Cafe Polonez
195 Roncesvalles Avenue
416-532-8432
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip, and beer: $57

Back in the day (oh say, six years ago), I was pretty ignorant as to what qualified as Polish cuisine. To me, it consisted of two staples: sausage and No Name’s brand of cheese and potato frozen pierogi. Then I met my Polish significant other, and was exposed to so much more that this cuisine had to offer. I have enjoyed many of the Polish dishes I consumed - even Flaczki (beef tripe) soup that my husband shudders at. He brought me to Cafe Chopin for my first Polish restaurant experience, and that was where I learned that pierogi did not have to taste like the fried doughy cardboard slathered with sour cream that I was accustomed to in university. On a stroll in Roncesvalles a few years back, we decided to try Cafe Polonez instead of Cafe Chopin, and haven’t looked back since.

Continue reading Comfort Food At Its Best »

Starsky Foods
2040 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
905-279-8889

Being a food geek, I was truly excited when T&T Supermarket decided to expand to Toronto from Vancouver a few years back. I was enthralled by the selection of Asian candies, various tea drinks, sweet and savoury bread varieties and the always fresh produce. Now that I have married into the Polish culture, I am on the lookout for a store that can fulfil my needs of all food items Polish, similar to what T&T has for all things Chinese. My in-laws have promoted and raved about Starsky’s Foods in Mississauga ever since the first time they went last year.

Continue reading The Biggest Deli Counter in the GTA »

Granowska’s
175 Roncesvalles Avenue
416-533-7755

Last year I had dinner at a friend’s place in a Polish pocket of Toronto. She served the most tremendous pierogi I had ever had. The kind I had difficulty sharing. It had to be homemade. Nope, she said. They were from a shop “just over there,” pointing at Roncesvalles Avenue.

I decided to find this shop, with a neighbourhood tip that it was called Granowska’s. About halfway down the Roncesvalles strip, there it was. At tables inside and out, people speaking Polish were amassed drinking coffee and eating pastries. It’s no wonder why.

Continue reading In The Back Freezer at Granowska’s »

Zippie Café
1718 Queen Street West
647-723-9292
lunch for two with all taxes tip and juice (no apps): $33

In the whole debate we’ve been having in Toronto about street food, one thing seems to have been forgotten – that it should be not only delicious, but simple and easy to eat with the hands. Local chefs are looking to countries in Asia and South America for inspiration for the dishes they’ll serve at the upcoming Street Treats Fair on July 13th, but there’s one country I’ve yet to have heard mentioned, one country completely overlooked. Poland.

No doubt, readers are scratching their heads in an attempt to come up with any kind of Polish street food that isn’t kielbasa. Turns out, Polish street food has turned into café food, and a little space known as Zippie Café is turning out open-faced sandwiches known as Zippies.

Continue reading Zippity Street Food »