Fueling up at the Fuel House

After a long day of moving me in with my dear friends, I wanted to treat them to good eats that in a casual and comforting environment.  We headed to the Fuel House which was the ideal place for the mood and vibe we were looking for.  In the intimate space formerly known as Olivia's just tucked off College behind Cafe Diplomatic on Clinton, it's the perfect place for comfort as it's an old restored house with dim lights, and a gorgeous back patio. 

L'Orignal in Old Montreal

My former roommate and dear friend Stacy suggested L'Orignal, which means "the Moose" in the quaintness of Old Montreal to have dinner while I was in town.   This restaurant felt like it was a hidden gem off the beaten path as the entrance is just off Rue Notre Dame, on a narrow side street. It was very intimate as you walk in with its candlelit dark interior and original stone walls and woodsy cabin-like feel.  The menu featured traditional Quebecoise cuisine (fish, game meats and top local products) and a fresh oyster bar.

Bison + Poutine= Stampede

As the trend of “high-end” burger joints dominate Toronto, with various reasons why their burgers are worth paying a premium for, whether it's house made fancy toppings, or whether the cow your meal came from was pampered night and day, chowing down on tasty grass with organic substances, the guys at Stampede are offering affordable and delicious burgers focused on bison.

Poutine Plus

Another poutine restaurant has cropped up in my neighborhood and is conveniently located across the street from Smoke's Poutiniere.  Now this is dangereux as the market for late night hangouts and inebriated snack time becomes populated with my favourite snack and when there's a long line up at one resto - i can just pop into the alternative yikes!  Reminder that I need to figure out my gym routine!!

GBK- the purveyors of fine poutine!

It was Carly's birthday and she lives in Leslieville... this is how we came here to Great Burger Kitchen which has a sign outside saying they are the "purveyor of fine poutines."  It is a small take out joint with a small counter to eat at in front of the window but not somewhere you would stay put for awhile! 

Gilead's Cafe

Since we moved into the waterfront - I have been looking for a good lunch spot and I feel like I've hit the jackpot with Gilead's Cafe. It's one of Jamie Kennedy's creations and so I knew that all his ingredients were local or even grown in his own farm and he specializes in bringing the best out of seasonal produce.  This spot is in Corktown (the area borders the Distillery district and Leslieville) and if I didn't look it up, I really don't think I would've stumbled onto this casual mid-day spot. It's on a quiet street, surrounded by industrial vacant buildings. 

Drumroll please! World's Largest POUTINE eating competition!

Toronto beat out la belle province to host the World's Largest Poutine eating competition sponsored by Smokes Poutinerie and fulfilling a dream of mine- I had the chance to witness and cover the whole competition on my blog *SQUEEL*!!!

The contenders - heavy hitters from the Major League Eating Federation (MLE) came from far and wide to compete in this first ever competition against some local amateurs who qualified for their love and stealth for poutine and I was just a very happy lady to witness this all go down.

Tpoutine... Poutine invasion in NY?

I was ecstatic when heading to another restaurant that my cab passed Tpoutine in the Lower East Side that I vowed to myself I would be back to eat inside the restaurant!!  So on another night out- I dragged 3 of my colleagues from Time Square all the way back down - like 50 blocks to find this place again and gorge on the quintessential Canadian comfort food that I adore!  I was a woman on a stealthy poutine mission!

Saag Paneer poutine?!

Today I indulged in a very gluttonous lunch with my friend Chris. I have heard good rumours about a new burger shack that opened in Kensington and was excited to give it a try. The Burger Bar which was formerly Rice Bar on Augusta Ave has been revamped from the minimalistic resto into a farmy sit down burger saloon complete with checkerboard table cloths and a mounted moose with antlers on the wall.

OMG there's a poutine song!!

I should've known there would be a song dedicated to poutine and of course it's in French- Mais OUI, it is one of Quebec's sacred food! ENJOY!

http://tinyurl.com/nzgnou

* the picture is from a POUTINE eating contest at my birthday party! Thanks for the good times.. I came in 2nd- out of 4 people! Tyler Doyle is the POUTINE champ- THERE you go!! Are YOU happy?!

the Drake Hotel

I have not been the biggest fan of the Drake hotel due to it's pretentious overcrowding and the influx of tourists to 905 crowd however I will say that recently I have been there on a few occasions and I think it deserves some honorable mentions:

POUTINI'S - finally!!!

So I had the pleasure and privilege to hit up Poutinis last Friday which was their officially opening night... If you ask any of my friends, I've been waiting for this day to come!
This space is in an ideal spot for night traffic - sandwiched between the Drake hotel and the Social - with handcrafted long wood bar tables. The only thing I exclaimed to 'Squeaky' who is the lady managing the resto - is that after a long evening - my feet will need some rest when I stumble in a bit tipsy- and she assured me that there will be bar stools for my next visit. They literally opened a few hours before and they were behind on a few things.

The New Burger Joint on Ossington

I had a lunch date with my friend Chris who claims I bullied him into being the captain of our Ultimate Frisbee team so during our lunch catch up - my goal was to set him straight! We decided to try the "BQM" Burger Shoppe on Ossington. Let me just say for the record that I didn't force Chris to become captain but merely agreed to those who seem to think Chris may be the best man for the job. However I am guilty of sending out a mass email to our team announcing prematurely that he had accepted the role- to that I am 100% at fault so lunch was on me :).

Ohh la la - le Petit Castor

There's been a lot of buzz going around about this 'eager beaver' since it's openning a few months ago in the Rosedale area and I can say with confidence that this is a crowd pleaser for me. I really liked this place from the time I walked in- from it's cozy interior all decked out with antlers, wooden snowshoes and tennis rackets and hustle and bustle atmosphere. This is definitley a place to see or be seen! If you are dining - a reservation is definitely recommended as it as even crowded on a quiet Tuesday night!

Utopia!

Utopia is defined as 'an ideally perfect place' and that's how I feel about this regular spot of mine. When I feel like a satisfying lunch or dinner for an affordable price - this is the restaurant of choice. They have a variety of burritos and burgers to choose from - all delcious in their own ways and they come with a delicious side of salad, coldslaw, french fries or rice and beans and you can always get the half and half option as well all for under $12!






You definitely won't go hungry as their portions are huge and they have a good beer selection and patio as well - so it's great place to chill out in the sun with the kind of casual cool atmosphere you would always be comfortable in.






Here are the things I adore:
- that they have 3 kinds of poutine
- 5 kind of nachos and the servings are huge
- They serve Tiger (Singapore beer) and Sapporo
- Tofu croquettes are delicious
- Chicken and Mushroom and Potatoe and curry chickpea burritos are amazing
-White bean and tofu quesadilla is my colleague's favourite meal!
-Utopia Burger - oh my word!!

I can't help coming here and finishing everything on my plate! YUM!

Utopia- 586 College Street
College and Clinton
**** stars (out of 5)

a little tip about making pout...

As you all know - i LOVE my poutine! A good friend just reminded me that her trick to making the ooey gooey goodness is to use Swiss Chalet sauce. We used to come home from the bar, open some frozen McCain french fries and melt cheese by pouring the chalet sauce over it. It has just the right amount of spices in the sauce. She also reminded me NEVER to make poutine drunk as injuries may occur.

Enjoying food porn at Jamie Kennedy's

**RESTAURANT NOW CLOSED***
Last week, an old friend of mine took me out to Jamie Kennedy and we sat at the chef's table and enjoyed different wine pairings to our cuisine- it was SPECTACULAR. I would always recommend sitting and watching the chefs in action - i call it live food porn- which the chef took as the best compliment of his life- I think he was slightly exaggerating but I'll take it! The use of local vegetables such as purple potatoes, watermelon radishes and beets were incredible. The colour of these veggies were a conversation piece in itself!

Poout Poout... Pooutine!

I have a passion for this food called poutine which consists of french fries - salted, with gravy poured over cheese curds. Delicious!! It's truly the quintessential Canadian comfort food!
A few years ago while I was living in Montreal, i found some poutine late at night on my kitchen table that seemed a little congealed but i decided to take a stab at it and it was still satisfying! I found out later from my roommate, that she found the poutine under our couch while cleaning because they had forgotten they ordered it. It was a couple days old! I didn't even notice. Ha!