Worst in Toronto

Completely agree about Fran's and Golden Griddle. I'm sure the only thing keeping them in business are tourists. They're just plain awful and I finally have no problem refusing to go to either place. Funnily, it's my friends visiting from Rochester who want to go there.

Griffin in Ontario (including Toronto)

Bodega on Baldwin - anyone been?

I guess a good way of putting it is that it's a nice place to take your parents who are visiting from a small town in Manitoba and want a special night out. The food options are safe and yet "exotic" enough for one to feel they are eating something different. We sat on the patio during a lovely summer evening and the service was very attentive. However, with the gazillion other dining options available, I wouldn't go back.

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Bodega
30 Baldwin Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1L3, CA

Griffin in Ontario (including Toronto)

Please critique my Lucca, CT, Parma itinerary!

Considering your time constraints, I'm not sure if finding a place with a kitchen is such a great idea. Fortunately, I had the luxury of staying at one place for two weeks and the kitchen was fully equipped...it even had a long stone sink you could probably slaughter a boar in. :) I have on offer, however, two suggestions:
1) make a picnic out of some of the wonderful foods on offer throughout the old city, grab your bike, and pick out a shady spot on the grass under a beautiful tree on top of the rampart walls and enjoy the bounty. Tangy, melting cheeses scooped up with a crusty bread (unsalted, by the way...Tuscans don't use salt in their breads so go for the saltiest cheese you can find), spiced salami, pickled veggies, a slice of frittata. And for dessert, the most perfect wild strawberries dipped into a tub of mascarpone. You really don't need anything more.
2) Many industrious folks have renovated villas and mills and farmhouses and what-not into charming B&B-type set-ups, often with a cooking school on offer. Small groups gather in the kitchen in the afternoon and, with the help of a trained local chef, make ravioli, tortas, sauces, maybe a roasted meat, perhaps a dessert. I attended two, but it was more informal as opposed to a paying student. If you're interested, I can track down the names for you. The internet also has some great resources for 1-day cooking vacations right around Lucca. I know you won't be disappointed.

Griffin in Italy

Please critique my Lucca, CT, Parma itinerary!

I've had the pleasure of spending two May holidays in Italy, both of which included a two-week stay at a villa near Lucca and managed to make multiple trips into the old walled city. Here are some of my random memories:

-This may not be very helpful to you, but my all-time favourite food experience was buying items from the beatiful markets and cheese shops and the Essa Lunga in and around Lucca and taking them back to our villa's kitchen at Fattoria di Fubbiano (http://www.fattoriadifubbiano.it/) and preparing the most simple, flavourful dinners and dining al fresco, sipping the wines prepared on site, with the fireflies dancing around us and churchbells ringing across the rolling hills. Truly a moment of heaven. This truly indulged the chef in me and allowed me the chance to use local ingredients that I could never dream of bringing home with me.

-Something you may want to consider is visiting one of the many fattorias for samplings of some wonderful wines and olive oils. Many of them also have dining facilities where they prepare the most delicious, homemade meals. One of my all-time favourites (the menu is practically framed at home) was at the Fattoria Maionchi (http://www.fattoriamaionchi.it/tuscan-holiday-farm.html). The best olives ever and the most delicious baked artichoke frittata.

-In the old city, one meal that really stands out is the one eaten at Osteria Baralla (http://www.osteriabaralla.it/Inglese/Ehome.html#). It might have helped that one of our dinner companions knew the owners and spoke fluent Italian. However, the quality of the food was top notch. They emphasize seasonal preparations and traditional flavours with plenty of game on the menu. It's a great place to try wild boar, and the carpaccio I had was the best that ever crossed my lips.

-For sweets and treats, you MUST go to Buccellato Taddeucci @ Piazza S. Michele, 34. They have delicious baked confections that you can take away with you and snack on later or take home. If you can't make it to Siena, this is a great place to pick up the traditional panforte..both the light and the dark are delicious, they travel super-well, and make great gifts for your friends back home. A couple of doors south is a beautiful cafe with a gelato counter. Yummy yummy flavours.

-Another of my favourite sweets is the "Brutti ma Buoni" drop cookies. It translates to "Ugly but Good" and it a little bite of heaven...nuts and orange and amaretti in a sort of crispy, chewy meringue. You can find these in mounded piles of bakery windows along via San Paolino. Perfect for when you're sipping on your vin santo.

-And speaking of sipping, one of the great past-times is happy hour. It's that wonderful time when people are heading home from work and the stop in at their favourite bar for a drink and a little nibble. Most of the bars place out wonderful spreads of finger foods, little bites and sandwiches to enjoy while you sip your prosecco and watch the pedestrian parade (no cars are allowed through the old city). Our favourite was a comfortable place with a hip, fashionable crowd on via Vittorio Veneto on a corner of the Piazza Napoleone. We had a delightful time every time.

-Another little tip...don't pass up anything with artichoke, fava, zucchini, peas, strawberries or cherries; they will all be in season for your visit. Oh, or the ricotta. Best ever.

Griffin in Italy

granulated maple sugar in NYC?

I picked some up at Zabar's a cpuple of years ago. Great stuff.

Griffin in Outer Boroughs

Preventing dome top cake

I took a professional baking course and following is the technique we were taught. I've been using it ever since and it's always been successful:
-cut a piece of parchment paper to match the bottom of your cake pan. This can be done by placing the pan on top of the paper, tracing around the bottom of the pan with a pencil, then cutting it with scissors, following the pencil line. An easier method is to take a square of parchment papter, fold it as if you were making a paper snowflake, snip off the end to make a round shape, and then unfold;
-Place the parchment circle in the bottom of your pan. There's absolutely no need to butter or grease the sides. In fact, it's important that you don't. The cake batter needs to grip onto the sides of the pan as it rises, and it's impossible if the pan is greased;
-Pour batter into the pan. Rap it several times on your counter to release any air pockets;
-Now for the SECRET: take the cake pan and give it a quick spinning motion on the counter a couple of times. It's important that the spinning force be quite strong so if you're afraid you're going to fling the pan off the counter, place it on your smooth (clean) floor and give it a flick. The centrifugal force will cause the batter to whip out to the edges of the pan and create a concave curve, or indent, towards the center;
-Pop it in the oven and watch how the cake will bake up with a miraculously flat top. When you take it out of the oven, run a thin paring knife round the sides to prevent any cracks from forming as it cools;
-Flip it out, peel off the round of parchment, and marvel at your perfectly flat layer.

Griffin in Home Cooking

Need new rec for trip in April.

I've been a long time reader of chowhound.com and have had much success with the recommendations and information gleaned from this site. I've been visiting New York from Toronto for about once a year for the past 12 years and have been to most of the "must eat at..." locations. I'm now looking for smaller but fashionable eats that have opened in the past year. My last Chowhound pick was the Stanton Social and my NY hosts loved it so much that they've been back about six times since then. So something like the Stanton would be perfect. Fun with flair, great menu selections, and well executed food.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Griffin in Manhattan

Prince Edward County

I suspect you may be confusing Angéline's, known for their fresh and regional French cuisine, with Angelo's Restaurant & Pizzeria, known for their Italian food. Please don't confuse the two. They couldn't be more different than night and day. Seriously.

Griffin in Ontario (including Toronto)

Caterer for Wedding

I've gained some experience looking for a caterer for a wedding recently and I have to say that I was very disappointed with Daniel & Daniel and the quality of pre-sales service I received. Yes, the food is good; but unless you have a hefty budget, you probably won't get the attention you'd like. My contact there missed every deadline...in one case by A MONTH...and offered excuses about how busy she was with her Ted Rogers event. This did not sit well. We went with Marigolds & Onions and had an excellent experience with them. Great food, great service, great attention, and very reasonable.

Griffin in Ontario (including Toronto)

resto recs for eclectic group

Will be in NY for a visit and need a good restaurant option for Sunday night dinner in Manhattan. It's Easter, too, so I hope that won't be a problem. The challenge is that we are an eclectic foursome with unique requirements, as follows:
-one doesn't eat pork or shellfish and won't eat indian or chinese;
-one is a snob who wants to dine in a hip/trendy/scene-y place;
-one is a foodie who wants a decent dining experience;
-one who hates pretension and would be happy eating a Reuben at Artie's Deli.
We'd like somewhere nice enough that takes reservations but we'd be comfortable in a good pair of jeans. Budget is around $60-$80pp, all in.
Any recommendations? I promise a follow-up report on the experience.

Griffin in Manhattan

Summerlicious 2007

I did Starfish for lunch and totally agree with you. The lemon square was delish, by the way, but the "strawberry salad" was really nothing more than quartered strawberries.

Griffin in Ontario (including Toronto)

Summerlicious 2007

Just had 'licious lunch at Czehoski and it was absolutely horrible. It wasn't that the food was bad. Rather, they took so much artistic license describing the items in their menu that it was actually laughable. We asked for the menu as we were eating so we could actually identify it. "cookstown greens and roquet salad with hazelnut oil and bisongrass vodka-apple cider dressing" turned out to be nothing but a bowl of arugula. Granted, it was garnished with a spiced walnut on top but considering we already had a bowl of spiced walnuts sitting in front of us, it failed to impress. And for ten bucks, too. Skip this place and you won't be missing a thing.

Griffin in Ontario (including Toronto)