You're right - - the Silpat mat (or any silicone bakeware brand) will catch fire if in direct contact with the heating element. Ex: my mom left the silpat mat in the oven, and forgot it there. Next time she baked, she preheated the oven to 500 degrees, slid her baking tray in, and never saw the silpat. The flexible silpat rolled to the eithe rhte back of the oven and eventually to the bottom of the oven. Guess what? Major oven fire...we couldn't even figure it out, because we didn't know what that burning roll was in the back of the oven. Very scary. We couldn't put it out with baking soda....(which was necessary because she was cooking something in on another tray with oil. We had to call the fire dept....we did manage to put it out by the time they got here. ...but it could have gone either way. So much smoke it was unbearable...had to fan the place out with the fire dept equipment.

So...moral of story is that fire-resistant/proof only goes so far.
NEVER keep your silpat in the oven.
The reason she left it there was because it was still very hot and she wanted it to cool off in the oven rather than put it on and risk damaging any other surface in the kitchen. Understandable...but the next person will not anticipate it being there...especially if it is on a different rack or of a color that blends in with the oven....or if you're not using your oven light.

Cheers and good luck.

Kim's Vietnamese Restaurant on Gerrard St. East has the best pho in the neighbourhood. Just walk past Mimi's heading a few buildings east. Kim's entrance is a little indented from the street and has a big red and yellow banner saying "Grand Opening" or something like that. (The banner has been up for over a year...lol). It's not a busy place, but it has really delicious pho and spring rolls...and the owners are really very nice. Lots of fresh herbs and condiments, broth that tastes like real broth - doesn't taste like cheap boullion cube and msg. Also - - the place is spotlessly clean, and the bathrooms are not only clean, but attractive too with nice soap. I like these kinds of details. $6 will get you a huge bowl of pho - - spring rolls are $3. They have awesome freshly squeezed orange juice and other fruit drinks. Nice place, nice people, great pho. They also have nice rice dishes as well. Simple menu but very good and very clean.

This entry has the WRONG ADDRESS ON IT. It is not Annette STreet, it is on Broadview!!!

Great post and thread!
Anyone have a recipe for the poppyseed filling?

The coffee is excellent. I have tried the Bold Beaverand the Aromatic Rooster - - both were memorable.

The quick summary on this place is that it looks great, the owners are attractive, and the coffee is top quality. (The Riverdale Perk on Logan is nowhere near in the same league coffee-wise) Someone did a fine job with the interior design....comfy leather chairs, a big dinging/work table, and also a high stool bar along the edge of the window for solo drinkers/readers looking out onto broadview and the park. A bunch of chairs lined up outside along the front window. I hope it will be civilized enough to allow people to smoke there. I do see that there is a vintage stand-up cigarette ashtray stand there, but the actually ashtray is curiously absent from it.

Do we miss the old Parkhill Convenience that used to inhabit this place? Absolutely...it's a little weird sipping good coffee in the exact spot where Mike used to take in your dry cleaning, rent you a video, sell you penny candy, slip you a cigarette if you were out of them, wave you away when you were a little short on money....or, yes, pour you a cup of basic no-frill coffee. We miss his table saw in front of the place, where he cut the wood for his sculpture works. We miss working on the jigsaw puzzles on the picnic table...and finding a few blown away pieces along the sidewalk as we walked home. That place was legend. It would be nice to see some of his artwork carvings in the new restaurant...or better yet, to have him behind the espresso bar....

I used to really like the New York Cafe. But unfortunately, since the change in ownership, they seem to have raised prices but lowered the quality of ingredients and cooking. The place looks better in some ways and seems cleaner now, but the food is just not what it used to be. The staff are still very nice though.