Toronto BBQ Week 2016

Toronto BBQ Week is happening this week! From June 6-12, BBQ restaurants will be teaming up with Samuel Adams Beer to offer a $15 BBQ and Beer deal. Each restaurant will be serving Samuel Adams Boston Lager, a robust lager that compliments the rich flavours of BBQ. I got a chance to preview 3 of these spots with a few of my friends- @goodfoodjess, @doctornom and @gooddrinkstoronto! We went on our own #BBQWeekTO tour on sunday night. 

Greenwood Smokehouse on the Danforth was our first stop. They served Smoked Pastrami Short Ribs on mashed cauliflower. Amazingly tender smoked ribs on the bone. I highly recommend this one, tasted great with beer. $15 for Toronto BBQ Week (includes a pint of Samuel Adams Boston Lager)

 We then headed to AAA Public House in East Chinatown, where we got to enjoy another round of beers on their sun filled Patio. For Toronto BBQ Week, they are featuring a Chopped Brisket Sandwich. Brisket is sautéed in BBQ sauce and served with a pickle and spicy pepper on top. $15 for Toronto BBQ Week (includes a pint of Samuel Adams Boston Lager) 

Our last stop of the night was Hogtown Smoke in The Beaches. Everyone was feeling pretty full, until they brought out a super juicy Texas-Style Brisket Sammie! Oh man, this sandwich was delicious and came with choice of creamy coleslaw, purple coleslaw or fries . The cuts of brisket were quite fatty and had some tasty burnt ends. $15 for Toronto BBQ Week (includes a pint of Samuel Adams Boston Lager) 

We had a great time restaurant hopping at these BBQ spots and you can do your own #BBQWeekTO tour this week too! Check out more info at torontobbqweek.com and here is a list of the participating restaurants : 

AAA Public House 
Barque Butcher Bar 
Beer Bistro 
Boots & Bourbon 
Broncos 
Campagnolo 
Dog & Bear 
Greenwood Smokehouse BBQ 
Hogtown Smoke 
Pai 
Parts & Labour 
Patois 
Pukka 
Smoque N Bones 
The Harbord Room

Contest Alert: Menchie's Scratch & Win

Spring is in the air and frozen yogurt is the perfect treat when it’s hot out. If you have eaten at Menchie’s before, you have probably experienced some of their 128 froyo flavours and 50+ toppings. Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt is launching a few new products this spring including 100% natural fruit smoothies and a new Skor frozen yogurt flavour. 

They are running a contest with digital Scratch and Win cards where you can win instant win prizes or a grand prize 7 night trip for 2 to to the 5-star Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa in the Mayan Riviera. No purchase necessary and you can access the digital scratch card contest in the link below . When participants scratch, they’re scratching for instant win prizes including froyo discounts and each entry will also receive a pin to enter for the grand prize contest. The contest runs until Sunday May 15, 2016 11:59 EST. The instant win discounts can be used at any of the 106 Menchie’s locations across Canada. Menchie’s yogurt products are gluten-free, vegan, kosher certified and you can even get custom made cakes frozen yogurt and toppings. 

Enter Menchie’s Digital Scratch and Win Contest

Cooking with Zwilling

Written by Stephanie K aka @doctornom (Good Food Toronto guest writer) 

I have come to the unfortunate realization that I have been dicing, chopping and cutting with a DULL knife my entire life! 

I had the pleasure of attending a knife skills seminar led by Chef Jonathan Collins at the beautiful Montecito Restaurant located in the heart of the entertainment district.I walked in and noticed quirky Ghostbusters memorabilia dispersed throughout the 12,000 square foot, two-story restaurant. I later discovered Montecito Restaurant is a collaboration between Toronto native Hollywood direction Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Stripes, Meatballs) and Top Chef Master Jonathan Waxman. 

The Zwilling J.A. Henckels event was in a curtained off area upstairs with produce, cutting boards and knives in front of each seat.

We started out the skills class by learning the proper way to hold a knife so that it is an extension of your arm. The pinch grip has your thumb and index finger grasping the hilt of the knife giving maximum control. I think most people feel like cooking takes a long time from having to prep all the ingredients. But it’s really amazing how a sharp knife and proper grip make for quick and easy food preparation. 

The next part of the knives seminar was truly enlightening. That metal rod we all have that comes with our set of knives is actually called a ‘Honing Rod’ not a knife sharpener. Believe it or not we’re actually supposed to use the honing rod after every use to maintain optimal sharpness. Most people don’t, so when you’re knives get real dull that’s when a sharpening stone comes out to play. Whether you’re honing or stoning, 6 pounds of pressure is needed to sharpen your utensil effectively. You’d be surprised how much pressure 6 pounds actually is. Also, sharpening or honing at 15 degree angle is suggested but consistency is much more important. 

(President of Zwilling J.A Henckels Canada Ltd, Mrinal Sharma demonstrating 15° angle) 

Here’s a demonstration of how to use a sharpening stone. Start by wetting the stone on the coarser side and finish with the lighter less course (just like how you would sand a wall with coarse sandpaper followed by a finer one). Make sure you apply enough pressure along the entire edge of the knife creating a burr (on the opposite side) before flipping and sharpening the other edge. The burr is actually a small fold of metal that lets you know when you’ve ground the edge sharp enough. If carefully run your thumb on the opposite side you’ve been sharpening you’ll feel a slight catch from the edge, this is when you know to progress to the next side. 

After this hands on knife skills seminar, we were able to grub on some of Montecito’s signature dishes while admiring the wide array of products the The Zwilling J.A. Henckels brand carries.

Healthy Eats at Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill is the go to place for many people in Toronto for quick burritos and burrito bowls. They recently launched a nutrition calculator and pride themselves in using fresh ingredients, without artificial flavours. I’ve been on a health kick the last few months, trying to improve my eating habits (not easy as a food blogger... LoL) and Chipotle has been a great option as you can customize exactly what goes into your bowl or burrito. The nutrition caluclator on their website is very useful for customizing a healthy Chipotle meal to fit into any lifestyle. This is especially great for those who count macros, as they provide extensive nutrition info including calories, protein, carbohydrates, sugars and fats. I have listed below some tasty calorie conscious combinations for Chipotle (under 600 calories), made up of their fresh farm sourced ingredients. 

Burrito Bowl: 590 Calories 
• Chicken 
• Brown Rice 
• Fajita Vegetables 
• Roasted-Chili Corn Salsa 
• Sour Cream 
• Romaine Lettuce 

Salad: 565 Calories 
• Romaine Lettuce 
• Barbacoa 
• Fajita Vegetables 
• Fresh Tomato Salsa 
• Roasted-Chili Corn Salsa 
• Vinaigrette 

Burrito: 570 Calories 
• Tortilla 
• Sofritas 
• Fajita Vegetables 
• Roasted-Chili Corn Salsa 
• Fresh Tomato Salsa 
• Romaine Lettuce

Iögo Yogurt- Large Format Pouches

Yogurt is a big part of my diet. I eat it in the morning, but also love it as a late night healthy snack. If you live in Canada, you have probably tried or heard of Iögo yogurt. Iögo just launched new Big Format Pouches for some of their tasty yogurt flavours. The new containers use a plastic pouch with a resealable cap, which allows you to use as much as needed and keep your yogurt fresh. The packaging can hold more yogurt (750g- 975g depending on the flavour), is flexible and recyclable. You can bend and squeeze the pouches to get out every last drop of delicious yogurt! 

The big format pouches are especially convenient for cooking, making smoothies, or for people who just want a big bag of ready to eat yogurt in the fridge. Iögo’s big format pouches come in three varieties: 

Iögo Original (975g)- Original recipe of creamy yogurt. Flavours: Vanilla or Strawberry 

Iögo Probio (875g)- Probiotic yogurt with 25% less sugar than Iögo Original. Flavours: Vanilla or Strawberry 

Iögo Greek (750g)- Thick and creamy greek yogurt with 18g of protein per serving of 175g 

Iögo yogurt can be used in many recipes including smoothies and banana bread. My favourite way of eating yogurt is either by itself or mixing it with fruits and granola. Sometimes, I even like to mix different yogurts together for a really crazy snack. I recently made a Matcha Yogurt Parfait using the Iögo Original big format yogurt. This healthy yogurt treat can be eaten as breakfast, snack or even after dinner dessert. The addition of matcha green tea powder and fruits ensures you get a healthy dose of antioxidants and probiotics. Check out my Matcha Yogurt Parfait recipe and make your own at home (you can substitute items in the recipe to make your own custom Iögo yogurt parfait. 

Matcha Yogurt Parfait

Ingredients: 
300g Iögo Original Yogurt - strawberry or vanilla (~1/3 of the big format pouch) 
5 Strawberries- chopped up 
5 Blueberries 
1 Tablespoon Matcha Green Tea Powder 
1 Teaspoon Honey 

Directions: 
1. In one bowl, mix half the yogurt with the Matcha Green Tea Powder and Honey until smooth 
2. In another bowl, mix half the yogurt with the chopped up strawberries (save some chopped strawberries to garnish at the end) 3. Use a tall, clear glass or cup and carefully layer the green tea yogurt mixture and the strawberry yogurt mixture 
4. Alternate each layer, until all the yogurt is used up 
5. Garnish the top layer with the blueberries and the strawberries saved from earlier 
6. Take a picture of your creation 
7. Eat

Kinka Izakaya at Church Street

Written by Stephanie Loch and Chris Tran aka @ctfillah88 (GFT guest writer)

If you’re looking for the best authentic Japanese food in town, then Kinka Izakaya is the place. Not only is the food amazing but the service is excellent, proving their motto “serving people happiness” true! I was invited to a grand opening event there, not that the restaurant was new, it has been at 398 Church St. for a while, but the name was changed from ‘Guu Toronto’ to ‘Kinka Izakaya’ due to the ending of a franchise agreement between Kinka Family Inc. and Kitanoya Marketing Corp. The name ‘kinka’ means golden flower and symbolizes happiness in the Japanese culture. 

Our first dish was an appetizer called ‘Gomaae’. The blanched spinach was served steaming with black sesame sauce drizzled on top. The tartness of the spinach was cut by the sweetness of the sesame sauce to create a juicy combination. The deep green also contrasted nicely against the black oil dressing.

Our next dish was hokkaido scallop sashimi called ‘hotate carpaccio’. It was served cold and had a wasabi dressing which added a refreshing kick. It was garnished very nicely with grated beet and lemon. 

After that we had ‘Gyu shabu salad’. This salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, red, yellow and green peppers, and purple cabbage, the colours of the rainbow! Shabu-shabu beef was set on top with black sesame dressing. The beef was thinly sliced so each bite had a good ratio of meat to salad. 

Moving on to the heavier dishes we had ‘karaage’, which is deep fried chicken. It was so tender and flavourful because it was marinated in soy sauce. The pieces of chicken were bite size so you could pop them in your mouth like popcorn if you like. Yes they were that good! But don’t forget to dip them in the garlic mayo dipping sauce before!

Next we had ‘kakimayo’ which is baked oyster with spinach and mushrooms. The oysters were dressed with a garlic mayo and topped with melted cheese. Literally mouthwatering! 

Our next meaty dish was grilled beef short ribs known as ‘karubi’. They were seasoned with salt and pepper to bring out the real grilled flavour of the beef. The scallions dipping sauce added some extra flavour. The meat just fell off the bone! 

‘Gindara’ was my personal favorite if I had to choose. This grilled black cod was marinated in miso as cod does not have a very strong flavor on its own. This gave the cod a buttery texture that was ‘oh so tender’. A yuzu miso sauce was also drizzled on top to really make this dish delicious. Our last main dish was called ‘buta kimchi bibimbap’ (pictured at top of article). It was served beautifully in a scorching stone bowl filled with rice (which created a delicious crust on the bottom), ground pork, kimchi, assorted vegetables and egg. The way it came sizzling to us added to the experience of this dish. The egg was soft inside so once broken it became like a creamy spicy sauce when combined with the kimchi. 

Finally dessert! We were pretty full and satisfied by this point but there’s always room for dessert. This was a smooth almond tofu that left the palate feeling cool and fresh. 

To wash it all down we had to try their beer mojitos which were served in big Sapporo mugs. A bubbly beverage with a hint of mint and lime made this drink dangerous! All in all, Kinka Izakaya is as authentic as it gets! With a loud and busy atmosphere you’d swear you had just stepped across the Pacific and into one of the best Japanese restaurants around. The kitchen is open so you can watch with amazement as the chefs cook up these delightful dishes and share them with you. Also you may pick up some Japanese during your visit there as you’re welcomed with a warm “Kon’nichiwa!” and parted with “sayonara!” Can’t wait to go back again or try their other locations including one in Montreal.

Kinka Izakaya Original
398 Church St.
(416) 977-0999
www.kinkaizakaya.com

21 Day #HealthyAroma Challenge Results

I recently completed the #healthyaroma challenge and I must say, I feel great. For 21 straight days, I ate 2 meals from Aroma Espresso Bar each day. My diet consisted of high protein, low carb meals and my goal was to improve my lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise. For the third meal of each day, I tried my best to eat mindfully at food events or cooked healthy high protein, low carb meals. The #healthyaroma challenge was very successful as I was able to lose 13 lbs in 21 days. During this time, I also started an exercise program of cardio and strength training 3-4 days a week, including some pickup basketball. Check out the before and after pictures below. Pretty siginificant changes over the 21 days! Keep in mind that before the challenge, I had just gained some weight from a trip to Asia where I ate an insane amount of delicious food.

Day 1

Day 13

Day 21- lost a total of 13 lbs!

I approached my friends at Aroma Espresso Bar because I knew Aroma had a wide variety of healthy food options including a great selection of salads that would help me achieve my goal. One of the hardest parts about going on a healthy eating diet is meal prep and leaving this part to Aroma made it much easier. They have locations all around Toronto from downtown all the way to Vaughan and Markham, which was convenient for me as I spend my time travelling all over the city for food events and work as a physiotherapist. I was able to visit 14 different Aroma’s in the 21 days. I tried many different healthy items from their menu, including all 11 of their Salads, the Aroma Power Breakfast, Organic Oatmeal, Muesli and their Breakfast on the Go. Nutritional information for each menu item is available on their website which made it easy to help track what I was eating. There were a few items I enjoyed so much that they became a staple in my #healthyaroma diet. Here are my top 5 favourite healthy food items at Aroma Espresso Bar:

1. Aroma Hash- An all day Mediterranean style breakfast option with chicken, turkey and potato hash on top of arugula with a sunny side up egg on top of fresh in store baked bread. All of this sits on a layer of yogurt, sprinkled with za’atar spices and served with syrup and lemon olive oil dressing. You get a little bit of everything and the syrup tastes great but is optional if you want to be super healthy!
   
2. Aroma All-Day Power Breakfast- This was my go to item whenever I had the time to sit down and eat at the Aroma locations. The All-Day Power Breakfast is served with 2 eggs (any style), mixed greens, chopped tomato and cucumber salad, shredded carrots, a scoop of cream cheese, a scoop of feta, a scoop of avocado spread, 5 olives and your choice of fresh baked bread (I opted out of the bread almost every time to stick to my low carb, high protein diet) 
   
3. Warm Chickpea Salad- This was definitely my favourite salad from Aroma. A salad loaded with chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley, hardboiled egg, garlic croutons (I skipped the croutons during this challenge). It is served with a lemon olive oil dressing and tahini. The tahini, which is basically ground sesame paste really compliments this salad.
   
4. Freekeh Salad- This is one of the newer salads on their menu and incorporates many healthy ingredients. The Freekeh salad is Aroma’s most colourful salad and consists of freekeh (a super grain), black quinoa, sprouted brown rice, organic baby kale, tomato, cucumber, carrot, pickle, red onion, parsely, za’atara seasoning and a scoop of labneh cheese (a thick, creamy Mediterranean yogurt based cheese). It is served with their lemon olive oil dressing. I loved the variety of ingredients, especially the labneh cheese and pickles that add a lot of flavour to the salad. Each of these salads contains 7.4 grams of fibre! 
   
5. Aroma Special Salad- I really enjoyed eating the Aroma Special Salad as a post workout meal. It’s a protein packed salad with mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, red onion, hardboiled egg, olives and your choice of flaked albacore tuna or feta cheese. Tastes best if you get half tuna and half feta! It’s also served with a low fat balsamic dressing. 

Customization! Added Smoked Salmon to the Aroma
Special Salad!

There are lots of excellent healthy food options at Aroma Espresso Bar and customization is also available. You can substitute or add items to your meal like chicken, steak, tuna, cheese, avocado, or smoked salmon. Although I focused mainly on their salads, they also have a nice selection of sandwiches and soups. Throughout the diet, I skipped all of their delicious baked pastries but those alfajore cookies were super tempting every time I stepped into an Aroma store. It was not easy for someone like me to get through these 21 days. I love food a lot and am fortunate enough to be able to attend many food events and tastings where I did cheat a few times. The first few days were especially difficult as I had to fight cravings for snacking, but it did get easier and results were very encouraging. The real challenge will be to continue this healthy eating and active lifestyle. I lost 13 lbs and overall I feel more energetic and stronger. Aside from losing weight, I hope that this can help me kick start a healthier lifestyle long term and inspire anyone else to do the same. Special thanks to Loren from Aroma who helped make this happen! I had lots of fun sharing this project on Instagram and Snapchat and thanks to everyone who followed and especially those who supported!

21 Day #HealthyAroma Challenge

Over the past few years as a food blogger, I have been very fortunate in having the opportunity to try restaurants around Toronto and attend media events on a weekly basis. I attend food events often, sometimes everyday of the week and it has led me to develop some unhealthy eating habits. On top of that, I recently came back from a trip to Asia, where I went a little crazy with all the delicious food and I gained 15 pounds. I run a Physiotherapy clinic (Good Physiotherapy) full time in addition to food blogging- a busy lifestyle that has taken a toll on my health. One of my goals this year is to improve my lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise.

I have enlisted some help from my friends at Aroma Espresso Bar to help me achieve this goal through the #healthyaroma Challenge. For the next 21 days, I will be eating 2 meals a day at Aroma Espresso Bar locations around Toronto. I will be exploring Aroma’s extensive salad menu and some of their healthy soup and sandwich items. My other meals and snacks will be left open for home cooking or watching what I eat at food events. As a Physiotherapist, I always preach active exercise, and I will be incorporating a progressive cardio and strength training program to my 21 day challenge. During this time, I will still be covering food in Toronto, but with a healthier focus. Follow me on Instagram (@goodfoodtoronto) and Snapchat (goodfoodtoronto) for daily updates! 


Check out Aroma’s full food menu and nutritional information here.

Review: Francobollo Posto Italiano

Francobollo Posto Italiano is a modern Italian restaurant, just north of downtown Toronto. They have been open for 1 year and are the newest restaurant introduced by Substance Food Group. I had a great time reviewing Terra, Substance Food Group’s flagship restaurant, so I came into this meal with high expectations. We reserved a table with fellow food lovers Clara and Monica from The Food Sisterhood so that we could share and try more dishes! Francobollo Posto Italiano is located in the upscale Avenue Road neighbourhood. The restaurant’s decor is very sheek and has a clean, modern feel throughout the narrow building that also gives it a homely ambiance. They have a nice selection of wines that are proudly displayed on the wall, which is where we started the night. There was a wide variety of menu items including some classic Italian dishes and lots of great seafood! 

For appetizers, we ordered the Calamari Fritti, Buratta “Oscar”, Polipo Sottovuoto and the Cuori d’Anatra. Gotta love the Italian menu names! The Calamari Fritti was a crispy fried calamari with horseradish and sea salt. The Burrata “Oscar” was delicious and consisted of a giant piece of domestic Burrata cheese dressed up with charred asparagus, snow crab, roasted lobster bisque, dried tomato and almond pesto. The Polipo Sottovuoto was another favourite at our table- a 75° octopus dish with quinoa, butter lettuce, orange-red-onion-caper-mint salsa, all plated beautifully on a red endive. Duck hearts are rarely seen on Toronto menus, so we had to try the Cuori d’Anatra. This dish used pan seared free range duck hearts, roasted Brussels sprouts, guanciale and 10 year old balsamic. 

We decided to try more seafood for the mains, as a Grilled Whole Seabream and Filet of Mediterranean Sea Bass were both available as daily specials. Both were tasty, however the seabream was especially impressive as a whole fish dish. Very fresh flavours as both fish were well seasoned and were accompanied with local veggies. Francobollo has a wide selection of pasta, and we decided to try the Linguini Vongole, an Italian classic made with manila clams, fresh tomatoes, parsley, white wine and aglio olio e peperoncino. Again, fresh ingredients stood out in each bite. We also ordered the 8 oz Grilled Angus Beef Tenderloin Steak with Bone Marrow and Wild mushrooms. This was a really nice cut of beef with a big chunk of roasted Bone Marrow. 

If you like desserts, Francobollo does not disappoint. Their selection of desserts changes daily, so we had to try all the featured desserts. I really enjoyed the house made Tiramisu and the fresh baked Apple Turnover. There was also a Pistachio Cheesecake and 2 types of Tartufo- double chocolate and salted caramel. If you find dessert choices difficult, sometimes you just have to order them all. Treat yourself. 

Since we were dining with fellow bloggers from The Food Sisterhood, our cameras were out in full force! I couldn’t have gotten these bright shots without some creative lighting help from Clara. It’s always more fun to eat with friends, especially when exploring Francobollo’s extensive menu. Francobollo Posto Italiano is a great choice for all occasions, with top notch service and impressive modern Italian dishes, heavy on seafood.

Francobollo Posto Italiano 

1959 Avenue Rd 

North York, ON M5M 2M5 

(416) 481-3888