Food

Consistency is key, and I think the people over at Gusto 54 Restaurant Group must have clued into that a long time ago. They’re the restaurant group that owns neighbourhood staples, like Trattoria Nervosa (which just celebrated its 20th–yes 20th!–anniversary), Gusto 101, Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Felix in Los Angeles, and soon to be opened Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen and Gusto 501. I can’t tell you how excited I am that another Gusto location will be opening up in my hood at 501 King St. E.! While I’ve seen many restaurants come and go in the King West, Toronto neighbourhood, Gusto 101 (located at 101 Portland St.) has been around…

Have you ever taken a day off to just explore and be a tourist in your own city? I think it’s not only important to do that every once in a while to have fun, but I’ve also felt the necessity of doing that more so in the last 6-8 months (when I’ve had to deal with the additional pressure of blogging while maintaining a full-time job). I normally use my vacation days for actual trips, but since my fiancé and I are saving for our wedding and therefore not travelling much this year, I figured I might as well put my vacation days to good use…

There’s no truer love than my love for pizza – *cough* – I mean, my fiancé. While Alex may be my real true love, pizza honestly comes in at a close second. You could say it’s got a pizza my heart 😉 We recently had the pleasure of dining at True True, a fast-casual pizza joint that opened in February of this year. Located at 169 King St. E., dare I say, it may very well one of the best pizza places in the St. Lawrence/King East/Corktown neighbourhood! Lucky for us, that also happens to be the neighbourhood we live in! Even though we’ve walked…

My fiancé, Alex, and I spend a lot of time together, in general, but lately, I’ve been going to a lot of food events and brunching with other Instagrammers on the weekend. So, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to go on a brunch date with just Alex, since one of our favourite things to do together is eat, after all! We’d been to Thoroughbred Food & Drink for dinner in the past and really enjoyed our meal. So, it’s always a bonus when a restaurant you already like has a brunch service, and best of all, takes resos!…

What better way to recover from my recent vacation to Chicago (where I essentially over-ate every day) than to attend a sushi competition, where I spent the day stuffing my face?! Pretty good re-integration strategy, I’d say! My pal, Karen Ng (@sincerelykn), invited me to join her and some other foodie friends to see how the top 6 Bento Sushi chefs from across the country roll at Bento Sushi’s 5th Annual Sushi Champion Competition. Each year, Bento Sushi chefs across Canada can get as creative as they want by submitting a sushi roll design of their choice. Bento Sushi then selects the top 6 chefs, who become…

Nothing says refreshing more than a glass of ice-cold iced tea! Now that the warm weather seems like it’s here to stay, it’s time to dust off the patio furniture and get summer-ready with our drinks! I’ve partnered with Pure Leaf Iced Tea and Pure Leaf Canada to show you some of the ways you can get creative and tweak your tea! Apart from water, coffee, and wine (!), iced tea is actually one of my favourite things to drink. I just haven’t been able to find a great tasting iced tea that doesn’t have all the calories or artificial sweeteners…

Photogenic floor tiles, marble tables, beautiful décor, attentive service, and impeccable food – I think I died and went to foodie heaven! Although technically a fine dining Italian pescatarian restaurant, if you are a carnivore, you will not miss the meat at Ufficio. Taking up shop in the Little Portugal neighbourhood of Toronto since January of this year, this place had been on my list for a while. But I was initially most interested in going for brunch (all you other bloggers and Instagrammers understand the struggle for good lighting 😉 ). After stalking their website for a bit, I made a reso for the Sunday in March when brunch…

Chantecler has been one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto for quite some time and probably my best kept secret! This tiny place in Parkdale, which has been open since 2012, has such a great vibe and amazing food that I would share it with people all the time. In fact, I would always be amazed by people living here who told me they had never heard of it before! So, when my friends and I who were long overdue for a dinner couldn’t get a table for 5 at a restaurant that was on our list, I made an executive decision to book us in…

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you will have seen a couple photos that I’ve posted of this place, along with my promise to blog about my experience here. Although it took me a while to actually get this up on the blog, I’m happy to finally share my fantastic brunch at Bar Begonia (@barbegonia)! Bar Begonia is Chef Anthony Rose‘s 6th and latest installment of his empire in Toronto (along with Big Crow, Fat Pasha, both locations of Rose and Sons, and Schmaltz Appetizing). This venture is a Parisian-style bar/restaurant that serves up a pretty mean brunch. You might have driven by the…

I’ve teamed up with my friend and fellow foodie, Karen Ng (@sincerelykn), to bring you this blog review! Be sure to check out Karen’s blog, sincerelykn.blogspot.ca, for reviews on her food and travel adventures, and her Instagram account, @sincerelykn, for the most drool-worthy food photos! When most people think about Portuguese food, they think of churrasco and piri-piri sauce. The Portuguese food scene in Toronto is unfortunately no different, with handfuls of churrasqueiras, a limited number of fine dining restaurants, and nothing really in between. But there is a whole world of Portuguese cuisine out there, which everyone should have the chance to get to…