fourONEsixSTYLE

gondry
Originally uploaded by 416style

I messed up previously laid plans when I was offered preview passes to Mos Def and Jack Black’s new flick Be Kind Rewind. The clincher was the Q&A with director Michel Gondry. Gondry’s well-known in film for directing The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but it’s his unique style directing music videos for the White Stripes and Bjork that gets my attention. Bad news is I got to the screening (right on time) and all the seats were filled (yeah, apparently there’s a disclaimer you’re supposed to read) so my friends and I had to change course. We headed to Caren’s Wine Bar across the street (158 Cumberland) since I’d heard they had some swish mac and cheese and a tasty fondue too.

We sunk into our seats upstairs and I noticed that Richard Crouse, the easily recognizable host of Rogers Television’s Reel to Real, was seated near to us. Hmmm…I wonder who he’s dining with in Yorkville. Sure enough it’s Michel Gondry, having a glass of red before ducking into the theatre to begin a round of questioning.

I wanted to give him my two cents too, tell him that my photo of him is used in his wikipedia profile, but best we could do was “So you couldn’t get into the movie either?” He seemed rushed and faked a laugh, but he seemed to be doing that a dinner with his guests too. Solemn and reserved; not at all what I’d expect. Shouldn’t you be a people person as an accomplished director? Maybe not. This is the guy, after all, that developed what’s now called “the bullet technique”, made famous by The Matrix. Oh well, I guess he’s a technical guy. I can appreciate that.

We missed our chance with him and we missed the Q&A, instead we sat at Caren’s waiting forever for food and drinks to have overly formal staff bring us overly mediocre food. (And, hey, shouldn’t you have a decent selection of wines if you want to call yourself a wine bar?)

Besides good company the night was a bust - but hey, I did get another movie pass, to try and get into the movie another time.

I’ve been eating mac and cheese since I was a key kid and, as Gridskipper’s Chris Mohney puts it best, I expect to be gumming it down well into my dotage. The best place for the chewy cheese in Toronto is, hands down, Freshwood Grill on Roncesvalles. Made with four cheeses, fun spiral pasta and a bit of tomato and basil, I guarantee you’ll come crawling back for it on your carb-carving days. At $10 bucks a pop this ain’t kid’s play though.

Scanning through Gawker today I came across a link to Mr. Mohney’s piece on the Best Mac and cheese in the big Cheese - NYC. I was thrilled to learn about S’Mac in Manhattans’ East Village. The people who created this divine orange eatery (pictured above) must truly have macaroni madness. I used to make fun of a co-worker who’d spend his long weekend’s visiting the last few St.Hubert’s in Ontario, but now I’m geeking out at the thought of taking a trip for a little NYC S’Mac.

Consistency is one of the main ways I rate a restaurant. It’s important to set a certain standard and continually live up to that standard one’s set. Dr. Generosity is one of the rare places I’ve found that does just that.

Since the first time I walked through the door of this Bloor West Village restaurant a couple years ago, I’ve found it a hospitable place with a great menu. Add to this the friendly Doctor, Dr.G, who really cares about how his restaurant is run.

Their menu has a ton of variety, for kids, vegetarians, for everybody. My fav is their lunch menu (really a brunch menu) that lasts until 3pm on weekends. I usually show up with about 10 minutes left and chose from a tuna melt deliciously made with apples or my regular, Eggs Dostoyevsky (Eggs Benny but with Salmon). With a side of salad and lemon basil sauce, and a tiny cup of fruit salad, it’s definitely a generously-sized meal, and always made with fresh ingredients. The caesars with horseradish are made just right too, every time.

Dr. Generosity, 2197 Bloor Street West, 416-604-0704

Czehoski Restaurant on Queen West
Originally uploaded by hc916.

I’ve been having a bit more fun rating restaurants in Toronto on Restaurantica. My favourite place out there is Czehoski. It’s a great place to meet friends for drinks in summer or winter. Menu is small but there’s a great selection of drinks, even organic wines.

It was my top pick too when I wrote a piece last fall for Variety magazine. New Yorkers (Gotham edition) could get a quick look at the best places to hit in Toronto for nightlife when visiting during the Toronto International Film Festival.

At the time I sat down for an informal interview with the Manager of Czehoski; he revealed great stories about the former mob hangout and butcher shop, remnants of which are immediately obvious when walking through the door. On the second floor it’s another world entirely, small intimate areas make up the space.

Visit Restaurantica for more of my review.

Fish & Chips
Originally uploaded by racingsquirrel.

I found a new resto in the Junction. One of those I’d always meant to try. I’m not much of a pub girl, the menus always seem the same and the places always smell too greasy. Back to the Garden is a few steps up, it’s cozy like a pub but the menu changes often and has a wide variety of delicious bits for every type of foodie.

My bf likes their burgers so we just gave them a ring since he wanted to go pick it up. In my search for their number i came across a cool new website called Restaurantica where visitors to the site can take a 1-10 vote on the food and service. Back to the Garden was already rated a 9 out of 10, but I still felt like I should add my own restaurant review.

Sweet Lulu’s
Originally uploaded by DanielN.

Seems bloggers do make a difference. After seeing this image on DanielN’s photoblog I was compelled to give one of the new resaurants in my work area a try. Sweet Lulu had the style of a place I might like. It’s clean, modern and organic - what my sister might call cafeteria style, but I can get into that. Another reason compelled me to try Sweet Lulu, my current lunch boite is closed for renovation and I can’t get ramen out of my head.
I left my car near Trinity park and walked by what used to be my favourite clothing store (public - now sadly been split into two news stores, neither of which get me very excited) and thought I’d just grab something to go.
No take out menus by the door, so I walked up to the kitchen area hoping they’d have something to replace my favourite lunchtime meal from Sonya’s. Despite the “cafeteria” style this place was bright and cozy. Making me feel even more at home was the Fischerspooner track playing from the speakers. It was enough to convince me to get something even if they don’t have ramen on the list…and they didn’t. I ordered a meal-sized soup for $8.00. This better be good, I thought. “10 minutes” they told me. May as well stay and chill if I’m gonna get settled. My massive soup arrived and was so delish - pad thai noodles, thai yellow curry with lemongrass and basil. It was my own mix and match creation, of which I was quite proud. Felt as though I should pipe up and tell them ramen noodles are better for this kind of thing, since she’d conceeded pad thai noodles were the best for soups when I’d asked earlier. I figured it wasn’t a big enough deal to stir it up, especially since the waitress had been so sweet and smiley and at that moment was happily singing along to the Brazilian Girls track “pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana”. Bizarre lyrics I know, but it’s a feel good song and quite catchy. It kinda fit the laid-back atmosphere. After my tasty soup and a lunchtime relaxing in the this fun little boite I couldn’t help but leave with a smile on my face too.

Traveling to Japan over a year ago I was amazed by the realization that Toronto appears to have about 10 times the number of sushi joints per capita than Tokyo, and I’ve tried many of them. I’ll give my props to Toshi Sushi on King Street West and Osaka Sushi on Bloor near Keele but know that there are many other great places in this city, Sushi on Bloor being a cheap fav among many in the Annex.
However, even though the quality of sushi is surprisingly great in this metropolis, stranded between coasts, there were a few things I could not find, and it’s made me very sad. One of these things is the Korean drink Shochu, like Sake, a clear booze but many times stronger. Our poor little LCBO has yet to pick it up. So for now I stick to my draft sake. The other thing is ramen noodles. In Japan, ramen is the perfect food for 5am, after drinking and dancing all night. Ramen helps the hang over, fills and warms your tummy as well as replacing needed electrolytes. It’s good for almost any meal of the day. Japanese will eat it with an egg on top for breakfast and often with meat slices for dinner.
I grew to depend on it, though I eat the veggie version, and loved visiting the little boites that served only ramen on the menu and had seats for 5 or 6 people at most. Typical in Japan.
I’ve thought, for over a year now, that I should open up a little place like this, 10 seats tops, limited menu and make sure it’s some of the best ramen you can get, but I finally found my place and it’s less than a block from my work. Sonya’s is a tiny Korean lunchbox that has several tasty things on the menu but it’s their “Spicy Noodle Soup” I can’t get enough of. If you’re down at King and Portland in “the Fashion District”, and think you can handle a litlle spice, check it out, though it only seats three so you’ll have to take it to go. You won’t be disappointed. In the meantime, I’ll keep dreaming up a name for my own little ramen boite, since we’ll still need one in the Roncesvalles hood.