Comments Off on In Photos: The Canadian Screen Awards 2015
Mommy and Orphan Black were big winners at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, taking place this time at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. A much welcome change to one of my absolute favourite venues in Toronto.
Xavier Dolan, Director of Mommy (2014) won two awards: Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Direction.
Xavier Dolan (Direcdtor Mommy) shows his two awards
Tatiana Maslany (pictured at the top) won the Shaw Media Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role. Also Orphan Black won the award for Shaw Media Award for Best Dramatic Series.
Some of the many well dressed attendees included Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek), Missy Peregrym (Rookie Blue) and Anne Marie-Mediwake. Not to mention Tatiana Maslany and Jenna Naumovich (always!).
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek
Missy Peregrym, Rookie Blue
Anne-Marie Mediwake
Andrea Martin was hilarious including a censored stunt of falling out of her SUV limo. After that, she set the tone in Canadian style of cracking jokes poking fun at Canadians that got did their job and everyone smiling and laughing, myself included.
It was a well-attended year for the Canadian Screen Awards.
A group shot of the Canadian Screen Awards presenters
Check out this quick Sizzle Reel highlighting the great night at the Canadian Screen Awards broadcast:
Comments Off on Menu tasting with the new Chef de Cuisine at ONE Restaurant, Darby Piquette
As Toronto’s luxurious and chic Yorkville neighbourhood, Hazelton Hotel’s ONE Restaurant stands as one of the dining centrepieces of it all under the direction of one of Toronto’s most renowned chefs and restaurateurs, Mark McEwan.
Now enter McEwan’s young talent who has been there since day one of ONE Restaurant: Chef Darby Piquette has been making waves in the McEwan Group since he took on the role of Chef de Cuisine with his first undertaking being the most recent Winterlicious 2015 menu. He was able to turn it into the most successful Winterlicious menu at ONE Restaurant.
And he’s only 25 years old.
With Chef Darby’s focus on North American shared plates in a family dining experience, here’s a round-up of some of the many delicious bites from his latest menu. Continue reading→
Comments Off on Upcoming: Your best St. Paddy’s Day party “Lucky Ball 2015”
St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner! And I can attest that last year’s Lucky Ball was probably the best St. Paddy’s Day party in Toronto with 400 people in attendance. This year’s Lucky Ball 2015 aims to raise even more funds for the Fort York Food Bank, so come out, have fun and if you’re celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, you might as celebrate for a good cause. Also, check out our photos from last year’s Lucky Ball 2014 down below. Continue reading→
Comments Off on The Carnivore Feast at Bespoke Butchers – A Pass The Table experience
When I heard I had the opportunity to partake in a Pass The Table dining experience, I immediately downloaded their app to see what was available. The Pass The Table app lets one discover and book unique and off the menu dining experiences, taking place as limited seatings in restaurants or in unique venues like the boutiques, breweries, and even chefs’ homes. While all of the options looked interesting, there was one that immediately jumped out at me – the Carnivore Feast taking place at Bespoke Craft Butchers on March 1st. I love meat, and it was taking place in a butcher shop, and right in my own neighbourhood, so there was no doubt in my mind which dinner I’d choose.
Just walking through the door I knew I was already in for a special treat. A beautifully-set eight-seat table awaited, right in the middle of this pristinely clean butcher shop. It was surreal to look around seeing various fresh meats and cheeses behind glass and large pieces of meat hanging in the locker at the back. One by one, the rest of the guests arrived in awe of their surroundings, and greeted with a welcome drink of gin and tonic. Once we were all seated, our host and chef for tonight, owner of Bespoke Butchers Andrew Poulsen, then spoke briefly about the meal we were about to have.
The dinner setting
Dinner began with probably the most impressive charcuterie board I have ever seen. There was a selection of salumi from Dolce Lucano. Poulsen went through each item and described what to expect in terms of taste and texture. He also emphasized the quality of the cured meats, thanks to Dolce Lucano’s use of traditional, time-honoured techniques to produce them. There was also a specially made duck pâté, cured fish, and crostini for accompaniment. Everything on this board tasted absolutely delicious.
Dolce Lucano Salumi, Bespoke Pâté, Accoutrement
Dolce Lucano Salumi, Bespoke Pâté, Accoutrement
The first course was a chicken and duck terrine, and pan seared grassfed beef. The terrine was topped with a quail egg and was complemented by the sour cherry and apple jelly. The beef was perfectly cooked and seasoned well; it really showcased Poulsen’s deep knowledge of the meats his butcher shop sells. The second course was a branzino ceviché, with seabuckthorn providing ample tartness. I enjoyed both of these courses. Note, at this point we’d already eaten from six different animals – pork, fish, chicken, duck, beef, quail – but then who’d expect any less from a carnivore feast!
Chicken & Duck Terrine + Pan Seared Grassfed Beef
Branzino Ceviché, seabuckthorn
Our meat-centric dinner would continue with the third course, which was made from pork shoulder. Pork usually requires strong flavours to accompany it, and for this dish it was a white wine sauerkraut, and a four mustard cream sauce. The sweet 2013 Süssereserve Riesling from Rosewood Estates Winery paired nicely with this dish. The fourth course was an Ontario Red Deer Steak with saskatoon berry jus. Again, the meat was cooked perfectly and still very tender, which is often hard to achieve with leaner cuts of meat.
Pork Shoulder – Bespoke white wine sauerkraut, four mustard cream sauce
Ontario Red Deer Steak, saskatoon berry jus
To cleanse our palette, we had a sweet spruce tip granita, before our final course arrived – a beautifully presented cheese board. Poulsen proceeded to describe each cheese, adding interesting facts about where some of them were sourced, and how they were made. I tried every cheese on that board, and honestly could not choose a favourite.
During this casual final course, the guests shared stories with each other, and had a chance to converse with Poulsen, who talked about the values that are core to his butcher shop business. He tries to support local Ontario producers as much as he can, but also spoke about the challenges in doing so, in light of alternatives that exist elsewhere. He also spoke about the nutritional benefits of organic, and naturally produced meats, which I personally found enlightening. I always enjoy when the chef talks to the guests; it was such a pleasure to meet Poulsen, who is clearly a very passionate and very grounded individual.
Selection of Cheeses
Every course tonight was paired with wines from Rosewood Estates Winery – Niagara’s first winery-meadery. I had the pleasure of listening to Krystina Roman about Rosewood’s practices on sustainable farming and beekeeping just one week earlier at the In the Land of Sea and Honey Dinner. It’s really wonderful to see so many in the food and drink industry supporting local producers, the environment, and each other.
The carnivore feast at Bespoke Butchers was every bit the unique experience that Pass The Table promised. From the butcher shop setting, to the engaging conversations with the other diners and our hosts, and of course the delicious food and wine, the dinner tonight was one to remember. If you’re craving something different than your usual restaurant meal, be sure to check out Pass The Table. Taking a quick look at their upcoming offerings, you can enjoy a pig head “nose-to ear” dinner, a “can”apes and cocktail dinner (focusing on canned foods), and even a dinner and a concert. All you need to do is download the app, create an account, browse the available experiences, and finally reserve your spot with a credit card. We look forward to seeing what other unique experiences Pass The Table and its partners will offer in the future.
Comments Off on Christopher Bates Fall 2015 at Toronto Men’s Fashion Week (TOM*)
Christopher Bates, Canadian menswear designer of the moment (and then some) wrapped up this season’s Toronto Men’s Fashion Week (Friday, February 27th) with his Fall 2015 collection, Modular, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Continue reading→
