Tennis, Pickleball, Pizza, Red Wine and friends these are a few of my favourite things. Welcome to my small space on the internet. Come stay a while.
All in Food & Drink
Okay, maybe that’s a bold claim, but hear me out. We recently discovered a new spot on Bloor Street West, just a few blocks from Spadina, and it might just be a contender.
According to BlogTO, this place is part of a chain from out west, and this is their first Toronto location. The photos from the article looked inviting, the reviews were positive, so we decided to check it out on a chilly Friday night—also known as date night :)
Yes, I can well imagine that probably no one cares about anyone’s recap. As 2024 came to a close the media, especially old style print would provide all kinds of the “best of” in various categories. The best movies, TV show, theatre, books etc…etc. I wouldn’t look at all of them but when I did I usually would realize that I had actually not seen or read many of the best of the best. The Toronto Star listed the following movies as the best of 2024.
On most lists is the NYC chain Shake Shack. They began with their first permanent location in Madison Square Park in 2004 with the idea of elevating what might be considered a basic American staple - the hamburger.
If you type in a search bar the best lasagna in Toronto you get a list of places and on this list and taking the number 1 spot is Porzia's
So, as you would surmise the bar is now raised pretty high. I wasn’t completely sure where it was? I had been riding my bike to play pickleball this fall and I would often take a detour and ride on Oakwood to look for it and for the life of me, I simply couldn’t find it. Eventually, I did locate it. Its a very, small drive by and miss it type of place.
When a new restaurant opens in the area I’m almost always very interested in what it is going to be like. And, this one so far has not disappointed. Just around the corner, or what I would suggest a short stumble is a new place called “Stella’s Italian Kitchen.” It’s located at 182 Dupont Street very close to the intersection of Davenport and Dupont.
It got me thinking about who makes the best steak/frites in Toronto.
For some those would be considered fighting words while for others it’s simply a great opportunity to clog your arteries with red wine and delicious steak and frites.
As a bit of historical reference my baseline or comparison is the chain of restaurants in Paris called “ Le Relais de l’Entrecote.” A legendary stopping point for both locals and tourists while visiting Paris. I was taken there over 25 years ago by some colleagues at Wilson to the location just off the Champs Élysées. For whatever reason, I still remember the street name - 15 Rue Marbeuf, How could you go wrong - steak and frites. What a simple but wonderful combination.
I guess it’s fair to say, I may have veered off the wagon. No….nothing to do with drinking too much - lets save that for another day. I am talking about staying current with blog posts. Can’t give you any good reasons, so I won’t try. But, I’m back.
With the afternoon open we grabbed a train and headed towards Harvard. There was a tour starting at 2 pm and signed up when we go there. We waited….and we waited and unfortunately we were told that the tour guide (who is a student) was going to make it due to mid-term exams. But, the good news is another guide would be there for a 3 pm tour and we were welcome to take that one. I would say that the Harvard Tour for me was the highlight of the trip.
I have a couple of go-to websites that I look at daily and they are BLOG TO and the other is TORONTO LIFE. Like all forms of social media you have to make your own judgments, however what I look for is articles on new types of food/restaurants, real estate and events happening in the city. I recently read one about a new restaurant on College Street called “Danny’s Pizza Kitchen.
This seems to happen to me every year. Usually around one month prior to the Grand Slams, I start to think - maybe, I should go! Now, this doesn’t happen for Australia (too far), but usually it does just before Roland Garros (Paris) and just before Wimbledon (London). And typically, I think and think and don’t actually ending up going.
I guess it’s inevitable. After over two years of running, staying out of sight, masking and hiding from the world it does and it will likely catch up to you. Of course the first thing you do is ask yourself how and where did you get it? After a couple of years of this you realize that is a complete waste of time because it’s impossible to narrow the search down….especially in today’s world.
War has broken out in Ukraine and there is a real danger that this could escalate to something even more serious than what it is at the moment. The game of geo-politics is at play with most democratic societies unwilling to enter into a much bigger and more dangerous war with Russia.
If your a follower of tennis you couldn’t help notice that there was more excitement prior to the tournament then possibly during the ongoing Australian Open. The top player in the world was front and centre in a stupid, silly legal battle to play in Australia. Basically the rules to enter the country were very straightforward….you need to have proof of a double vaccination.
Another year has come and gone….thank god! What a crazy two years. It was 2 years ago that I ended my 30+ years at Wilson. It was 2 years ago that we first started to hear rumours about a new virus that was coming out of China and it was 1 year ago that Ms. Sheila was out walking a neighbours dog near the condo and in a flash she went down on a patch of ice. No big deal right? I later found out she crawled home and I could hear her crying out from downstairs. Off to the hospital we went and a broken something or other was the result. The first few months she had to work from home and because of her lack of mobility she was stuck upstairs. Nurse Doug had to step up and take on more responsibility. Our bedroom became her office and she managed to keep working for many months from upstairs. It has been a long rehab and unfortunately, she could not play any tennis this year. She still walks with a bit of a limb but here’s hoping that maybe in the spring she can try to hit the yellow ball.
I’m not sure I can add anything profound or new to the discussion about 2020. I think history will do it for us. I’m confident that none us had this figured out when we first learned about Covid 19. Someone who I play tennis with and who I think is very, very smart - told me “ this thing will go away as soon as the warm weather comes in.” Well, that certainly didn’t happen.
We decided at the very last minute to jump on a plane and take a trip. And where did we go? Well the easiest and least expensive way to see Europe (without actually going) is to visit Quebec City. It is the oldest French speaking community in North America and it was founded over 400 years ago. It is the only walled city north of Mexico with almost 4.6 kilometres of walls. Only 1.5% of the population is English but about 1/3 can speak French and English.
One of the hottest restaurants in the “Six” is a new place called https://www.gusto501.com/ and I’ve been keeping my eye on it trying to find the right time to go. We’ve tried to go to the mother ship - Gusto 101 but it has never worked out because when we’ve gone it’s been too busy with a long wait. I still want to get there though. When I read about the new location and looked at the reviews, I knew that it was a place I wanted to try.
Everything from Chicago to New York, I take you down my favourite list of pizza joints. From local to famous one of a kind Pizzerias.
