Il Paesano: The Perfect Pizza in Toronto
Posted January 4, 2008 by Ed Szajniak · Filed Under Food
One of the things I’ve missed most since moving away from Toronto is truly tasty pizza. (In my not-so-humble-opinion, they just don’t DO pizza here in the west… or bread).
Our favorite pizzeria is Il Paesano Pizzeria which is located in a tiny strip mall at 396 Brownsline in Toronto’s west end. The building’s exterior gives no hint of the wonderful treats within, yet Il Paesano has been in business since 1959.
Folks like Wayne Gretzy and Kurt Browning have enjoyed their fantastic zaaaas and left their marks upon the walls.
Their pies have thin crust New York style crust and just the right amount of delicious tomato sauce.
My mouth waters just to think about it. Sadly, I’ll have to wait until May to enjoy yet another. In the meantime, I’ll just look at the picture below and savour the recollection.
Technorati Tags: pizza, New York style, pizza, Il Paesano, pizzeria, Toronto
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The 23 Dollar Sandwich
Posted December 4, 2007 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Food
I know… I should know better by now, especially since I’ve written about the exhorbitant prices that hotels charge for room service.
But I was hungry.
And the Turkey Clubhouse sandwich on the Westin Casaurina’s room service menu sounded just perfect to munch on, while I worked on my talk for PPC Classroom Live last Saturday (December 1st, 2007).
Although I did see the $14.00 price and had noticed that *a 2.50 delivery charge, 20% gratuities and applicable state taxes would be added to the bill, I suppose perhaps I should have ADDED those figures together before I ordered this little treat.
They know how to make you feel guilty!
Now, I wish I could say that it was a tasty little treat - but alas - the bread was smothered with so much mayo, that I after 3 small bites, I ended up removing the bread and eating just the turkey, lettuce and tomato filler.
Hmm… I could have bought a LOT of turkey for 23 bucks!
Technorati Tags: Las Vegas, Westin, room service
50% Off on Restaurant.com Gift Certificates
Posted October 10, 2007 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Food, Travel Deals
Whether you’re passionate about trying new restaurants or just need a night away from the kitchen, dining out is a wonderful treat. There are so many places to try, new cuisines to sample – more great dining options now than ever before. and Restaurant.com will help you indulge.
Restaurant.com is about celebrating the dining experience more affordably. They provide certificates for literally thousands of great restaurants – many of them right in your neighborhood – that bring you the fun and pleasure of eating out while spending less.
If you dine out often your savings can really add up!
50% Off Sale! Use code PASSPORT at checkout. Offer expires Oct. 14th!
Save 50% on Restaurant.com Dining Certificates
Posted October 3, 2007 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Food
50% Off Sale! Use code DISCOVER at checkout.Save 50% on dining certificates. This means that Restaurant.com’s $25 dining gift certificates that normally sell for $10 have been reduced to just $5. This offer is valid only from October 3rd to the 7th! Enter DISCOVER at checkout.
Pho Recipe and Pho T-Shirts
Do you love pho? I do. (Here’s a picture of me enjoying a bowl of pho at the Park Hyatt in Saigon).
I could eat it every day for breakfast, just like they do in Vietnam. But our local Vietnamese restaurant doesn’t open until lunch, so I had to learn how to make it myself.
The recipe that I use is printed below for your use. Mmmmm….
There are also a couple of pho t-shirts available through CafePress.com that show your love for pho (I have the ‘What the Pho?’ t-shirt and can’t wait to wear it down to breakfast at the swanky Park Hyatt the next time we’re there.
Pho Bo (Hanoi Beef Noodle Soup) Recipe
Recipe Courtesy of Gourmet Magazine
- 6 cups beef broth
- 1 (1/4-inch thick) slice ginger
- 2 whole star anise*
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 pound piece boneless beef sirloin, trimmed of any fat
- 3 ounces dried flat rice noodles*
- 1/4 cup Asian fish sauce*
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
- 1/8 cup minced scallions
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro sprigs, washed and finely chopped
- 1 small thin fresh red or green Asian chilie, sliced very thin
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- Lime wedges for garnish
*Available at Asian Markets
In a 2 quart saucepan bring broth, ginger, star anise, and cinnamon to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
With a very sharp knife cut sirloin across the grain into very thin slices.
In a large bowl soak noodles in hot water to cover 15 minutes, or until softened and pliable.
While noodles are soaking, bring a kettle of salted water to a boil for noodles. Drain noodles in a colander and cook in boiling water, stirring 45 seconds, or until tender. Drain noodles in a colander. Set aside.
Strain broth into saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in fish sauce, salt and pepper. Add sirloin and sprouts and cook 30 to 45 seconds, or until sirloin changes color. Skim any froth from soup.
To serve, divide noodles into 4 bowls. Ladle soup over noodles. Sprinkle scallion greens, cilantro, chilies and basil over soup and serve with lime wedges
Pho T-Shirts
The ‘What the Pho?’, ‘Got Pho’, ‘I love Pho’ and other sayings are printed on a wide variety of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, kids clothing, bags, bibs at Cafepress. Just click on one of the ‘See More’ links above and then find the ‘pho’ link beside Home > Marketplace > pho to see all of them.
Gerry’s Good Gourds
Posted September 28, 2007 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Food
Ed and I were greeted by a dazzling display of fall colour as we dropped down into west Keremeos off the Keremeos Bypass.
So captured by the sight of a mountain of gorgeous gourds piled high and gleaming in the early morning sunlight outside Gerry’s Fruit Stand, I had to stop and record the scene with my new Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 8 megapixel digital camera.
While clicking away, a man who appeared to be the owner emerged from inside the store and greeted us. “You must be Gerry” I said.
He responded lightly, “They call me Gerry, but my name is actually Dan“. Dan Zacharias and his wife Sheryl have been operating Gerry’s Fruit Stand - located at 3045 Highway 3 in Keremeos, B.C. - for the last four years, and Dan admits that he’s still learning the gourd game.
“Those are Blue Hubbards” he told me when I asked him the name of the large, light blue-green colored monsters. “I don’t have any Green Hubbards or Duck-Neck Squash this year. I looked for them [in the field], but I guess I didn’t plant any” he continued.
OK, we weren’t going to say anything - but things just didn’t seem quite right at the stand without the Green Hubbards and Duck Necks. Ya right.
Good Gourd, Dan! Only the most fanatical squash and gourd aficionado’s might have noticed have noticed Dan’s ‘gourd gaff’. Besides, according to my research, NatureHills online nursery doesn’t carry seeds for either, so they couldn’t be that great.
You will find seeds for Winter Delicata, Black Beauty Squash, Straightneck Squash, Luffa gourds, Crookneck, Pattypan Scallop. There’s also Baby Round, Black Beauty and Lebanese Summer Zucchini; Acornh, Butternut and Spaghetti and more squash seeds at NatureHills though.
Anyway, if you’re passing through Keremeos, stop in at Gerry’s and say hi to Dan. Then just for fun, ask him where the Green Hubbards are…
Technorati Tags: squash, gourds, seeds, Keremeos, BC, fruit stand,
You Can’t Go Back… for Borscht
Posted August 2, 2007 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Food
I have fond memories of working and living in Castlegar, British Columbia from January until October 1990 (at which time the air traffic control tower closed and they sent us all packing.)
One of those memories includes taking lunchtime breaks to enjoy bowls of borscht at a little restaurant kitty-corner to the library.
So when we were passing through Castlegar on our way to Cranbrook, I suddenly had an overwhelming craving for borscht, so we went to Cafe Friends.
The waitress informed me that the restaurant, which had changed little in appearance in 17 years, had come under new ownership 8 years before. She also said that according to their patrons, the borscht was even better than it had been before.
Well, I have to disagree. It’s rare that either Ed or I salt our food, but that bowl of borscht was so lacking in taste that we had to apply the sodium quite liberally to make it palatable.
Oh well, lesson learned. You can’t go back hoping or expecting things (even the food) to be the same… so embrace change and try something new.
Technorati Tags: borscht, Castlegar, British Columbia
The Snowgoose Grill and Curly Bear Cafe
Posted August 1, 2007 by Ed Szajniak · Filed Under Food
The Snowgoose Grill and Curly Bear Cafe at the St. Mary Lodge & Resort slogan is that “They always go that extra step to ensure you have an unforgettable dining experience”.
Well forget it…
We were looking forward to having breakfast at the Snowgoose Grill at the lodge. After being seated quickly, things began to go wrong.
15 minutes after being seated, we hadn’t received even an acknowledgment that we had been seen by the wait staff. Ros hailed down a passing staff member who said he was “only a busboy” but he would get the waiter. He just carried on clearing tables.
Ros went to the desk to ask for some service and after 5 more minutes we were offered coffee and the excuse that they were busy. The coffee then took a while to arrive.
Once ordered, the food arrived quickly, but the food was pretty standard. The potatoes that came with the bacon and eggs were cubed, deep fat fried and relatively tastless.
But on a positive note, the coffee was very good.
On the whole, we’d say that the Snowgoose Grill and Curly Bear Cafe is best forgotten.
Technorati Tags: Snowgoose Grill and Curly Bear Cafe, St. Mary Lodge & Resort
What the Pho? Vietnamese Noodle Soup for Breakfast
Posted March 4, 2007 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Food
Finally - we were in a civilized part of the world.
By my definition, that’s where people eat noodle soup for breakfast. In Vietnam, pho (noodle soup) is the main breakfast food.
For those who love pho, I’ve posted a recipe for pho and some FUN Pho t-shirts here. The t-shirts have sayings like ‘What the Pho?’ and ‘Got Pho?’
I suppose Vancouver qualifies as ‘civilized’ as well, as I had beef udon for breakfast at the airport there before we boarded Singapore 017 on Thursday morning.
Speaking of food… there was no shortage of either food or drink served on Singapore’s Raffles class. We started with champagne before departure (orange juice was offered too, but why go for OJ when you can have champers?) and another glass right after takeoff.
Dinner included a nice little chicken satay appetizer and prawn salad. Ed had the lamb, and I… well, I had a delicious bowl of noodle soup, of course. 
Technorati Tags: noodle soup, pho, vietnam
Via Allegro Ristorante-Toronto
Posted January 6, 2007 by Ed Szajniak · Filed Under Food
The Via Allegro Ristorante in Toronto is located in a strip mall across the road from a Home Depot. This may put off many diners but appearances as they say can be deceiving.
This restaurant is one of our favorite places to eat in the world. Eat is the wrong word for going to the Via Allergo for it is an experience, starting with the decor, service and the FOOD. A true five star rating.
The wine cellar offers the best vintages available and is one of the best stocked in North America. Be prepared to spend a little time reviewing the wine list it’s the size of the Toronto phone book. Read more
Technorati Tags: Via Allegro Ristorante, Toronto
