Oh darn, had I known, I would have introduced myself! I was with the very first group in line 1.

Great event -- food was really excellent almost across the board. And I loved the thought and creativity that went into the construction of the booths.

Doh, I was thinking of Segovia, not Sanagan's!

Sanagan's had some good Mexican chorizo.

Maybe the Calphalon store downtown?

Just to confirm -- you mean Tabule, right? Or is there another spot that uses the Tabouli spelling?

Rose Levy Berenbaum's White Velvet Cake is a fantastic cake with strawberries and cream.

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/rec...

http://richmondstation.ca/

It's dropped off of google for some reason. I had to go to their facebook page to find the link.

OK, great to know, thank you!

I'm pretty sure the regular menu at Chantecler is lettuce wraps and a few sides only.

The tasting menu is booked solid through end of August.

Went to my local farmer to pick up a blade roast (which, as far as I can tell, is the common term for chuck roasts up here in the great white north - but please correct me if I'm wrong!) to grind for burgers. Noticed she had some brisket, so I thought I'd try throwing that into my burger, too.

I have about 2.9 lbs. of blade/chuck (?) roast and 3.8 lbs of brisket. Would that balance be ok, or should I cut back on the brisket and save some for other uses? I've always just used chuck or a combo of chuck and sirloin in the past, so I don't know what impact brisket has on flavor and texture.

If it makes a difference, the beef is from 100% grass-fed cows (Galloways).

Yes, it does. Very pretty. Peller has a more formal "white table clothes" feel than Trius.

Here's an option with a stabilized whipped cream filling.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

For location purposes, Garrison House, the Saturday morning farmers market and the Wednesday evening suppermarket are in the plaza with the Shopper's Drug Mart directly across from Jackson Trigg's winery.

If you like bigger, richer red wines than you can usually find in Niagara, do visit Colaneri and Foreign Affair. Both are owned by Italian families and both make appassimento and ripasso style wines. And if you are planning on visiting Dillon's distillery, Foreign Affair is right at the Victoria Street exit at the QEW.

If you venture into the Beamsville Bench area, there is a new walking trail that connects 7 of the wineries on the Bench:

http://www.grazethebench.com/2013/05/...

This photo on twitter really makes me want one!

https://twitter.com/spotlightcity/sta...

Sounds like it was pretty quiet in there today.

And Pillitteri Winery usually has a good food truck stationed at the winery on the weekends.

Oh, and a shout out to Dillon's Small Batch Distillers. If you are a fan of spirits, they are a must visit on your way in or out of NOTL. From NOTL, take QEW to Victoria St. exit and take the service road a couple of kms to Tufford Road.

When are you going to be in NOTL and for how long?

You can never go wrong with Stone Road Grille. New chef de cuisine, still going strong.

Treadwell's is supposed to open on Queen St. on June 28. I believe their last service in Port Dalhousie is June 16, though I'm not positive on this date.

If you go to Ravine (one of my fave spots in the area) and you're not in the mood for a bistro meal, sit at the hearth bar outside and get one of their excellent pizzas. They make the pizzas on the spot and bake them in the wood-fired oven right there. Pizza and wine or beer overlooking the vineyards is not a bad way to spend your lunch.

Garrison House is a great wine country gastropub with the best burger and fries in the area. In a small plaza on Niagara Stone Road, where Tony DeLuca's last restaurant was. Other menu items are very good, too. A great option for a more moderately priced meal in the area.

The Pie Plate is a perennial favourite of mine, for their kickass pies, but also for a nice, inexpensive bite for lunch (pizzas, salads, quiches, sandwiches, awesome meat pies). They also happen to be across the street from Silversmith Brewery, one of the two new craft breweries to open in the last year. The other is Oast House, just down Niagara Stone Road. Both are worth a visit. Good stuff.

If you're here on a Saturday morning, go to the small, but vibrant farmers market at the Village (the same plaza where Garrison House is) and get breakfast from The Yellow Pear, a new and seriously excellent food truck that uses almost exclusively produce and products from local farms and artisans.

If you're here on a Wednesday night, get dinner at the SupperMarket, also at the Village. A great line up of food trucks and local food vendors. El Gastro, The Yellow Pear, Tide and Vine, Manual Labour Coffee, Hometown Ice Cream, Avella's wood fired pizza, Ravine (they serve up their AWESOME ribs and beans), Garrison House (serving up their burger and fries), Shriner's Creek Popcorn, and many more. It's a huge draw for locals and one of the highlights of my week.

If you're here on the first Monday of the month, go to the Earth & Sky music market at Chateau des Charmes. Food and music in the vineyard.

If you're here on August 11, go the SummerMarket at Stratus. Food trucks, crafty artisans and live music. Fantastic event in a gorgeous setting.

Do NOT patronize any of the charming-looking, but overpriced and poor quality restaurants on the main drag in old town (except for Treadwell's, of course). In addition to being not very good, several of them are de-listing wines from wineries that support food trucks (seriously). Totally uncool.

The restaurants at Peller Estates and Trius are still good for a splurgy meal. I prefer Trius, personally.

Terroir La Cachette at Strewn is supposed to be good, but I haven't been yet.

There are some very cool dinners planned during the International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration July 19 - 21, including a BBQ dinner at Trius and Victor Barry (from Splendido) at Hidden Bench in Beamsville:

http://www.coolchardonnay.org/page-sc...

I haven't been to Benchmark, though it's on my to do list. I've gotten mixed reviews.

Perfect, thank you. Can't wait to try this!

I think you missed Charles' point -- he said all Chinese grocery stores. Not the heath stores you went to.

Ooh, yum! I may try a batch with coconut sugar.

Too late for this dinner, but here's a menu that I made a few months ago for a crazy combination of dietary restrictions (various combinations of no meat, no gluten, no carbs, no refined sugars, no alcohol, no cow dairy).

Apps:
- grapes rolled in goat cheese and chopped almonds (goat cheese was ok for the lactose-free guest)
- roasted cauliflower and garlic dip served with crudites
- a platter of prosciutto, parm and figs drizzled with aged balsamic (had to have something for the carnivores and cheese eaters!)

1st course:
- garlic and white wine sauteed shrimp served on a grapefruit, avocado and jicama salad.

2nd course:
- roasted tomato soup with a parmesan frico (no frico for the lactose-free guest)

Intermezzo:
- pear, lime and ginger sorbet sweetened with honey

Main course:
- seared salmon with a Korean marinade and glaze over sauteed spinach
- stir-fried baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms
- basmati rice (left this out for the no-carb couple)

Dessert:
- Brown butter, pecan cornmeal cake topped with berries and bourbon whipped cream (no cake, just fruit and cream for the no carb couple)

For your vegetarian friends, I'd leave the shrimp off the first course and sub marinated tofu for fish in the main course.

chowser, how much ganache do you add? I've tried to make this chocolate once, using a combination of cocoa powder and a couple of squares of chocolate. Not chocolatey enough for me, but ganache sounds like it would be great.

It's so good and so easy that I still wonder that it's not a better known style. I love that it has so much less sugar and butter than most current frostings.

Good stuff!

Yep, got you the first time. ;o)

Oh, good point, I wear mine when I'm using my microplaner, too. I started that after I microplaned my wrist...eww.

I love, love, love my kevlar gloves. Now I don't think twice when using my mandoline.

Oy, sorry, I guess I've misremembered the price point at Mideastro. Thanks for the correction!

Not specifically Nova Estoril, but I certainly had my fair share of Portuguese bakery sampling over the years. In the 90s, my Portuguese in-laws' "go to" bakery was Nova Era. But I prefer Doce Minho over Nova Era in general.

If you haven't tried Seara Bakery on Keele, you should check it out. Mostly because it's also right next door to Churrasqueira Estrela, which has some of the best Portuguese churrasco chicken in town.

Yep, there is an entire parking lot directly across from the entrance.

Sorry, I don't drink coffee, so haven't tried it.

I also like the sugared yeast doughnuts there and the various Portuguese breads.