Gimme A Squeeze Juice Bar
176A Hampton Avenue
416-461-8168

Across the street from the behemoth of the Carrot Commons, down a side-street beyond the colourful shops on the Danforth, and marked only by a small sandwich board in front of a Second Cup coffee shop, lies Gimme A Squeeze. At first glance, this small bar may seem an odd choice of location, overshadowed by the plethora of food shops on the main street. However, a sign within gives a hint of this juicery’s staying power. “Ten years and counting!” is the happy proclamation.

Gilly, the owner, seems to match the sign with her own demeanour and decorating. Glass stars hang in the window and magnets with words like “hope” and “peace” line the counter. A greenhouse wraps around the front of the store, providing quiet and fresh air. Gilly herself chats with the customers while pulverizing apple slices or chopping ginger.

Continue reading The Little Juice Bar That Could »

Taste: The 4th Sense
375 Danforth Avenue
416-649-0024

The first time I went to talk to Gerry, he was too popular for me. Maybe it was my mistake for stopping in on a sunny Saturday; I should have known better. Even so, despite watching and waiting for an hour, he barely had a minute to spare. It’s apparent I am hardly the only one who get serious cravings for hot sauce. The place was positively teeming with people eager to scald their tastebuds. I had to come back on a cooler Sunday, and even then, customers wandered in and out. Some zeroed in on a bottle and made a beeline for the counter, clearly knowing precisely their poison. Others, perhaps newcomers, sampled a range of sauces and oils until they settled on two, oh and could they have just this one as well, and maybe one of those vinaigrettes, please.

Continue reading To Touch the Fire and Relish the Burn »

Shoes and lip gloss, ferrets and yoga - the 23rd Vegetarian Food Fair was more diverse than ever. The title “food fair” may even become a misnomer in future years, and they may have to change it to “Veg and Eco Vendor and Charity Booth Fair.” For now, the overarching term encompasses 3 days of things to buy, petitions to sign, cooking demos, lectures, and plenty of food.

The Food Fair kicked off at 4PM last Friday to worrying weather. It began raining four minutes before the cooking demo for the evening started, so Gill Deacon and Howard Dubrovsky had a fairly large audience for “Haute Cuisine Goes Green.” The two bantered back and forth like the TV hosts that they are, disdaining the 100-mile diet and the “medium-low” setting on stoves. Howard one-upped Gill in the “haute” department with his instruction on preserved lemons. “I have never heard of this,” she admitted.

Continue reading The 23rd Annual Vegetarian Food Fair, 2007 »

The message from the lines that snaked up and around Nathan Phillips Square for the Toronto Street Treats Event was as clear as a bell; we want more food, and we want it cheap from the street. Despite stirrings in City Hall and by Toronto Public Health, our food vendors can’t offer us more than sausages. Dr. Liette Gilbert from the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University put it perfectly when she asked “Why is the most multicultural city in North America limited to hot dogs?”

She and three other panelists at the Street Food Vending Project Panel Discussion on August 11th all had their unique explanations to the question posed. Each presentation showed hurdles to be overcome if we are ever to chow down on colourful cuisine from a cart.

Continue reading Why We’re Eating Mostly Wieners »

There are plenty of reasons to buy a reusable food container. Concerns about chemicals leaching from containers into food are ongoing. Currently, Styrofoam is not even recycled in most of Toronto, so it goes straight to the Michigan landfill. There is even a campaign to get Styrofoam packaging banned in the city, “Get it to Go Green!” which is garnering more attention and support as it is more widely publicised and as more people grow eco-consciences.

There are a few reasons not to get one - you have to drag it around with you everywhere you go, nothing is a standardized size, and containers like Tupperware always seem to leave food with that nasty “suburban microwave” aftertaste. In response, some advocate a return to in-home cooking. Frankly, even if my life suddenly did include scads of free time and top-of-the-line cooking supplies, I’d still get take-out, just because my chana masala will never come out as good as from Little India, and sometimes eating in my pajamas just feels right.

However, I can - or rather, Tap Phong (360 Spadina Avenue) can - offer you a viable solution to at least some of these concerns.

Continue reading The Most Awesome 69 Cents I Ever Spent »

ChocoSol (website not up to date)
6 St. Joseph Street, 4th floor
no phone

I was wholly unprepared for ChocoSol’s New Moon Chocolatada. The previous day’s Street Treats Festival had left me bitter - long lines and pushy people as eager as I to sample cheap street foods are not fun to begin with. Nearly every item sold out before the halfway point of the event had come. I was left with a bad taste in my mouth and a distinct lack of Chili Lime Corn. So when ChocoSol’s celebration of their new location rolled around the next evening, I was utterly overwhelmed by the amiability and party atmosphere, not to mention the chocolate delights.

Continue reading ChocoSol’s Chocolatada »

Café 668
668 Dundas Street West
Dinner for two, including taxes, tip, and pop or fruit juice: $45

Three major signs that Café 668 is genuinely family-run: 1) it is decorated with domestic foliage; mostly spider plants, 2) it is staffed by two shy teenaged servers who call “Mom? MOM!” into the kitchen and 3) a glass jar filled with complimentary candy waits for customers after they pay their bill.

I peered into this much-lauded spot soon after it had opened at 12:30pm. For a place that invariably receives high praise from other reviewers, it was starkly empty during the lunch hour. The construction on Dundas Street may be to blame - Buddha’s Vegetarian next door was closed completely until the scheduled completion of the road repair.

Continue reading Six Six Ate »

If there is nothing more American than apple pie, then the one food that screams “North America” is peanut butter. Aussies and Europeans cannot fathom our infatuation, beginning with George Washington Carver and lasting through to present-day. The idea of grinding up nuts, seeds, and grains into pastes is hardly new, but peanut butter casts a long, sticky, delicious shadow on this continent.

However, as other nut butters become less obscured by this ubiquitous legume, their availability increases. I have even spied almond butter at Dominion a time or two, but for a real selection, I stopped by The Big Carrot and picked up six varieties.

Continue reading Oh, Nuts! »

Fressen
478 Queen Street West
416-504-5127
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip, and a glass of wine: $45; Brunch for two with all taxes, tip, and juice or coffee: $30

My readers will have to forgive my punning. In reality, I was unsure of what I thought of Fressen until recently. My first two visits to the renowned vegan restaurant had resulted in a lukewarm impression. The first occasion was a light dinner, starting with avocado and spinach blinis ($9). The corn salsa stood out amidst the other flavours, but made for a poor contrast to the soft depth of the spinach patties. The barley and potato gnocchi ($9) somehow ended up tasting like sourdough bread, which actually went rather well with the understated pesto. The chunks of asparagus were a good addition, firm and not overpowering, but nothing in particular stood out about the meal. From the portions (small) and the presentation (decorative), I had expected more.

Continue reading Waffling Over Fressen »

Toronto Sprouts
720 Bathurst Street
416-535-3111

I recently read a very good article about food science and food trends in the New York Times Magazine by Michael Pollan. One of the main guidelines he espouses for eating in his article “Unhappy Meal” is “Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” This conviction weighed on my mind as I walked to Toronto Sprouts. I wondered to myself what my progenitors might say about eating tiny green things. “They haven’t finished growing yet!” might be one protestation. “You’re eating grass?!” might be another. When I told my roommate what I was writing about, he added his own commentary: “Horse food!”

Consequently, I was feeling ambivalent when I came in to Toronto Sprouts from the oppressive heat. I had not anticipated that the short walk from Bathurst station would be quite so arduous. Thankfully, I was promptly greeted by a wave of cool, fresh air, and then the employee-cum-owner, Marie, followed shortly. Both put me at ease and I settled into the blessed modernity of central air-conditioning, something my great-great-grandmother would’ve been baffled by.

Continue reading Toronto Sprouts »

Annapurna
1085 Bathurst Street
416-537-8513
Dinner for two, including all taxes, tip, and tea: $35

How to describe Annapurna? “You just have to see it” is a cop-out, but the closest combination I can think of is an afternoon tea crossed with a meditation centre. Baby blue walls and motion-activated chirping birds stood alongside tabletop fountains of Hindu figures on laminated tablecloths, again in baby blue. If nothing else, it spurred an amused half-grin from this newcomer.

Continue reading Annapurna »

Urban Herbivore
64 Oxford Street
416-927-1231
Lunch for two with all taxes tip and fresh-squeezed juices: $25

While Urban Herbivore does not quite scream out its values, it certainly does declare them clearly. It is not so much nestled in the heart of Kensington Market as it is plunked into the upper torso. You can recognize it by the sign outside declaring “Yummy Vegan Food Inside,” “Hmm…Vegans Make Better Lovers” and, recently, “The Guy Who Writes Our Clever Signs is on Vacation.” The register is decorated with PETAkids stickers, and a table of alternative health-related flyers is situated in one corner.

The philosophy of Urban Herbivore is explained in greater detail by the yellow signs posted on the walls- Vegan, Local, and Organic is the theme here. In addition, the cups are reusable, the juice containers are made from 100% corn, the take-out packaging is recyclable cardboard, and even the napkins are post-consumer recycled and made in Canada. Furthermore, the prepared foods packaged in glass have a $1 refundable deposit; this place doesn’t mess around with its morals, nor are its ethics just for show.

Continue reading Stuffed Vegans Served Daily at Urb Herb »

Magic Oven
270 Dupont Street
416-928-1555
Dinner for two: $40 including beer and tip

“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” - Hippocrates, 400 BC

So says the motto printed at the bottom of every menu at Magic Oven. Their efforts to turn local and organic ingredients into some of the tastiest and healthiest Italian fare in Toronto have proven fruitful enough that a third location has opened right next to Dupont station to feed the hip-and-health-conscious Annex crowd. Founded in 1997 by Tony and Abby Sabherwal, Magic Oven’s popularity has grown staggeringly. When we arrived at about 3:00pm, this new location was full of people either eating or hungrily eyeing others’ meals. Lemon-coloured walls were adorned with framed black-and-white snapshots of the city, lit from above by a rectangular skylight that stretched along the dining area. The cheerful menu made every effort to keep the customer informed about the ingredients used in the food, from the spelt used in the pizza crusts to the nitrite-free meat. The back of the menu was taken up almost entirely by the varieties of pizza on offer, but the front had some tantalizing selections as well. My omnivorous assistants and I ordered across the spectrum.

Continue reading Magic Offerings at Magic Oven »

Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant
49 Baldwin Street
416-596-1913
Lunch for two, including tax, tip, and tea: $30

I personally have a great affection for Baldwin Street. Cozy and refreshing, it provides a reprieve from the noise of McCaul Street and areas east as well as the “too hip for you” atmosphere of Kensington Market and locales west.

However, not even my Baldwin-bias had yet sold me on sushi. Despite multiple visits to Konnichiwa and Kuni Sushi Ya, I remained a sushi sceptic, and somewhat lukewarm towards Japanese food in general. Prepared to give it another chance, I visited Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant accompanied by a certifiable Japanophile, fresh from two of the best months of his life in his second homeland. The third of our party was a first-time sushi diner, never having sampled the fruits of the island nation. I got to be the happy, or at least pseudo-neutral, medium.

Continue reading Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant »

Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant
4396 Steeles Avenue, East Unit E8
905-479-8381
lunch for two, including tax and tip: $40

In my years as a vegetarian and vegan, fake meats were never a huge part of my diet. Tofu dogs and veggie burgers were usually the extent of my meat analogues. I had been a picky kid anyway, turning up my nose (or rather, making “Gross!” faces) at fish, seafood, anything outside my normal diet. So when I entered Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant up at the northern end of the Pacific Mall-Market Village plaza, I quickly realized I was out of my depth and beyond my range of experience. My first thought had been vague amusement at the implication that other vegetarian restaurants were somehow clumsy. My internal focus was quickly overwhelmed by the bright colours of the Chinese New Year decorations. Two streamer-dragons started at opposite ends of the room and met each other with fierce, cheerful faces almost directly over our table. The incandescent bulbs placed at regular intervals on a high ceiling reminded me of large lecture halls, except not as, you know, dreadful.

Continue reading My Fake Meat Adventure »