FrankD's Profile
Joanne Kates is leaving the Globe!
Kates actually studied cooking in Paris, unlike any other Toronto reviewer, and, I daresay, you. She knows her chops, so to speak, and I give her far more credence than I do Sara Waxman or Gina Mallet or anyone else writing in Toronto today.
Since I'm on the north side of 50 myself, when I go out to eat, I want a good meal, no attitude from the staff, and an atmosphere where I can actually converse with my dining companion without shouting. I don't have the income to visit every place she reviewed, but I found when she liked a place, I did too. In the end, that's what I value a reviewer for - how close his/her tastes match mine.
You seem to have based all your venom on a single review. If that's an appropriate technique, why not base your opinion of CH on how they treated, for example, Chicago Pizza Kitchen in Vaughan?
Joanne Kates is leaving the Globe!
I stopped reading the Globe many years ago, but Kates is one a few writers that I miss. She refused to lower her standards on food, service, and atmosphere, and I was especially sympathetic to her complaints about the cold shoulder she received from 20 something stick figures dressed in black who seemed to think they were doing Kates a favour by seating her. My only consolation is, if Sandra Bullock was right, those 20-somethings will all be eating at Taco Bell a few years from now.
Do you eat, and enjoy, your steak rare?
I worked in a moderately priced steak chain in Canada. What struck me was how many people ordered "medium rare" (I'd say about 40% by memory), but when you brought them a perfect medium rare steak, they'd shy back in horror, and send it back until it was at least medium (i.e. no red at all) or even medium well.
Personally, I love my steaks black & blue (Pittsburg, Chicago, whatever), but it's hard to find a place that does it properly. I love the taste of a good charred exterior, but when I get into the flesh, I find rare meat more flavourful, juicy, and tender. Most of the time, I end up with a steak that's charred a bit, but is rare, not blue, or even medium rare. And I never complain - I don't mind if it's cooked a bit more than I would like, and it's not worth the fuss sending it back. So I actually end up eating from all degrees on the rare scale. As long as the basic meat is good, I'm still happy.
But in one of those weird twists that make us all different, I don't like rare burgers (and it's not a health thing; I've had 'em, don't like 'em) and I actually prefer them really charred and well done. Go figure!
Cheddar please??? Who makes the best cheddars???
mmm.. Black Diamond aged cheddar, crumbled over a piece of lightly toasted bread, and then grilled until the cheese melts.. dribble a little HP sauce on top.. now, that's a snack!
american chinese food cravings?
Didn't see it mentioned here, but it was a staple on Chinese-Canadian menus for years (still is with some of the old-style places):
Honey-garlic spare ribs. Tiny little pieces of pork on bones, roasted I guess, and then served with this gelatinous honey garlic sauce that tasted of honey and soy, although garlic was not usually evident, and finished with enough corn starch that you could stand the riblets in it the next morning. Can't handle it these days with my diabetes, but when I was a teenager, I loved this stuff.
Time to start hoarding that chocolate. Chocolate shortage on the horizon!
Geez, doesn't anyone check facts? Cocoa beans have fallen from $3,490 US/ton last year at this time to $2,360, or about 47%. The price has gone up and down, but back in 1987, beans were just under $2,000/ton. 18% price rise over 25 YEARS?! Can't think of any foodstuff - milk, flour, eggs, meat, you name it - that's had so little inflation.
Now other input costs - sugar, labour, energy - will have gone up, so your chocolate bar may be more expensive. But blaming it on cocoa seems absurd.
Yay! Packaged, processed....?????
Mechanically deboned and processed beef "pink slime", formed into reconstituted burger-like frozen discs.
They've got ammonia!
Anything open early (5am) in Markham/Richmond Hill
It's nothing but serviceable, but Markham Station (Markham Road and Sheppard) offers up reasonably decent breakfasts. However, I'm disappointed they offer frozen potatoes as "home fries"; ask for rice or roast potatoes if you want the starch, or extra tomato slices if you don't. Open 24 hours, and if you ask really nicely, they might give you the breakfast special price of $4.99 before 6 am. A little out of the way, but just off the 401, so it shouldn't add too much travel time at that time of day.
POLL: Can you walk to an actual grocery store?
Richmond Hill, a northern suburb of Toronto.
It kinda bugs me that though I live a stone's throw from two major streets, there are no grocery stores in the immediate (5-10 min) walking area. However, when I get on my bike, I have a lot of choices. Three premium grocery chains in 2 km. Just a bit farther (in different directions), and I can add a Wal-Mart (hardly ever go there, though), a discount chain (No Frills), and a super-premium independent (Bruno's). If I hop on a bus, I can add two more discount stores and two Asian groceries.
A few years ago, I enjoyed an "e-bike" - an electrically assisted bicycle, limited to 32 km/h, but certainly easier to get home with 25 lbs of groceries than having it in my backpack. Unexpected frost killed the battery pack one night, and haven't replaced it yet, but it certainly expanded my grocery options.
Best Chinese BAKED buns in GTA?
I like Kim Moon on Dundas St West, just east of Spadina. The bun is fine, nothing special, but I find they are much more generous with fillings than your standard "6 bun for $5" shops.
Wedding Venue Help - Chinese
A little unusual, but the Mandarin Golf Club (Kennedy, about a mile north of Major Mac) has an excellent Chinese chef, a private room for your event, and if it's in the summer, a beautiful backdrop for photos. If you tell them what you're planning, they'll often invite you up for a meal so you can judge the quality of food for yourself.
They hold 10-20 weddings a year, so they do know what they're doing.
Jarred Spaghetti Sauce
I love adding sauteed celery to a pasta sauce, jarred or home-made. Sauteing removes some of snap, and I find it adds a nutty flavour plus an interesting texture to the sauce.
And I'm a big believer in doctoring jarred sauces, because I live alone, and don't often have a plan for dinner before I walk in the door. I don't want to make a big batch of scratch sauce because I only have pasta once a week or so, and my freezer is full of meat and bread I bought on sale. So a quick saute of onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, and some spices added to the sauce gives me a tasty dinner in less than 15 minutes.
100 years of Oreos!
This week, the Oreo cookie will have its 100th birthday. One Toronto newspaper dismissed the news as "it's just a cookie". I think that does the Oreo a tremendous disservice. Oreos, along with chocolate chip cookies (homemade, still warm out of the oven, of course) are the iconic North American cookies. Who doesn't remember the first time they twisted an Oreo apart, scraping off the vanilla creme, and then dipping the wafers into a cold glass of milk?
There have been futile efforts to extend the bran d - double stuff, even mint(!) oreos, but the classic is still the best. So I ask you, friends; Is the Oreo "just a cookie" to you?
Have things changed re: replying to other posts?
I've been away for a while (fasting, of course..) but when I try to reply to messages now, I get taken to my profile page, but don't have any option to reply to the post I wanted to comment on.
Has something changed? Does your site no longer like Firefox? Any help would be appreciated...
Cheese Curds!
To avoid that problem, put some fresh french fries underneath, then top with hot chicken gravy. You won't even notice if the curds are melty...
Thanksgiving dinner costs soar
See, this is the difference between living in Canada and the US. Canada persists in having food "supply management boards", where producers are assigned quotas, and consumers pay the price. A Butterball turkey is usually $1.79/lb; you might find it on sale for $1.29 from time to time. Even no-name Grade A birds are rarely less than $1/b.
Similar problems exist in eggs ($1.99/doz on sale, usually $2.29-$2.49), milk ($4 gal) and other dairy products. My wife regularly drives the 90 minutes from Toronto to Buffalo to stock up on eggs, butter, flour, and other staples that are much more expensive here.
Thanksgiving dinner costs soar
This is kind of amusing, in that there's a post elsewhere on Chowhound on a "low price" Thanksgiving dinner for EIGHT that's just under $100. The linked article details a dinner for TEN for $49.
Simplest way to cut costs that I know: buy a utility grade bird. It'll probably be missing a wing, or maybe a drum, but they're about $0.89/lb or less, so a 20-lb turkey won't even set you back $20. Carve it away from the table, and you might miss some of the "oohs" and "aahs", but chances are no one will notice what's missing (especially if you buy a turkey wing/drum to replace the missing part), and you`ll actually get more meat per diner than a $20 Grade A bird would provide.
12 McDonald's Menu Items That Failed Spectacularly
Wildebeest on a bun, with a special sauce made from shallots in a South African Riesling reduction.
12 McDonald's Menu Items That Failed Spectacularly
The McPizza was the brainchild of McDonald's Canada George Cohon, who was in high favour with the McD brass because he was able to score a huge PR coup by opening the first McD's in Moscow. At the time of its introduction, I remember reading what an undertaking it was, as it required all-new equipment in the kitchen, redesign of work flow, staff training, etc. Like all McD stuff, it wasn't horrible, just not great. And when the pizza wars heated up - where you could go to ZaZa and get a large pepperoni for $3.99, hardly anyone wanted to pay $1.99 for a mini from Mickey D.
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
My dad used to be in the Royal Canadian Navy. He told me about voyages to New Orleans in the 50's, when you could buy shrimp in New Orleans for $0.15/lb. My Chinese wife used to buy fish heads for $0.29/lb in Richmond Hill until the huge influx of Asians; now they're $2/lb. One man's garbage is another's gustatory delight!
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
Ditto on the dark. When I visited Windsor often, we'd cross over to Detroit for Church's chicken. The special was always "dark meat only", and you'd get nearly 50% more pieces than if you ordered white meat. Legs, drums, and thighs, slathered in their hot sauce - yum!
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
What's worse is they pile on when you ask for an extra order of carrot sticks and celery - four little pieces of each for $2?!
Caplansky's- the emperor has NO clothes
Zane is many things, but "modest" and "humble"? Not words I would ever use to describe him, and I actually worked for him.
Caplansky's- the emperor has NO clothes
Yep, that's my take as well. I gleefully brought friends to the Monarch. College Street - never mind the wait - the food's just not as good. most of the time. Consistency is a virtue.(And I confess I haven't been there for six months at least.)
I have to admit a sneaking admiration for McDonald's; even though their food is not chowish at all, a Big Mac is the same in Toronto as it is in Tonawanda, Tacoma, or Tallahassee.
Best Sushi in Richmond hill / Thornhill? (close to dufferin/hwy 7)
My family has always enjoyed Shi-Ki (Yonge St, two blocks south of Elgin Mills). We mostly go for lunch on weekends. We don't bother with AYCE, as the lunch sets are quite filling.
I wouldn't for a moment pretend it's Hiro or other high end spots, but almost everything is competently done, served quickly, and the decor is clean and bright. I usually get the sashimi lunch, which is 10-12 pieces of fish, miso soup, salad (a weak point - iceberg lettuce, a tomato slice, and dressing), california rolls, a dumpling or two, and rice. For the four of us, we normally order one or two extra orders of whatever special roll we'd like to try, and end up taking food home. Most lunch sets are in the $9-12 range, which I think is quite reasonable.
Should You Expect a Restaurant to Pick a Lobster for You on Request?
I've eaten lobster dozens of times in Chinese restaurants in the Greater Toronto area, and the only time they've requested we pick the beast is at a restaurant called O-Mei, and only when you order their special "lobster four ways". When six of us ordered it, we chose a 5 lb monster; when we were only four, we settled on a 3 lb selection. But when you just order lobster, they always pick it for you (unless you request to choose one from the tank), and it is always served cut up and cracked. Further, every Chinese person I know would be outraged if they were only served the tail and claws; in my wife's family, there's always a polite fight over who gets to suck the head, and the tiny legs and knuckles are devoured with as much relish as the bigger pieces.
Now, I've eaten lobster in Maine (Harraseeket Lunch, IIRC), where you get a whole boiled lobster in all its glory, and you do the rest of the work. That's fine with me too; cracking and twisting and pulling while sitting by the sea is part of the fun.
Grocery Chains - Favourites?
Here in Richmond Hill, we have two NF's - one at Yonge and 16th (which is huge), and one farther north at Yonge & Levendale. The Y&16 store has many things you don't normally find at a NF, such as live fish and shellfish, a huge array of Asian foods, an actual butcher, etc. The Y&L store is much smaller, but when I compare prices there to the Loblaw's a bit farther north, I find the exact products (e.g. Ziggy salads, PC products, many name brands) are 20-40% less expensive at NF. I tend to shop there most often, although as others have pointed out, the SDM around the corner is an excellent option for milk, butter, eggs and other sale items.
But I also have to give a shout out to Bruno's. It's expensive, yes, but the quality of their meat is superb. If I'm planning a summer grill, I might go to NF for the produce, sauces, breads, etc., but make a special trip to Bruno's for their steaks, chops, and sausages.
ISO Shark Fin Soup
Having had this many times at Ambassador, I feel it's the best I've had, but perhaps it's what I'm used to.
That said, I think it's a highly over-rated dish. I would much prefer a good hot and sour, as I find shark's fin to be overly bland, and have to add a lot of vinegar to spice it up. The impression I get from my wife's family and friends is it's a dish you order to show off, since it's quite expensive, hence the almost ubiquitous appearance at weddings, important birthdays, etc.
