A Delicious Sammich!

I tasted this recently, on a day at the beach (Long Island Beach to be exact).  It was truly wonderful!  My friend got it from Parisi Bakery in NoLIta.  It was ham, American cheese, tomatoes and some freshly-cracked black pepper on a round, semolina roll.  The heat from the sun melted out the cheese a little by the time we were ready to eat the sandwich and actually made the sandwich really perfect.  I've also heard their peppers are really delicious too.

Parisi Bakery

198 Mott St
(between Kenmare St & Spring St)

Hester Street Fair

I've heard SO much about the Hester Street Fair over the past year. I finally checked it out a few weeks ago with some friends. And BOY am I glad I did. The fair was amazing!!! Granted, it was a lot tinier than I expected. However, the quality of the vendors more than made up for the lack in size. I have to admit that there are a few hit-or-misses - I'm definitely not a fan of the too-dry pulled pork sandwich for example. However, I did love the mini cupcakes (wish I remembered the name of the stall) and the shrimp roll from Luke's Lobster.

Luke Lobster Bar's shrimp roll - really fresh and sweet little baby shrimp on a hot, buttered roll:



The swedish meatballs with help-yourself pickles, help-yourself lingonberry sauce and boiled baby potatoes - the meatballs tasted really home-made but were a tad crumbly/dry. The gravy was delicious. The pickles went super well with the rich gravy. The lingonberry sauce also went well with the dish:



The cupcake lady/stall - her cupcakes were my favorite, especially the cupcake with passionfruit buttercream. The little bite-sized cakes were really moist and the french buttercream she uses on all her cupcakes were literally the icing that topped the cake:



The passionfruit french buttercream cupcake from the cupcake lady/stall - OH that French buttercream is sooo wonderful!!!!:



Melt Bakery's ice cream sandwiches and ice cream baklava sandwich - I didn't get to try these but I thought the baklava ice cream sandwich must be really decadent:



The macaron parlor - the macarons were overall so-so.  The flavors were definitely interesting (earl gray tea, passionfruit, honey butter, bacon etc) but I'm not sure if they were truly amazing in taste .... :

Toronto Ahoy!

I'm in Toronto for a few days, attending a work conference.  The food in this city is rather renown.  There is quite a lot of character, with an eclectic mix of flea and farmers' markets, ethnic markets, fine-dining restaurants and casual cafes.  Here are a few of my top picks this trip (in no particular order):

1. Carousel Bakery's Peameal Bacon Breakfast Sandwich:

Peameal bacon is a type of Canadian bacon that is traditionally rolled in pea meal to ensure better curing and shelf life.  These days, most peameal bacon is rolled in more commonly available corn meal.  The taste of this bacon is much leaner than regular bacon, it is still juicy, tender and briny nevertheless.  When sandwiched in a soft roll and topped with fried egg and American cheese, it's divine!

Carousel Bakery
St Lawrence Market
On Front Street East, between Jarvis and Market Streets
Closed Sundays and Mondays

2. The Canadian Sausage Cart

I LOVE getting hotdogs in Canada.  They are far and away so much better than what we typically have in New York.  The 5 reasons I love them so much:
(i) Their dogs are grilled over charcoal.
(ii) They have selections of dogs - spicy, chicken, bratwurst etc.
(iii) The buns are toasted over charcoal.
(iv) There is an array of free condiments - pickles, olives, sauerkraut, ketchup, mustard, chili sauce, bacon bits, mayonnaise (sometimes).
(v) They are all over the city!  This is not a one-off gourmet truck.

Just look:

3. Kensington Market

Northwest corner off Spadina Ave and Dundas Street West

Baldwin Street between Kensington and Augusta Avenues

This area is a collection of little stores that sell everything from edgy clothing and 70's odds-and-ends to fresh produce, meats, seafoods and baked goods.  It has a wonderful neighborhood atmosphere that blends the young and the old and is a great place to wander around and stroll in-and-out of.  It's also right next to Chinatown, so another added benefit is that you have yet another neighborhood to explore afterwards.

4. The Distillary District
This is a little far out to the east, further east after St Lawrence Market.  It is walkable from St Lawrence Market on a nice day.  It is a restored distillary area.  The warehouse facades are still largely maintained, giving the whole area a really nice feel of old and modern.  One of the best foodie stops in this area is Soma Chocolates - a gourmet chocolate shope.  You MUST get a cup of Bicerin while you are there.  It is a wonderful concoction of hot espresso, chocolate and cream, soo yummy.  They have some really good chocolate confections too.  There are also little bakeries and pastry shops dotted here and there, all with thoughtful selections of goodies to choose from.