Ba Noi Tro

With the pandemic, it's been a bit of a Wild West in the food industry as people look for ways to earn a living. On Instagram, there are numerous "catering" businesses operating out of a personal kitchen. Obviously that contravenes official food safety laws and guidelines. New ventures also operate in pop-up locations such as Bread Head (White Squirrel Coffee) or Afrobeat Kitchen (Caravan Tea House). Since food inspection has been on hold in Toronto over the last year, you could argue that buying food made in commercial kitchens guarantees nothing. So a distinction without a difference.

These newish businesses do get a lot of buzz though including new bakery Ba Noi (father's mother in Vietnamese). An Tran took over his father's printing press location near Bloor and Shaw. He was already in the process of renovating and installing kitchen equipment. Covid killed any official openings but since bills need to get paid, Tran has been taking pre-orders for his sourdough bread and other baked goods. He has been selling out (though that may be because the store only opens a few times a week).

I finally went to Ba Noi on Saturday to buy a few items. I wasn't surprised that bread wasn't available for drop-ins. But I did snag chocolate chip cookies ($2.50) and butter tarts ($3). The cookies were crispier than most hipster bakeries (Night Baker, Baker Bots) who tend to go for soft and gooey. I liked them especially since they were less sweet.

But I loved the butter tarts. These national desserts are an obsession in Canada yet I have never had one. So I can't compare these to any ideals. But the runny (but only lightly sweet) filling was a nice contrast to the buttery crust. I wasn't as fond of the crunchy caramelized top. This is only a personal preference as I have a horror of food that sticks to teeth. Other people may enjoy the little bursts of sugar that liven up the palate.

Once things settle back to normal, it will be interesting if Ba Noi and its brethen can maintain the momentum. But my experience tells me that the trendy crowd is fickle and once the novelty is off, they'll have to slog at it like any other restaurant. And even then it's a crap shoot in the long-run (RIP: Dundas Park Kitchen, Through Being Cool, Bloordale Pantry, Steambox Dumplings).

Chop Shop

A few weeks ago, I watched chef Kenji make a NY loose meat sub known as the chopped cheese. So I was excited to discover via Instagram that vegan outfit Harlem Bodega has set up shop in Little Portugal near Dundas St. W and Dovercourt. And one of their specialties was a meat-free version of this sandwich. So on Friday, I headed over to give it a try.

It turns out that they had moved from North York about 2 weeks ago to take over a basement speakeasy called The Libertine. It was next-door to Remix where I saw 90s cover group Hi-Topp. But since the entrance was a non-descript door with a tarot sign, I had no idea a bar was even here. Harlem has helpfully placed a sandwich board on the sidewalk.

Their menu was quite small: a handful of options plus a lasagna special. But I was here for a BBQ chopped cheese ($16.50) and some fries ($3.75). It was a messy but very delicious eat. I don't know if they make their own "beef" but it had a great mouth-feel. Oddly enough, what sealed the deal for me was the nice crunchy pickle slices. The fries were excellent too: crispy and lightly spiced. I much prefer this sort of "unhealthy vegan" food than at The Hogtown Vegan. I look forward to sampling more of their menu.

Is It A Chicken?

The corner at College and Dovercourt hosted popular hipster diner Hadley's for several years before rising rent shut them down. I never bothered with the short-lived outpost of pasta joint Levetto (and apparently Toronto never cared about this chain either as they are down to 1 location). Its fine dining replacement, Faim de Loup, lasted even shorter. I thought numerous times about trying its pricey tasting menu but the semi-random opening hours (and usually only twice a week) scuttled my plans.

There have been renovation activities in recent weeks though. So with outdoor dining now allowed in Toronto, on Thursday I sat down at one of the 3 tables of Gonzo Izakaya's sidewalk patio. Its menu offered more full-meal dishes like donburi and udon than the usual array of small plates of other izakayas. For lunch, I chose Ebi Okonomiyaki ($11) and Kakiage Tempura ($6).

I don't often eat Japanese pancake and this one was tasty if not exceptional. But I did enjoy the variety of flavours of shrimp, cabbage, batter, mayo, sauce, and bonito flakes. However, I loved the tempura. The shredded vegetables added a lot of crispiness to typical tempura. It was almost like eating string fries. Overall, this new place seems promising.

Too Much of Something

My great experience with Afrobeat Kitchen reminded me that around the corner at Bloor and Lansdowne there was an established business called Cassava African Grill House. When I dropped by on Wednesday, I was initially nonplussed when a South Asian chef greeted me. I thought to order the daily special: jollof rice with fish or chicken. But instead I opted for Egusi stew ($11) and a side of jollof ($6).

The menu description of the side dish as steamed rice with salsa was possibly a mistranslation. All rice are cooked via water (i.e., steamed) but this has also been worked over with oil and spices. It was a good plate and I would probably return to Cassava for this.

The stew was a big struggle for me. I hesitate to negatively rate someone's cultural dish, as opposed to some chef's invention, but the egusi was a hard-sell. The immediate aroma was strong and off-putting. I couldn't quite place its unpleasant but oddly familiar smell. Then I made the association with the live barnyard smell of a farm or an agricultural fair.

The mashed melon and gourd seeds with fish chunks may be good on its own. But the seafood flavour often clashed with that of the beef, goat, and chicken pieces. The meat were uniformly tough and hard to chew. At first, it had a smokey sausage feel (making the stew reminiscent of caldo verde) but that good taste didn't last long. Overall, without that jollof rice and some extra veggies from my fridge, I wouldn't have finished the egusi.

I have returned to Afrobeat for some incredible jollof (with chicken) and had planned on sampling its Egusi entrée, too. It will be interesting to try a different take on this dish and hopefully, I will have an easier time of it.

The evening did end on a high note as I enjoyed Uma Nota's online show with Ahmed Moneka, his newly-arrived sister Tara, and numerous musicians playing Middle-Eastern (Iraqi) and Afro-inspired songs.

Update (04/04/2021): On Easter Sunday, I finally had Egusi from Afrobeat Kitchen. The chicken was definitely superior, the aroma muted, but the taste was still strong if less pungent than Casava. This dish is not for everyone. I eventually got used to it and actually enjoyed the leftovers mixed with with steamed rice and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. I think as a side to a neutral base is the way to make it appealing to the North American palate.

On The Cusp

On Sunday, I visited The Junction at Keele and Dundas St. W., a neighbourhood I missed on Saturday. It has been 3 years since I dropped by. Starting from Bloor St. W. new buildings were going up along Dundas. Being an industrial stretch, there weren't too many landmarks being demolished. But it wasn't clear if the local businesses on the West side will benefit.

As Dundas curved toward Keele past Annette, the view improved dramatically. The Junction, stretching along Dundas from Annette to High Park, used to enforce a dry law even as late as the 1990s. It still retained something of that turn of the century feel. The streetscape was even prettier than famous roads like Queen St. W. Not only were the old buildings kept in good shape but grandiose anchors like Campbell Block has been beautifully restored. So the modern condo that housed a huge LCBO stood out like a sore thumb.

Just off Keele St. I stepped into a Vietnamese diner called Tâm. Looking over the short menu, I chose a green papaya salad ($5.50) and a fried noodle dish ($8.00). I then made my way past specialty grocery Sweet Potato and self-storage Public Storage on Vine St. to eat my lunch at the parkette. For the salad, instead of the traditional beef jerky I opted for dried mushroom jerky. This veggie substitute had a good chew with a hint of sweetness and went well with the crunchiness of the julienned papaya. But I think more chopped herbs would add variety and act as a palate cleanser. The noodle dish was typical of any Asian restaurant: nothing mind-blowing but it tasted great going down.

To work off some of that filling lunch, I made my way South to High Park Station through the side streets. The houses were generally upscale and well-maintained. Paradoxically, they became smaller and scruffier as I approached Bloor St. W.

Spring Free

With a bright and sunny first day of Spring, and a loosening of restrictions despite climbing COVID cases, it seems that all of Toronto was outside on Saturday. I had planned for a walk around several neighbourhoods but I ran into a friend with multiple shopping bags. She was filling up a literal barrel of goods to ship back to family in Eritria via an import/export business catering to the local Ethiopian diaspora. I helped her carry them home and we had a nice lunch of avocado sandwiches.

Afterwards, I continued my walk and saw workers building makeshift patios or just plopping out some chairs and tables. And people were eagerly waiting for a spot. Other stores from the record shop to the bakery had line-ups. Down a garage lane, a giant plushed cat basked in the crook of a tree. Later on, I decided to have a meat dish for dinner, a rarity for me. While waiting for my jollof rice from Afrobeat Kitchen, I noticed that the patios were still in full swing along Bloor St. W.

This dish was a great choice. I had eaten this dish a while back in the East End. That main was good but nothing like this fragrant, smoky version. Even the white, boneless chicken meat was savoury and rich. So I justified to myself that I had a light lunch and finished off the whole entrée.

With Spring already here, it seemed odd to watch the final Youtube stream of the arts festival Long Winter. But there wasn't much else to do at night. In any case, I have a soft spot for Laura Barrett, one of the first local musician I followed. Long Winter online was in numerous ways better than the live version. For one thing, it ends around 9:30 instead of just getting started at that time. Also, they have always hosted art installations along with the musical acts. But at a venue, these tend to be ignored. Finally, even if the crowd has dwindled since its hey-day, there was still enough chatter that most performances are drowned out.

Online, the chatter moves to text chats which you can participate in but can also easily tune out. The art pieces were all videos but you can watch them with less distraction. Even the musical performances were mostly video collaborations. So Barrett debuted a new video made with Jared Sales for Museum Tour Guide, a track from her upcoming album. After a 10 hiatus before releasing new material in 2019, this was a surprising announcement. Zinnia showcased a quirky pas-a-deux shot at Bloordale Beach during the winter. There were also more art-heavy videos from Maylee Todd and most striking of all, one called Molecular Meditation from Mexican-based artist Orly Anan, all undulating and fractal images, built around a shimmering soundscapes of Spanish poetry and Asian instruments (Brandon Miguel Valdivia). Local collective Uma Nota was also able to highlight several Brazilian acts. These additions were welcomed since I find past Long Winter shows, like many other indie shows I have attended, rarely included non-white artists.

Tapis Suprême

Tapioca Local Kitchen

On a bright, pleasant Saturday I took a stroll and decided to do another match-up: Brazilian tapioca crepe. A few weeks ago, I first found out that this was a thing. But it turns out there were actually two such crepe shops within about a 30 minute walk from each other. Tapi-Go! is a recent venture located at Bloor and Shaw. Either the location always had a raised platform or it was built by one of the previous businesses, but there wasn't much space inside due to this odd layout. The menu gave you sweet and savoury choices. I opted for the veggie mushi ($8.50). The tapioca flour was sprinkled onto a flat skillet. Then they added baby spinach, baba ganoush paste, and sautée mushrooms. A dash of truffle oil was added at the end before the crepe was folded into a giant taco.

I ate it at Christie Pits park but this new dish was a let-down. The flavours were muddled and dominated by an earthy sharpness (not sure from which ingredient) that was nasally unpleasant. I might come back here to try the tapioca "dice" but not the crepe. Disappointed, I wasn't sure I wanted to try the other place but on the other hand, with the warm temperature it was a nice walk.

Tapi-Go!

So I made it down to College and St. Clarens to Tapioca Local Kitchen. This tiny place didn't have space for me to linger inside during the current "grey zone" restriction. So I wasn't sure how they made their crepe ($10) here. But what was delivered to me outside was delicious (if a little blurry in the photo). The crust was crispy and so white it looked almost artificial. The inside was stuffed with fragrant baby greens, avocado, bits of mango, and chimmichurri. There was a fragrant note that seemed familiar. In retrospect, I realized this was reminiscent of Vietnamese Cassava Cake since both cassava and tapioca are from the same plant. This was actually a good snack. I'll add this to my food list instead of being a one-and-done.

Dog-Eat-Dog

I was walking through Koreatown on a sunny but blustery Friday and decided to finally try some Korean corn dogs for two reasons: there was a challenger on the block and both businesses were offering deals. The contender was KSeoul Hotdog, taking over from Japanhako near Christie. They had a 1+1 deal so I chose the "ugly potato" dog ($5.98) and a traditional one (regularly $3.98). Unlike North American corn dogs, k-dogs are coated with rice flour instead of corn batter. For the ugly pug, I got garlic mayo and spicy chili while the standard dog got hot mustard and spicy mayo. Both also had sprinkles of sugar as is typical with these Asian imports. They were both good delivery vehicles for messy fried batter though I don't think I'm onboard with the sugar. Unfortunately, the beef wieners didn't have much flavour so eating fried dough palled after awhile.

The top dog was Chungchun Rice Dog at Palmerston, one of several Toronto outposts of a large South Korean franchise. I often see people hanging outside its door, even pre-pandemic, and it was my first inkling that k-dogs have arrived. This week, their veggie dog ($5.99) was on sale for $2.99. It'd be nice to root for the newcomer but the sausage-on-a-stick was better here: crispier glutinous rice coating, and the (faux) meat had taste and even a hint of spiciness. So given their customer base, name brand, and convenient store-front (KSeoul is recessed and up a flight of stairs), Chungchun will likely win this fight.

Ignorance Is Strength

Thursday night, I attended my first paid online concert in a couple of months. Tamara Lindeman's (The Weather Station) new album Ignorance has received rave reviews since its release. With live concerts still far in the future, she has gathered a who's who of Toronto indie scene (Ben Whiteley, Christine Bougie, Johnny Spence) for a show at Revolution Recording.

There was some question mark in my mind on whether it was live or pre-recorded. I was leaning toward the latter for a few reasons: the quick transitions between songs, the refusal of the hosting platform (Noon Chorus) to confirm or deny it when a viewer asked, and coincidentally, I saw one of the drummers (Kieran Adams) chilling out at a porch hang on Grace St that same day.

Over the next hour, the audience was treated to a 10-piece band all dressed in black suits, dramatically lit by pulsing fluorescent lights, playing great music perfectly mixed from the sound board. I actually prefer this "studio broadcast" compared to a live venue. Lindeman's lyrical prowess is top-notch, but her delicate vocals would be swamped by most sound set-ups. With her voice front and centred, it was clear on songs like Atlantic, I Tried To Tell You, and Separated why critics are loving this new album. Her disco-ball jacket made an appearance on Robber, a scathing commentary about late-stage capitalism and our complicity. The only disappointment was that back-up vocalists Felicity Williams only joined on the final two numbers: Heart and Subdivisions. The blending of their voices was sublime.

It would have been nice for Lindeman to talk a little bit about her motivations and go into some details about her new music. Unfortunately, there's usually not much banter with these online shows. But it also made for a lean concert that finished in plenty of time for old fogies to get to bed.

The Beat Goes Nom Nom Nom

I returned on Friday to Caravan Cafe despite the service screw-up to try their other hosted pop-up venture: Afrobeat Kitchen. It turns out that the chef Victor Uguweke offered dishes from his native Nigeria as well as other African countries. However, they were not strictly traditional but contained modern twists due to his experience working kitchens around the world. So the Senegalese entrée I ordered ($16) went by the interesting name of Miso Mafe Stew.

It's rare to be blown away by a first taste but this was wonderful food. I had to slow myself down to savour this vegan dish. The miso and peanut-based sauce was rich and aromatic. Young jackfruit and chickpeas gave texture and chew. Finally, the bursts of flavour from the herbs and roasted eggplant completed this fragrant entrée. The accompanying coconut rice was equally tasty and quite different from Thai coconut rice while still retaining that tropical scent. I'm drooling thinking about whether or not his other dishes are just as well-made and definitely planning to return often.

Play Time

With work still at 80% due to tight finances, I usually spend my furloughed Fridays walking around outside especially on a sunny (if cold) day like today. There were a good number of pedestrians joining me on the sidewalk in Little Portugal along Dundas St. W.

After I rounded the corner at Lansdowne and headed East along College St., I passed by a smattering of businesses, nestled amid mostly residential (and run-down) homes without much curb appeal. Whether it was a local store or a slightly more gentrified business, these have always been touch-and-go except for the laundromat. Defloured, a gluten-free bakery that hung in there for about 5 years, has given way to Tapioca Local Kitchen.

If this seemed like an odd name, it was due to their specialty: Brazilian tapioca crepes. I wasn't in the mood for crepes but they also had a number of other baked goods including tamales and empanadas. I settled on a veggie and cheese empanada for $5.25 and found a low ledge outside of St. Helens Elementary to taste-test. Meanwhile, score of kids played inside the school grounds during their afternoon recess.

It turned out to be tasty snack. The crust was closer to a Jamaican patty with its buttery and crumbly texture than the typical chewy empanada. The inside was a nice mix of quinoa, cheese, and assorted veggie chunks. Overall, I was impressed with its quality and will return to try that crepe. The owner, like those of Defloured, also made his name at various farmer's market. Given that this neighbourhood was still predominantly Portuguese, he should advertise more clearly the Brazilian/South American roots of his food. Otherwise, he won't get local buy-in. This is not a destination neighbourhood with many outside visitors.

Chai Côté

Back in the aughts, the stretch of Bloor between Dufferin and Lansdowne was more working-class. There was a Vietnamese Karaoke called Lang Man, its' next door neighbour was a Croatian Credit Union, across the street sat Portuguese BBQ spot Churrasqueira Aveirense, and next to Sweet Pete's bike shop was pho diner My Duyen and then Pho Jade. With gentrification, the karaoke bar became the popular hipster hangout 3-Speed and the BBQ joint transformed into the even more popular concert venue/microbrewery Burdock. Pho Jade was shuttered for a few years until it recently became a ghost kitchen during the pandemic, hosting close to 10 "restaurants".

The Credit Union turned into the quirky Intergalactic Travel Authority: part coffee house, part children's playground/charity. ITA lasted a good while and remained a coffee shop as Charlie's Friend Art Café. This was a short-lived venture due to a late-stage career change from a desk jockey. I think he underestimated this area's readiness for subtle Italian coffee. For all its' changes, Bloordale is still not yet a supercharged trendy neighbourhood. Great news for folks like me, perhaps not so much for some business ventures.

Mr. Milenkovic's renovation revealed exposed brick which was a definite upgrade (retrograde?) from bland white walls. New owner Caravan Café And Tea House inherited that homey touch. As a non-coffee drinker, I never visited ITA, nor Charlie's and probably not Caravan either except that I heard they were hosting ghost/pop-up kitchens.

So I went on Sunday evening, looked over Hotay's menu of mac and cheese offerings and settled on the "baseline" 4-cheese main. How does it compare to Bobbie Sue's? The latter just beat Hotay's for toothsomeness but the contender had the better cheese crust. You can actually taste the individual cheeses. As for portion size, I'm not sure. Although I ordered a regular ($8), I was charged $11.30 which would be a large ($10 + tax). So was I given a large size portion instead? If so, it's not very big. If it was the regular, then it's a good deal for a sub-10-dollars meal (when they don't overcharge you).

Given the screw-up, I would not normally return to a business. But the person who actually handed me my order seemed like a nice chap. He had his own ghost kitchen here as a personal venture. So I'll return to give him a chance.