A few weekends ago, my friends and I decided to trek out to Niagara on the Lake to try Jet Boating (for the first time) & attend the Lavendar Festival. On the agenda for the day, we also scheduled an afternoon visit to Kitchen 76 @ Two Sisters Vineyard. Two Sisters Vineyard is Niagara’s newest premium winery of about 76 acres of land. Dining on the patio of Kitchen 76 was spectacular. The incredibly high ceilings of their patio whilst looking out to the rows and rows of grapes was incredible. Their menu features Italian-inspired dishes that pairs perfectly with their full spectrum of wine. We requested to sit out on the patio which was…
FIGO – is a gorgeously decorated restaurant situated at the corner of Adelaide & John. Lead by Head Chef Executive Anna Chen, FIGO offers authentic Italian cuisine using the freshest and finest ingredients. The approach at FIGO is simple, they source the best ingredients possible and preparing them in a modern way. When we arrived at the restaurant, I couldn’t get over how lovely the space was with natural lighting pouring through the glass walls. Scallops ($26.00) taggiasche olives, preserved tomato Scallops were seared and seasoned perfectly The 3 scallops left me hungry so we decided to order another entrée (There is an option to add more scallops with extra costs) Polenta ($9.00) Mushrooms, grano padano The…
Chicago Style Pizza is a hole in the wall restaurant tucked away in the midst of Hamilton. I rarely travel to Hamilton and I’m not too sure of many restaurants that offer Deep Dish Pizza in the GTA. But when someone offers to drive you to Hamilton to check out deep dish pizza – you can’t really say no to that haha! Trust me, this place is totally worth the trek! (wherever you are!) This visit is my 3rd trip to Chicago Style Pizza. I visited this restaurant twice back in 2012 (blog post here) and this time being the third. It’s been 4 years since my last visit – the layout hasn’t changed much but a renovation definitely occurred to brighten…
Although Francobollo may be slightly tucked away in North York, this fine dining Italian restaurant is definitely a go-to spot for many locals. We couldn’t help but notice the familiar faces to the wait staff that kept filling the restaurant throughout the course of our dinner. Francobollo, which opened its doors back in December 2014, is a modern, casual neighbourhood restaurant that distinguishes itself from others with warmth and sincerity, present in all elements of the dining experience. Francobollo is from the creators of Terra, Rusty’s and Sarpa Restaurants. Bread to Start Seared Halibut Cakes ($18.00) Spicy tomato ragu Carpaccio di Manzo ($18.00) beef tenderloin, grana padano, caper berries, baby arugula, lemon, white truffle oil…
Last Saturday, I was invited by a few friends to watch the Jays Home Opener Weekend game! Pretty exciting but get this… we were actually watching the game from our own executive suite with our own private kitchen, bathroom, with unlimited healthy and not so healthy foods & drinks that was constantly being replenished – to top it off with my favourite Milk Chocolate Hagaan Diaz ice cream. Along with this amazing suite, is a patio with 2 rows of fancy couches inside the Rogers Center stadium to watch the game! Score? =) Honestly, I don’t think I can ever go back to just watching any game the way I used to… Anyways – watching…
When my friend randomly suggested Blu Ristorante (@BluRistorante) for an Italian dinner while we were shopping in the Yorkville area, I was quite excited yet perplexed. Italian food – specifically pasta is something that I always crave for so I never say nooo. Yet, I was feeling perplexed because I usually do all my research before heading to any restaurants – so I guess this was somewhat of a spontaneous visit? =) I admit – the second I walked through the doors – the restaurant did give off a bit of a pretentious vibe but our waiter made it go away as soon as he came over and walked us through the menu. He was friendly and…
After recently visiting Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar (@Scaddabush)‘s first location in Square One, Mississauga not too long ago, they promptly opened a second location 2 weeks ago two blocks away from the Eaton Center. Here’s the thing: I had two completely different dining experiences at the different locations. My first experience at the Square One location was a relaxing – 2 person dinner – sharing a pasta and pizza and what not. My experience at the Yonge & Gerrard location last Thursday on the other hand – I can say, was more like an epic feast. (I’ll explain more later) As soon as you walk through the main doors – you’re exposed to a galore…
When my friend first told me her birthday dinner was being held at Carisma (@Carisma_73KingE), my initial reaction was something along the lines of “what?! where is this place…?!” This dinner was pretty interesting in the sense that our party of 12 (mainly consisted of foodies) did not have a single person that had ever heard of Carisma. So I guess my friend successfully accomplished her goal in getting a group of foodies in trying a restaurant that no one has been to – or heard of. So the evening arrived, the restaurant isn’t difficult to spot – but it’s definitely a place you’ll most likely pass by but forget all about it. Carisma is located…
Before my trip to Hong Kong, I had the pleasure of attending a tasting menu at &Co Resto Bar (@AndCoRestoBar), located in Mississauga, just steps from Square One Shopping Mall. &Company Resto Bar is a trendy, “New-American” inspired supper club that also happens to be the only rooftop patio in the city. They’re a unique kind of resto in that they transition their venue from dining to nightlife. Marketing Manager, Lien Tran had invited a bunch of media outlets that evening to show case Chef Lussier’s brand new spring offerings! The menu was 2 pages – seemed like a simple read but my cousin & I were pretty overwhelmed by choice. So our waiter ended up…
I’m never in the Yonge and Eglinton area. But when my best friend from Korea (who was only visiting Toronto for a few days) told me she was madly craving for pasta(s), my mind went totally blank! Believe it or not this was rather a difficult task narrowing it down to just ONE Italian restaurant that serves amazing pastas. So not having too much time to research I decided with Grazie Ristorante. From reading a few reviews it was safe to say the general consensus gave a positive feedback – which probably explains why they have been around for such a long time. Grazie Ristorante has 2 locations: one in Vaughn & the other location…
A few months back, Stella (@foodieyu) from Foodjunkiechronicles.net invited me to a menu tasting at Bar Mozza inside Alimento Fine Food Emporium along King street West. Alimento Find Food Emporium is actually an Italian “grocery store” that focuses on mainly selling fine Cheese. On the other side of this store is a gorgeous space for the dining section, Bar Mozza, where we had a little menu tasting! Thank you for inviting me =) One of the staff members gave us a thorough Cheese tour – she walked us through every section of the store and gave us some samples as we walked around. Back to the dining section! This was our bread the start. I personally thought…
The very first time I heard of Gusto 101 (@Gusto101TO) was when a few foodies tweeted that Gusto 101 had forbidden that they take any photographs inside the restaurant. Seriously?? So when my friends suggested they wanted to dine here, I was totally on board to see what was so pretentious about this place that they didn’t allow a few happy customers to take photos! With that being said, no I didn’t bring my DSLR but decided to take pictures with camera phone to see if anyone would stop me! 😀 We’ve heard that Gusto 101 fills up quickly for dinner service so we weren’t expecting to be seated right away but we thought wrong. Bread to start:…
Parts & Labour (@partsnlabour) has been on my radar for quite some time now. And when I found out that they had participated in Summerlicious (@liciousTO) this year- I was quite excited! Parts & Labour – located in the far west end of downtown Toronto, in Parkdale, first opened back in 2010 and is overseen by Chef Matthew Matheso (@mattydeathbro). So on a Wednesday night, I managed to drag some foodies: Mary (Eat, Drink, and Be Mary) , Vickie (kiki’s B.F.F) + Ben & Andrew (@_aneb) – to finally check this place out! After a very long street car ride… Mary & I finally arrived at the resto! Parts & Labour is a long, narrow – workshop themed restaurant, communal tables all across the…
