interesting products at this show. In particular…these chocolates. These were NOT just your average chocolates. You want to know what they were filled with? Not what you were expecting!! Ready? (drum roll). ….Foie Gras!! Yes. ..Foie Gras oozed into your mouth when you bit into one of these logs. Seriously. Delicious.

I also enjoyed some amazing Quebec cheese. There is certainly no shortage of cheese makers in this province.

 I also stumbled across a new product from Smoke which I can’t wait try at home one day soon. I’ve been a fan of this company for years and something tells me I’m going to have a new salmon dish to serve. #happydance

One last item that caught my attention were these gorgeous looking Christmas ornaments that were made out of CHOCOLATE.  Stunning.

I left the show with the feeling that I need to visit Montreal sooner than later. This province really does produce some serious chocolate, beer, maple syrup, cheese, dairy products, bread and more!! I’ve blogged about my love for Jean Talon Market and Atwater Market before and I know I will be blogging about it again in the near future.

Many thanks to Bureau du Quebec for inviting me to Rendez -Vous Quebec!!