Edmund Rek has over twenty years experience in hotel and restaurant kitchens, and is the co-founder of Evelyn's Crackers and Dawn's Dinner Party, a catering company offering private cooking class dinner parties.
Very much a farmers' market groupie, when not selling crackers you'll find him managing Toronto's first wholesale Farmers’ Market for Chefs. He is proud to be displaying his first photography exhibit, called "Reverence for Food", this month at Pantry (974 College Street).
You've got $10 to buy lunch - where do you go?
I have a secret place: If I'm on the east side of town, I can’t resist popping by and saying hi to the guys at About Cheese (483 Church Street). They have the best grilled cheese sandwich ever, and with over three hundred types of cheese, I still can’t figure out how they choose the ones to put into the sandwich.
Or, not such a secret: Yung Sing Pastry Shop (22 Baldwin Street). I would take 5 of my friends and order their assorted Chinese buns, sesame balls and fried sweet potato slices. They set the bar for impulse buys that are easy on the wallet.
The budget's unlimited, someone else is paying and the choice is yours - where do you pick for dinner?
Eigensinn Farm (449357 10th Concession, Singhampton). What a wonderful way to have an out of mind, body and city experience. It all starts with the drive out to the farm. As the landscape widens I begin to breathe and let go. By the time we arrive, I am in the right mind-space to open up my senses to the experience of eating in their home. Something you cannot get in Toronto.
Tell us some of the food shops you frequent when buying groceries to cook for yourself.
I am a Farmers’ Market groupie and go to several a week: Trinity Bellwoods, Dufferin Grove, the Brick Works, and the Green Barn over the winter.
I also like 4 Life Natural Foods (257 Augusta Avenue) for local/organic produce/dairy/bulk, and the owner, Pots, is really great. Oh, and House of Spice (190 Augusta Avenue).
When ordering in for a quiet night at home, what's your favourite place for take-out or delivery?
Phuong Hoang (1153 College Street). My staple is the rare beef noodle soup (the big bowl!), which is always spot on. My wife gets the vegetable spring rolls with the amazing sauce - it's so good you could put on styrofoam and make it taste good! Our daughter goes for the fruit shake and plain rice noodles (it is like watching National Geographic into-the-wild as she slurps up the 12" noodles with her fingers.) It is a real family-run operation, everyone is always there pitching in with their share of the duties and very accommodating to us with a little one. When ordering take out, I'll have a draft beer in those tall narrow glasses that I envied watching my Dad drink from, find a table, watch some TV, and wait for my order. A real treat in a neighbourhood restaurant.
Oh, no, relatives are coming to Toronto from out of town - where do you take them?
Sky Dragon (280 Spadina Avenue). Great for dim sum, as both sets live in the American south and don't get to eat a lot of non-regional food. It works well with our three year old, too. Fast, cheap (so we can pick up the cheque), and really good.
Your favourite place to grab a couple of drinks and hang out where everybody knows your name?
Doesn’t happen very often - did I mention the 3 year old? - but if staying in the neighbourhood, we like to escape to Chiado Wine Bar (864 College Street) as it is just down the street, and Il Gato Nero (720 College Street) when outside seating is available. Going downtown, we love JK Wine Bar (9 Church Street).
What's coming up?
My photography exhibition "Reverence for Food" is on display until June 14 at Pantry (974 College Street), with the official opening on Sunday May 17 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. It features an intimate look at rural and developed cultures and how they share a reverence for local food.
Tasting T.O. is a regular feature where we ask local artists, writers, musicians, foodies and other personalities about their favourite places to eat and drink in the city. If you or someone you know would like to be featured in an upcoming instalment - especially if you have an upcoming event, gig, release, etc. to promote - please get in touch.
