Display Comb 4

/ featured media, post meta, title, read more link and full content

Cocina Economica – a new Playa Cabana joint opens in Corktown

Cocina Economica is the fifth in the family of Playa Cabana restaurants, following the successes of the original Playa Cabana (and adjoining patio La Libre), Cantina, Hacienda, and Barrio Correano, two of which we visited recently in the last year. Cocina Economica is the first Playa Cabana to open on the east side, in the heart of Toronto’s Corktown district.

To prepare for his new restaurant, Executive Chef and owner David Sidhu travelled with his team to Mexico to learn about the family-run cocina economicas. They returned from this trip with experience and knowledge to produce authentic Mexican fare, as well as items to furnish the new restaurant to give it a true Mexican feel. The space is quite intimate, decorated with fiesta-coloured tapestries, hand-painted clay pottery, and lots of patterns and textures. Cocina Economica can currently seat 34 inside, and 20 outside on the front patio, with additional seating available upstairs (including a second patio) later this summer.

Chef de cuisine Samantha Valdivia, hailing from Cancun City, Mexico, joins Sidhu in the kitchen. The first item we sampled was a delicious beef consommé, which had a very flavourful broth with just the right amount of heat. The slow-cooked meats, including lamb barbacoa, cochinita pibil, and beef in salsa verde, were tasty and very tender. These are served with baked or fried tostadas, fresh corn tortillas, and various salsas and accoutrements. If you’re a vegetarian, there is the vegetarian chorizo and the nopales (cactus) for you to try.

The desserts were also quite delicious. The alfajores is a cookie sandwich with dulce de leche as the filling, and then rolled in coconut. The filling’s sweetness was balanced by the soft and crumbly cookies. The tres leches (three milks) cake was my favourite dessert. It was extremely moist and flavourful; I could have kept eating this all night.

Along with food, Cocina Economica hopes to be known for its drinks as well. It houses Toronto’s first true mezcaleria, with over 20 imported single species mezcals. For those that don’t know, a mezcal differs from a tequila as they are produced in different regions of Mexico, using a different techniques. While tequila is limited to the Blue Agave by law, mezcals can be made using over 30 other species of agave. Tequila, a full cocktail list (which includes mezcalinas), agua frescas, and made-from-scratch horchatas, are also available.

With the warm weather returning and the long weekends of the summer coming up, Cocina Economica is a great Mexican restaurant to visit in Corktown. Hours are from 11am to 11pm from Wednesday to Sunday. For more information:

http://www.playacabana.ca
Twitter: @PlayaCabana #CocinaEconomica
Instagram: @PlayaCabana #CocinaEconomica
Facebook: PlayaCabana1

In Photos: Spring into Change for SickKids at the Spoke Club

  • May 14, 2015
  • charity, party
  • Comments Off on In Photos: Spring into Change for SickKids at the Spoke Club

Raising funds for the SickKids Patient Amenities Fund, the first annual Spring into Change sold-out charity party was held at the Spoke Club on May 2nd, 2015.
Continue reading→

Running the Sporting Life 10K

The Sporting Life 10k #SL10K road run happened this past weekend in support of the incredible Camp Oochigeas that allows kids affected by childhood cancer to go to camp. 25,809 participants ran on Sunday, May 10th. I’ve never run a 10km road race before, or been part of such a massively wonderful event.

New Balance + Sporting Life Running Group

New Balance + Sporting Life Running Group

 

Training Experience & Tips

I trained on a weekly basis with a super encouraging and insightful team of runners from New Balance Canada at the Sporting Life on Yonge St. I learned a few things over that 2 month period, like:

  • Training: Training with a group played in a key role in my consistency and dedication to running. I would highly suggest joining a group of likeminded people, as it’ll get you committed to training and inspired to challenge yourself a little more each and every week.
    • 2 months head start – yup, thats when we started and it made a huge difference
    • Increase distance little by little – start at a manageable distance, like 5km, and pay attention to things like your breathing, what part of your body is tense as you’re running, and the point where you feel tired or out of breath during the run. Work on improving these every week.
    • Week of the race – go for a short run so you don’t tire yourself out and have plenty of energy for the day of the race.
  • Shoes: Choose your shoes wisely and if you can, try them out before purchasing. I’m not much of a road runner but I did quite a bit of research on what type of shoes to invest in. For me, the right pair will not only help on race day but will inspire me train when I don’t really feel like it. New Balance Canada was kind enough to let our training group try a few of their latest options and I settled on their new Zante Fresh Foam pair. They’re very colourful, barely weigh anything, provide enough heel support and are nice and roomy in the toe. They are very cushiony and make you feel like you’re flying! I had to get a half size bigger than I normally wear as they have a snug fit and I wanted to leave a bit of room for my feet to swell during a run.
DSCF4471

New Balance Zante Fresh Foam Runners

Tips for Day of the Race:

  • Hydration: bring your own water bottle. Although the course had plenty of volunteers and water available during the race, I found having my own water bottle more convenient and practical.
  • Gear: bring layers that you can throw away or leave at the starting line for pickup later. I found the morning to be a tiny bit chilly but as I started running and the humidity kicked in, I was exceptionally happy I wasn’t wearing what I originally wanted to wear
  • Listen to Your Body: don’t push yourself too far if you’re not used to the conditions. During the last kilometer of the run, there were a few unconscious people getting assistance from paramedics. It’s unfortunate and I hope they’re all doing well now. So I think it’s best to give it all you got before the race in terms of consistent training, and on the day of the event, listen to your body. To avoid pushing yourself over your limit, I find that having a sports watch and paying attention to your pace and distance is important.

See official race results, here.

For more info about Camp Oochigeas visit www.ooch.org

Photos by Kent Keeler

Za Pizzeria is a new gourmet pizza destination in the Annex

  • May 11, 2015
  • food, Restaurant
  • Comments Off on Za Pizzeria is a new gourmet pizza destination in the Annex

Gourmet pizzas have traditionally been the domain of dine-in restaurants, but Za Pizzeria, a new takeout and delivery pizzeria in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, is helping to change that. On May 4th, owners and husband-and-wife team Jason and Lisa Constantini welcomed us to their new restaurant to sample some of their creations.

Jason Constantini previously worked at Pizzeria Libretto and Queen Margherita, and so brings a wealth of experience to their new venture. For their new pizzeria, he had a custom oven made, specifically designed for the pizzas they want to create. The ovens are actually large, custom gas barbecues that can reach temperatures of 700 degrees fahrenheit. Below the grill there is space for wood chips, to give the pizzas a hint of smokey barbecue flavour. The ovens also accommodate thicker pizza stones, allowing the crusts to bake to just the right crispness and texture. Fire bricks above regulate the temperature to cook the toppings. The result are pizzas that are ready in just three minutes once they enter these custom ovens.

Ingredients for these pizzas are specially chosen. For example, the dough uses wheat flour and soda water, making it quite light and airy. The toppings themselves are prepared with great care and thoughtfulness. For example, the chicken used in the Za-vlaki pizza is slow-cooked using the sous-vide technique, which ensures maximum tenderness.  Once the pizzas come out of the oven, they are then finished with the remaining ingredients that don’t require baking.

The pizza menu is divided into three categories, with each more inventive than the next. For the Classics, your choices are the more traditional pizzas. Prices range from $9-15 per pizza, $5-8 per half pizza, and $3-4.50 per slice. You can have the Margherita, which uses just tomato sauce, mozzarella, and their herb mix. The pepperoni on their Pepperoni pizza is sourced from Dolce Lucano – the same place that provided the salumi for the amazing charcuterie board we had at the Carnivore Feast we attended last March. There is also the Funghi pizza which has sautéed mushrooms and goat cheese, and the Vegan pizza which has cauliflower and macademia nuts as two of the toppings.

For the Signatures, you get into more specialty pizzas.  For example, the Oh Canada pizza is not the “Canadian” pizza we’ve come to expect (ie. mushrooms and Canadian sausage). Instead it has maple syrup, bacon, and potato chips. The sweet and salty is a great combination, and the crunch is unexpected; this pizza is a must-try. The Za-vlaki uses roasted chicken, which was extremely tender due to being sous-vide beforehand.  The tatziki was creamy yet still light, and the pizza did genuinely reproduce the taste of souvlaki. The prices for the signature pizzas are $12-14 per pizza, $6.50-8 for a half pizza, and $3.50-4.50 per slice.

Finally, there are the pizzas belonging to the Features category – here you get into the truly gourmet offerings.  These can only be ordered by the whole, with the prices ranging from $13-$18 per pizza.  The Duck and Grapes pizza was my absolute favourite of the night. The duck confit was delicious, and the sweetness of the roasted grapes and the tartness of the balsamic were perfectly balanced.  The Salmon Tartare pizza is very unique – one rarely sees fish on pizza, let alone in tartare form; this too was delicious.  The Smoked Tomato and Arugula is a great vegetarian choice.

All the pizzas we sampled tonight were delicious, with many standouts that you can only get at Za Pizzeria.  The passion, hard work, and thoughtfulness that the Constantinis have put forth into their pizzeria truly shows in their creations.  Za Pizzeria is located at 402 Bloor St. West just west of Brunswick Ave and is well worth the visit.  Regular hours are Tuesday to Sunday from 11 am to 11 pm.

For more information:
http://www.za-pizzeria.com
Twitter: @PizzeriaZa #zapizzeria
Instagram: @ZaPizzeria #zapizzeria
Facebook: Za-Pizzeria

At the Bonham Centre Awards Gala 2015: An interview with Mark Tewksbury

On Thursday April 23rd, the Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies hosted its annual Bonham Centre Awards Gala – this year honouring the “Power of Inclusion” from global sport leaders.

Established in 2008, The Bonham Centre Awards recognize individuals or groups that have made significant contributions to the advancement and education of human rights issues surrounding sexual education. Previous years recipients include Dan Savage (founder of the It Gets Better campaign), Stephen Lewis, Dustin Lance Black and Sue Johanson. This year’s award recipients included Olympic medalists; Greg Louganis, Mark Tewksbury and Marnie McBean.

After the Awards Gala, we caught up with Mark Tewksbury for an interview. In addition to being an Olympic Gold medal swimmer and Chef de Mission of the 2012 Olympics, Mark Tewksbury is also an author and motivational speaker.

Check out what Mark had to say about coming out as an Olympic athlete, the Pan-Am games and the study of sexual diversity.
Continue reading→

1 … 153 154 155 156 157 … 310