May 19th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

In March, I posted about working with Jangles Productions. Mark Jacot (pictured below) heads up Jangles and he brings together a great conference team to fill different roles for his variety of successful events. He’s a great example of a dream company to work for and you can see that by the contract staff who get in line to come back to work with Mark and the Jangles team, year after year.

Along with his wife, Margaret, who is also an extremely talented cook, they always throw a fantastic after-party for the team that brings us all together in a fun, casual environment. Mark and Margaret are seasoned world travelers and serious food people and it shows. I have to admit that I feel truly fortunate to be included in the Jangles crew and not just because I rolled out of their home with belly bursting. It’s a special gift to be able to run a big crew like this and keep everyone happy. Mark is like a mentor to me. He runs his business with honesty and integrity and that’s an amazing model for anyone. Thanks to all the Jacots for allowing me to be a part of this fantastic team.

I thought I’d share with you a few of the creations that the Jacots put together for the team party – everything is made from scratch (well not the cheese but they don’t have room for cows in the backyard with the outdoor pool). If you were invited and missed it, eat your heart out. More for me I say. Here’s what you missed and yes, you can be jealous. I ate everything.

April 26th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

Swimming through the deluge of Japanese restaurants we have in Toronto can be daunting. There are literally hundreds of sushi places to choose from with new ones popping up every day. The best way to wade through is to ask yourself what your expectations are. Is price a factor? Because, unless you happen on a gem, you usually get what you pay for and so you need to decide accordingly. Are you looking for something more traditional? Are you looking for atmosphere? Or an expanded menu beyond the raw selections and maki sushi rolls? Or is fast-food style fine with you?

I’ve reviewed two of my favourite places here, Guu Izakaya Toronto and Tokyo Kitchen. They’re both excellent examples of different styles of Japanese restaurants in Toronto. As an izakaya, Guu offers plenty of atmosphere and entertainment with the communal tables and shouted greetings, along with a great variety of menu offerings. Tokyo Kitchen’s menu is more traditional in spirit, providing many options you don’t get elsewhere such as the popular Japanese-style curry. Plus their lunch specials won’t break the bank.

Recently, I went to Ichiriki located on Bloor Street just east of Yonge and I’m happy to conclude that it is n my list of top go-to Japanese places. The first time, I went during lunch with one of my clients at Rogers. Their office is located close by. It had a suit and tie feel to the place then, mostly because the lunch crowd comes from the surrounding business towers. Ichiriki featured standard bento box lunch specials and while it was good, it kind of slipped my mind these past years, as it didn’t make a lasting impression then.

A couple of years later, I went with Martin – I just posted about his 30th birthday party – who loves the raw fish at Ichiriki, and not because he lives across the street, though I’m sure they know him well by now. On another occasion, while dining at Cava, I sat beside this intriguingly obsessive couple who talked about all of their favourite food places, including Ichiriki and more importantly told me about the Chef’s love of jazz. When you walk in, it’s hard not to notice this, considering it plays beautifully in the background and the Chef even has a wall of photos devoted to showcasing these musicians.

I went again this week, having just missed the latest Jazz Dinner held on April 17, 2010 where they bring in musicians to play after your meal. It’s a wonderful idea, a starter of finely orchestrated Japanese dishes followed by a symphony of jazz to digest on as you sip on a glass of sake.

On our latest visit, we tried a number of the Chef’s Recommendations and to our delight, they were all hits. They included:

Tororo (Grated Taro Potato) with Raw Quail Egg ($5.50) shown above topped with a dribble of soy sauce.

I can say with confidence that tororo is not for everyone. But those of us who are fans will appreciate what a real treat this gruel-like looking dish is when we can get our hands on it.Maguro with Tororo or Fresh Tuna with Grated Taro Potato ($9.00) again with the self-administered soy sauce topping.

My favourite Chef’s Recommendation is the Maguro with Natto or Fresh Tuna with Fermented Soy Bean ($9.00) above. Again, the strong scent and sticky texture of the natto, means that this dish will not have the broadest appeal. To me, I am wishing I could eat some right now!

We inhaled the Mushroom Tempura ($5.00) before the camera could come out but sometimes that happens. The enjoyment of the dining experience will always be my first priority and if that means I can only describe it to you without a visual, well that’s how it has to be. Some dishes should really be eaten upon arrival and the batter of the fried tempura mushrooms, a mix of enoki and king oyster, was so light and crisp it begged to be consumed while hot.

An order of kaki fry which consisted of panko-crusted medium plump oysters came to the table steaming hot right out of the fryer. The accompanying tonkatsu sauce – a worcestershire-based sauce shown top right – was too thick and cloying for the delicate bivalves so I enjoyed mine with a simple squeeze of lemon to ensure I was getting full oyster flavour.

We had a large selection of raw fish including the sushi and sashimi set ($19.00) plus fresh lobes of uni (sea urchin gonads), ikura (salmon roe) and a type of yellow tail (not hamachi as they were sold out by this time) to name a few, and a savoury spicy salmon hand roll that makes my mouth water to think of it. The nori was super crisp and the crunch with each bite worked well to contrast the softness of the minced salmon and spicy sauce mixture. Julian enjoyed it so much he ordered another one for dessert.

Talking about dessert, we were treated to a complimentary bowl of ice cream which I believe is par for the dinner course. We tried ginger, red bean and green tea ice cream. The ginger ice cream was creamy with a mild flavour that contained ginger chunks which were happily not as sweet as your average crystallized ginger, but similar. The red bean ice cream was my favourite.

Leaning back in my chair, sipping on sake, listening to the rhythms of the sultry jazz tunes in the background with some of my favourite dining companions, that is what I call a sweet ending.

April 19th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

Creating a new heading under Bits And Bites, this post consists of a short summary of things I’ve been doing, perusing and pondering.

Blogging About Food In Toronto

I recently started doing some restaurant reviews for blogTO — three to date on Chick-N-Joy, Linda by Salad King and just this week, Family Dumpling House. Writing for someone else is not as easy as writing for yourself. I’ve learned quite a few things already from the blogTO editor and also from the readers’ remarks, both positive and negative. It’s an opportunity to learn more about what flies and what doesn’t and I’m open to seeing how this turns out.

A few hiccups along the way have already occurred with things happening out of my control, say a by-line on an announcement that I didn’t write, and one unhappy restaurant owner, which for the most part is par for the course. And if I am willing to critique a restaurant I must in turn be willing to expose myself to the swath of comments and criticisms about what I say. I believe that a thicker skin will be needed with everyone being free and entitled to make a remark or better yet, a compliment. That is part of putting yourself out there publicly. Not everyone has to like my work… but of course, it would be nice.

In the end, I hope writing for blogTO will have the added benefit of exposing BananaViews to more readers. As much fun as it is having the opportunity to express myself here, it’s even better knowing that you’re out there. And thanks for that.

Jealous of Judith Jones

I just read The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones and I’ve been thinking about what a great life she’s had working with some of the most critically-acclaimed chefs and cookbook writers around, most famously Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, Marion Cunningham and Lidia Bastianich to name a few. It’s written so sincerely and she tells about her encounters managing each of these “greats” so graciously. Each page flows and you can easily devour this book in an instant.

Even better, she also devotes the last quarter of her book to recipes including a section called Cooking For One which looks like a prelude to her recent book The Pleasures Of Cooking For One. I am looking forward to reading The Pleasures Of Cooking For One but have delayed it out of sentimental reasons. The idea of one day cooking for one compared to my busy household now sort of breaks my heart. Yet surely the intention of her book is to contrast just that and is exactly the reason why I should read it.

Martin Turns Thirty

My friends throw fabulous parties and Saturday we celebrated Martin’s 30th birthday party which included a mash of Martin’s social circles. Martin (pictured left) decided to have a private party at PM Gallery owned by Powell MacDougall and the wife of our friend, Geoffrey who helped to host the night with Powell catering in the kitchen.

Powell’s cooking is a side benefit if you’re lucky enough to host a reception in her gallery, surrounded by interesting (and very buyable) art. Martin loves his wine and knows quite a thing or two about it and in combination with Powell’s treats this was a tasty night. He served us a refreshing bubbly, Codorniu Pinot Noir Rose Brut Cava, which was bright and light on the palate with nice berry notes. He also served a smash hit rioja that I can’t remember the name of, likely due to having too many of them. Must ask Martin to send me the wine list.

Rowena and Marcus brought Baby Lennon so we could meet him in person. I posted about the big Philippine-style baby shower a while back and here he is.Overall, a fantastic night of frivolity. So as a reminder of the revelry, here are some shots of the party. Note that I didn’t bring my DSLR which would have produced crisper photos but that’s how things go when you’re decked out in heels with a small purse. Happy Birthday Martin!

April 12th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

When I was 11 years-old my parents got divorced. Sitting in King’s Noodle Restaurant, it occurred to me that later visits with my dad consisted almost exclusively of dining out. We regularly went yum cha, essentially stuffing ourselves eating dim sum and drinking tea (the latter being what yum cha means in Cantonese), had late-night wontons, ate steaming soupy dumplings, and sat through hours long banquet-style dinners.

Being at King’s Noodle, with their wide selection of standards such as their quick-fire noodles in soup and congee along with many stir-fried dishes and their ever-improving quality of dim sum, is like the best combination of past meals with my dad. Highlights of the delicious dim sum offerings that I regularly crave at King’s Noodle include:

Tender, savoury, chicken feet

Sweet and plump har gow (shrimp dumplings)

Five-spiced fried squid tendrils

Rice noodle rolls with beef topped with sweet soy

And something new for me, a surprisingly flavourful Singapore-style pan-fried radish cake that’s the right mix of curry with a gentle heat, perfectly melding with the sweet soft texture of the radish cake.

I only now realize that I probably got my love of food from my dad… especially for the more adventurous dishes such as savoury duck’s tongue or braised beef with tendon (shown below).

King’s Noodle is a food landmark for me, having been around on the same corner of Spadina and Dundas Avenues for as long as I can remember. It’s always been that reliable place that offered consistent noodle and Chinese barbecue dishes in a dive-like atmosphere. A renovation a few years back has never been able to fool me long enough to exorcise that fast-food Chinese diner feel that still lingers when I’m there.

Now as a single mom, I find that two of my favourite dining companions are my sons. Julian and Cole have a refined palate that can match and surpass many adults. I don’t know where they got it from but they’re rather opinionated about food, hmm?? When I was their age, I was never as patient as they are in restaurants and I consider myself lucky that we’re a pro-food family that enjoys eating together. Funny how things come full circle. Repeating history (in a way) has never been so tasty.

March 29th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

March for many conference planners is one of the busiest months out of the year. It’s usually the first big crunch before the insanity of the fall event season, especially for those of us who do events for clients that utilize government funding where it’s essential to use available monies before the government fiscal end of March 31.

Right now, I’m at the Venture4Change conference held at Whistle Bear Golf Club on the outskirts of Cambridge, just off Highway 401. This dynamic event brings together social entrepreneurs, defined by the Skoll Foundation as society’s change agents; pioneers of innovation that benefit humanity. It’s a room filled with some of the brightest minds in this area who have come together to solve some of the most pressing social and environmental problems from a for-profit and non-profit basis.

Tomorrow I will be at the second half of the ISAP conference for immigration and settlement workers. I posted about my conference food dilemma at events such as ISAP a few weeks back. Needless, to say, with two conferences back to back there has been little time to indulge in one of my other great passions… ruminating about food and culture. Yet both conferences do have an impact on me in that they offer “food for thought”. And new stimulus is important to keeping the mental palate refreshed and intrigued.

As an event planner I have been privileged to be around these great thinkers and doers for the past ten years. I suppose I’ve been feeding myself a little differently this month. Included in these activities, I decided to start writing restaurant reviews for blogTO. You can see my first post for them here and more to come in April, when my event work goes back to normal hours. Then I’ll be in the development stage for the PROFIT 100 CEO Summit in June and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association conference on Who Belongs? Rights, Benefits, Obligations and Immigration Status, based on a research project they are undertaking on the status of immigrants in Canadian society in September.

In the meantime, I’ve been eating out a lot, mostly for fuel rather than my usual lingering enjoyment. In times like this a home-style meal, made by my own hands with fresh, local ingredients, is what I crave more than anything else. Sadly, there’s been no time lately but I’ll be making up for that in April.

I did squeeze in a quick meal at the newly opened Ajisen Ramen on Spadina Avenue on the west side, just north of Dundas. Here’s a link to the Ajisen Ramen site which hasn’t been updated yet with the Spadina Avenue location but it gives a brief feel of the otherwise extensive menu.

You can’t miss the new location. There’s a giant Ajisen Ramen dolly noodle mascot outside. However, since it’s so new I’m not prepared to give it an in-depth critique. I believe every restaurant needs some time to work out their kinks before they get properly assessed. I also believe a reviewer should eat at a restaurant a few times sampling a wide range of items to offer a fair assessment. I hope that readers appreciate my commitment and that of my stomach! (Oh how I suffer for the integrity of my work ha!)

That being said, here’s a sample of some of a few of the basic dishes I tried on my first quick trip. I like to give the standards a go to get a sense of how the staples are. So here’s a teaser before a more extensive review in future.

Miso BBQ Pork Ramen using a different type of wheat-based noodle imported from Japan that’s more like Italian spaghetti than traditional ramen.

Roasted garlic topping available at each table along with shichimi and soy sauce which can be added to any ramen noodle dish.

Ground pork gyoza – tasty but not delicate. The gyoza at Konnichiwa are made with much more love.

Tender Ajisen Octopus on Seaweed Salad.

Ajisen Ramen has hundreds of options to try and I look forward to giving them a chance though I’m always leary about restaurants that try to do too much. But I’m open-minded and I’ll be hungry when my schedule settles down in April.

March 21st, 2010 by Dawn Becker

By far one of my favourite informal Japanese restaurants downtown is Tokyo Kitchen located at 20 Charles Street East just east of Yonge Street. Strangely housed inside a municipal Green P parking lot just off Yonge Street, Tokyo Kitchen features an authentic selection of Japanese cuisine from home-style curry dishes to steamy soba noodles in soup to tasty donburi, rice bowls with a variety of cooked or raw fish toppings, as well as the standard nigiri, sashimi and maki sushi.

My favourite dish is their version of oyakodon, salmon sashimi and ikura (salmon roe) on a bed of perfectly seasoned sushi rice. Oyakodon translates into “parent and child” rice bowl and is usually made with a chicken and egg topping on plain rice. This chirashi-styled (raw fish on sushi rice) version at Tokyo Kitchen is a heavenly update. It is absolutely the sushi rice that sets Tokyo Kitchen leagues apart from any other moderately-priced Japanese restaurant in this city as it has such a bright flavour and texture with just the right amount of mirin, sweetened rice vinegar, added to it. Some might think $14.95 for the oyakodon at lunch is a bit steep but when you taste the heaping spoonful of fresh bulging salmon roe and at least eight generous slices of tender, melt-in-your-mouth salmon sashimi plus a healthy pinch of seasoned nori (roasted seaweed) slivers, I think you’ll agree that it’s worth the price. The oyakodon is also accompanied by a side of mixed green salad, not the iceberg lettuce with watery miso dressing variety.

If that price is too steep, Tokyo Kitchen offers daily specials that are seriously wallet-friendly. For $9.95 my friend Marc had the Bento Lunch Box consisting of shrimp and vegetable tempura, salmon teriyaki with rice, green salad and two pieces each of California roll and salmon sushi. Marc’s salmon was slightly overdone but I noticed he finished it all. The tempura batter was crisp with the variety of vegetables including a sliced daikon and a fat shiitake mushroom in the mix. I had the Sushi Lunch Combo for $8.95 which included four pieces each of the California roll and spicy salmon roll plus one piece each of unagi (barbecued eel), salmon, and shrimp sushi also with green salad.

I tried the ankake tofu which had a very homey feel to it. Ankake tofu is like having the more common agedashi tofu (silken tofu lightly coated with cornstarch and deep fried, served with tentsuyu tempura dipping sauce) stewed with shiitake and enoki mushrooms, carrots, and spinach in a thick bonito-based dashi glaze. It’s rather soupy and I’m not sure if it would appeal to all palates as the texture is extremely soft and silky with a distinct fish flavour from the bonito, which I think is fabulous.

Sadly Tokyo Kitchen no longer offers ramen but their assortment of noodles in soup and the cold zaru soba dish are still available. Other standards include the eight piece Spicy Salmon maki and Dynamite maki (salmon, shrimp tempura and avocado roll) for $5.95. If you’re ordering a la carte, two must-haves are the scallop ($3.95 for two pieces of nigiri sushi) and hamachi or yellow tail sushi ($5.95 for two pieces of nigiri sushi). The scallops are delightfully sweet and the hamachi is so tender you will never forget it.

I love the fact that there are as many patrons that are Japanese-speaking as not. And yes, the chef is Japanese and a woman at that. Despite what I’ve seen in various discussions, I am of the camp that feels strongly that there is a noticeable difference if the restaurant has a Japanese, Chinese or Korean chef. Not only does it come down to presentation – Japanese chefs seem to present dishes with a slightly heightened artistic flair – but to me, the rolls are more delicate and appropriately sized, not gargantuan, messy, choke-worthy pieces. Each plate at Tokyo Kitchen is beautifully choreographed and you can taste the care and deliberateness in each bite.

As an endnote, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Tokyo Kitchen has exterior bathrooms. The trek in winter can be a cold one as you have to don your coat and wander into the parkade to relieve yourself. Bewildering to say the least but not enough to stop me from repeat visits to Tokyo Kitchen.

Hours:

Monday to Friday – 11:30 am to 2:30 pm (prompt) and 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Saturday – 5:30 to 9:30 pm

Sunday – closed

March 17th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

My friend Richard Willet is the Vice President of Food & Beverage at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC), Canada’s largest trade show and convention site. You can read how serendipitous our first meeting was in my previous post. Since we met, Richard and I have dined at Guu Izakaya Toronto, attended the Terroir symposium and the latest, an invitation to attend the MTCC’s North American Wine Council. Richard wasn’t able to attend but I was thrilled to participate, which for many would be considered a true once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Imagine having a guided tour through a blind tasting of 117 wines (plus 3 Zinfandels that we just couldn’t get through). Read 120 wines in one sitting! I’m still flabbergasted that there were so many options to try. Above, one of several tables that featured the wine bottles for us to peruse after the tasting.

The wine tasting was led by Jamie Drummond. He’s been a sommelier for nearly 20 years including the Granite Club and the defunct but always memorable Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar (Wine Bar as it is now called has new owners). Now, Jamie is the director of Good Food Revolution and when you read his blog you’ll instantly realize you’ve got the wrong job. Jamie walked us through the various wine flights keeping his comments at our entry level. The first thing he told us was there’s no right or wrong when judging the wine. This put us instantly at ease. We started with a Pinot Grigio wine flight, pictured above. The blue chicken bucket pictured beside the glasses acts as the spittoon. If you don’t spit you’ll never make it through the entire tasting and I didn’t want to be on the floor at 4 in the afternoon.

Here’s what the set up looks like for the Sauvignon Blanc wine flight, and it’s proof that I did not crash the party. While tasting each variety, we recorded our rating for each glass of wine based on aroma, taste and finish, out of ten. All our scores were calculated and we received a copy of the group totals so we could see which ones were the most popular. Some of the more interesting tasting notes I recorded included a Pinot Grigio that tasted “like my grandmother’s sock drawer”. I later realized the flavour was reminiscent of moth balls. I also discovered I do not like the green, viney taste of the Gamay varieties pictured above. We smelled acetone (as in nail polish remover), caramel, citrus, nuts, miscellaneous berries and even gasoline. There was one chardonnay that was so smokey it tasted like “licking a hearth”. After three hours, my tongue felt numb and my nasal passages were stuffed from the histamines. I had a greater appreciation of what it takes to be a sommelier. To be honest, it started to feel a bit like work a third of the way through. No complaints. I like to work. How sommeliers keep their olfactory senses and taste buds sharp is a wonder though.

And to thank us for our efforts, the MTCC served palate cleansing chilled beer and delicious appetizers (some are shown below) after the tasting was complete along with a parting gift of ice wine. Thanks to Richard and the MTCC for letting me be a part of this.

Smoked salmon on cucumber slices topped with whipped cream cheese, endive and chive.

Tender fish cakes topped with a type of tomato salsa.

Goat cheese and arugula crostini.

March 10th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

I’m working at the ISAP 2010 Conference held at the Westin Harbour Castle this week for my friend Mark Jacot who owns Jangles Productions. For event planners like myself who enjoy food adventures on a daily basis, having to eat conference catering for a week can be painful. It’s not that the food is bad, it’s more that the variety is lacking and usually mundane in order to please the lowest common denominator.

Side effects of conference food specifically with buffet-style service include sore tongues and swollen fingers and toes that end up looking like chubby pork knuckles caused by excess salt and preservatives that keep things looking freshly appealing. A short-term diet of too much coffee, with meals eaten too quickly, and too much junk food from the “snack-to-stay-awake methodology”, can really knock your system out of whack. While it’s usual that a planner might be preparing for these events months in advance, we thankfully only have to subject ourselves to conference food for the duration we’re on site. (Photo of lunch buffet below courtesy of Caitlin Bar, official photographer for ISAP 2010, for Jangles Productions.)

The ISAP conference is geared towards immigration and settlement workers where every continent is represented in the delegation, yet ironically the food options at the lunch buffet are pretty much vanilla. The only thing that stands out are the bottles of Tabasco hot sauce that are offered with the salt and pepper at each table.

Of course, dealing with the overwhelming variety of religious laws and dietary requirements such as Halal, vegetarians or allergies (such as lactose intolerance common to the Asian delegates) can make it challenging to offer more exciting internationally-based cuisine in a conference setting. Shown below, soy milk offered along with cream and milk at the coffee stations.I think hotel chefs need to recognize that they have to offer meal options with broader global appeal on even their most basic corporate menus AND at a price point that budget-conscious clients can take part in. As a country, our palates are expanding and venues need to keep up with this diversity. Hotel chefs and caterers have to develop better ethnically-inspired food that’s more than a mere nod. Adding a bit of ginger or scallions to a soba noodle dish, a dash of sesame oil or soy sauce to a sprout salad, or a pinch of curry powder to a fish stew, are nice but inevitably not quite satisfying enough.

Having said that, the overall quality and freshness of food at the Westin Harbour Castle this week have been decent, despite the lack of true variety.

Green Bean and Chickpea Salad

Shaved Roast Beef Sandwich on an Onion Bun

Egg Salad on Multi-Grain Buns

Chicken Salad in Spinach Wraps

Dessert Bars and Cookies

I’ve got to get back to the conference at hand but I’m sure you can understand that I am seriously craving something flavourful and homey, like spicy kam ja tang or a big slurpy bowl of pho.

February 27th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

This summer Julian, Cole and I went to my cousin Albert’s wedding in New York accompanied by Casey and Ozana. I drove us. The whole 9 plus hours solo. And no one had a melt-down, meaning me.

Flushing is a neighbourhood in Queens and home to one of the largest Chinatowns in the New York area. It’s close to Laguardia Airport and has a large influx of Korean shops as well. Imagine suburban Chinatown North in Markham/Richmond Hill and North York’s Koreatown colliding somewhere in Mississauga with the backdrop noise of airplanes flying closely overhead towards Pearson. That’ll give you a sense of Flushing. Pictured below a view of a standard street in Flushing… visual chaos is the norm.One of the best parts of the trip was seeing how much the boys enjoyed the variety of flavours and food choices that New York had to offer. Places like this kiosk in Flushing that sold Peking Duck in a fluffy version of this Chinese pancake – the most scrumptious street food I’ve had to date. And yes, sports fans, that says a dollar a piece above in the sign. But who can stop at just one??

Other than Los Angeles, it’s hard to beat the street food in the New York area. Here, another stand selling mouth-watering skewers, Chinese-style. Julian’s on the left waiting for his $1 kebab. Yes, with $5 in your pocket you could stuff your face in Flushing, New York. Well, almost.On top of the 10 plus course traditional Chinese meal we ate at my cousin’s wedding banquet, we had a restorative Mexican menudo also known as tripe soup, periwinkle snails with basil in black bean sauce (shown below) accompanied by cold Tsingtao beer on another occasion, and savoury hand-made dumplings, all within walking distance from our hotel in Flushing. As a single mom I’m experienced at family outings (not to mention that I am an event planner!), so sprinkled in of course were some kid-oriented trips like the stop at the Intrepid Museum where we explored the very cool Essex-class aircraft carrier, USS Intrepid and USS Growler submarine. For those who know about my ever-worsening claustrophobia, no I did not crawl my way through the bowels of the submarine. The boys went without me. After the wedding we had plans to eat our way through Manhattan. At first, I had some reservations about dragging a 10 and 8 year-old through the Big Apple which is more of a grown-up playground to me than a kid destination. Did they ever surprise me. They were fascinated by each restaurant we went to approaching each with a growing sense of adventure. They couldn’t wait to eat at each place, whether we were doing four star or diner-style.

We made the longish trek to Coney Island where the carnival and overcrowded beach became a welcome reprieve from the August heat in Manhattan. Julian is pictured below taking in the beach.

But truthfully I took them to Coney Island so I could try the food stands on the boardwalk. The very popular Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand shown below.

I suffered through a heart-palpitating 40-minute subway ride to get there – I guess this reveals that nothing much stands in the way of me and food. Thankfully, most of the ride was aboveground which seems to be fine for me phobia-wise. Cole is pictured below rejoicing at finally arriving at Coney Island.To reward ourselves after cruising the boardwalk and midway, we decide to take a load off at Pio Pio Riko (NOTE: the link for Pio Pio Riko is for the branch in Queens but you’ll get the picture). Chilled cervezas and a couple orders of their house specialty rotisserie chicken with plenty of hot sauce “por favor” . A great way to beat the heat is to bring on a cool sweat with fiery hot sauce and quench it all down with Corona straight from the cooler.Remembering that you’re on a touristy strip, one needs to temper their dining expectations when eating boardwalk food. I never found out if the sign below meant the clams were cold too or just cold beer and ice cream. It was fine fine fare suitable to the place and a relaxing stop to rest up before the long trek back to the hotel (and eek! another underground journey via the metallic death tube). Since I’m writing this, you can see I did survive to eat another day. Oh the drama.

For the rest of the journey through Manhattan, we ate at many spectacular restaurants, too many to share in this single post. Traveling with the kids turned out to be easy. I realized how much they wanted to try new things too. They do enjoy great food, not just good food – no kids menu for these guys – and as long as you remember to keep it light at the right moments and let them have their fun too, you can have yours as well.

Originally this post started out being about my food savvy kids and turned into a walk down memory lane to this past summer. It’s curious when you’re writing and you get into a stream of consciousness state how this turned into a totally different post. I suppose each time I sit here to write, it’s like going on a journey in which I don’t really know where the final destination will be. On this snowy day in Toronto, I hope these sunshine shots take your mind somewhere else if only for a minute.

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An aside: In one of those kid-oriented moments, I decided to let the boys go nuts at Dave & Buster’s. The day was so hot and humid that I just couldn’t bear to walk outside any more so we ducked into the location on 42nd Street in the Theatre District. It was my chance to have an ice cold beer and read for a few minutes while the boys had their arcade fun. Getting snacky I happened to order the Philly Cheesesteak and to my surprise it was ridiculously good.

Now you’re probably thinking I’m off my rocker. So was I. I couldn’t be sure if it was just revisionist thinking or if the Philly Cheesesteak deserved to be remembered. I ended up taking my friend Daniel to the Dave & Buster’s here in nearby Concord. It’s close to Canada’s Wonderland so it’s a hike but I had to be sure.

Figuring it’s a chain store and that they probably get their ingredients shipped from the same supplier, we went for it. Daniel is from Florida and has had his fair share of Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. He’s also an event planner like I am so he has a discerning palate and maybe even more so since he doesn’t eat all the squidgy stuff that I do. Daniel gave the Dave & Buster’s Philly Cheesesteak two thumbs-up. He agreed it was a delicious rendition of a Philly Cheesesteak. It was a tender portion of shaved beef in a soft hoagie bun topped with sauteed onions, mushrooms, green peppers and some crazy type of cheese that melted into a kind of sauce. I know. It doesn’t make any sense but it’s good. Dave & Buster’s opened another location in Niagara Falls so I think Philly Cheesesteak and I will have a date again this year.

February 23rd, 2010 by Dawn Becker

If you think having hand-pulled Chinese noodles is a luxury you can only get in China, think again. Chinese Traditional Bun has been a haven in Toronto’s downtown Chinatown for mouth-watering northern Chinese dishes for years including tender hand-pulled noodles. It’s located just west of Spadina Avenue on the north side of Dundas Avenue West.

In Chinese fashion, using whatever space is available, the noodle-maker’s workstation is wedged in at the front door. A delight for me, an auspicious view of his handiwork while being respectfully unobtrusive. Just the way I like it.It seemed the noodles were made custom for our order of dan dan noodles (dandanmian in Mandarin) as they went straight to the steamy kitchen and minutes later we were served. Dan dan noodles were a regular Sichuan street snack back in the days when vendors were able to sell their wares in the streets of China, before the Cultural Revolution hit.

So popular, author Fuschia Dunlop, even devotes Chapter Two in Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper to dan dan noodles, which includes a scrumptiously spicy recipe for them. This engaging book is a memoir of Dunlop’s experience in China when she was a student in the 90’s. It’s a wonderfully intimate read that’s a taste exploration of a truly complex country, both in food and politics. If you have any interest in Chinese cuisine or history, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper really should be on your list of must-read books.

Another staple of Chinese fare are dumplings and they do them so well at Chinese Traditional Bun, hand-rolling their own wrappers. Jiao zi are what you might know as pot stickers, mixed ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped in a flour-based dough, either boiled or pan-fried. It’s similar to the Japanese gyoza, though the jiao zi wrapper is not nearly as delicate. We had the boiled pork and cabbage dumpling, lightly dipped in our own preferred combinations of hot chilli oil, soy sauce and/or a dash of vinegar.

Xialongbao or soup dumplings are a popular steamer version that are usually stuffed with meat and a gelatinized cube of stock that melts inside the dumpling when cooked, filling these tasty pockets with soup. The ones at Chinese Traditional Buns are very juicy so be careful of spraying hot soup on your date.

A few of our other selections include this spring onion pancake that must have been made with gentle hands. It turns out to be very light and flaky, again dipped in a chilli oil and soy sauce combo. It’s hard not to eat two in one sitting.Also popular as a starter are cold slices of five-spiced braised beef shank.

And for a soupy course, there’s the mutton noodle stew, a non-spicy dish for a change that includes sheet-like noodles soaking up the delicate flavours.A can’t miss dish is the house special crispy chicken that no one can wait to dig into. This combination of salty and crunchy is seriously bone-sucking fantastic.

Braised pork belly served with bok choy is also good but considering this is a non-licensed venue, this dish would go down so much better with a cold beer to cut the fatty edge, but it doesn’t stop me.

What they do provide is a warm cup of self-serve soy bean milk at no charge, when available. Chinese Traditional Bun has been serving memorable meals for years at prices that make you wonder how they keep their doors open. They deserve a reminder and hopefully this means you’ll be hearing the smack, thwack and whack of hand-pulled noodles in your future soon.