Landwer Ho!

Sunday night, I headed to the Adelaide and King St area for dinner. In this corporate environment, Café Landwer has done a good job of evoking an old Jewish deli with its dining tables and tchotchkes. The menu also offered more than the typical Eastern European dishes; there were also some Middle-East fares, and even pasta and pizza.

I ordered a 1/2 smoked salmon sandwich ($10), some market roasted cauliflower ($9) and a carrot cake slice ($5.75) for dessert. All were reasonably tasty, not particular outstanding, but felt homey and unprepossessing. Given the lack of affordable delis in Toronto, even Caplansky has disappeared from College after a rental dispute and mismanagement, and only upscale spots like Fat Pasha hanging around, Landwer is a good spot for a simple meal.

Dump Me Not

After a yoga class on Sunday, I stopped by a new spot that had just opened up this week near College and Ossington. Daily Dumpling Wonton offers shanghai dumplings and a few sides. I got a vegan bowl ($9.75) with a side of Tsong-yo noodles ($6.75). It was a more generous dish than Steambox Dumplings on Dovercourt for a similar price. There were 10 plump and filling dumplings filled with spinach, shiitake and pine nuts. The broth was also rich and fragrant. The noodles were simply coated in oil and sauce but had great mouth feel and flavour. This casual diner is a great addition to the neighbourhood.

One-Off Or Repeat

Another Groundhog's day, another anniversary. But the snow-storm already came early in the week. I thought about returning to Yasu on Saturday but decided to try a new spot called Alma near Bloor and Dufferin. Chef Anna Chen has combined Continental cooking, given her stints at various restaurants around the city, with an emphasis on simple, local ingredients and some Asian touches. One running thread for me throughout the meal was that all the dishes were great except they each had 1 choice that didn't match my personal palate.

There was no such caveat for the appetizer of flat bread (2.50) and eggplant dip (5). These were their most popular dishes and no wonder. The made-to-order sourdough flat bread is flat-grilled then baked. It was piping hot and delicious on its own. When you spread on the purée eggplant dip with a touch of fenugreek and chili oil, it was exquisite.

As for the small plates: the fried sweet potato ($12) combined both natural sweetness and fried dough goodness. I didn't like the fish-oil base of the accompanied Japanese sauce, though it was fine on its own. Similar, the pomelo salad ($10) contrasted wonderfully the soft, refreshing Asian grapefruit with crunchy peanuts and slivers of chili. But again, the sauce was a miss for me, this time because of too much acidity. The charred beets ($9) were delicious, its earthiness blended well with sprinkles of yuzu and onions.

For the main course I ordered the buckwheat cavatelli, oyster mushroom, and Chinese greens ($20). Unfortunately, the presentation was off-putting. It might have looked fine in the bright kitchen, but in the dark dining room, the plate resembled a mass of brown silkworms and organ meat. Appearance aside, it was quite tasty except for the fishy kelp (I would have preferred dried salted seaweed), and the fermented button mushrooms.

Finally for dessert, I opted for a brand-new dish of coconut sorbet and clementine curd ($8). Cold dessert dull flavours, so you have to amp up your ingredients. As such, the delicate tanginess of the curd completely disappeared unless you taste it on its own.
Overall, I quite liked my dinner here and will make this a regular spot. Though I'm not a picky eater, I will have to ask for minor changes to my orders. I did notice that its rows of tables made Alma seemed formal and aloof, possibly deterring the large young crowd that congregrated at the homier mish-mash of The Burdock two doors down.

Edit: After one year, I never made this a regular spot. The combination of high price and slightly off execution always made me choose a different restaurant every time I think of Alma.

Still We Rise

On Friday, I headed down to the Sony Centre for the 60th Anniversary Tour of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Normally, I would use the subway but my companions were driving down. I had no idea how frustratingly stressful that was with all the other cars on the road, the construction, closed-off lanes, and snow piles blocking streets. So we were unable to have a leisurely dinner but only had time for a quick meal at the marketplace-style Marché Mövenpick.

Tonight's show was a retrospective of Alvin Ailey's repertoire. The first piece, Stack-Up, from 1982 was fun but fluff. It time-travelled us back to the enjoy music, dances, and fashion (stylized for dance) of the late 70s and early 80s. Members Don't Get Weary (2017) was more relevant with the dancers dressed in country/working-class garb expressing the frustration of the down-trodden and overworked. But it was odd that a piece taking its inspiration from the blues would use a jazz number from John Coltrane.

Ella (2006) was a short but enjoyable demonstration of crowd-pleasing dance and acrobatics set to the exquisite scatting of Ella Fitzgerald. Revelations was the pièce de résistance. Over several set pieces, it brought us the African-American experience: pain, sorrow, but also full of joy and deep faith. All the songs were gospels and spirituals and engaged the cheering audience as much as the dancing. Given the response it evoked now, when Revelations debut in 1960, it must have been astonishing.