Celebrating in the Courtyard

For their 30th wedding anniversary, my parents opted to dine out instead of eating in, even though my sister and I were willing to cook another meal for them.  My sister, being a more connected foodie than I am, knew another food blogger who lives in Ottawa and had plenty of local connections and knowledge of good places to go to eat.  One of the places he suggested was Courtyard Restaurant, which is perchance celebrating its 30th anniversary as well.  Tucked away with its actual entrance from Clarendon Lane, I've seen that place a few times in the summer months when the courtyard, surrounded by stone buildings, was packed with diners enjoying their meals al fresco.  Until recently I was concerned that, being located in the tourist-heavy By Ward Market area, it was one of many tourist trap eateries in the area, but a suggestion from a foodie allayed my concern, and my sister and I agreed to give that place a try.

A Hot Bowl of Ramen to Warm a Cold Belly

Having to run an errand at the Eaton Centre, I decided to have a quick lunch in the area.  However, I wanted to avoid the shopping centre's food court as well as the tourist trap restaurants in and around Yonge-Dundas Square.  After a quick search on the internet the previous night, I discovered a ramen shop called Kenzo Japanese Noodle House.  Like izakayas as I mentioned in my previous blog entry, ramen shops are still in foothold stage in Toronto.  With that in mind, and with my penchant for noodles getting the best of me, I decided to try this place.

Dining Out with Character (And the Crowd Goes Guu!)

Yet again I must apologize for neglecting my blog for over two months, but my schedule had not allowed me enough time to do any further culinary exploration, especially with my involvement in community theatre productions of the musical "White Christmas", which just finished over a week ago, "Much Ado About Nothing", which is coming up in January, and "Twelve Angry Jurors" in February.  With the Christmas break upon me now, I'm able to spend it in Toronto and Ottawa for a few weeks, which fortunately means trying new places to eat.

The open kitchen at Guu was constantly alive with activity and enthusiasm.

A Twist on Curry at Home, Chapter 2

During the last Labour Day weekend I was in Winnipeg for another daytrip, which has in the past almost always included a stop at a Chinese supermarket.  This time my curiosity got the best of me and I bought some fresh lemongrass. Named for being a grass with a citrus aroma and flavour, lemongrass can be featured quite prominently in tropical Asian cuisines, including Thai.  I had never cooked with lemongrass before, and the last time I had the urge to try cooking with lemongrass was dashed when I discovered that I could only find the frozen variety in Brandon.

Momo-what?

The morning and afternoon of my second full day in New York City afforded me some free time to explore the city on my own before our group gathered for dinner and another show in the evening.  I had taken the opportunity to sleep in a bit as the previous night we had watched a musical then had a late night dinner at the Blue Note jazz club.  (Though the focus there is on jazz music performances, the Blue Note did offer some decent food.  Unfortunately, darkness and a no-flash rule during the performance meant taking pictures of the food was out of the question.)  It was mid-morning by the time I was ready to explore again, and explore I did.

No Pig-out in New York

New York City, the Big Apple, the city that doesn't sleep, call it what you will, love it or hate it, that place is full of intrigue and adventure.  I had never before been to NYC until this past week, and though the main purpose of this trip is to see some professional theatrical productions, the opportunity to explore NYC's culinary world was naturally before me and my fellow travelers as, no matter what, we have to eat.  With most of my limited time having been already scheduled, the opportunities to explore the culinary world was limited, but I was still able to experience a nibble of that world already on the first evening in town.

Refreshing Summer Memory

Earlier this week, it was hot and muggy here, and a colleague offered some cucumbers fresh from the garden as there were more than she could handle.  At that moment, my thoughts instantly turned to a refreshing, cool and light dish I had once at a Korean supermarket north of Toronto, naengmyun.  I took some of the cukes in the hopes of making this dish, along with attempting to make some sweet and spicy pickles, over the weekend.

Pesco-Vegetarian Potluck Feast

A couple of friends I met playing Ultimate this year agreed to have a dinner-and-movie potluck this weekend, and with the movies of choice being Red Cliff & Red Cliff II, I thought of cooking Chinese dishes for my friends.  Cooking for people with dietary restrictions can be a challenge, but fortunately for me, with my friends being pesco-vegetarians, I was given some latitude.  With that in mind, I decided to cook three dishes, a noodle dish, a vegetable dish and a tofu dish.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blufish

I managed to be in Winnipeg for another long weekend, and with that came the opportunity to try another restaurant in town.  Fortunately, a few more friends of mine who thankfully are, for argument's sake, about as adventurous on the food front as I am are now living in town (one of whom I must credit with the inspirational title for this entry).  That meant one thing for me: foodie dine-out!

BBQ for a Day

Nothing says summer like a barbecue dinner, but alas, such a dinner is a rarity for me since I've moved into an apartment with no balcony on which to place a barbecue. Imagine my excitement when a colleague of mine decided to open his house for a BBQ potluck dinner last Saturday! At long last I was able to work a grill again, and I decided to make the best of this opportunity. Partly because I hadn't barbecued for a while, and partly because I knew others were bringing dips, salads and other starter items, I decided to make grilled vegetables as my potluck contribution. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself for a moment.