A food and entertainment blog for people passionate about cooking, travel, and dining experiences
While on a quick foray to Quebec’s beautiful Eastern Townships in November, we had a chance to stop over in Montreal and visited the popular Garde Manger restaurant. The first thing I will say is that this place is tricky to find, but once you do, you’re in for a real treat!
When my wife first approached me about taking a trip to Ireland to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary I thought, wow, that’s an expensive gift! However, after I got over the initial shock I said to myself, “hey, Ireland has Michelin-starred restaurants“, and I was all in. You see, although we have very high quality restaurants everywhere in Canada, we don’t get to enjoy the cool and prestigious rating system that almost every other place in world has. So, I was thrilled with the idea that I might get finally see what all the fuss was about.
We’ve been thinking about putting this one together for a while now, and with the big game right around the corner we figured why not? Let’s do a “sophisticated” Super Bowl charcuterie specifically geared to sports fans and/or major sporting events. The idea was go beyond the normal pizza, chicken wings, and chips, and pull together a bunch of top shelf finger foods, dips, and sauces (all homemade of course) that your guests will love.
In putting together my list of Essential Kitchen Tools my thoughts turned to some of the next level chef tools that I have in my kitchen. These tend to be “specialty” items that serve very specific purposes, but without which I would be deprived of the ability to take my cooking to the next level.
I’ll cut directly to the chase – tiramisu is my favourite dessert EVER! Not to overstate this too much, but I’ve loved this light, not-too-sweet, boozy dessert from the first moment I tried it more than 20 years ago. So, I’m very happy to share my go-to Tiramisu recipe.
This one holds a special place in our hearts because it’s what could be called our first “formal” dinner party. Sure, we had hosted other get togethers with friends and family, but this was the first time that we put a lot of focus and energy on the experience.
It’s been more than 2 years since we’ve had the opportunity to visit Supply & Demand in Ottawa’s Westboro neighbourhood and I’m pleased to say that the product has only gotten better with time. Our return visit was outstanding – same great service; innovative menu selections; and a cool vibe.
For as long as we can remember it has been a tradition of ours to gather with good friends and family on Christmas Eve to celebrate the holiday season. This goes way back to our teenage years when an annual trip to Uncle Art and Aunt Billie’s house was the main attraction. There was always a huge pot of homemade chili on the stove, as well as a lot of laughs.
I wanted to share some thoughts on what I consider the essential tools that every home cook (or wannabe chef) should have in their kitchen. To many, these may seem obvious, but without them even the most basic recipes could prove difficult.
I had the opportunity to visit Stofa restaurant with my family for a second time in August to celebrate my 50th birthday. Once again, the restaurant – ranked #2 on the 2019 Top Ten Best New Restaurants List from Ottawa Magazine – didn’t fail to impress.