If you are in the mood for south american, you can try Emporio de los sandwiches on Wilson, East of Keele in one of those horrible little mini strip malls from the 60's/70's.

They make great sandwiches de miga, and I recommend the olympicos versions, which come more loaded than the traditional ham and cheese. The only thing is that they are a bit pricey. I used to pay about $10 a pack, but I think it is up to about $15 now.

They also make some half decent empanadas. And their dine restaurant is right next door. I was only ever there once, and it was ok...nothing memorable.

I hate to disagree with you jmcjannett, but I tried them and I found them inedible.

..just thought I would try again...anybody out there know where to get good cevapi in Ottawa?

Having been relocated here for almost a year so far, I am still on the hunt for various items I would easily find in T.O.

The most frustrating has been trying to find decent bread. There is the F & G italian bakery in the Farmers Pick grocery store. But the bread fills the void, and I am not over the moon about it.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Some people I have asked around here have told me that the best place to go to is Montreal, and they are dead serious.

I am really looking for a consistent Italian loaf. As I mentioned F & G tries, but it seems to be lacking, and the Farm Boy grocery stores bring in partially baked (frozen) and finish it in their ovens there.

Please note, this will be the first in a long list of posts has I try to find some of the foods that brought me such joy in T.O.....I have already had to give up on zeppole

Thanks in advance

Thanks to everyone. I decided to go with the O&B gc. It will give my friend a few options. I was able to get Auberge du Pommier to give me an official AdP envelope to subtley hint that is where they should use it.

I totally forgot about Scaramouche...ah well...next time.

Can anyone recommend a place that offers gift certificates? I want to get something for a friend and his wife that enjoy dining out.

I was thinking Note Bene, but I am welcoming all suggestions.

As far as criteria, it cannot be a place that focuses on fish and/or seafood, and preferably not Asian.

I also need to do this quickly, so any and all recommendations are very much appreciated.

Thanks

whoops missed that...

...is that sarcasm?

Desperately looking for somewhere in Ottawa to get decent cevapi.

Did a search but only came up with 3 places, and 2 of them seem to be closed.

The place I found them at was Steka, but they're all beef, so I don't have high hopes.

Really need some assistance here.

Thanks in advance

well, looks like they are closed. I passed by last night. The sign is down and the tables and window dressings are all stacked upright inside the place. It was a good run...

I saw some recent activity the other day (balloons and such) are you guys open?

Looking for a place west of yonge that has decent wings. Would like to try to find something around the burgeoning ossington, dundas west area, but it is not mandatory.

Any suggestions?

I know that I will get flak for this, but The Pilot has had crispy beef on their menu for years. It may not be the most outstanding, but it does taste amazing after a few pints.

Finally tried VentiSette. Very disappointed. Tried the Sicilian Blood Orange, and it tasted like a dried out orange, very little flavour. So opted for a small cup with Lemon and Chocolate. I am not quite sure how to describe the lemon. The flavour reminded me of that awful no-name lemon pie filling, and the consistency was "gooey". The chocolate was the real disappointment. The first taste was awesome for a split milli-second. A rich dark chocolate flavour that almost immediately dispersed from my tongue. It was replaced with an essence of what could have been chocolate. The worst thing was the consistency/texture. I don't know quite know how it can be done, but I would have thought it impossible for gelato to be dry. I mean really dry, chaulky even. I was left with the sensation of a mouthful of stale cocoa

Well, next up I plan to try Carnevale De Venezia, which I noticed has changed their name to Cafe Gelato, but they were closed yesterday.

heathercheryl, if you are looking for them in Durham region, you may be SOL.

When last I visited my folks, I stopped by Highland Farms at Ellesmere and Kennedy, and believe that they had them. Also you may want to try the Wal Mart on Brock road in Pickering, you can sometime get lucky there.

Other than that, you may want to talk with Darryl at Bustery Rhino's. He dries his own chipotle's, but he is a font of information, and may know of other places East of Scarborough that sell chipotles

Hey icey, Carnevale Di Venezia is at 2494 Yonge St. Right next door to the Capitol Theatre. It is that small little place that you will miss if you blink while driving by it.

Unfortunately, it is one of the places on my list that I haven't yet tried (along with VentiSette, Boreal, Arte and Froshberg) so I can't give an opinion.

Also, I am biased, because I hold everything up to Simply Gelato as to what I consider the Toronto standard for quality, consistency, and flavour (we all know that it is one of the more pricier ones, so I won't even mentione it here). But, Simply Gelato is from Rome, so not sure if there will be a regional difference that your husband may enjoy more (sorry, I am not very well travelled)

Have you tried the pineapple or the black cherry? Sweet Jebus they're awesome

Are you sure you're not thinking of durian? From my recollection, custard apples do not give off an odour at all

When I lived in the area a few years back, I found that produce was either hit or miss with most of the small groceries along the southern part of Roncy. And for those times where it did seem a bit dodgym I could always pop up to the Loblaws near Dundas, which back then was more reliable than they have been lately (but that is a discussion for another thread).

Below is a list of gelaterias in TO

La Paloma
Il Gelatiere Artigianale
.Gelato Simply Italian
Dolce
Mad Italian
Hotel Gelato
Hollywood Gelato
Ed's Real Scoop
Soma Chocolate
Boreal
Arte Gelato
Carnevale Di Venezia
Froshberg Gelato
G for Gelato
Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe
The Village Scoop
VentiSette

All of these are locations that I have frequented or at least heard about, however, there are probably more that do not immediately come to mind. Also, I am sure that there are a tonne of other bakeries and pasticcerias that will also sell gelato (e.g. San Remo, Nino D'Aversa, etc) but for now, this list should be enough to get you started.

And my personal favourite is Gelato Simply Italian. It is one of the more expensive places, but given the quality, location, and the enthusiasm of the owner, I don't mind dropping a few coins here.

With all the new specialty joints opening up featuring tarted up simple/comfort food (e.g. gourmet burgers, gourmet grilled cheese, etc).

Was wondering if Garage Sandwich Company is still around? These guys had been offering high quality sandwiches (and amazing home made chili) for years, well before this latest trend of up-scaling the simple.

I know that the closed their shop and moved into the back of the Pusateri's (not the $$$ one) on Church. But as they are now far out of the way for me to make a sojourn, I was just wondering if they were still around, and if so, is the quality the same as before?

Hey there,

Going to Ottawa this W/E and wondering if there are any places that anyone is aware of that sell zeppole.

Last time I was in Ottawa (around the feast of St. Joe's) I couldn't find any place that had them.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks

Do they have a website?

Met a friend there for drinks (we were supposed to eat, but never got around to it). Weird setup in my opinion.

The bar area is pretty small, but the I thought the whole room was a tad on the smallish side...not cozy...small. And given the volume of the music, I can't imagine what it would have been like to sit and eat with that din. Restaurant music should be subtle, faint in the background, not blaring.

As far as the drinks, they were actually pretty good. I ordered a Rob Roy, and when I looked in my glass, I thought that a black olive garnish was not only odd but very wrong, but imagine my surprise when I tentatively bit into it...it was not an olive, but an amarena cherry! I was so ecstatic about this discovery, that I asked for 4 cherries with my next round (I know that's a sin, but dammit those things are good).

We ended up ordering the charcuterie plate to nibble on (from my vague recollection it was really the only thing you could order at the bar and properly share) which was ok, nothing special.

I am fairly certain that it bill for a few drinks, and some slices of ham and pickles would have been pretty high, but I never got a chance to see the bill. Someone picked up the bill without my knowing and would let me contribute.

Anyway, I would definitely go back for a drink or 2, but given the atmosphere, I don't think it would have been possible to really enjoy eating there with the heavy beat music.

Anyone know where to get a raclette cheese melter?

Would nella have one?

Any help is appreciated

This is diverging a bit, but given your expertise BusterRhino, I am curious as to what are your thoughts on canned chipotles in adobo? From your response, I am assuming that you smoke your own jalapenos and use them dry.

While I agree with TorontoJo that most stores carry them, lately I have found that it can also depend on the neighbourhood.

For example, a while back I was at the Metro at Lawrence and Bathurst, and I couldn't find chipotles in adobo. Then I went down the street to the Fortino's at Allen & Lawrence and they had them there.

This could just be a case of the fact that the Metro happened to be out of stock (I didn't ask any of the staff) but I do think that there is an influence of the neighbourhood demographic, as the Metro store did have an entire Kosher aisle, where in other groceries it is a small section of the aisle, or thrown into "international foods".

Yes, that is the place. But nothing specific about the kind of place it will be or what it will be offering? What about when they plan on opening?

Sorry, but curiousity has really gotten the better of me on this one.

Thank you Kellz, you are a gentleman/gentlewoman and scholar

(sorry, I am trying very hard not to offend)

It is just west of Vesuvio's on the North side of Dundas. It is literally at the end of High Park ave.

If you were to stand on Dundas, with your back to the store, you would be staring straight down High Park.