kitchen Archives - Page 23 of 29

Three Favourite Toronto Cafés | Gabriela Hansen

Today I’ve invited a guest to share a post with you via lovely images and thoughts on 3 of her favourite Toronto cafés. Please welcome photographer and friend Gabriela Hansen and her insights on 3 must see, sit and sip spots in the city of Toronto.

Toronto is a city that abounds in culture, creativity, variety and diversity. Every city is like a tree with many branches, and Toronto has branches that range in color and texture. You can feel the different moods they evoke as you immerse yourself in each neighbourhood.

Today I’d like to share 3 of my favourite spots in the city. The first – found in Kensington Market – is Wanda’s Pie In The Sky.

Wanda Beaver, the founder of the café, baked her first pie at the age of 9, and continues to make them from the comfort of her home. The shop also sells cakes, cookies, salads, sandwiches, and of course coffee or tea.

A café that makes you feel at home, relaxed, all the while surrounded by beautiful colors and decor. It’s a combination of a pie shop and a well executed coffee shop, like grandma’s kitchen meets a youthful interior designer. A must try if you’re planning on visiting Kensington, or live around the area.

The next shop – located on Queen and Peter Street – is Little Nicky’s. Before I actually visited the café, I remember walking by it with curiosity. The location isn’t completely obvious, but once inside I was enchanted. I told my close friends about it and we have made it a regular spot for us to chat and enjoy one another’s company.

A vintage charm where the music, the décor, and everything else takes you straight back to the 50s. It’s small in size, but it’s the perfect fit.

The coffee shop is known for their delightful sugar donuts, made on the spot and in front of you for the price of only 2.75 for six, and 4 dollars for a dozen (it’s truly worth it). In my opinion this should be a landmark Toronto café.

The last café on today’s list is located on Queen West, in the design district. Nadege Patisserie is a french pastry shop where your craving for something sweet and excellent will be fulfilled. With a European background, this shop makes me giddy and never disappoints my yearnings for french gourmet pastries.

The interior is quite modern and simple, as is the arrangement of the pastries you see upon entering the café. You can also see what’s happening behind the scenes where are all the goods are made through a large glass window. I would say this is the place for treating oneself, with a macaron or two, a sandwich, or a croissant (or all three). Not only is it a feast your eyes, but it’s also a feast for your tastebuds.

For me, the macaron that has my heart is the pistachio, though all other flavours are equally as magical (blackberry chocolate, matcha green tea, cappuccino, cassis, and many more).

I hope this leaves you with a desire to go hopping from one coffee shop to the other and one branch of the city to another. I know every cafe you step into is an entirely different experience, and a grand source of inspiration.

Cheers!

– Gabriela

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|September 4th, 2012|1 Comment

Heart of The City Farmers’ Market | San Francisco

After a long day of travel, we awoke early to thick fog and the promise of adventure. With plans to see more of the sites over the next few days, we wanted to see what the local organic farming culture is all about and pick up some fresh fruit for inexpensive, healthy breakfasts for our time here. I absolutely love a local, open-air market. The beautiful sights, smells and the warm community feel are all filled with inspiration and the sense of possibility.

A little research led us to an early morning excursion to The Heart of The City Farmers’ Market at the United Nations Plaza just east of the architecturally impressive City Hall. Started 30 years ago, the spirit of this farmer’s market is amazing. Their purpose is to bring healthy, local produce and nutritional education to one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the city while sustaining small, family-operated farms. Over 75% of the food stamps used at farmer’s markets in the city are used here.

The produce is beautiful, the vendors warm and friendly, and the possibilities for the meals I could and would make every week if this market was in my neighbourhood? Endless. Here are just a few shots of the local, organic produce grown in Northern California’s good earth and on display at this Sunday morning market.

Some things were completely new to me, like these Bitter Melons above. The not so bumpy is the Chinese variety and the spiky-bumpy one is the Indian variety. Apparently it offers medicinal qualities {I think she said “good for your liver”?} and can be sauteed up with less bitter vegetables or added to soups. Their colour and texture certainly had me intrigued!

I cannot describe my excitement when we came upon this local honey farm’s offerings. Totally raw {unpasteurized}, their honey is available in a variety of different flavours based on where the bees collect their pollen. I simply had to bring some home and promise to bring you a follow-up post about the 3 flavours we decided to compare.

My guys fell head-over-heels for the cheese from this local, artisinal dairy.

These Dapple Dandy Pluots {a grafted marriage of plums and apricots} were this morning’s breakfast. Their red, juicy flesh is like candy. Incredible! Also like candy to me? The Asian Pears below. Yum. The browner ones tend to be sweeter, so look for more of a caramel-tanned colour when selecting yours.

Tomorrow morning we’ll be having these organic Queen Flavour Pluots for breakfast. I hope they live up to their name!

I wish you could smell the aromatic goodness of all of the herbs piled high on the tables in stall after stall. They had me swooning and wishing desperately I had a kitchen at my disposal while here in San Francisco! So many flavours, so little time.

The view to City Hall from the market in United Nations Plaza.

The splendor and variety of this vendor’s orchids were spectacular.

And the fresh dates…OH the fresh dates. I’m hoping to pop back on Wednesday before we leave the city for a bigger stash to bring home. Glorious sweet goodness. Perfect finish to a nice savoury meal.

The colours, shapes and textures of nature really are art in real life.

I hope this leaves you inspired to explore the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of your own local market! The experience is well worth the effort of searching one out, and the fresh flavours that will no doubt come from your kitchen as a result will be more than pleasing to the palate.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|September 3rd, 2012|1 Comment

Balzac’s | The Lost Art of The Daily Ritual

Any good design excursion requires fuel. The process of gathering together fresh ideas, new materials and exciting products can spend energy faster than you realize, all swept up in the moment of inspiration. But when the realization hits, it is imperative to have a well-mapped layout of the city’s best coffee shops on hand for immediate action. There is no underestimating the urgency of this situation when it hits, and the need for REALLY good coffee at a moment like this is a serious matter. One of my favourite “suppliers,” nestled in the heart of the Distillery District, is the artisinal coffee roaster and neighbourhood café Balzac’s.

If, like me, you believe that daily rituals can be art, then Balzac’s is the place for you. With their exposed brick walls, vintage signage everywhere and industrial lighting mixed with antique chandeliers, the environment is the perfect backdrop for great conversation and great ideas. Not to mention that they present their lattés as coffee art {one of my favourite touches}.

Named after the French 19th century novelist whose prolific satirical works were said to be fuelled by endless cups of strong, black coffee, Balzac’s coffee culture is steeped in history while meeting the needs of the modern day joe-junkie.

It almost seems a shame to drink it at first! But it would be even more shameful to waste that slow-roasted goodness. And getting to the bottom of each cup {for me} is a ritual of seeing how my coffee art unravels with every sip. I try to have at least the tip of the milk-foam leaf left at the bottom of the cup as testament to where we began {just for fun, of course}. And then – fear not – I drink that, too.

An empty cup and a filled tank, ready for more adventures. Where do you get your fuel fix? Tell me about your favourite and inspired coffee shops and local eateries {and how you turn some of your daily rituals into art}. I’ll add your favourites to my ever-expanding “emergency map.”

xo
s.

All photographs by the lovely Gabriela Hansen

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|August 31st, 2012|5 Comments