Restaurant Review: Hemant Bhagwani gets his groove back with Indian Street Food Co.

By

-

10:24 am

I knew all was not well with Amaya on Bayview. My previously most beloved Indian resto had slipped. First there was the adulteration of the cooking, the little slips like overcooking the lamb chops and too much cream with the prawns. Then they started selling Groupons and the service went to hell. You could just tell the heart had gone out of the place. It didn’t help that owner Hemant Bhagwani had expanded at a ferocious rate — up to eight Amayas at one point. Talk about diluting the brand.

But oh joy, Mr. Bhagwani came to his senses. He closed some of his Amaya branches and gave the others to someone else to run, deciding to focus 100 per cent on the Bayview Amaya, which he knew had lost its vision. This man is very smart. He closed Amaya, did a breezy reno to make the room more casual and fun, and reopened it as Indian Street Food Co.

Which is now a dream come true. Lovers of Indian food will be over the moon here. They start you with a splendid little lassi scented with saffron, pistachio and almond. The app that puts a big smile on my taste buds is chaat: Crispy puffed rice with pomegranate, potato, tamarind chutney, chickpeas and yogurt — sweet, hot, fabulous.

Most of Mr. Bhagwani’s new items are inspired by the street food of his homeland. I personally was too chicken to eat street food in India, but I ate in people’s homes and did notice that the interest level of the spicing of the food seemed to increase in inverse proportion to the pretension of the surroundings. So bring on the street food!

Street-inspired spicy chicken tikka is the most exciting tasting tikka I’ve ever tasted, and serving it on buttery flaky paratha with mint chutney is inspired. Tamil kothu roti (from Sri Lanka) is equally jazzy — chopped paratha with raw cabbage, chilies, exotic sprouts, onions, coriander and lemon. Supercharged savour! Charcoal grilled prawns come in a sweet little tiffin box with crunchy noodles and mango slaw.

Arvi tuk is a splendour of jumped up flavours: A base of crunchy fried taro topped with tamarind chutney, kachumber (Indian chopped salad), chili spiced yogurt and thin slices of watermelon radish.

Superyummy!

Best of all: Mr. Bhagwani has done away with tipping. He adds a 12 per cent admin fee to every bill and splits that among his staff — from dishwasher to maitre d’ — equally! Which creates a pretty delicious atmosphere when the Visa machine hits your table and there’s no tip button to push.

Indian Street Food Co., 1701 Bayview Ave., $60 dinner for two

Joanne Kates trained at the Ecole Cordon Bleu de Cuisine in Paris. She has written articles for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Maclean’s and Chatelaine.

How They Met: Jesse Hanson and Carmen Littlejohn of Helix Healthcare Group

By

Andrew Mannsbach

-

9:30 am

0

Psychotherapists Jesse Hanson and Carmen Littlejohn, the duo behind Helix Healthcare Group, share their love story — complete with flying yoga, dolphins and a wedding that rang in at $500 dollars.

How they met
Jesse: It was the last day of my master’s program and the first day of hers in Santa Barbara, California. While I was enjoying a delicious brownie and talking to a professor, the most beautiful Egyptian goddess approached me. Or was she approaching the table to get a brownie? Either way, I was delighted. Though, within the 30 minute conversation, some of my delight was deflated as I learned she lived in Chicago. I did not let this fact sway my initial heart/gut feeling. I got her email address and played it cool.
Carmen: When I went to the dessert table to snag a cookie, I met Jesse and had a great conversation with him and a new professor on campus. Jesse told me about a great exhibit in town. The travelling Buddha relics were in Santa Barbara. I didn’t even know what the relics were, so Jesse explained them to me and told me he would email the information if I was interested. A very clever way to get my info! As I was walking back to my car, I saw him yelling with excitement and with bare feet he hurdled a bush and accidentally landed right in front of me. He was really embarrassed. I later learned he was yelling with excitement about meeting me. He didn’t play it cool at all!

The first date
Jesse: I picked her up after class in Santa Barbara and took her to a beautiful park where we walked, talked and smelled the roses (literally). I introduced her to one of my passions, flying yoga. We both loved all of it. We finished up the date with a sushi dinner wherein she took charge of the date and ordered us great food (at that point I was not a big sushi guy — I am now).

The courtship
Carmen: I think of our courtship as a lot of plane rides and red eyes. I used to fly to Los Angeles two times a month and drive up to Santa Barbara. Then I would red-eye home to Chicago Sunday night, land at 5 a.m. and be at work by 6:30 on Monday mornings. It was tough. But it was very beautiful too. We took beautiful hikes on the Malibu coast, jogged the hills of Ventura county and meditated on the cliffs, looking out at dolphins. It was pretty magical. It became more and more difficult to return to Chicago after the weekend was over. Especially during the winter time! We went camping on Anacapa Island one time, off the coast of Ventura. We found out that we were the only ones there, with a million mating birds. It was so funny. Then on the ferry back to shore we encountered dolphins that came to swim with us. There were probably 1,000 dolphins all jumping and swimming around our ferry. I’ve never seen anything like it. Dolphins as far as the eyes could see. It was like the ocean was alive.

The proposal
Carmen: The first proposal was when Jesse asked me to move to California. We went on a new hike that he’d never taken me to before. And we hiked up to a hidden cave in the cliffs. He was so nervous he just kept stuttering, and I was wondering, “What in the world is wrong with him?” He then asked if we wanted to move our lives together. He was willing to move to Chicago if that’s what I wanted. I said, “You’re crazy! I’m of course moving out here!” The second proposal was in Laguna Beach, but it had been building for months. I later realized he was so irritable and anxious because he was having a ring custom built and was going to propose on our vacation. But at the time I thought he was going crazy! He proposed to me before we went to dinner that night, because he said he wouldn’t be able to eat anything if he didn’t do it! He was so nervous, but I already knew that we were in this together. So it was an easy yes.

The wedding
Jesse: We were married Sept. 21, 2014 at Lost River, West Virginia. There is a state park there that I visited every year as a boy with my family. The wedding was amazing. Simple, yet amazing. We went on our honeymoon to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
Carmen: It was a Quaker ceremony, which means you don’t have a priest marry you. You marry yourselves with your vows, and the family and friends witness. We were married outside under the trees and probably spent $500 total on the wedding.

Their lives now
Jesse: Today, we work together at Helix Healthcare Group. I am clinical director and a psychotherapist; she is director of clinical training and a psychotherapist. Our lives have changed a lot since we first met in July of 2010. We are growing together personally and professionally. Parenthood is the next big step for us.

How will Toronto police spend a billion dollars?

By

-

10:27 am

0

No one doubts the sophisticated nature of the cultural scene in Toronto. Some of us might not jump to the way the rapper Drake refers to our city as “the 6” or gush over the performances of Opera Atelier, but most of us recognize that there’s a big rich world of culture in our city.

But are we ready for a Potemkin budget? Or does that push the boundaries of culture beyond the acceptable?

Gigory Potemkin was a lover of Catherine the Great, and governor of southern Ukraine and the Crimea. To show her allies how strong Russia was if war broke out with the Ottoman Empire, Catherine barged down the Dnieper River. It was a pretty desolate place, so to make it attractive to Catherine and her dignitaries, Potemkin created movable villages, which could be set up and dismantled in short order. Just before Catherine’s barge would arrive, a town would be in place, populated by Potemkin’s men dressed as peasants. The barge would move on, the town would be dismantled, then reconstructed a bit further down the river before the barge came into sight.

A Potemkin village is a fake, only there for the show. A Potemkin budget would be a mirage, one that doesn’t have a real form or any substantiality. I think we have one in Toronto.

The 2016 operating budget of the Toronto Police Service fits the Potemkin mould. They say it exists but no one is allowed to see it.

On Nov. 12, the Toronto Police Services Board, led by Mayor John Tory, agreed that total net police spending for 2016 would be $1,006.7 million, that is, just over one billion dollars. A six-page summary budget was filed as well as two brief reports from Chief Saunders, but there was no detailed budget. The summary gave one-line explanations, for instance showing that $526 million would be spent on uniformed staff and $138 million on civilians. There was no breakdown of staff allocation, the functions performed or the change from last year.

Since October, I and others have asked the board to make public the complete line-by-line budget. The board has consistently declined to do so. In mid-November I filed a Freedom of Information request to get a copy of the police operating budget. Surely there’s a problem with transparency when a city department refuses to make its budget public, but apparently that concern is not shared by the mayor or the other six members of the board.

Finally in mid-January, I received an answer to my FOI request: I was sent the same material that had been before the board in November. I was not provided with the full budget reflecting the way the police department wishes to spend public money in 2016. Maybe the police just want a pot of a billion dollars that they can spend as they want without any real constraints. That would be why they pretend there’s a budget but never agree to show it. Potemkin would understand.

My experience in regard to the police budget is not good.

A year ago, after the board had approved an expenditure limit of $980 million, the board finally released the full 750-page budget for 2015. I found to my surprise it bore little relation to what then Chief Bill Blair said about it in his reports to the board. For instance, the full 2015 budget stated that each of the 17 divisions would lose 10 police officers for a total reduction of some 172 front line officers. As we know, that never occurred, and since the Police Association never objected to such a chopping of staff, it is fair to say that the budget was never intended to reflect real-life expenditure. There were a number of discrepancies that I publicly wrote about at that time.

Is there a real police budget for 2016? If so, how does it relate to the unusual 2015 budget? What does it say about those 172 officers that were to be let go? Living in the age of high culture in Toronto, I suspect the best we will get is a Potemkin police budget: smoke and mirrors, illusion but no solid figures meant to direct and constrain police spending.

Board chair Andy Pringle has said he wants to create a process that will begin looking at real change in the police department. Making public a police operating budget for 2016 might be a good place to start.

More care, less cuts for our doctors

By

-

3:45 pm

0

Ontario’s medical doctors feel trapped in a process where they are treated as government employees, when it suits the government, and small business owners otherwise.

In the past, physicians have negotiated their fees with the provincial government. However, with the expiration of a contract between physicians and the government, fee cuts have been dictated to physicians. Yet most receive no vacation pay, sick days or pension as would a government employee. They study 10 to 15 years, while often working for less than minimum wage during their training.

Ontario doctors must pay for rent, staff and equipment. They are furious when the Ministry of Health misleads the public by suggesting OHIP billings are doctors’ take-home pay. This Liberal government expects the total amount paid to all our doctors collectively to remain the same year after year — with no extra money for our increasing population, aging population, up-to-date medical treatments or the rising cost of running a clinic.

Dr. Drue Mandel is a family practitioner in York Region. He wants us to know that the health and well-being of his patients is his priority, but he also wants to be treated fairly.

“It is important that the public understand, when the government says they are spending more money on health care, it does not translate into more money to help doctors run their clinics. The repeated reduction in OHIP fees is making it more difficult to provide the services our patients need to be healthy,” he says.

If we want our physicians to feel valued, we must insure that tax revenue is prioritized for #CareNotCuts.

The Pitch: Graham Abbey on why you should see The Winter’s Tale

By

-

12:13 pm

0

I was first introduced to William Shakespeare at the age of 10, when I appeared as a forest gnome in a production at the Stratford Festival. Thirty-five years later and Shakespeare is my passion; his plays are my bible.

The Winter’s Tale is the inaugural production for my Toronto-based Groundling Theatre Company. Just as Shakespeare’s company moved to the Black Friars after summers at the Globe, Groundling Theatre is bringing Shakespeare to an indoor urban winter audience.

The Winter’s Tale is a psychologically engrossing and romantic tale. What if we really could bring back a lost love? What would we be willing to sacrifice to do so? What would we say? These are some of the questions I am interested in exploring with the amazing cast.

Like when the Rolling Stones played the El Mocambo, Groundling Theatre presents the rock stars of Canadian theatre at the intimate Coal Mine on the Danforth. That’s why you should go see The Winter’s Tale.

The Winter’s Tale runs at Coal Mine Theatre until Feb. 20.

Restaurant Review: Fring’s, Susur Lee’s King West collaboration with Drake, is about as bad as you’d expect

By

Andrew Mannsbach

-

8:58 am

0

Fring. What is a fring? The server says it’s a sauce made basically of ketchup and mayo. Which only slightly blows my mind. I’m still trying to figure out why one of the best chefs in the world (yes, the world!) opens a restaurant called Fring’s in collaboration with a rapper. Susur Lee’s name is on the menu as chef and owner; his partner is Drake, and it’s tough to get a reservation at Fring’s.

Go figure.

I’m still scratching my head.

Fring’s is gorgeous, warehouse chic at its hyper-coolest. There are old brick walls punctuated by curlicued iron artworks.… A big slab of illuminated marble. Perforated metalwork screens in pretty patterns. A fab sculpture with coloured lights on the ceiling above the maître d’ station at the entrance where very busy and clearly very important young women don’t meet your eyes. Mongolian lambswool on the backs of the club chairs down the middle of the dining room. The clever aesthetic of Susur’s wife Brenda Bent (along with her partner Karen Gable) is the imprint here, at its most entertaining.

The menu is a hybrid of bar food and fusion. Okay, we’re at King and Spadina. Makes sense. Although I mourn for Susur’s haute cuisine, if this new MO is fantastic, I’ll make do. But c’mon. Crispy chicken sliders? The menu says they’re with melted cheddar cheese and remoulade; the server says the sauce is mostly fring — mayo and ketchup — and the result is the same fried chicken sammy that’s being overused all over downtown. It’s the quiche of the post-millennium.

Then there’s the Asian — spicy tuna tartare with tempura crisps and corn sesame chips. The tuna is nice if you like a $24 app. We can’t find any tempura crisps, and the chips are good. I like Loblaws’ corn chips too. Not so different.

This from the chef who’s famed in culinary circles for his iron-fisted control of both his kitchen and the front of his house. Whose bar was not high, but stratospheric. Who was begged by financiers with deep pockets to open restos in New York and Washington. Jetted to Singapore first class to cook for billionaires. And was worth it!

Susur Lee’s name is on Fring’s, but clearly the maestro isn’t in the kitchen.

One evening we wait an hour for our main courses and both arrive lukewarm. The beurre blanc on the $32 prawns has thinned out, and the so-called French potato cake seems like a combo of leftover potatoes and overcooked peas. The $38 lamb chops are gristly. The J.K. fries we ordered (clearly a homage to Jamie Kennedy, another great Toronto chef no longer in the kitchen) never arrive. Nobody offers us dessert.

I understand if Susur Lee, at sixty-ish, having been standing on his feet sweating in kitchens since he was 15, no longer wants to do it. I respect that choice. I also understand about branding and how tempting it must be to put your name on the project — and the menu — and reap some benefit from all those years of hard work. But I can’t help feeling sad, as a fan of Susur’s superb artistry, that it’s come to this.

Fring’s, 455 King St. W. $80 Dinner for two

Daily Planet: Adding trees to T.O. streets will make residents feel younger

By

-

9:05 am

0

Last year, our newly elected federal government pledged to double infrastructure investments from $65 billion to nearly $125 billion over the next 10 years. Ontario has committed to spending $130 billion over the same time period. Though these commitments are long overdue, we must ensure that they include longer-lasting green solutions such as planting trees in urban areas for storm water management and other services.

Many municipalities and non-profit organizations are exploring ways to improve how we plan for, plant, maintain and protect urban trees as key infrastructure assets in our built environments.

We often take trees and green spaces for granted, but we shouldn't. They clean and cool air, filter and regulate water, reduce energy use and protect homes and businesses during storms. Living, green infrastructure increases in value over time, unlike grey infrastructure, such as storm water pipes, which depreciate. As trees mature they provide exponentially more benefits to residents.

Healthy street trees can lengthen the lifespan of built infrastructure, like roads and sidewalks, by shading them and reducing effects of weathering, and they provide significant human health benefits.

This summer, using data from Toronto, David Suzuki Foundation Ontario director Faisal Moola and his academic colleagues found that adding 10 trees to a block can produce health benefits equivalent to a $10,000 salary raise or being seven years younger.

Despite their enormous value to society, urban forest canopies are stressed and in decline in many parts of the country. Hot, dry summers and increasingly frequent and extreme storms are wreaking havoc on city trees. Urban development, invasive species like the emerald ash borer and other threats have also reduced growing space and killed millions of trees.

Few municipalities have the necessary financial resources to manage and protect their urban forests in the face of growing and diverse threats. To help resolve this, provincial and federal governments need to update the definition of infrastructure to include green infrastructure such as trees, rain gardens and permeable surfaces, and allow municipalities to spend money to develop and maintain these assets.

Higher levels of government must also update the standards by which municipalities report and manage their government assets to include trees, parks, wetlands, woodlots and public aquifers. That would facilitate setting minimum provincial standards for maintenance of critical green infrastructure and would improve management practices.

It’s also important to make living, green infrastructure a crucial component of provincial and federal climate change strategies. Urban forests contribute greatly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide in tree biomass, understory vegetation and soils. Urban trees also help us adapt to and cope with climate change impacts by shading communities during periods of extreme heat.

If we’re going to build, let’s build green. Green infrastructure reduces costs associated with grey infrastructure. It also provides benefits that improve the health and well-being of residents and makes our communities more beautiful and pleasant.

Steven Page gives iconic Beatles album a makeover with Art of Time

By

-

1:30 pm

0

Growing up, Steven Page says he spent countless hours adoring and admiring the Beatles’ iconic 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Now Page and a few other notable Canadian singers are putting their own imaginative spin on the album courtesy of Toronto’s Art of Time Ensemble.

“It’s not your standard Beatles cover show,” Page says of the concert, set for Jan. 21 at the Sony Centre. “They have some really top notch contemporary composers who are doing the arrangements for Art of Time, but at the same time the vocal parts are all exactly verbatim from the Beatles record.”

In addition to performing with the Art of Time Ensemble, Page will be playing with a full symphony backing him up — the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony — along with Craig Northey of the band Odds, Andy Maize of Skydiggers and Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket.

“This is going to be exciting and daunting at the same time, because it’s huge,” Page says. “I don’t know how, but I’m not going to be just smiling my head off while singing with them.”

Page, best known for his years with the Barenaked Ladies, forged a friendship with Art of Time’s artistic director Andrew Burashko in 2008 celebrating the 40th anniversary of the album Abbey Road. But Page says the approach has changed.

“When Andrew decided to do Sgt. Pepper’s, he wanted to have four guys onstage the whole night,” Page says. “The camaraderie of having four guys onstage for the whole show, I think it makes the whole thing feel more present and in a certain way a more fitting tribute to the original band.”

Although the wall of sound finale from “A Day in the Life” should be epic, Page mentions “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “She’s Leaving Home” as personal faves.

Page is also set to release a solo album in February, and he’s doing the music for Macbeth at the Stratford Festival as well as a few Sgt. Pepper’s dates across Canada and the United States.

“For us, a lot of the fun is surprising them, giving them a challenge without it being an adversarial one,” he says.

How They Met: Global TV’s Carolyn Mackenzie and her knight in shining flame-retardant armour

By

Andrew Mannsbach

-

12:58 pm

0

Like that scene from a typical romantic comedy, Carolyn Mackenzie, from Global’s The Morning Show, locked eyes with Chris Stark, the firefighter who responded to her emergency. Three months later, fate brought them together again on a blind date.

How they met

Carolyn Mackenzie: “I fainted at my gym, and his crew was the first to respond. We caught each other’s eye (even though my eyes were nearly swollen shut after falling on my face), but nothing happened, apart from my vitals being checked. I was loaded onto an ambulance and Chris returned to his fire hall.”

The first date

CM: “We were set up on a blind date. Mutual friends thought we would be a good match. Little did they know that three months prior I had been Chris’s medical call! We eventually put the pieces together that we had already met, albeit briefly and under much different circumstances. When I started talking about the scar tissue in my cheek, he asked me what happened, and I proceeded to tell him about passing out at my gym. That’s when he took a step back and realized that I was that girl!”

The courtship

CM: “Three weeks after being set up on our blind date, we were out for dinner, and there was a moment that we both can vividly recall … a moment where neither of us said a word, but we both knew we were officially ‘off the market’ for good. A year later, I accepted a videographer position in Nova Scotia, and we had to endure a long distance relationship for a year. However, it just made our relationship stronger, and we have some awesome memories from that time when Chris would bank all his vacation time so he could visit me in Cape Breton for long periods of time.”

The proposal

CM: “I came home from working a night shift as a reporter at the New VR in Barrie, and Chris surprised me with a puppy. I had never had a dog before, so I was elated. He then told me to take off the dog’s collar. In doing so, something fell to the floor. It was a diamond ring. I was engaged to a dog!”

The wedding

CM: “We were married at my mom’s church in Oakville, and our reception was at the Oakville Club. The next day we boarded a plane for Hawaii where we discovered just how beautiful snorkelling can be.”

The kids

CM: “We have two kids, Kate and Matthew.”

Balancing work and family

CM: “For years I worked nights, when the kids were babies, but I’ve switched to The Morning Show so I can be a home with the kids after school. My mom helps us immensely, and my husband’s shift work with the fire department allows him to take care of the kids quite a bit. When it comes to our marriage, we always take time just for ourselves, without the kids. Ever since we had our first, we promised ourselves to get away for a couple of nights every six months so that we can catch up and remind ourselves why we got together in the first place!”

Plans for the future

CM: “Lots of travelling, wine and grandkids (hopefully).”

This article was originally published on January 19th, 2016.

Stintz on Midtown: Ice pads open later this year, but the costly endeavour may be short-lived

By

-

9:44 am

0

Now that it feels a little more like winter people are starting to participate in the activities that make the chilly season.

In Midtown, there are many rinks, both indoor and outdoor. Some popular ones are Otter Creek, Ledbury and the outdoor rink at Eglinton Park. There are times for free public skate on the weekends as well as time for more organized games of shinny. The outdoor rinks are a fabulous resource for families looking for something to do that is inexpensive, easy to get to and gets kids some exercise.

One of the frustrations about the rinks is the time is takes to clear the ice after a major snowfall. Parents and kids get excited about getting outside and are often disappointed that the Zambonis aren’t out in full force. Call 311 before heading out to make sure the rink is open.

The other frustration about the rinks is the duration of the season. When the rinks close in February, there is always a hue and cry to keep them open until after March break. For the past several years, corporations have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the more popular rinks open until the third week of March. Usually the major outdoor rinks that stay open are at City Hall, the civic centres and Harbourfront Centre.

This year, city council voted to keep all the rinks operational until March 20, weather permitting.

This is one decision I hope the city revisits next year.

I understand the outcry. In reality it is costly and difficult to keep the rinks open that long. Also, although people think kids will skate over March break, the ice quality is usually so poor kids opt to do other things.

The reason it is so hard to keep the ice in good quality is because good ice does not rely on the temperature alone.

In December, when the temperatures fall and the days are short, it is much easier to keep ice in good condition. In March, even when the temperatures hover around zero degrees, it is more difficult to keep the outdoor rinks operational as days are longer.

It is difficult and expensive to keep compressors going to prevent the ice from becoming a slushy mess. The hydro costs for the additional three weeks for one community rink are $10,397, an additional 14 per cent not to mention staffing costs.

It makes sense to keep a few of the larger rinks open but not all the rinks. Once the bills start to roll in and the city learns how many skaters use the rinks in March, they might change their tune.

Enjoy the rinks but be sure to call ahead in March. Despite council’s best intentions, the weather may not co-operate.

Adventures in Tokyo

By

-

3:06 pm

0

Contrary to what you may believe, it is perfectly ok to have fish and beer for breakfast. Not one of those it’s-taken-me-so-darn-long-to-get-out-of-bed-might-as-well-skip-to-lunch breakfasts either. I’m talking it’s 9 am, I’ll have a cold and frosty one with a side of mackerel. Trust me.

I learned this fun fact on my latest epic travels. I was looking to go somewhere completely outside the box that everyone around me seemed to be traveling within. Asia fit the bill perfectly.

My adventure began in the world’s most sprawling city, Tokyo. Homebase was the Four Seasons Tokyo at Marunouchi, paradoxically the most intimate property in the chain. The hotel is beautifully appointed, only 57 guest rooms yet fully equipped with spa and 24 hour fitness studio (particularly convenient when you're nursing a 12 hour time change), plus a newly opened French restaurant; Motif. Perhaps it's most important attribute, however, is as they say: location, location, location. I was literally steps away from the Bullet Trains, as well as the most extensive subway network I have ever seen, not to mention some of the best shopping in the world in nearby tony Ginza.

Tokyo has been dubbed the world’s best food city. It is home to 226 Michelin-starred restaurants, more than twice that of Paris, which is next on the list. As with any world class culinary centre, the dining options are varied and truly international. That said, I did not travel over 10 000 kilometres to Japan to sample the finest foie gras in Asia. The goal was all Japanese, all the time, and that led me to my first breakfast in Tokyo at the Tsukiji Fish Market.

The Tsukiji Market is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. From approximately 5:00-7:00 AM fish are auctioned to wholesalers, retailers and restaurants. Shortly after the market closes, the restaurants of the “outer market” open for breakfast. That is where I learned the true meaning of “Breakfast of Champions”. Tsukiji Sushisay has been serving up sushi since 1889. After lining up for approximately forty five minutes, the restaurant opened at precisely 8:30 AM and I was fortunate enough to score a seat at the small sushi bar downstairs. I was handed what would be the first of many menus with photos only (locals receive a regular menu in Japanese), and then the fun began. A glass of beer appeared and as I pointed repeatedly to my menu and sometimes to the plates of others, a steady stream of the freshest , most incredible sushi and sashimi I have ever tasted began to appear. I was, pardon the pun, hooked.

And so began a week long food tour. I had udon for breakfast in the basement of the train station, lined up for ramen at Ippudo, Marounouchi’s most popular noodle soup spot, ate Michelin star sushi (twice!) at Sushiko and enjoyed a seven course kaiseki dinner at Ginza Maru. I ordered omakase whenever possible and put my meal in the hands of the chef. This of course resulted in having no idea what I was eating much of the time. I didn’t care. Everything was exceptional.

To fill the time between meals, I explored the many neighbourhoods of the city: I played Pachinko, the Japanese slot machines, in Akihabara, the colourful electronics and anime district. I shopped the multilevel department stores of Shibuya, home of the busiest pedestrian crossing on the globe. I walked along the crowded Takeshita Dori in Harajuku, Japan’s centre of street fashion and focal point of Tokyo’s youth culture. I scoured the vintage shops in the off-the-beaten-path hipster area, Shimokitazawa and visited temples in Asakusa.

I was sad to leave Tokyo, but it was time to experience the other side of the coin that is Japan. Precisely 2 hours and 18 minutes away by Shinkansen, the Japanese high-speed railway, is the yin to Tokyo’s yang, Kyoto. Home to over 2000 temples and shrines, plus a still active geisha district, Kyoto is the cultural centre of Japan. I had only a short time to spend there but was determined to make the most of it.

My home in Kyoto was the newly opened Ritz Carlton Hotel. Designed to be a modern day ryokan, or traditional Japanese inn, I could not have chosen more beautiful surroundings. The property is gorgeous, the decor a modern take on traditional Japanese design aesthetics. The service was impeccable, the staff friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

I explored the city by foot, wandering past temple gardens, meandering through the covered outdoor shopping arcades and walking along the river banks. My last dinner in Japan, at my concierge’s recommendation, was at Kappo Yamashita. Housed in a machiya, or townhouse, this casual counter-style restaurant is touted as one of the top seafood restaurants in Kyoto. With good reason. I had the seven course kaiseki and was treated to fresh unagi from the large aquarium of live eels behind the counter, crab, octopus and even soft-shell turtle. The chef was humorous and engaging, and although he spoke no English, still managed to make sure, with a wagging finger, that I ate like a local and consumed the tails and the heads of the shrimp he served. I had come a long way from fish and beer for breakfast.

Taste Test: Legendary Toronto chef Hiro Yoshida gives us the goods on the best bowls of udon in town

By

Andrew Mannsbach

-

11:45 am

0

Ramen may get all the press, but to many, Japanese udon with its delicious fat noodles is the real star. Legendary chef Hiro Yoshida, of his namesake T.O. restaurant, gives us the goods on the best bowls in town.

The winning udon from Fin Izakaya

Winner: Shrimp tempura
Fin Izakaya, 55 Eglinton Ave. E., $11.95
“This is Japanese style. It has the right soy sauce and good dashi stock,” he says of the soup paired with shrimp tempura.

Yaki udon
Kinka Izakaya, 4775 Yonge St., #114, $9.30
Chef Yoshida takes a liking to the pan-fried noodles with beef, mushrooms and scallion. “The noodles are good, and it all tastes good.”

Kara-Age udon
EDO, Bayview Village, 2901 Bayview Ave., $14
“Wow, it’s gorgeous,” he says. The dish incorporates Japanese style deep-fried boneless chicken. “The soup looks nice; the broth is good.”

Chicken udon
Yutaka, 157 Dundas St. W., $12
“This udon noodle is not al dente; it’s too soft for me. But the soup is very good,” says Yoshida of the bonito broth with chicken.

Katsu udon
Sushi Inn, 120 Cumberland St., $8.50
“Wow, this is a fusion,” says Yoshida. “It’s too sweet, because of the tonkatsu sauce on top, but without the sauce it’s good.”

Seafood udon
Hub Sushi, 7398 Yonge St., Thornhill, $10
“The broth is good, and the noodles are al dente, but the soup stock is not a dashi stock. It’s a little sweeter, but it tastes good,” says Yoshida.

Beef curry udon
Manpuku, 105 McCaul St., $5.99
“I like the Chinese-style beef curry,” says Yoshida. “It’s good, but I need more curry flavour. But the noodles are good too.”

Spicy udon
Sushi One, 4924 Yonge St., $10.50
“The noodles are thin. This is like a Korean tofu soup but with udon noodles,” says Yoshida of the spicy seafood udon.