back in action: origin

after a long and unanticipated hiatus, a culinary cabaret is back! it has been a wonderful and joyous year. between planning and executing my wedding (!!) and teaching full time, a culinary cabaret fell by the wayside. now that we are a month in to married life, this blog is back in action!

we recently dined at chef and owner claudio aprile's origin north, of the origin empire. we were happily surprised to see chef aprile himself there, on a friday night, overseeing the new season-inspired items added to their menu. 

the decor is trendy and open, the space much larger than their two downtown locations. patrons were well-dressed: mixtures of friends meeting after work and romantic dinners, with some business diners scattered among them. 

we have dined at origin north a few times and the service was quite poor. this week, however, our waiter was friendly and happy to go above and beyond to answer any questions we had, explaining the style of ordering (tapas/family style), and affirming our ordering choices were good ones! 

without further ado...

we started our with some beverages (Carlsberg and  a glass of Chianti)

origin's famous beet salad: goat cheese, pickled red onion, sherry dressing, yogurt, walnuts
this salad is not to be missed. it is remarkably fresh and always leaves you wanting more.

from the mozzarella bar: bufala with pear, rosemary oil, pine nuts and honey
such a fresh and tasty appetizer. the way these flavours come together is beautiful.

origin beef burger: smoked mayonnaise, avocado, arugula.
cooked to a perfect medium, this was one tasty piece of meat, and a menu
item they are well-known for.

origin's fries: don't miss out on these. perfectly cut and evenly-salted.
convince yourself that they go well with anything. you won't be disappointed.

the dessert menu looked incredible but we were beyond full....maybe next time.
we will definitely be back to origin soon. i'm already craving that beet salad!

five doors north

i have driven by five doors north about five thousand times, always meaning to 'give it a try sometime'. i have totally been missing out. located in the yonge-eglinton-davisville corridor, this restaurant, with 5 multi-coloured doors hanging outside, is a quirky hotspot for locals. casual but cool, five doors north is a spot to return to again and again.

a small group of us went for dinner, and were all more-than-pleased with the atmosphere and delicious food. it is a great place to go with a group, as there are lots of plates worth sharing. the hand-written menu is complete with interesting choices, while the chalkboard boasts their succulent specials. can't go wrong here!

bear with me, as i try to remember what we all ate!!

2088 yonge street
midtown toronto

i had the lovely roasted beet salad
with scallion aioli and lotus chips
meant to share. did not happen.

rk enjoyed the grilled calamari with
tomato chili jam and pesto (off the secondi menu)

ay ate the BBQ baby back ribs with crispy matchstick potatoes 

their gorgonzola gnocchi is a infamous dish! rich and savoury, you can't go wrong!
ms ordered it as an app and i had it as my main

jd ordered the sardines

 grilled lamb chops with roasted garlic and caramalized onion juice

spicy seafood stew with mussels, calamari, shrimp and stripe bass

rk ordered one of the daily pastas

great atmosphere. upside down lamps all around, funky feel.

i definitely plan on returning to five doors north. strongly recommend this wonderful place!

gusto 101

happy sunday! another weekend, another toronto restaurant review.

last sunday night we finally made our way to gusto 101 down at king and portland. it is not to be missed! having just celebrated their one-year anniversary in a town that spits out new restaurants by the dozen, we knew we had to give it a go. after waiting a half hour in the crowded bar area, we were  debating whether or not we should leave. there are only so many times you can be elbowed in the ribs before giving up. luckily, we were seated before we made the decision to look elsewhere.
we sat at a great table by the open kitchen. the industrial, abandoned auto body shop that was once 101 portland is now a trendy, food-focused destination. the chef, Daniel Mezzolo, is right on point and fun to watch, even chatting with us briefly about what he was cooking up.

check it out for yourself.

they sold these cute little sacs the bread was served in

appetizers

RK and i shared the mozzarella di bufala. i would argue it is toronto's best.
roasted tomatoes, basil oil, parmigiano crisp, smoked paprika, arugula

AY and MS shared the bruschetta ai funghi
wild mushrooms, truffle oil, manchego

mains 

AY ordered the rigatoni heritage pork sausage
rapini, peperoncino, ricotta salata

MS ordered the rigatoni lucani, and was impressed by the amount of meat:
shredded braised lamb shank, tomato, fresh herbs, shaved pecorino

i loved the roasted pumpkin agnolitti
sage brown butter, marmigiano, poppy seeds
i'm still thinking about it...

RK enjoyed the recommended spinaci pizza
spinach, buffalo mozzarella, pecorina, fresh ricotta and sliced garlic

dessert

two for the table
a divine dessert, budino al cioccolato
we should have ordered 4 this was so scrumptious

overall, great vibe, great food, great service! a definite recommendation!

before we left, our amazing waiter took us up to the second story to show us the new renos. come summer 2013, good luck getting in to gusto 101

buca

finally, after a few months of waiting, i finally made it to buca. and it was amazing. 
AF, AR and i made our way down to king west last saturday for an early reservation (the only time we could get), but ended up staying the evening. buca's atmosphere is perfect: cozy and cool at the same time. buca, meaning "basement" or "hole", is just that, an exposed brick, high-ceilinged basement in an old king street building. with an entrance wedged between two buildings down an alleyway, it is a little difficult to find, but is a must-try on the toronto restaurant scene these days.

we were greeted warmly and shown promptly to our table by the wonderful host. our waiter was very knowledgeable and the manager came by to chat frequently. none of the coldness i had read about in other reviews  since they don't have an online menu, we were eager to see what we were in store for! 
buca is a definite recommendation, but it is pricy, so save up!

menu for the day

i must mention, they have an extraordinary wine list. my favourite, a white pinot noir! it wasn't on the menu, but if you ask for it, you won't regret it.

apps:

we had heard lots about the nodini, and they were delicious.
little bread knots covered in olive oil, garlic, rosemary and salt. 

amazing charcuterie. we ordered (from L to R):
 ricotta di buffala, sovrano bufala reggiano and prosciuttini
we couldn't get enough.

a definite favourite, the parmagiana di melanzane
(preserved tomato and eggplant layered with
bufala ricotta and burrata cheese)

 at this point, the manager sent over orecchio di maiale (crisp pig's ears) with fennel salt, on the house. but i didn't manage to get a photo.
mains:

AF and AR were both tempted by the bigoli:
hand-cranked duck egg pasta with duck leg, offal ragu,
venetian spices, marscapone and basil

i ordered the orecchiette di grano arso: fresh hand-rolled 
pasta with burnt durum semolina and finished with preserved tomatoes and cacio di fossa cheese

we were beyond full, but.....
dessert:

temptation at it's finest, we shared the tiramisu di buca:
espresso-soaked house made tapioca biscuits
layered with mascarpone and chocolate mousse

a little something extra...

who doesn't love a complimentary treat?

thanks for the end-of-evening champagne, another special treat.

thanks to the amazing staff, wonderful new manager and exec chef rob gentile. we had great eats and lots and lots of laughs.

definitely add buca to your 'must-try list'. hope to head back with RK soon!

dinner party

last week, we hosted an intimate dinner party at the condo! our first time hosting in the new digs.
it was a pretty successful eve, aside from the boggle-induced noise complaint after midnight!

a special thank you goes out to KB for sending the scrumptious chocolate cream pie we enjoyed for dessert!

allow envy to ensue...

savoury cheeses and an assortment of crackers
cheese recommendation: le delice de bourgogne
(available at: alex farms, st lawrence market)
cracker recommendation: cranberry hazelnut
lesley stowe raincoast crisps,  

salad: arugula with asiago/pear, homemade lemon vinaigrette dressing
(subbed apple for pear)

olive oil coated veggies, seasoned to perfection!

the plate
lemon peppercorn rounds, grilled veggies, salad

DELICIOUS chocolate cream pie, thanks again KB!
you can bake for me anytime!

lots of boggle...special shout out to AF for being the winner of the eve!
do i hear a rematch?

recommendation recap:
cheese: Alex Farms Delice de Bourgogne (a favourite cheese of mine!)
cracker: Lesley Stowe Cranberry Hazelnut Raincoast Crisps
wine: Cave Spring 2010 Reisling

coming soon: pictures from lake louise, banff and jasper!

a GLOWing review

wednesday after school. long day. rainy. hunger coincides with a  much anticipated and overdue date with a colleague, b. she suggests GLOW, after all, they do have an early-bird special. and special it was.
alongside lots of catching up and laughs, we enjoyed a delicious meal.
for starters, we had some great beverages.

amazing wine flight. 3 for 10$. shame i can't recall what i ordered.

compliments of the chef. from the top: beets, orange, hummus. all delish.

heavy on the garlic caesar salad, with parmesan crisps. yummy.

b enjoyed this chicken penne.

i indulged in something that had all my faves in one:
 caprese flatbread

dessert shooters

cappucino, please

i would really recommend glow, especially the after-work 4-6 special. we had a three-course dinner for 15$ each, drinks excluded, of course. we had a great dinner! thanks to b for patiently waiting to eat while i snapped the shots!