Julie & Julia Review #3 - A Wonderful Movie For Food Lovers

Posted by Josh
************
Check out the first two of our reviews of the film here and here.
************
I never liked watching Meryl Streep. Don’t ask me why, but I have felt this way since I first saw her - its like what someone experiences when seeing something that bothers them but do not know why. And then I saw Julie and Julia. I had very briefly shared several visits with Julia Child when she would come to The Cookbook Store. And through this association, I was invited to dinner with Julia and 9 others.

We shared a chat and a cocktail before dinner, and surprisingly I was seated with Julia beside her at the head of the table. Julia was even more in life then she was on television. During dinner, at one point, she stopped, put her fork down and looked at me with her very own pregnant pause…… "Josh! That is not what you said during cocktails!" And then, resumed eating and chatting…such a bear trap memory at 85! I was impressed.

People would line up around the block when Julia child came to town. When entering The Cookbook Store to meet her, buy a book and get her signature, they would often have tears in their eyes.

So now watching Julie and Julia, I was laughing and crying, watching Meryl Streep who so brilliantly captured the manners, the body language, the vocal mannerisms and the tone of Julia - an exceptionally insightful impression of the essence of a truly extraordinary and marvelous woman who captivated the soul, imagination and appetites of so many.

This film is such a delight for anyone who loves to eat and who loved the Julia that Meryl Streep so epitomizes. I was also captivated by the interaction between the two husbands and wives, how the husbands fell in love with their wives passion for cooking and the husbands love of eating their wives cooking. Everyone’s passion for eating and cooking came through to me, a passionate food lover, who delights in food well conceived and cooked. How I loved watching these characters live their lives, live my life.

See the movie, food lovers. I recommend it to anyone who loves food and who loved Julia.

Gold Medal Plates Chef Competition

I am a bit late filing these observations, but have been away at a well known "fat farm" to lose all of the excess baggage I had put on after 2 months of non-stop travel. As everyone may be aware, chef David Lee won the Toronto Gold Medal Plates competition, qualifying to compete in the Canada wide chefs final competition, all in the interest of helping to raise funds in support of the Canadian olympic athletes. Chef Lee won with his well executed Feran Adria (chef at the world's #1 resto, El Bulli, in Spain) inspired crispy chicken skin topped with it's cartilage, flavoured with plum hoisin and sour apple compote. Having tasted the El Bulli version, I can say, that in some respects, his version was even better because how he brought new flavours to the dish to enhance the pure chicken experience. This was one of my top 4 favourite experiences of the night.

Chef Mark McEwan presented braised rabbit with apple caponata gnocchi and a roasted squash puree. Chef Donna Dooher of Mildred Temple Kitchen created one of my top 4 experiences of the night, a dish reflective of some of the new texture taste experiences I enjoyed in Spain, potted dungeness crab salad with chopped heirloom winter radishes, mache, jellied butter and Dijon ice cream. Chef Teddy Corrado of C-5 restaurant at the ROM presented an ambitious smoked mackerel and hokkaido scallop with barley, tatsoi, speckled trout roe from Prince Edward County, pickled gooseberry all topped with a sauce mornay. Chef Jason Bangerter of Auberge Du Pommier created a very flavourful roasted venison loin on golden nugget squash puree with port wine glazed onion tarte, braised chestnuts all topped with a vanilla game jus (one of my top 4 favourites). Chef Anne Yarmovitch of Frank Restaurant in the AGO presented roasted glazed pork belly with purple cabbage sauerkraut, brandied blue prune plums, plum cardamom and blue potato chips.

In all, a wonderful evening of great tastes for a worthy cause.

Gold Medal Plates Chef Competition

The chef of Lai Wah Heen created a varied presentation of several tastes on the plate, one of which was bbq beef.

Gold Medal Plates Chef Competition

Chef Jonathan Gushue of Langdon Hall presented a torchon of foie gras, black pig cheek with lentil de puy, lobster pudding, honey picked chanterelles, parsely root with Warsaw apple cider jus.

Gold Medal Plates Chef Competition

Chef Patrick Lin, last year's winner of the Gold Medal Plates competition created 4 outstanding small plates for the VIP reception: a wonderful creamy rich foie gras creme brulet  flavoured with chinese 5 spices; duck rillette with crab meat, topped with black truffle and espresso sauce; duck breast peking style with green onion, celery and home made hoisin sauce, all rolled up in a spring roll cone (this was one of my top 4 dishes of the night); an elegantly presented candied walnut rolled with foie gras, topped with orange flavoured lotus crisp (see below).

Friday Lunch: Whole Foods

Posted by Jennifer

Along with our every grocery need, Whole Foods offers up a wide range
of takeout foods, hot and cold.

From the brick pizza oven, we try a chicken Alfredo slice.  Topped
with chunks of chicken on a sea of molten cheese, this slice has an
unexpected but welcome spicy zing. Though it might have been crisper,
the thin crust makes a good base.

When imagining panini, images of hot, toasty, and melted., dance in
our minds. Though pressed, this sandwich is none of those things.
Loaded with mozzarella, prosciutto, a hint of greens, and highlighted
with a smear of fig jam, this is one sophisticated sandwich, just not
what we thought it would be.

With all this bread and cheese, we need one of our five to 10 a day
servings of vegetables.  Some people may not like Brussels sprouts; we
love them.  We eat these roasted beauties cold but they would be even
better hot.  Perfectly cooked, still crunchy, they are garnished with
walnuts and onion cooked to sweetness. Yummy!

We finish with  oatmeal raisin and pecan chocolate chip cookies.
Despite not quite enough cinnamon in the oatmeal cookies, and too few
pecans in the chocolate chip cookies, these are satisfyingly
old-fashioned.  They are the sort of slightly doughy treats that
scream out for a glass of milk on the side.

The total cost was $17.20.

Friday Lunch: Caplansky's Delicatessen

Posted by Jennifer

All saturated fat all the time for this Friday Lunch. Celts and Anglos though we are, we go for the true Eastern European experience by ordering up a smoked meat on rye and a smoked meat knish We made one mistake in ordering, asking for medium thick slices which are a little on the chewy side.  Next time we will get thinly sliced meat. Nonetheless with its spear of pickle on the side, this is a satisfying sandwich.

Much of the meat has oozed from the knish. Its pastry is tasty but the potatoes totally innocuous. For an added dollop of starch, we also have a Gryfes toasted bagel with butter.  Too doughy in comparison to the  Montreal- style bagel that we love.
 There is differing opinion on the apple cake. Two really like it, the third thinks it is too dry.  Those in favour consumed it with tea or coffee.


Our verdict:  stick to the smoked meat sandwich--thinly sliced.
A bagel, sandwich , knish, and cake cost $21.47.

Eating Words - The Art of Food Writing

Posted by Irish Alison

On Saturday November 14th The Cookbook Store, in conjunction with Stratford Chef School’s Gastronomic Writer in Residence program, played host to a number of leading food writers and journalists for a discussion concerning the art of food writing, at the Haleconian Hall. Panelists included Canadian authors Ian Brown and Margaret Webb, Boston based journalist Corby Kummer, and Australian academic and food writer Michael Symons. Food writing doesn’t lend itself to classification easily; it can take the form of memoir, journalistic, political and historical writing, philosophy and literature, and at its best, it will probably incorporate all of these. Aspects of inspiration for food writing is also much more diverse than simply one’s stomach; the general consensus among our panelists was that the way they write about and enjoy food is tied up with relationships, love, family, and memory, and that to write about food is to write about all of these as well. 

But in an age when food blogs are two a penny and recipes can be twittered in 140 characters or less, is something lost in the immediacy of communication? Corby Kummer, an editor by profession, raised the point that in food blogging there little filter between author and reader, and the diminishing role of the editor in modern food writing has led to a lack of form, as well as quality. Motivations for writing about food varied among our panel also; some saw it as an outlet for a good story, others were motivated by anger and frustration, seeing it as a medium to air their discontent about the state of farming and food production, and for others food writing is historical writing, telling of the development of peoples and cultures.

Although the panelists weren’t always in perfect agreement there were some aspects of food writing which united all four; a call for individuality amid the repetition and imitation which often characterizes food blogs, honesty, taking the time to write well researched and thought out pieces, and a democratic approach.  The most important features for all were curiousity, enthusiasm for the subject, a unique perspective, and genuine passion, all of which produce truly interesting and informative food writing.We at The Cookbook Store felt that we learned a lot from the afternoon's discussion, and that any budding food writer's out there will be inspired to take up their pens.

Bitten: Tim Horton's Pomegranate Danish

Posted by Jennifer

Say it ain’t so, pomegranate. Have you really gone from “It” fruit status to latest flavour of a Tim Horton’s cheese Danish? Scanning the display case, one finds it is only too true.

The glob of jelly in the centre of is certainly a deep, rich pomegranate-ish red. But, bite into this fancifully named bun and what registers? Why, only the unmistakable taste of a Tim Horton’s pastry. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but there is none of that uniquely astringent zip we expect from pomegranate.

Yes, you leathery red orb, your name is known on every street corner in Toronto, at every small town’s major intersection from Goderich to Cochrane(birthplace of the infamous Maple Leaf defenceman). But, you
sold your soul.

Friday Lunch: Esther's Soup Kitchen

Posted by Jennifer

Needing some spice in our life, we try lunch from Esther’s Soup Kitchen on the street level of Cumberland Terrace.

Mulligatawny soup warms up a chilly day. There are a few shreds of the customary chicken with lots of carrots, and rice floating in a tasty curry-laced chicken stock. Certainly filling, and passably tasty, it would have been even better with more chicken, a handful or coriander and a splat of coconut milk or cream.

Though known for soups, we think the star of Esther’s is the samosas. Vegetarian friendly, the deliciously flaky wrappers are stuffed with a spicy potato/pea filling. It is hard to stop at just one, and at only $1.25 each, there is really no reason to have only one. Errr, except for the calories.

Though always loathe to waste food, we do not finish the chicken sandwich. Hoping for slices of roasted chicken, we are sadly disappointed with the deli-style chicken food product we actually find. Each half of the sandwich has a quarter of a slice of anaemic tomato. The generous mound of lettuce is, alas, turning black at the edges.

The lesson: stick to soup and samosas.

Soup, sandwich, and two samosas cost $14.35.

Paris, The 3*** Hotel Bristol Restaurant d' Ete.

Haute cuisine at it's finest, created by Chef de Cuisine, Eric Frechon and pastry chef Laurent Jennin.

To begin, a plate of amuse bouche: ceps veloute with parsely emulsion; a pineapple chip dusted with szechuan pepper; a "lollypop" of diced fois gras and smoked eel wrapped with beet root emulsion; in a spoon, a green olive from Luc, wrapped with fennel jelly. The fois gras, eel and beet root were and incredible combination of mutually flattering flavours that just bloomed in the mouth as the elements melted on the tongue.

Artichoke mousseline with a coriander jelly, jellyfish emulsion, shallots and olive oil. Unfortunately, the flavours of this ambitious dish were obscure, particularly the flavours of the coriander and artichoke.

Calves head with the cheek and tongue, between thin slices of potato, topped with a sauce gribiche, anchovies and capers and with a sweet pepper sauce on the side. This well presented dish was a luxuriously flavourful experience on the palate.

Bresse farm hen, poached in a pig's bladder (poulet de bresse en vessie), presented with several pieces of whole crayfish tail meat, stewed foie gras in a sauce supreme, girolle mushrooms in "vin jaune" and green asparagus. What an extraordinary presentation!! The swollen balloon-like bladder containing the hen is paraded around the room on a silver salver and then brought to table, placed on a cutting board, the bladder pricked and cut open to reveal the body of the hen, legs and all.

The dish was presented in two parts, the breast, as described above and later, the leg meat is returned as chicken soup, perhaps the richest and most intense chicken broth that I have ever tasted, made with leaks, foie gras, potatoes and lots and lots of Perigourd black truffles. The heady aroma was detected at the next table, eliciting "ahhh's"!! In the later winter months, I have had this same dish prepared with lots and lots of perigourd black truffles stuffed under the skin and sliced scattered over the meat.

Pre-dessert (above.....sorry for low light photo) was followed by a palate cleanser (really another wonderful dessert in it's presentation) and the dessert. The pre-dessert was an "orient flavoured" sorbet of lemon, orange flower, and vanilla flavoured almond milk presented with mango jelly and mango cubes. An incredibly flattering combination of flavours and aromas. 

The palate cleanser was pink grapefruit and Campari sorbet with almond flavoured meringue cake and hibiscus flower jelly.

Dessert was a fabulous presentation of "priceless" grand cru Nyangbo dark chocolate, liquid cocoa, thin tile-like chocolate wafer and gold gilded chocolate sorbet.

Finally, petit fours, etc: salted caramel macaroons and strawberry soup jelly topped with gold leaf, followed pistachio marshmallows and dark chocolate covered orange rind.

CUISINE CANADA BOOK AWARDS

Well it was a star studded affair at the Cuisine Canada Book Awards, held for the second year at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on Friday November 6th. Publishers, authors and media types, mingled discussed food, and The Royal, as well as the other Royals Camilla and Charles after their earlier morning visit to The Royal, and of course ate! With Jurgen Gothe hosting, Anna Olson, Lucy Waverman in the audience along with man about town, well Vancouver town, Whitecap publisher Robert McCullough, it was the A list foodies out in full force for a standing room only event.

The audience positively gasped when Company's Coming took home gold in the Cookbook Category for Small Plates for Sharing, beating out Fat in the category, a James Beard Book Award winner. Anita Stewart's Canada took home gold in the Canadian Food Culture category and Beyond the Great Wall, by Naomi Duguid and Jeffrey Alford, took gold in Special Interest category.
Ricardo positively beemed and was genuinely humbled in his speech to have won in the French category for his book Ricardo.

Three additonal awards were given. Culinary Landmarks Hall of Fame, is a new award and this year was given in honour of Elizabeth Driver's tome Culinary Landmarks: A bibliography of Canadian cookbooks 1825-1949. This is an incredible book and took Liz 17 years to complete!

The Edna Award is given in memory of Edna Staelber long time writer and champion of food. The award is given to an individual who has contributed to the promotion of regional cuisine and who exemplifies the region through his or her work This year's winner is the amazing Robert Arniel from Newfoundland.

Probably the most touching moment came with the announcement of The Founder's Award, given on occasion to those Canadians who have achieved a lifetime of service to the culinary community of Canada. They may come from any field of culinary endeavour. Judy Creighton, of Canadian Press, is only the second recipient and received a standing ovation from the audience and gave a funny and endearing speech. 

The awards are in their 12th year and this year's short listed books seem to have outstripped the awards criteria, which in itself is a great indication of the today's terrific Canadian food writing. Hopefully a few tweaks here and there will bring everything in line.

The reception afterwards was a wonderful meeting of people and food. Jeff Crump's, (Ancaster Old Mill) mushroom cauliflower risotto was sublime, made all the better when I went to Chef David Garcelon's (Royal York) table and topped it off with the crackling from his pork roast. Yummy! Garcelon's dark honey was delicious,drizzled on just about anything but especially Monforte cheese; the honey came from the wonderful roof top garden of the Royal York Hotel. Accompanying wine from Niagara Teaching College Winery was a pleasant surprise and I've put their Pinot on my list to buy after tasing it at the awards.

All in all this is a growing event, and with a strong list of books in 2009 next year's awards ceremony should be even bigger and better.

Canoe Restaurant with Les Chevaliers du Tastevin

This event, the Chapitre, is an annual event at which potential members are inducted into this burgundy wine society.

The staff at Canoe were extremely professional. The chefs created some very ambitious dishes that were well executed.

Our dinner began with warm Qualicum Beach scallops, and remarkably, since one so rarely sees this presentation in Toronto restaurants, the scallops had their wonderful roe sacks attached. Not being able to eat that wonderful morsel for a scallop lover is like a marrow bone lover being presented with the bone....with no marrow!! The scallops were perfect! The scallop, barely cooked, was actually raw in the middle and exceptionally sweet. It was presented on a highly complementary finely chopped fennel, chervil, thyme beurre blanc sauce.

The next course  was a gratin of a slice of Cookstown beet and a sunflower blossom puree on top of which was placed shredded duck confit. The beet and the duck...what a wonderful marriage of flavours.

The following course was a "choux farci" of pulled Spring Creek organic brisket aside some petit gris escargot, all on a bed of a blend of pureed celery root, parsely puree and beef jus. Another highly flavoured and enjoyable dish.

The intermezzo was a Green Coronation grape sorbet.

The final main was rare Conquest Hill squab breast, a thick slice of simmered butterball potato, a barely cooked slice of warm fois gras, a confit of squab leg and bluefoot chanterelles. A single sprig of coriander leaf was presented with this group of flavours....it made no sense because in fact eating that 1 small leaf added a flattering dimension to the tastes, but the presentation was too precious......I believe that a small dab of the leaf pureed would have been more meaningful from both a taste and presentation perspective.

The dessert followed, Forelle pear, poached in red wine syrup and made as an intensely falvourful tarte tatin was presented with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a smear of highly reduced and viscous Coronation Grape syrup. A great finish to a wonderful meal!

Belated Friday Lunch: Mela Vegetarian Italian Café

Posted by Jennifer

There are a few things in life which are both beautiful and virtuous. The food at our neighbouring restaurant, Mela (7A Yorkville Ave), is among those things. Its Italian vegetarian soups, salads, sandwiches, and mains feature vibrant colours.

Three of our four purchases are vegan.  The non-vegan selection is  a lasagne with spinach noodles, ricotta, and a bouquet of vegetables of which broccoli is most prominent.  Unlike most lasagnes, this one is light on pasta and cheese, heavy on the vegetables. A heavier hand with seasonings -- salt and perhaps a shower of herbs would lift  it beyond the ordinary.

A quinoa salad is better. With a high ratio of vegetables to grain, the red cabbage, kale, celery provide great crunch against the tender grain. While many dressings are too acidic, this well-balanced  vinaigrette is a perfect complement to the salad.

The star of this meal is the breaded eggplant and basil panini with a tomato dipping sauce. Grease-free and gilded to a crisp, this is the best panini we have had lately.  The excess dipping sauce goes well with the lasagne.

For dessert, we try the wild blueberry pie -- also vegan.  The filling is good with its intense berry flavour.  The spelt pastry is another matter.  A little soggy yet a little tough, it does not overcome me from my vegan dessert prejudice.

The total for this lunch is $26.08.

Photo by Gina

The Food Dudes!!!

Posted by Josh

Last night I enjoyed a wonderful tasting meal at a good friend's, created by The Food Dudes caterers. The "Taste of the Season" by Chef Adrian Niman consisted of well composed and executed dishes.

We began with cherryvale spiced buckwheat pancake, pulled 20-hour braised lamb shank, rosemary infused buffalo ricotta and crisp popcorn shoots. What a savory dish! Our second course was a roasted tomato and young garlic soup, with a basil and parsley puree emulsion, garnished with a goat cheese tempura biscuit. This colourful dish had a wonderful group of complementary flavours and the bite of the young garlic provided an added counterpoint to the flavourful soup. An ahi tuna nicoise style salad followed, composed with green and yellow bean slaw, halves of poached quail eggs and dressed with a basil oil, lemongrass, mustard vinaigrette and all topped with microgreens. A liquid nitrogen formed beet sorbet, prepared in front of everyone, added a bit of mid-meal drama and made a very good palate cleanser with a mild tart finish. Then 24-hour braised short ribs with truffled sunchoke puree and caramelized onion remoulade, surrounded by a rustic sauce of roasted red peppers, beef jus and coffee! All this was topped with deliciously crispy carrot chips, made for a wonderful fall/winter dish. Finally, a true comfort food dessert was an apple crumble topped with a vanilla bean flavoured iced milk, accompanied by a warm and tart baby crabapple cider shooter, flavoured with lavender honey, cloves and cinnamon.

This was an ambitious meal created by a very young and talented chef.

New York Restaurants: Momofuku-ko!!

Posted by Josh

At Momofuku-ko, photography is forbidden. There is no menu. All dishes are seasonal of the moment and at the whim of the chef. If I told you why it took me over 1 year to get a reservation at this much heralded multi-starred restaurant, I know you will laugh! Pardon me for this long winded explanation...but, it may help you get a reservation a lot faster than I did!

The only way to obtain a reservation is on line, 6 days before the date you wish a reservation. Reservations are alloted on a first come, first served basis. So, here is the drill: first, you sign on and create an account by entering your email address and then a personal security code. Then, you must enter the site at PRECISELY 10:00 am. There is a "clock" on the site indicating the exact time when you enter, but, it does not change. It only changes each time you click on the site to enter. I had to train myself to get on line at PRECISELY 10am by practicing "one one thousand, two one thousand, etc" countdowns. If I did not do this before I tried to enter the site, I would be too early and have to redo the entry and be a fraction of a second late. This error would cause me to be too late to get any of the reservations...yes, they are gone in fractions of a second!! I kept practicing till I got my hand movements with the mouse efficiently correct so I would have this procedure right. Then, I would find myself on the site and would have to click to open a number indicating how many in my party and if I even hesitated for even a fraction of a second...YES, all the reservations were GONE!!. So I practiced getting on the site, on time, and getting the number in my party in a fraction of a second....BUT, if I even hesitated in thinking about what time I wanted my reservation (they are in 2o minute intervals)...I would lose again...so I had to nail down in my head exactly the time I would prefer and not hesitate. So, now, for the next time I tried, I had the routine down pat but I had to practice all of the hand movements with the mouse and KNOW exactly where my cursor had to move to in order to make sure I moved the cursor efficiently to the spot required with no hesitation. I guess it must be my age, as it took me over a year of trying, when I was planning to travel to New York, to get this whole orchestration right so I could grab a reservation!

But, it was worth it.

The first dish was fresh tofu with sesame seeds, bonito and miso pickled carrots. A black pepper biscuit with mirin glaze followed and then a small serving of deep fried pork skin. The next dish was a mildly spicey leek and potato soup with chopped braised carrot. Our following course was a favourite, Spanish mackerel tataki. the very thin outside skin charred, but the fish was raw. It was served with yuzu, mustard oil, mustard greens, puffed rice and ginger pickled shallots. Oxtail broth followed, with small daikon tortellini, 2 of caramelized onions and 2 of peppery oxtail, all topped with mung bean sprouts and Thai basil. This dish had very clean flavours. Our next course, a signature dish, was caviar with whole but opened smoked soft eggs, with onion soubise, fingerling potato chips and sweet potato vinegar. Then, matsutaki mushroom ravioli with sliced raw matsutaki mushrooms, kashi, coriander, white pepper and chives. Next, we had a very lovely palate cleanser of matsutaki tea with pine needle oil and a small piece of french toast on the side. This was "Algonquin Park in a cup"! A piece of roasted monkfish followed, served with Santa Barbara sea urchin. Next, a lovely shellfish broth with daikon, cubanelle pepper, kholrabi, fennel and fennel fronds and a small amount of fresh orange. Then, a remarkable dish consisting of shaved torchon of cured and frozen fois gras with lychees, pine nut brittle and pine nut jelly (this was another favourite!!). Finally, slow roasted rare venison with shaved brussel sprouts, celery root puree, chestnut chips, fresh huckleberries and a small dab of espresso sauce. Now, for desserts: spiced white wine sorbet, coriander, cardomom, white pepper, ascar pear and elder flower syrup, then some wonderful "cheesecake" of goat cheese curds, philly cream cheese curds, cottage cheese curds and ricotta cheese curds with butternut squash ice cream, pumkin seed brittle and pumkin seed oil - a fabulous, intensley flavoured finale and another favouite!

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Momofuko cookbook is now available for sale at the store!

New York Restaurants: MOMA Cafe

Posted by Josh

I just stopped into this very attractive open kitchen for a snack. I enjoyed Bruschetta with a marinaded anchovy on a roasted garlic puree and a wonderful bruschetta of swiss chard on a puree of intensely flavoured butternut squash.

New York Restaurants: Prune

Brunch at Prune, one of my favourite breakfasts in Manhattan. They do not take reservations. The lineup starts at 10am. Above, house made lamb sausage, fried oyster omelette with a remoulade sauce, german style multi-grain toast, crisp rosti  potatoes and a slurry of confectioner's sugar and tobasco sauce.

New York Restaurants: Convivio (continued)

Gramigna with duck sausage, broccoli rabe, sage and marsala tomato sauce. This dish was a disappointment. Although there was some duck in the sauce, the taste was lost entirely. Again, the pasta was unpleasantly tough and NOT "al dente".

Not shown, I enjoyed fusilli, properly made and cooked, with a pork shoulder ragu. For dessert, not shown, dark chocolate budino with hazelnut ice cream and candied hazelnuts. The budino was more like choclate fudge, although still enjoyable.

New York Restaurants: Convivio (continued)

On the left, pork meatballs with tomato sauce and ricotta salata. the tomato sauce was rich and very tasty. The pork balls had a wonderful coarse texture. On the right, maloreddus with Sardinian saffron gnochetti, a garlicy tomato sauce of crab and sea urchin, chopped tomatoes and panko. The sauce was wonderful; the house made gnochetti were unpleasantly tough and certainly not "al dente".

New York Restaurants: Convivio

Convivio, a southern Italian influenced restaurant, chef Michael White. On the left, lighly battered deep fried fresh anchovies served with a tartar sauce. On the right, truly indulgent and sublime crostini of chicken liver  with caramelized marsala onions on fire toasted ciabatta.

To Market, to market

Posted by Jennifer

It is a sad sight at the Bloor/Borden farmers’ market. Not only is it gray and wet, there are only about half a dozen vendors left for this last day. For a change, I buy some sheep’s milk cream cheese from the Grevelings. They do not have an indoor spot for the winter. Then it is on for cabbage, yet more potatoes,and a squash from Marvellous Edibles to tide me over until their first Saturday, November 14, at the Green Barn.

As I leave to get back on the subway, I almost trip over two other shoppers who are chatting about the things they enjoyed at the market. There’s nothing to do but join the conversation about the great potatoes, pistachio and cranberry-studded sausages, and heirloom tomatoes we have enjoyed over the summer. One of the women turns around so she can buy some sausages. The other woman, previously unknown to me, walks along with me continuing to talk about produce and cookbooks. On this last day of the market for the year, it is a real lesson in what markets are about: eating well, eating locally, and building community.