A Taste of Brunch: Origin

It always seemed to me that there weren't a lot of breakfast places in Toronto but the problem was that I was never really looking for them. In April there was a feature in Now magazine reviewing around 100 places in the city. I then started to pay more attention to weekend brunch spots. There were little signs decorating the windows of restaurants advertising brunch and food displays that passersby would pause to salivate over.

Origin is a restaurant I regularly pass by and they have often had brunch advertized on the weekends. I've read a number of reviews on Origin and each of them mentioned the deviled eggs. This piqued my curiosity.

I'd say they lived up to expectations. The presentation was fantastic, the bacon was crisp and the little crispy rice balls were intriguing.

I also ordered the Ranchero eggs. It was love at first bite. My initial fork full had plantain, salsa and egg on it. I didn't initially realize that the ingredients between the plantain and the eggs were not layered but sectioned off and almost finished the salsa before I had dug into the beans. The entire thing was delicious. I've never had this type of dish before.

I enjoyed the brunch so much that when it came time for dinner my lack of desire to cook resulted in me returning to Origin for my second meal of the day.

I had already decided to order the duck wrap and was placing the menu back on the table when the woman at the table next to me leaned over and suggested, I order the duck wrap. She pointed to her empty plate and said it was delicious.

The woman was right. It was delicious. There was a bit of crunch in the dish and I'm not sure if it was coming from the meat or from a crumb mixture that was sprinkled on it. There was also a bit of heat but only someone that barely eats spicy food would be apt to notice. I love cilantro and enjoy hoisin sauce and could taste those ingredients as well.

I watched some of the dishes be served at the other tables. One of the dishes that caught my attention was a beet salad. The greens were nicely arranged on the plate with a large perfectly round beet perched in the center.

I love the creativity in presentation at this place and I love the flavour and textures the food has. This place is now on my favourites list. I'm not sure why it wasn't on it sooner.

A Taste of Japan

I went to the Okonomi House this week. I figured I'd probably get some sushi but there wasn't any sushi on the menu. Before going there I googled okonomi and discovered it was some sort of Japanese pancake so I figured since I was in the Okonomi House, I'd better try it. I order a pork okonomiyaki. I wasn't sure how big it would be so I didn't order anything with it.

It seemed more like an omelette than pancake. It had various ingredients including cabbage and ground pork in it. They don't appear to have a website and there was no take out menu to reconfirm all the ingredients but it was pretty good. The sauce on top was kind of sweet like a BBQ sauce. The only thing I would have done differently is that I would have ordered something to go with it. It's not enough for a meal.

The Bowery

Colborne Street is an interesting street that I don't appreciate enough. There are a few restaurants on it that I've never really checked out. I've only recently gone into P.J. O'Brien and loved it. There is a Thai place and Colborne Lane, both of which I've been meaning to try. Tom Jones Steakhouse is there too along with Pat Quinn Lounge. The most recent addition is The Bowery. I noticed the signage going up a few of weeks ago. Instead of procrastinating I took the first opportunity to go there with a good friend.

I made a reservation anticipating the usual large crowds that tend to show up at most new restaurants in Toronto. On their second Saturday of operation at 6PM, it was rather quiet. It did get busier as we progressed through our meal but I was a little surprised it wasn't busier. Then again, Colborne street doesn't get heavy foot traffic and I only noticed it because I was bored with my usual route to the subway and switched it up for a couple of days.

All of the Bowery's menus are presented on clipboards which vary according to the size of the menu you are examining. This seems like a smart idea to me given that a lot of people tend to turn paper menus into placemats. The next person then gets a deformed menu in the areas where condensation collected from the drink that was placed on it.

Yes, I have been the recipient of a number of such menus.

I think I was in the mood for something with mushrooms and as a result I ordered their ricotta gnocchi which was also topped with asparagus. It was delicious!

My friend ordered the strip loin and spaetzle. I don't think I had ever heard of spaetzle before. German's have some unique culinary items. It's too bad that Germans don't open more restaurants here so that we could experience more of their traditional dishes.

I normally don't bother with dessert but we had some time to kill before heading off to a friend's party, so I made an exception. I ordered the rhubarb tatin and I am super glad we decided to have dessert. It had a shortbread base layered with a rhubarb filling then a poached apple slice with a sugar sauce on top and a small scoop of sorbet beside it. Super good!

My friend had the chocolate brownie. That looked very good as well.

The prices might have been a touch higher than what they needed to be but good food like that is worth it.

I'll "Tell You" About Another Taste of Italy: Dimmi

This week I had supper at Dimmi Bar and Trattoria.  They have a small patio out front that they seem to have made the most of filling it with an arrangement of tables for two that can easily be converted into tables of 4 or 6. It's a great patio for people watching with the constant flow of traffic along Cumberland and from the side alley from Yorkville.  The two men sitting two tables away from me certainly enjoyed the view, stopping their conversation to ogle a blonde bimbo with a very short skirt as she passed by.  The patio is also good for car watching.  You get almost every kind of car going down the street from the clunkers to luxury cars.  There were the lower end BMWs, Audis and Mercedes to the high end Porsches, Bentleys and Ferraris.  I'm sure many other luxury cars make an appearance on Cumberland but those were the ones I saw while I was there.

For supper I ordered the "Fettucine Alla Riviera", a seafood fettuccine in a tomato sauce.  The waitress delivered a basket of bread while I waited for my food with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping.  There was way too much bread for me and I kind of felt bad for wasting it. My pasta arrived and smelled excellent.  On tasting it, all the seafood seemed very fresh.  I liked it.  I didn't use my good camera to take the picture even though I had it on me.  I didn't want to be one of the people that everyone was watching.  The waitress also put some parmesan on it before I took the picture so I tried to mix it in a bit so it wouldn't just look white in the picture.

Their patio is great in the evening for people like me since it sits in the shade of the building.  It also has a retractable awing which was extended when I first got there.  They retracted it before I left and seemed to turn on some water misters just as I was leaving.  I took a stroll down the side alley that so many people were traveling through and discovered a side patio to the restaurant.  It's narrow and can only accommodate a few tables for two but away from the street traffic in case you don't like car watching. ;)

The one thing about eating on the patio is that you never actually see the inside of the restaurant unless you take a washroom break.  There could be a whole different dynamic to the dining experience inside.  I guess I'll have to go back another time and check it out.

Side Note:  If the online dictionary is correct dimmi means "tell me", hence the title of this article.

The New Yorker

I went in the completely opposite food direction this past week. Instead of organic vegan food I went for mounds of meat at The New Yorker Deli on Bay street. I quite like reuben sandwiches so that's what I ordered. The options for sides included latkes so I got some of those too.

As I waited for my food I observed that the handful of patrons were all seniors. The only person remotely close to my age was the waitress that looked like she was working her summer job dressed in the clothes that she purchased on her student salary.

I noticed that food for the other patrons was coming from the font counter while my food seemed to come from the back kitchen. I didn't pay too much attention but I'm going to guess that the deep fryer or grill for the latkes was in the back. I don't know much about latkes but as far as a potato concoction goes, they were good. The reuben was pretty good too but I definitely like the Corned Beef House better, but I also like the Corned Beef House better than Schwartz's in Montreal and the Carnegie Deli in New York so the New Yorker is competing against some giants here.


There wasn't much else happening at the place while I was there. I could comment on the New York inspired interior but the link I provided above shows that.

So here's a little something I saw at the Bay Adelaide Centre courtyard. It was like a mini cirque de soleil, but not. (it's a low resolution video)

Where's The Beef?

I went Southeast of Yonge and Bloor this week. I had noticed an organic restaurant, Camros Organic Eatery, and thought I would give it a try. I examined their online menu and halfway through I wondered "where's the beef?!". Turns out the place is also vegetarian, vegan to be precise. The vegan part seems a little more important than the organic part. I think I would have put vegan in the name instead. I did some more reading of their menu and discovered that it's also Persian. Hmmm, the "Camros Organic, Vegan, Persian Eatery". Okay maybe that's a mouthful.

I ordered the 3 item combo and selected the green patty, millet salad and tomato fennel soup. As I examined my tray of food I felt a little sceptical about my restaurant selection. I sampled a piece of my green patty. I was delighted! The patty was made with potato, rice, dill, cilantro, turmeric and a few other ingredients. The dill was the first flavour I tasted and I love dill! This thing was a hit in my book.

I then tried the millet salad. I was again delighted! It was made with millet, chickpeas, red onion, green onion, parsley and a few other ingredients, then topped with a dressing. I chose zesty lemon dressing. I think a lot of the flavour came from the dressing. Another hit!


Then it was time to try the tomato fennel soup. It was pretty good. Not as good as the other two things but certainly nothing to complain about.


I was in and out of the place in less than 20 minutes. I still felt a little hungry after I left but they say it takes 20 minutes for your body to register the food in your stomach. I don't think I felt hungry at all for the rest of the night but I do think that most people would need to order the 4 item combo.

In planning to return, I asked the staff about the availability of the millet salad and green patties. Their menu is on a two week rotation, which means I would have to show up two weeks later if I wanted to eat these particular items again.

I give the place two thumbs up and hope that the rest of the items on their menu are as delicious. Based on other reviews I have read I suspect they are.

Bad Dinners and Bad Dates

I went to the Bloor Street Diner last week. They have a decent patio but I can't say much for the food. I ordered the seared snapper. The rice was just rice. The salad was just greens. The fish was a little over cooked. The mango salsa was pretty good but there needed to a lot more of it to make up for the rest of the dish. I ordered a drink based on the waitress' recommendation. Nothing special there either.


The most interesting thing at this place was the conversation at the next table. Two girls were sitting at the table across from me, waiting for their third friend to show up. Their conversation turned to dating, bad dates in particular. I can relate! One of her bad dates spent the night correcting her grammar. I know I'm a bad speller and I probably have bad grammar and punctuation too but that's not something I or she would want to hear about on a date. Someone else she went out with told her at the end of the date he was just looking for a blond bimbo to sit on his boat and look good. Given that she was a brunette and at least a little overweight, I don't know why he wouldn't have told her that at the beginning of the date. Maybe that was just his excuse not to call her again. Some other guy thought that women should stay home and raise the children. Apparently he also believed in assisted suicide and may have assisted his ailing mother in ending her life. Not a good topic for a first date but I guess it has to come up sooner or later if he feels strongly about those things. The last guy I heard her speak of was someone that turned out to be a former colleague that she did not get along with. It also turned out that he had spent some time in prison in recent years.

After that the third friend showed up, who was pregnant, so the conversation switched from dating to maternity topics, something I know very little about even though everyone around me seems to be having babies.

So even though the food was nothing special, at least I know I'm not the only one still having bad dates!

The View From Here

We had more great weather this week. What better way to enjoy the weather than to find another patio! What better way to enjoy the weather and the patio than with a good drink and what better way to enjoy the weather, the patio and the drink than to be 51 stories above the city!

I returned to Panorama this week and was pleased to find it was not closed for a private party this time. Panorama has been on my list of restaurants to go to for possibly 6 years. Prior plans to go there with friends always fell through. Over the years I had heard people say, "You go there for the view, not the food", so I lowered my expectations. My first observation about the place was that when you are lining up for the elevator you need to remember the LIFO rule, last one in the elevator is the first one out. If you happen to be the first one in the elevator, just hope that the others in the elevator with you are nice enough to let you be seated first.

I got to Panorama just as they opened at 5PM. When I arrived on the 51st floor the only people there were the staff and the people I rode up with in the elevator. There are two patios, one facing the North and one facing the South. Of course we all wanted to face the South towards downtown. When I was being seated the hostess placed me against the building instead of closer to the view. Since only one of the eight rail side seats were taken, I requested the better seat. The rail side seats consisted of 6 tables for four and two wicker tables and chairs for two. I was sure it would be fine. I was sadly mistaken. She said she couldn't seat me at them as she expected it to get busy. I didn't argue and took my seat.

I examined the menu and decided on the butternut squash ravioli.

A group of girls showed up shortly after I placed my order. They stayed for a few minutes, took some pictures then left. I looked carefully at the city below trying to pick out the various buildings I've become familiar with. It was nice and quiet there. Occasionally I could hear an ambulance or the distant sound of some construction work. The cars on the Gardener looked like ants in the distance.

Two guys showed up and were seated in the wicker seats across from me at about the same time that my food arrived. As I dug into my ravioli with frizzled leeks I heard the waiter come back to their table three times to take one guys drink order. Turns out that they were out of the first beer he order and only had a half glass left in the keg for the second beer he ordered. Before letting the guy try to order a third time the waiter informed him of the other two beers they were out of.



By the time I had finished my ravioli, which wasn't anything too special compared to other squash raviolis I've had, the other patrons that had been in the elevator with me had finished their round of drinks, settled their bills and left. Some other tables had also been seated during this time, including a group of two at a table meant for four. I watched the hostess get a slightly annoyed looked each time she tried to seat someone and they asked to sit somewhere else. As for it getting busy, there were never more than 5 of the 15 or so tables on the South facing patio in use while I was there and all 5 tables were clumped together. The tables inside were empty and the North facing patio had one table in use.

I think the hostess really needs to adjust her expectations of the guests of the restaurant or go back and get some more training on how to be an effective hostess. People are coming to see the view. If I'm the first one there then I should be given a seat closest to the view and you don't clump people up together on a long patio. There is no excuse for that. Thankfully I didn't have to look through people for very long.

I would consider going back for a drink sometime. If it was the same hostess or another hostess that acted the same way, I would insist on sitting where I wanted and I would take a long time sipping my one drink and enjoying the view. It's definitely a spot to take friends visiting the city, if only to take some pictures.

A Taste of Greece

On one of the nice days last week I went looking for a patio around Yonge and Bloor. I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Too bad it was closed for a private event. I ended up taking a wander down Cumberland and as I suspected all the patios were overflowing. I continued my walk to Yonge Street and headed North where I found the empty patio of Mykonos. I've never been one to follow the herd but I do get a little wary when nearby restaurants are overflowing while what seems like a good location is practically empty. But then I remembered most people are weird and will walk out of a good place if no other patrons are there. I'm not one of those people.

The front wall of the restaurant completely opened up onto the patio so I took the table meant for two right in the middle of the opening. Close enough to people eating inside but not so far out that the pedestrians passing by would be looking at me funny (or ogling my food when I got it).

If you haven't guessed, Mykonos is Greek (and after Googling Mykonos images I think I might want to take a vacation there!). I read through the menu and for a brief minute considered ordering something I wouldn't normally order, but who was I kidding. I was going to get souvlaki!

After placing my order I started reading my book. Three people showed up and took a seat on the edge of the patio. They seemed to be regulars based on the way the waiter greeted them. I continued to read when suddenly I heard a splash and felt some droplets of water hit my arm. I looked to the empty table on my left and it was as if someone had just dumped a bucket of water on it. The waiter showed up just then with my drink. We both started examining the roofline, part of which I was conveniently sitting under. As he stepped away to get a better look, I picked up by bag and my drink and stepped away to the next table out. "I think this table will be safer", I explained. Neither one of use knew where the water had come from at that moment. I just knew I didn't want a second occurrence of it to land on my head.

A short while after, my meal arrived. It looked fantastic! The waiter asked me if I wanted some fresh pepper, so of course I said yes. I then learned a couple of things; that I have quick reflexes with my eyelids and never to order fresh pepper when you are on a patio with a breeze while sitting downwind from the grinder.

I only had my iPhone with me and took a picture with it. I'll pretend I'm a food critic for two seconds. The colour of the steamed vegetables livened up what would have been a standard dish. The flavour of the souvlaki was perfect and I can't remember the last time I tasted Greek potatoes that good! Okay, I'm done pretending. Maybe I ate at too many food court Greek restaurants in the past couple of years or maybe they are just that good but whatever the reason, I definitely enjoyed it.



While eating my meal another load of water splashed onto the same empty table. This time one of the men in the back of the restaurant went to investigate. A few minutes later he was on the roof with one of those giant squeegees and cleared off the remaining water. It had rained earlier in the day and some water had apparently accumulated in an area under renovation. After a job well done the man relaxed with the regulars on the patio.

Some more regulars showed up on the patio as I ate and some others went inside. I couldn't come up with any good reasons why the place might not be more popular. The interior of the restaurant looked good. Empty patio, splashing water and pepper in my face aside, I thought this was a pretty good place and worth a second visit. If I'm craving Greek and don't want to head down the Danforth then this is a great option.

Against the Grain

The weather outside was up to 33 degrees Celsius today. Since it took so long for summer weather to get here, I don't want to take it for granted. Today, for the first time, I ate my lunch on the shaded patio at the office building I work in. At the end of the work day, as I walked home from the subway enjoying the weather, I knew I had nothing good in my fridge to eat except a frozen pizza. I wasn't about to turn my oven on! I like Sugar Beach and wanted to hang out there to enjoy the weather so the decision on where to go was easy. I went to Against the Grain, a new restaurant that opened in the Corus building on Queens Quay.

The weather on the beach was great when I got there. It was 22 degrees with a nice breeze coming off of the water. Against the Grain has a great patio with a number of couches on it. This was actually my second time there. The first time I went it was a bit chilly out so I sat inside. The sablefish was delicious and worth having again. The waiter on the other needed a bit of work. I've never had a waiter shake my hand when he introduces himself. I think he must have been in training based on a number of other things he did. He was there tonight but thankfully was not my waiter. The waiter I had seemed to have arrived in Toronto just 6 weeks ago, based on what I overheard in a conversation he was having when I first sat down. He seemed like a very nice guy. He's allowed to serve me again. :)

I ordered the Barcelona pizza this time around. The fact that I had a travel guide for Barcelona in my purse may have had something to do with my selection.

The wind started to pick up a bit and the sun disappeared behind some clouds while I waited for my pizza. There were a lot of sail boats of all sizes in the water, a group of kayakers exploring the harbour front and a number of Porter planes flying in to the island airport. I love Porter and watching the planes fly in!

I ate my pizza carefully keeping hold of my napkin while I ate and coaster while I drank as the breeze that had welcomed me was now a bit gusty. The pizza was pretty good. I don't think it will win any awards or anything but it's pizza! You know what they say about pizza, even when it's bad it's still pretty good. I personally like a thin crust. Theirs wasn't quite thin enough to meet my thin crust standard but it was nice and crispy.



Just as I settled my bill and looked around the building to the North, I could see storm clouds approaching with lightning. That explained the wind. So I headed home and abandoned by beach time. It looked like quite the storm but I was thankfully just South enough to not get caught in it.


Weirdest thing I saw today: When I was heading down to the beach there was a girl riding her bike on the wrong side of Sherbourne heading South. When she got to Lakeshore she somehow clipped the curb or didn't see the curb between the Gardener exit ramp and the traffic lanes on Lakeshore and ended up doing a body slam into the pavement right in front of the waiting traffic. She picked herself and her bike up and dusted herself off. No serious damage.

One Year Later

It’s been almost a year since the World Cup. I’m not sure if there is something about summer weather that changes my mood but in the past few weeks I went to two restaurants that made me feel like doing another culinary adventure. I've tried a number of "new to me" restaurants in the past few months. I always enjoy trying new restaurants. I actually have my own Google map that I keep up to date with almost all the restaurants I've been to or want to try in Toronto. It's been a handy reference. So I'm just going to extend this existing blog to write about the other restaurants I try in Toronto and other candid things I see.

I was trying a number of restaurants along Queen West and in Liberty Village in the past three months due to the activities I was involved in outside of work. Now I'll be hanging out around Yonge and Bloor once a week for 10 weeks, the intersection of Yorkville/Annex, Rosedale and the Bay and Church corridors [1]. So I figure I'll probably try restaurants in those areas for a while.

Since I'm not a food critic I’m just going to blog to sort of document my experiences, use it as an opportunity to play with my camera, let it provide me with a reason for additional socializing and pretend no one is reading. If you should happen to like it then that will just be a bonus, won't it.


[1] Found this interesting link on Toronto neighbourhoods and there 2006 census stats while looking for neighbourhood names http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/profiles_map_and_index.htm