ass phil

An always favourite red, all the way from Gippsland and delivered to our door by the winemaker wizard himself -Mr. Jones-, made my weekend.

Together with a gentle and tasty pieces of meat from Rowe Farms, our Saturday dinner was set to reach a phenomenal mark.

Lynne's very own salsa verde and potato salad completed a perfect chemistry through the whole meal.

china hill

It has taken us a long time finding decent Chinese food in TOroNTO, but finally today we made it all the way up to Richmond Hill, and our dis-encouraging Offtarian history changed.

Lau's standards I guess are really hard to reach, but considering the grey surroundings we've been happening to suffer for the last three years, this was kind of an unexpected surprise.

pacific goodness

Yesterday, for the first time ever in Offtario, I saw alive spot prawns. It almost felt like a magical moment. I could not believe it. I first noticed they had their heads on, what is kind of unusual, but I soon realized they were actually moving.

Apparently we still had some nutritious grapes we got in Montreal last Saturday. And coincidentally they were Victorian ones, more than adequate for this Queen Victoria weekend. 

Apparently these beautiful prawns are now in season, and I was told we will be able to find them for the next three or four weeks. Our Hooked favourite man even added they come from the Tofino area in British Columbia.

So, this unplanned Pacific combo worked quite smoothly, even if from two opposite corners of the big ocean we flew over a few dozen times.

salsa verde preaching

A beautiful piece of meat for a Tuesday dinner felt like a perfect choice for trying a bottle of 2008 Predicador (Spanish meaning for preacher), from the Contador winery. The same one which produces Qué Bonito Cacareaba in La Rioja. Of course we had to find both bottles in Québec since the retarded monopoly in Offtario -LCBO, aka Liquid Crap for Boring Ontario- only sells disgusting alcohol, for the most part.

This month of May has somehow gravitated around two unusual elements in our diet: salsa verde and gin. 

gin variations (ii)

Being back on the Big Turtle I thought it made sense trying a few local distilled goods, which for the most part go beyond the London style I often enjoy, specially when it comes to G&Ts. 

Perhaps for that reason we went on to experiment with a number of fruit-based concoctions, which we happily referred to as cocktails. They took us through diverse places of the North American geography: Montreal, Portland, Seattle and California.

Raspberries, blackberries, limes, mint..., they all made it a fabulous start into  renovated spring mode.

fishfaced from the distance

As of today Monday the 11th of May, and after a long list of fabulous meals, it appears that Fish Face is no longer operating or, as they wrote, it has ceased trading.

In a superb Fish Face style, last Saturday we had a remarkable halibut with salsa verde and asparagus, together with a delicious bottle of 2012 Qué Bonito.

bageling

Friday morning started by Place Victoria, at a very noisy Café Differance. For some reason the fire alarm went off, and it did not stop until I was basically  done with my flat white.

A productive visit to the SAQ on rue St-Catherine followed the slow start of a hot and sunny day, which reached 32C according to the car´s thermometer. 

The first solid elements to hit our mouths were a few warm sesame bagels I got at St-Viateur. Cream cheese was the chosen partner for this multicultural experience.

la belle province

Last Thursday for the first time in years we drove all the way up to La Belle Province. It was worth it, every single kilometre.

I had with me a long list of liquid goods to achat at the SAQ, which fortunately for Quebecers has a rather interesting selection of very decent wines, unlike the Offtarian LCBO.