the torontonian way

Probably our only salvation from lame Offtarian life is Toronto, even if still not comparable to Syd City.

valentino

It happens to be that "romantic" day of the year, according to the marketers of the world hoping to make tons of money around this "special" date; nothing else than "true love"...

Even the national institution Tim Hurts has its own formula for celebrating love. And the closer you look, the more sweet love you get.

Luckily there are other less chainable choices to have a little healthier fun around this "lovely" date. This Torontonian flat white helped dissolving all sorts of excessive sugar.

After a few calamitous coffee experiments at Tim Hurts or Starfucks during the previous months, Dark Horse has become a real morning star.

Lunch on Gilead was an additional Valentino reaffirmation. They had this glaced kind of shortbread Heart Jam Jam cookie to translate the deep meaning of this passionate Thursday.

oyster girl

Queen Street West is becoming a quite attractive destination for hungry stomachs. A recent trip took us to the home of mollusks in Toronto.

Coming from both the East and the West coast, an stimulating variety of oysters is growing as way to start, or sometimes finish, our dinners.

The right tool helps a lot, when it comes to enjoy these mollusks for the masses in a domestic enviroment.

the long way home

After a long day in the office, nothing better than a fresh walk through town, even if that is, as Roger Hodgson has been singing for over three decades, the long way home.

The nice fillet of Atlantic halibut we got that morning on Queen Street East was waiting at home to vertebrate our supper.

winterlicious

It's been six years since I last saw this much snow. Now I am here and the white fluffy stuff is all here, very white and very cold.

Perhaps not too bad for the local standards, but a temperature of -14.5 C is significantly noticeable for a coastal Spaniard.

the manhattan transfer

This recent visit to New York City was full of music, and a good portion of it was nothing but legendary tunes. The first serve came from no other than Bettye LaVette, who was celebrating her fifty years on stage. She was in incredibly good shape, and her dramatic voice was tremendously moving.

Colin Stetson provided a solid performance at The Bitter End; there is no question about his extraordinary lungs.

The last part of our Saturday evening was coronated by the great Macy Gray, who delivered a fabulous show at The Iridium club, together with David Murray's big band.

Roger Hodgson -the voice of Supertramp- played on Sunday and he sounded as clear as if we were back in the late 70s. Hits like "Dreamer" or "Breakfast in America" made this gig at the City Winery a memorable one. 

After a refreshing bottle of Gramona cava, Momofuku Ko was waiting for us to enjoy our best meal in town. Joshua took care for us through an extremely well done menu which included Shigoku oysters from Washington state, caviar from Illinois or txakolí from Euskadi.

Back in Ontarian territories, this month of January kept its musical interest with some additional back-to-the-past moments, even if not that far away. All the way from Seattle, Matt Cameron's primary band rocked Toronto. Soundgarden proved to be real grunge heroes. Dinner at Momofuku Daisho afterwards was a nice ending, but far away from the Ko superb show in Manhattan.

Two days ago, January 29, it was Nelly Furtado, all the way from Victoria (BC), playing her cavaquinho at Centre In The Square. A really different show from the one I saw with Lynn during a sunny afternoon in Glastonbury nine years ago...

brooklyn calling

I can't remember my first trip to Brooklyn, so I guess I wasn't very impressed at the time. Last week was different. The colourful landscape together with the old decaying architecture made it feel much more special, including the captivating street art. I particularly fell in love with this tank and its "Corporate America" flag.

After telling Ross I wanted to visit the Mast Brothers chocolate factory, he suggested having lunch at La Superior, a modest place on Berry St., where we initiated an admirable Mexican style digestion, served by Catalan hands.

Nothing better than a margarita to focus my brain on this brand new BrookMex experience.

An eclectic list of tacos was the centre of attention for both of us: Chorizo Toluqueño, Rajas y Hongos (roasted poblano peppers and mushrooms with epazote, grilled), Cochinita Pibil (slow cooked pork in banana leaves), Pescado Zarandeado (non-fried fish, topped with pico) or Taco de Lengua were some of the most intriguing ones.

Chorizo Toluqueño happens to be house made -from scratch- sauteed chorizo with serrano peppers. A beautiful one to stare at for a little while.

Our last stop was off Berry St. Not even thirty metres away we found Mast Brothers headquarters; some sort of relaxing chocolate heaven.