Toronto ... Part Trois: The Toronto Festival of Beer and Gusto

Sunday morning ... it was a little bit of a slow start after all the vodkas last night but no worries ... the Beer Festival doesn't open until 1:30pm so there was no rush to get our act together.  The streetcar ride was ridiculous with traffic basically dead stopped at Bathurst and Front for like 30 minutes.  And the streetcar was, of course, packed with people heading to the Beer Fest and anxious to get to the drinking.  Finally we arrive and check out the program for the day.

 

We had the 'hoptimized' tickets which meant VIP entrance; no waiting in line and double the drink tokens.  The program had a spot in the back for 'beer notes' and it would have been productive for us to take notes ... but who am I kidding? We didn't have time for taking notes ... we had B-E-E-R-S to drink!!!

 

I think this sign says it all:

 

We started out in the cask beer area:  Caskapalooza.  Here we try two of the cask beers:  Criminal Ancestors and Silly Pucker.  

 

 

Like ten minutes after we arrived Molly broke her sunglasses.  One lens just popped right out but I made her keep wearing them to see if anyone noticed what a Poindexter she was.  Let the gong show begin!  And what a gong show it was!

 

 

Moosehead was giving out free sunglasses ... literally 98% of people at the Festival were wearing green plastic Moosehead sunglasses but by the time we wound our way over to the Moosehead patio they had given away their last pair.  Oh well ... we're way too cool for Moosehead sunglasses anyway.  I enjoyed the Cracked Canoe while there; Molly on the other hand (beered out as this was heading into late afternoon) had the cider.

 

The day started out not too busy and there were no line ups for beer or tokens.  We could get right to the front of the kiosks and read all the crazy signs, see the funky hats and watch the games, all to attract customers.

 

 

Seamwhistle had an entire mini VW bus where they were just making crazy hat after crazy hat.  There were some truly unique and creative designs:  the CN Tower, elephants, football helmets and literally any thing you could think of, they would make it for you.  I can't even  begin to imagine how many cardboard cases they went through this weekend.

 

A fish bowl on the left, a race car in the centre and a mouse

 on the right (complete with a long tail).

 

 

I even convinced Molly to play this game:  hold the beer case -- arms straight out for the longest time and win a T-Shirt.  We had a whole "GO MOLLY/GO MOLLY" cheering squad but sadly she came in second out of five participants!  Awesome effort though!

 

 

There wasn't just beer ... of course there was food too. So we started with sharing a Smoke's Poutine. This was Mol's first time trying out Smoke's. I've had it before in London with Emma one time and there are some locations here in Ottawa.  We had the bacon poutine ... yum-a-licious.

 

 

Admittedly, it doesn't look that great in the picture ... in fact it looks kinda gross but you have to just imagine BACON, CHEESE, FRIES and GRAVY! Lot's of bacon! The gravy is pretty heavy on the rosemary (which is not my favourite herb) but in combination with the smokiness of the gravy, the rich gooey cheese curds and the crispy fries it's all good!

 

There was a restaurant (The Feasting Room) touting 'snout to tail' cooking and their two food offerings for the weekend:  suckling pig sandwich or Ox Tail heart philly cheese steak.  While we didn't eat here I did take a photo of the suckling pig:  before and after!

 

Before

After ...!  Seems like the folks liked the little piggy!

 

We ate some chicken wings and sat in the sun with our beers.  Enjoying the beautiful day and getting in some good people watching.  Lots of drunk people to laugh at.

 

 

We attended two "seminars".  In the first one the 'farm to table' chef was barbequing some marinated veal with grilled peaches.  Just for asking a question, you would get a gift ... so obviously I had to ask a question.  My gift was a beer opener and a package of Maple Leaf pre-cooked bacon ... which when you think about it is a pretty strange give-away for a presentation from a chef who prides himself on fresh, local ingredients.  Except for maybe cheese doodles (man I LUV cheese doodles!!), and the chemical cheese that comes with ball park nacho chips, pre-cooked bacon has got to be one of the most processed, chemicalized foods (and I use the term "food" loosely!!) on the planet.  However, carrying around a package of pre-cooked bacon at the Festival of Beer is a MASSIVE conversation starter!!!  I can't remember how many people came up to me and wanted to know why I was carrying around pre-cooked bacon.  Hilarious!

 

If you look closely you can see me showing

off my pre-cooked bacon!  I didn't realize it was

upside down in the photo!

 

The next seminar that we went to was by the Flying Monkeys crew.  While I don't actually love the crazy flavours of the Flying Monkeys brews, these are just a couple of young guys who are making beer ... for a living.  Like, this is their job.  I don't understand why no one told me that 'brewmaster' was a job when I was growing up.  I really do think I've missed my true calling in life!  The Flying Monkeys guys were teaching us about hops and also giving away free samples (luvs it!).  We also got these cool key ring bottle openers from them.  Totally worth it.

 

Although we had not made notes I distinctly remember some of my favourite beers:  from Granville Island Brewery a light, vanilla flavour (I know it doesn't sound great but honestly ... on a hot day it was so smooth and refreshing) ... it was possibly the Robson Street Hefeweizen; from Spearhead Brewery the Hawaiian Style Pale Ale.  Admittedly we were not expecting much but we both loved it!And finally, from Lucky Beer the Enlightened Brew (I'm not kidding) in the green Buddha shaped bottle.  At the time of the Fest this beer was still two weeks away from being available at the Beer Store in Ontario.  We both like this beer so much that after finishing our sample, we walked back to the kiosk for another sample.  Sadly they had poured the last of their supplies and we were not able to get more.

 

It was not all happy and good though.  I had the WORST beer I've ever tried in my life.  This particular beer is definitely one that I should have made note of ... to be sure that I avoid it in the future.  I am pretty sure it was from Nickel Brook Brewery and 'cost' double tokens because it was brewed for longer than normal, blah, blah, blah.  It was more sour than vinegar; tasted awful.  I actually contemplated pouring it out it was so bad.  And you know how I feel about wasting beer!

 

We also had a plan not to try any of the bigger brewers or any beers that we have had before.  So when we got the Creemore kiosk we both agreed we were not going to sample.  Well when we saw the little hottie brewmaster we obviously had to hang out and chat with him for awhile.  What a sweetie.  He was so fun and cute and we had a great time with him.  Again ... why didn't anyone tell me that making and drinking beer was an actual job?

 

 

The day had worn down and it was becoming early evening.  We were getting hungry and debating about what to eat next.  There were still plenty of choices at the Beer Festival from pulled pork or beef brisket sandwiches, Hey Meatball! or Dawgfather's hot dogs (their name and slogan:  "No lips.  Nothing below the hips." was good enough to make me want to get one).  Also we were on our way over to get the maple bacon donuts from the Caplansky's Deli food truck but sadly by the time we wound our way all the way back there, they were closed up for the day.

 

In the end we decided to leave the Fest and walk over to the fashion/theatre district and find something there.  We knew it would be a better dining experience and we were both pretty full of beer and wanted a quieter, sit down meal.  Molly suggested a place somewhere close by that she had been to before -- but she couldn't remember where exactly it was located or what it was called.  Perfect, should be easy to find!  But we did find it ... in fact we walked directly there without even actually knowing where we were going.

 

 

Gusto is an Italian restaurant with an in-house micro-winery. The resto is absolutely gorgeous with a main dining room with open-concept kitchen (which I love -- I enjoy seeing the chefs prepare my dinner) a street-side patio and second floor patio overlooking the street.  We sat on the street-side patio and had the most adorable waiter.

 

 

The house wine is served at $1 per ounce (hella good deal) and is delicious. We both had six ounces of the house red (Gusto Rosso) which is a Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. After all the beer, it was a nice change of pace.

 

 

Happily, my new found obsession with arancini was indulged.  Molly and I agreed to share an order of the wild mushroom and fontina arancini.  When Mr. Adorable Waiter brought the appetizer, we were thrilled.  The plate is absolutely beautiful.  The arancini are surrounded by a fresh tomato sauce and a fresh pesto sauce.  The colours are stunning.

 

 

The sauces are amazing and flavourful.  The actual rice balls were a bit flavourless.  We both thought they needed a bit more seasoning and agreed that the 'hot balls' from Table 17 were better.  It was around this point that I decided that I am going to try making these myself.  I have since bought the ingredients twice to make them at home, but I still have not got around to doing it!  I will though!

 

For dinner Molly ordered the Fettucine ai Funghi with three varieties of mushrooms in a light cream sauce.  The smell when the meal was delivered was excellent:  earthy and woody.  Molly said the pasta was delicious and she enjoyed her meal.  The sauce was rich and creamy and fresh pasta cooked perfectly.

 

I ordered the Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinaci.  Again the colours are a beautiful work of art.  Absolutely stunning.  The ravioli are large, hand made and are not lacking in ricotta and spinach filling.  There is also tons of cheese (yummy).  My pasta was also perfectly cooked and again the tomato and pesto sauces perfectly complimenting the cheeses and a light sprinkling of olive oil.  The food is fresh, flavourful and portions are large but not overwhelming.

 

We definitely happy to have decided to eat dinner at Gusto rather than at the Beer Fest.  It was the perfect ending to a really terrific weekend.  It reinforces for me how G-R-E-A-T Toronto is; there is always something fun going on; great places to go; things to see and lots of interesting people to meet ... or just people watch sitting on a patio with a drink.  We had such a great time, we did lots of stuff and I was glad to have had the chance to spend the weekend with Molly before she left for her travels.

Toronto ... Part 2: Riverside Public House and Table 17

Saturday evening and Molly and I decided we wanted to go out for a nice dinner.  She suggested the Leslieville area which is one of my old stomping grounds (I can't tell you how many nights Tanyss and I spent drinking giant bowls of coffee and getting our tarot cards read at Tango Palace!).  Leslieville is becoming gentrified and where there once were pawn shops, used appliance stores and vacant buildings there are now cute little shops and upscale restaurants.  Molly suggested we try Ruby Watchco's but we were unable to get a last minute reservation.  We took a shot and showed up to see if we could get a spot at the bar.  It was full but they very generously suggested that we go take a walk and get a drink and they would happily phone us when a place opened up.  That is some good customer service.  Off we went to find a drink!

We wandered directly across the street and saw a pub with a sandwich board outside the open door announcing: Riverside Public House Now Open. I love a public house and was ready to walk in the door but Molly was a bit more hesitant. She looked in the open windows not seeing anyone sitting at the street side tables but then when we looked to the dining area at the back we saw several customers eating dinner and decided we could definitely go in and check it out.

(Image courtesy of Megan Leahy for Toronto Life Magazine)

This place is AWESOME.  I immediately loved it!  The bar is located in the centre of the room with stools all around it.  There is this really funky, totally restored, old skool phone booth built-in to the east side wall complete with beautifully refinished dark wood.  Exposed brick interior walls and high ceilings are a definite love of mine and the Riverside has them both.  The atmosphere of the place is warm and casual and the staff outstandingly friendly and fun!  We were chatting with Steve, our bartender, who told us that that was one of the first nights they were open with their official 'Grand Opening' was still about two weeks away.

If you look behind Steve in this picture you can see the phone booth!

We stayed for a couple of drinks and while we were waiting to hear from Ruby Watchco's our friend Debbie let us know that she was on her way to come meet us for dinner.  Since we now needed a table for 3, we decided to see if we could get a last minute reservation at Table 17 just a few buildings east of Ruby Watchco's and we were successful.

Then I got my superstar thrill of the weekend: walking out of the kitchen, who do I see, but Dustin Gallagher ... my FAVOURITE contestant on Top Chef Canada Season 1. I was so excited, I could hardly explain to Molly who he was. I really thought he should have won!  Molly is not obsessed with Food Network like I am so we googled Dusty and Top Chef Canada so she could get some deets about the show & the chef.

We had a few more drinks and paid our tab, promised Steve we'd be back later (even though he tried to convince us to eat at Riverside, especially now that we knew who the chef is!)  but we already had the reservation at Table 17.  Deb had not arrived yet, and since she is directionally challenged we recommended that she grab a cab and let the driver figure out how to get her to Queen Street east of Broadview!

Table 17 is very classy, nice upscale restaurant.  The atmosphere is modern and warm and the menu is focused on local, seasonal, modern European dining.  This is the 'bread table' on the centre island in the dining room with a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers.  Our kiwi waiter (whom we played a game of guess the waiter's name) was friendly although a little pre-occupied with a large party.

 

Since Deb had not yet arrived, Molly and I decided to share an appetizer while we were waiting, and you know I'm not going to pass up something called "Hot Balls"!!  And hence began my obsession with arancio (a.k.a.:  arancini, arangini or simply 'rice balls'!).  The Hot Balls at Table 17 come in three varieties:  mushroom and fontina cheese, goat cheese and spiced lamb.  The mushroom/fontina and the spiced lamb are stuffed in risotto (the authentic Italian way of making arancini), breaded and deep fried whereas the goat cheese is just breaded and fried; no risotto. 

 

 

Each of the three varieties comes with its own dipping sauce (mint sauce for the lamb on the left; wildflower honey for the goat cheese in the centre; and I don't remember what for the mushroom/fontina on the right).  My favourite was the mushroom and fontina ones whereas Molly's favourite was the spiced lamb.  Both were exceptional!  The goat cheese was both of our least favourite -- they were good, but just not our faves and I found with the honey the flavour was too sweet.  They were better with out dipping!

 

Deb finally arrived but she was only drinking not eating (perhaps she has been diagnosed with drunkorexia like me!) so Molly and I proceeded to dinner.

 

 

I honestly don't remember what Molly ordered but this is what it looked like:

 

It might have been the Cavetelli but I honestly don't remember and this clearly is not the best photo (the effects of the drinks might have been starting to kick in!).  I had the steak frites.  It was fine.  It was steak and fries.  Good but nothing special.  As I recall, the wine was pretty good though!

 

 

We left Table 17 and went next door to the Rasputin Vodka Bar.  There is a no shortage of vodka in this place but there is a shortage of friendly service!  The bartender was rude and completely unfriendly.  We were trying to get some information from her on the differences in the vodka and were asking questions but she clearly did not want to spend any time talking to three women.  I can understand if the bar was packed but we were the only patrons sitting at the bar.

  

I was trying to get our reflection in the mirror but all you can see are the bottles and bottles of vodka!

 

All three of us like a variety of vodka cocktails and we easily could have dropped a wad of cash in this place, but due to the lack of service we had one drink and left, which is unfortunate since its a pretty cool joint with a interesting atmosphere, good tunes and what could have been a fun vibe.

 

No worries though.  We were not disappointed to hit up the Riverside Public House again.  Soon enough we saw Dusty come out of the kitchen again and he joined a table of young guys sitting at the front window.  A short while later, when he walked by us, I stopped him to tell him how much I enjoyed him on the show and we had tons of questions about the filming and the experience.  He couldn't have been sweeter or nicer to us, and if you know the show, you will recall Dusty was the chef who was always smiling ... literally always!  And he is no different in person.  He was smiling and laughing and just such a nice guy.  Stupidly I didn't snap our picture together ... I guess I was too star struck!  But here is Molly giving us her best movie star look to make up for me not getting a photo with the chef!

 

We had such a great night.  We had some good food, lots of drinks and laughs and I got to meet a TV star!  Deb even had a wardrobe malfunction but luckily for her no one was snapping any pictures at the moment (and Steve was definitely not complaining!)!!  Here she is looking perfectly angelic and not at all the little devil she is in person!

 

After heading back to Molly's, Deb pulled out some totally old-skool boxes of Cracker Jacks complete with cracker jack comic prizes.  Who knew I still love Cracker Jacks?  Perhaps it was the booze talking but whatever, we mowed that down like we hadn't eaten in days.  The end of our second super fun, great day in Toronto and off I headed to bed ... needed my sleep in preparation for the Beer Festival tomorrow!

 

Toronto ... Part 1: Beaches Jazz Fest, the Shops at Don Mills and Fabbrica

Its the end of July and my very dear friend Molly was preparing to leave for 16 months of travelling around the world.  Yep, that's right ... she quit her job, rented out her condo, sold her car and packed up all her belongings.  That takes some balls!  I can't imagine the guts it takes to do that.  Anyway, she was departing towards the end of August and I wanted to get to Toronto to spend a weekend together before she left.  And what a great weekend we had.

When I arrived on Friday night, we hit the Beaches Jazz Fest and trolled along Queen Street.  We stopped for (what else?) nachos, wings and a couple of beers at Lion on the Beach.  Then we stopped by to say hello to Molly's folks who I haven't seen for a couple of years and we had a nice visit (and a beer) with them.

Saturday we didn't have any firm plans, so after getting some international visa photos taken (for Molly - not for me), we decided to go check out the Shops at Don Mills.  I've been obsessed with going to the Shops at Don Mills for a couple of years now, ever since I watched Chef Mark McEwan's show "The Heat" on the Food Network Canada on the opening of his new gourmet grocery store, aptly named ... what else?  McEwan's.  Funny thing, though.  Turns out the Shops at Don Mills are not located at Laird and Eglinton as I was convinced they were ... they are located at Don Mills and Lawrence.  How odd!  Molly found this exceedingly funny that I was totally confused as to what the heck we were doing at Don Mills and Lawrence!  We shopped around for a bit, including checking out McEwan's grocery store which is massive.  Then got the the real raison d'être of our visit:  to check out McEwan's newest restaurant:  Fabbrica.

 

Many many years ago I had dinner at North 44 ... McEwan's first restaurant after leaving the Sutton Place.  The food and ambiance was amazing; that was one of my first few 'fine dining' experiences and it was great.  I knew that I was cut out for eating gooood food.  It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon and since we were way past the lunch rush we got a perfect, private table on the patio.  The patio is really nice with wicker benches, cushions and plenty of flora and fauna to block out the cars (Lexus, Porches, Audis, Mercedes, BMWs and Infinities) driving by ... not that you necessarily need to block out such luxury! 

 

 

There is some yummy bread and herb oil while we were deciding on food; and of course we also had a beer.  We suspect that Mill Street Brewery is making a specialty beer just for McEwan:  Birra Sophia.  We could not find it anywhere else, including checking at the Mill Street booth at the Beer Festival and they had never heard of it (stay tuned for Toronto Part 3 ... The Toronto Festival of Beer).  Which is unfortunate because its a really good beer - probably my favourite Mill Street brew and I can't just go to Fabbrica every time I want one!

 

For lunch, I picked the "Mario" panini sandwich and the misticanza salad.  My panini had a grilled chicken breast which was moist and the bread was well grilled and nice and crispy.  It was gooey and drippy from the fresh mozzarella, bruschetta and garlic aioli.  But ultimately, even with the fresh basil it was somewhat bland and lacked some seasoning (i.e. salt!).

 

I chose the salad at the suggestion of the waiter.  Because it was a warm day he thought that a hot side dish, of crispy parmesan potatoes would be a less preferable option, but in reality I did want to try those crispy parmesan potatoes.  Don't they sound delish???  Anyway, I had the salad; and it was a salad.  It was fine.  It was very fresh and the house vinaigrette was nice ... but ultimately it was not anything new or different.

 

 

Molly picked the margherita pizza.  It was massive and looked absolutely amazing.  Beautiful colour with the fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella along with the whole fresh basil leaves.  It was nice and toasty on top with a little light char along the edges from the wood burning oven.

 

 

Molly said that it tasted good and while I didn't try it, I could tell that it was a bit soggy in the middle and she agreed.  The flavour was good though and it was way more than she could eat.

 

It was a gorgeous day and we had lots of laughs, shopped, ate some food and drank some beer.  I can't think of too many better ways to spend a sunny Saturday especially with such a great friend as Molly.  And this was really just the beginning of the weekend and lots more fun, food and drinks to come.

 

 

Molly left for the first leg of her trip on August 26th on her way to Africa.  She's volunteering for three weeks in an orphanage in Kenya, approximately 8 hours west of Nairobi.  If you want to follow her travel blog, check out:  http://www.travelpod.com/z/eddim/1/1345410558 but she may have limited internet access in some locations.  I imagine it will be a while till she has any meals like the one we had at Fabbrica, but I bet she will have some very interesting things to eat from time to time ... maybe she'll even share some of her strange eats on her blog!