A Desirous Experience in Winnipeg

With the Louis Riel Day long weekend upon me, I once again made a daytrip to Winnipeg.  Earlier in the year my sister led me to an article featuring worthy new restaurants across Canada in 2011, with one Winnipeg bistro making this list.  Deseo Bistro actually has existed in Winnipeg for a few years, but circumstances resulted in them being reborn at its current location in the Riverview neighbourhood.  Deseo, Spanish for "desire", features an internationally inspired cuisine with South American influences having a more prominent presence, and appears to be quite popular with Winnipeggers.  When I arrived at the bistro I learned that, fortunately, there was one seat left in the two-storey eatery... at the bar.  Well, beggars can't be choosers, so upstairs to the bar I went.

Fine Dining by Students in Brandon

The study hall just off the main entrance to the Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts (MICA).

For a few years I've heard of Grey Owl Restaurant being discussed by various people.  At first, shortly after I moved to Brandon, it was a mystery to me, as I couldn't find it listed in commercial directories like the Yellow Pages.  I then learned a couple of things about Grey Owl Restaurant that explained why it seemed so elusive to me:

1. It was a restaurant operated by students of the Assiniboine Community College's (ACC) Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts (MICA); and
2. It was a seasonal restaurant, open only for four (4) weeks in January and February of each year.

An Epic Sushi Dinner

The open kitchen area of Sushi Kaji.

Even though our family celebrated my parents' anniversary with dinner at Allium back in Ottawa, my sister was thinking of truly celebrating their anniversary with a nice dinner in the Toronto area.  With her foodie connections she managed to find Sushi Kaji, a Japanese restaurant located in Etobicoke.  The location was not what I'd consider to be typical for a higher-end restaurant, located in a 1950-1960's era Toronto-suburban strip mall right on a 6-lane thoroughfare.  This place, however, was definitely a diamond in the rough.

A La Kitchen for Lunch

Of all the Chinese cuisines, perhaps Shanghainese cuisine would be my favourite.  Though Shanghai is located south of the Chang Jiang/Yangtze, its cuisine is argued to be associated with the northern half of the cuisine by virtue of breads and noodles being staple foods instead of rice, as well as the comparatively heavier dishes offered in Shanghainese cuisine compared to southern Chinese styles like Cantonese.  Perhaps the prevalence of noodles and dumplings better associated with northern Chinese cuisine could explain my love for Shanghainese cuisine.  My parents knowing this, they suggested that our family go to A La Kitchen for lunch.  A La Kitchen recently expanded, virtually doubling its seating capacity, and we did not have to endure a waiting line even though it was fairly busy.

Chinese Cress with Minced Bean Curd

A Golden Court Dinner

A dinner with the maternal grandparents was in order, especially since I for one had not seen them since my last Christmas break.  Though my family and I have noticed the existence of Golden Court Abalone Restaurant several times, only my parents and sister tried it last year due to a banquet event being held there.  Having enjoyed the cuisine there, they thought it was a good place to try for just a more casual dinner.  The Chinese cuisine offered at this restaurant, along with the price tag, was definitely on the higher end, with quite a few dishes on the menus offering various Chinese delicacies like shark's fin, conpoy and swallow's nest.  Even with some of the simpler dishes, greater attention was given to presentation compared to most other Chinese restaurants.

A personal serving of Snake Soup.

Guu Revisited on New Year's Eve

Inside Guu SakaBar.

Some time after trying (Kitanoya) Guu on Church St. in Toronto last year, Guu opened another izakaya, Guu SakaBar, on Bloor St. W. near Bathurst St.  My sister had previously been to this particular Guu and preferred this location more, partly for having more seating and being less crowded.  Perhaps because it was New Year's Eve, with partygoers having gone elsewhere to celebrate, Guu SakaBar still had a few empty seats available during the entire evening we were there.

Toronto Dishcrawl to End 2011

Part of the kitchen at Bannock.

(I've unfortunately had to take a pause writing about my Christmas break culinary adventures due to my involvement in a musical production that just finished this past weekend.  So, now we return to our regularly scheduled programming....)

Knowing that she would still be on holidays from work, before my holidays my sister suggested doing a dishcrawl throughout central Toronto.  For those not familiar with what a dishcrawl is, you may have heard of a pub crawl, where people hop from one drinking establishment to another to try a feature/unique drink from each establishment.  So, a dishcrawl is where people hop from one eatery to another to try a feature/unique food dish from each establishment.  Though she had a quite a few places to choose, we originally settled to try five places and eventually only tried four as, in spite of what our tastebuds would tell us, our stomachs could only take so much.

Another Toronto Winter, Another Ramen Lunch

With my sister still having some time off work, we went grocery shopping one day for some meals over the coming days.  After finishing most of her shopping it was time for lunch, so we decided to swing by a nearby ramen noodle restaurant.  Located in the same commercial complex as the J-Town Japanese mall, Niwatei had a more varied menu selection than Vancouver's Motomachi Shokudo, but my sister and I opted to stick with the ramen noodles.  Unfortunately, as I wasn't expecting to try something new for lunch, I committed a foodie cardinal sin (again!) and didn't bring my camera with me.  Fortunately, my sister (http://www.boneats.ca/) saved my bacon one more time.

Shio Ramen. (Photo courtesy of www.boneats.ca.)

Starting my Return to Toronto with Hands-On Eating

Vegetarian Bayaaynatu (for two) with an additional order of Gored-Gored at Ethiopian House.  All the food items were served on a layer of injera.

When my sister and I arrived in Toronto a few days after Christmas with the parents in Ottawa, it was early evening and we were not in the mood for cooking dinner.  When my sister bounced a few suggestions on places to eat, I decided that we should give Ethiopian House a try; though she'd been there in the past, I'd never had Ethiopian cuisine, and there was no better time like the present.  When I got to the restaurant, located in a converted house on a quiet side street off Yonge near Wellesley, I found it fascinating that, for years, I've heard of Ethiopia for all the unfortunate reasons, yet its cuisine, though comparatively simpler than, say, Chinese or French cuisine, was colourful and lively.  Though there was some meat in Ethiopian cuisine, I understood that there was a stronger emphasis for vegetable dishes, and it was reflected in the menu at the restaurant and the meal my sister and I ordered.  (The following close-up photos are courtesy of my sister at boneats.ca.)

A Snowy Amble to Allium

(Special thanks to my sister at boneats.ca for allowing me to use her photos on this post. Though I did bring a camera to dinner, I was unable to take decent pictures with it under low lighting conditions.)

Dijon-herb butter served with the bread at our table. (Photo courtesy of www.boneats.ca.)

Though my sister and I were planning to take our parents to a restaurant in Toronto for their anniversary dinner, my parents still wanted to dine out on their actual anniversary date, so, at the suggestion of a fellow Ottawa foodie, we went to Allium Restaurant for dinner.  Located in the Hintonburg neighbourhood, and owned by chef Arup Jana, Allium featured Canadian cuisine in a short menu.  One thing I found amusing about the restaurant was that its menu featured a surprise appetizer and a surprise main course, but none of the staff revealed what those dishes were, not even hints.  Understandably, the menu cautioned persons with dislikes or allergies to not choose the surprise dishes.