Material Archive

European Tour: Le Comptoir – the hardest reservation to get in Paris

Le Comptoir was the first restaurant we ate at when we arrived in Paris and all I can say is that it was a fantastic way to kick off our European Tour!

There wasn't anything we didn't love about it – the food , the service, the location and the price.

 

Skip ahead to 0.56 sec to see where Bourdain talks about Le Comptoir

If you keep watching the video - you'll arrive at Bourdain's visit to Joel Robuchon's L'Atelier – which we also had the amazing fortune of getting a reservation at. More on that later...



Photographing food with an iPhone is tricky – it really doesn't do the dishes justice, so I'll only post a couple images and simply say, please do yourself a favour and go here – you'll love it!

 

Two Weeks In New York @ The Westin & The W Times Square

I don't generally post about things I don't like on this blog. I tend to focus on the positive. But, given that I was in New York for this length of time, I feel compelled to mention where I stayed (client mandated & paid for) and give some brief but hopefully helpful feedback.

Don't stay at a Westin/W Hotel in Times Square. They are expensive and completely unexceptional in every possibile way. The decor is dated and cheap, the service is lacking and bored and the rates are ridiculous for what you actually get. They are simply put, tourist traps for the clueless.

Two Weeks in New York City: Lunch at Jean Georges

WHERE: Jean Georges  at 1 Central Park West, New York

MOOD: The mood is calm and pretty – thanks in no small part to the lovely dining room – which is beautiful for a few very specific reasons: 1. The light quality during the day is great because the room has windows around 3 sides and when the sheers are drawn, what you see through them are lovely tree silhouettes dancing around in the breeze. This reason alone is enough for me to choose lunch service over dinner. 2. The seating and view is very comfortable in almost every spot in the room. The configuration and layout has been optimized for maximum comfort and view, resulting in almost no bad seats – which is pretty impressive! 3. The room is quiet even when it's full so you can really concentrate on your food and conversation.

PRICE: For the value and quality – I think this place is actually a steal. We had a 6 course tasting menu for $98.

WHEN WE WENT: Saturday lunch

WHAT: MB and I both enjoyed the 6 course Autumn tasting menu. Our choices from the vast list consisted of: Scallop Sashmi, Sea Trout, Yellowfin Tuna Ribbons, Sea Scallops, Peekytoe Crab Dumplings, Comté Risotto, Sweetbreads, Beef Tenderloin and two desserts – chocolate cake and a chocolate peanut butter ganache, plus macaroons, chocolates and marshmallows.

TRY: The tasting menu. The experience of eating over 3 hours in that lovely setting is a wonderful experience. A few stand out items were the Yellowfin Ribbons, the Crab Dumplings, the Sweetbreads and the Tenderloin.

SKIP: Nothing. Order all of it!

SERVICE: Attentive and formal.

REPEAT?: Absolutely! This restaurant is now in my top 5.

MOST NOTABLE: The quality of the entire experience. Loved it!

 

Two Weeks in New York City: Quickie Intro

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I recently spent 2 glorious weeks in New York shooting an upcoming campaign for a client. During my "free time" there, I took the opportunity to indulge in two of my favourite past times – shopping and eating – and what better city for it!

This post is just a little preview of some fun stops. In later posts, I'll get into more detail about the specifc restaurants I visited.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have literally seen Ghostbusters enough times to actually recite the majority of the film from memory. Heck, my Mr. Stay Puft action figure is watching over me right now as I compose this post! So, you can imagine the unique childlike thrill MB and I had when we randomly walked by the original fire station from the film, while strolling through Tribeca. :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new Uniqlo flagship store on 5th Avenue is ridiculously big. So large, that I actually was overwhelmed and felt lost on more than one occasion. Despite that, I still managed to find several great items to bring home. One of particular note was a great wool and cashmere trench coat.

Their prices are so reasonable, I really had to calm myself to not buy a whole other suitcase's worth of clothing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow – the Christian Louboutin store on Madison Ave is intense! When I arrived at 5pm on a Friday after work, I was greeted by a line-up of other patrons and a massive body guard! According to Mr.Big, a wait time to get into the store is a normal daily occurence. I noted that no other luxury retailer on the street had the same traffic.

When I got inside shortly after, I was met with an unusal scene. Picture: upper crust ladies who lunch, sitting next to hardcore rapper type dudes (all trying on majorly tricked out sneakers I have never seen the likes of before) and then working girls like me. A very odd mix indeed!

Regardless, all were very happy – especially this girl! Why? I had called ahead and secured the last brown Simple Bootie in size 40 anywhere in the whole bloody world after weeks of looking, calling and visiting every retailer that carries CL  – major shopping victory!

The staff were really great too and recommended that I get my soles reclad in red rubber – see below. That's one of them holding his colleague's boot to show the non-slip red rubber add ons. It's a brilliant idea, as the signature red does wear off pretty quickly in my experience.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a pretty productive visit at Prada as well. A new winter coat, bag and wallet were amongst my newly adopted cohorts. :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some random snaps I took during breaks while working at the photography studio...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A quick visit the to the MET on the weekend recharged my creative inspiration batteries!

...

Coming up over the next several posts: reviews and photos of Jean Georges, Corton, Del Posto, BLT, Gramercy Tavern, Nobu, Lucali – amongst others!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Evergreen Brickworks Picnic

You'd think the rain would keep people away from the annual Evergreen Brickwork Picnic – but not hard core foodies – oh no! :) My gang and I arrived early and there were already throngs of people lined up to get in at noon. Luckily, being friends with a sponsor got us to the front of the line and in no time we were gobbling up everything in sight from Ontario's best restaurants and merchants.

Almost everything was wonderful, but, of particular note, was Auberge du Pommier's cassoulet topped with foie gras! It was very rich & perfect for a cold rainy day.

This year was my first and I can safely say I will not miss it again going forward – very worth it and totally fun.

The CNE: A yearly tradition of pigging out

We ate: corn dogs, crisps, deep fried Twinkie, funnel cake with ice-cream, deep fried butter, lemonade, poutine and spaghetti. I am not kidding when I say I actually had a food hangover the next day – was slated to leave for an early morning roadtrip to Picton and I couldn't negotiate being vertical for several hours! Sugar is a killer!

Bobbette & Belle: Go for the Whoppie Pie, Stay for Everything Else.

As mentioned in a previous post, Jules and I, (that's her in the first photo), popped into Bobbette & Belle last weekend to sample their macaroons, whoppie pies and raspberry lemonade – all of which were delicious! Toronto Life actually named their whoppie pies the best in the city – so I would recommend skipping the Starbucks versions and try a red velvet pie like the one I had above.

The shop's size and space is quite impressive and the decor is really beautiful – perfectly suited to hosting private parties, or having a gab fest with a friend.

A visit to Mjölk

 

Yesterday, after wrapping a TV shoot in the Junction, I luckily came across Mjölk – a store I've been keen to see since it opened. I arrived just as it closed for the day but the manager Lauren was kind enough to let me sneak in and take a quick look around and snag a great bag by Naoto Fuksawa.

With a laser precision curation style, Mjölk carries lovely furniture and craft products from Scandinavia and Japan. In their own words, owners, John Baker & Julie Daoust talk about their vision for the store:

"We specialize in Scandinavia because the north enthralls us. Soft, quiet snowy forests and streets in the winter. Glittery, blinding sunlight on colourful buildings during the summer. Fika (coffee break) at the Konditori, with a kaffe and Napoleon pastry in hand. Trolling the Helsinki open-air markets for treasures. Aalto building tours. S.O.S. (Smör Ost och Sill = butter, cheese and herring). Swedish style. Grass roofs. Hot dog streetside snacks. And of course, the Arctic. These are a few of our favourite things."

 

 

 

  

Beach Day at Sandbanks

Every year, I make a point of visiting beautiful Sandbanks at least once to soak up the sun on it's fine, white sandy beaches.

If you've never been, you must go – it's a small slice of heaven on the east part of lake Ontario where the water is clean and the shoreline has a great sand bar that keeps you wading up to your navel for many yards out.

 

Woodlot: Second time was still a charm

 





Enjoyed my second visit to Woodlot last night – and again, must say that it's really a lovely addition to Little Italy. Their delicious bread is baked in-house in a wood-burning oven along with the cozy chicken & smoked ham pie (see above) that I gobbled up. The wine was also nice and the service was attentive and accomodating. Loved sitting at the main floor communal table and watching all the open-kitchen action.

Sunday at Sandbanks

I took some snaps of the various colours and textures at the beach.

I biked here yesterday