Joey Restaurant – Why the Eaton Centre is Your New Dining Destination

There is now a fantastic dining experience in tourist mecca at Yonge and Dundas.

Honest.

Joey Eaton Centre is one of the best places you’ll eat this year.

I know it’s hard to believe. We Torontonians are a fickle bunch and there’s no way that something not on Ossington or King West can be this spectacular, but believe it.

Chef Chris Mills, who I wrote about when he came to town last year for the James Beard Dinner trials, has shown the Toronto team exactly what he wants – and they’ve delivered.

The menu offers a global flavour, so there’s something for everyone. I was thrilled that there is so much to choose from but not have to page through a book of options like some places (you know who you are). The other amazing feature (other than the stellar food) is the price – decent with great sized portions. You’re not going home hungry, that’s for sure.

Here is an overview of what I had:

Those of you with a sweet tooth are going to be knocked out by the STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE ($7.99).

Here’s what I’m going to have when I go back (not at all once, mind you, but close):

BLAZING WINGS ($11.49) – 1lb of fiery hot wings with blue cheese dip. I am dying for a great place for wings.

ITALIAN FLATBREAD ($13.99) – spicy Italian sausage with whole milk mozzarella, basil and olives.  It’s not pizza, y’all, so stop calling it that.

I’ll be posting my interview with the affable Chef Mills on Wednesday and then on Friday, I’ll introduce you to the incredible wine program they’ve got – completely different than anywhere else in the city! Subscribe on the right to get them emailed directly to your inbox or be sure to check back on Wed and Fri.

I’ll also be tweeting about various Joey Eaton Centre features and happenings, so be sure to follow me on Twitter to get all the up-to-the-minute news!

Thanksgiving dinner

This year, I really wanted to do something other than turkey.

Don’t get me wrong – I think turkey is phenomenal and wish that I made it more frequently throughout the year – but after years of Thanksgivings and Christmases turkey-centric meals, I really wanted a change.  I also wanted something modern, because I tend to always rely on comfort food classics and the usual suspects.

The other change was that I didn’t spend weeks planning out the sides and thinking about it.

See, my birthday almost always falls on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so sometimes I’m not entirely sure what night we’re having it until the day before, or sometimes of, so I’ve learned over previous mishaps to go with the flow a little more.

I shopped for fresh vegetables on Monday morning in the neighbourhood and didn’t plan out anything until an hour before I started cooking.

Had I gone completely insane?

Perhaps.

Because the capon was small (2 lbs. boneless), I knew it wouldn’t take too long to cook, so I just kind of winged it and I can’t believe how well it all worked out.

It was the.best.Thanksgiving.dinner.I’ve.ever.made.

Ever.

Menu

Lemon-Sage Roasted Boneless Capon

Trio of Tomato Confit with Mushrooms, Basil & Balsamic

Crisp Organic Green Beans

Baked Potatoes with Green Onions

Stuffing

p.s. I made a Portuguese soup for Thanksgiving Day lunch – kale, kielbasa and black bean. Crazygood.

p.p.s. Usually I think something;’s going to turn out and it doesn’t. This meal completely surprised me. And I couldn’t duplicate it even if you paid me. That drives me crazy, but makes me appreciate the good meals all the more.

A job suited for type a people

Speaking of food styling, I recently finished reading Food Styling: The Art of Preparing Food for the Camera by the foremost expert in the field, Delores Custer.

While I have absolutely no interest in ever doing food styling for a living, it’s incredibly fascinating to read about.

Delores spills the beans on the shoot with Paul Newman and how she came up with the dishes for the James Beard Awards poster. Oh, she has had to bake many a pie and a chicken (and usually undercook them and then finish the “baked” colour with various products and chemicals.

Really.

I think the fact that it is both a job of ultimate precision and perfection and also a world where much is faked for the camera, makes for a fascinating dichotomy to work in.

The book is a fun textbook that really includes everything you ever need to know about the field. Why read another tome when you’ve got this beauty at your side?

I knew about stylists using mashed potatoes in the place of ice cream, but the extremes that they go to!

Like I said, I don’t ever want to do this kind of work (I’m a Nigella kind of gal – just bung it together with good, fresh ingredients and a ton of love), but I am so glad to have read this for 3 reasons:

1. Food stylists are some of the hardest-working, most underappreciated and almost never credited for their work kind of folks. I will never take them or their skills for granted.

2. The food that they produce is often so manufactured by ingredients and methods that would kill you if you ingested them. So finally I can feel okay by my food not being able to live up to pictures in ads and magazines.

Phew.

3. I think, for the next little while at least, the presentation of my dishes will be of a higher caliber. Just because I’m not a perfectionist doesn’t mean I shouldn’t step up my game a little bit.

Thank you Delores, for showing me your extraordinary talent, dedication and work. I am forever grateful.

And now I’m off to shop for ingredients for tonight’s dinner.

My imperfect, but tasty dinner.

Food52

Do you know about Food52?

If not, get yourself over there. It’s where one of my favourite food writers and cooks, Amanda Hesser and her friend Merrill Stubbs cook up a storm and then tell us how they did it.

I made Merrill’s Crab Toasties for dinner last night and we loved them! I really appreciated the note about blending it lightly by hand because I would have just used a fork out of habit.  I liked being one with the crab, as it were, at least for a little while.

What surprised us was how filling they were. My fella and I can eat a heckuva lot, and when we’d each had 2 (1 english muffin, halved) and set our plates down with finality, it was a little disconcerting. Only two? But they were so delicious!!

I had read about the toasties earlier in the week and by yesterday, I couldn’t take it anymore:

Must. Have. Merrill’s. Crab. Will. Spontaneously. Combust. Without. It.

The only changes I made to it is I used only mayonnaise (no sour cream) and I added purple Thai basil (inspired by the corn chowder I had at RaviSoups in July).

Ooh was it good!

And now it’s got me wanting my Mom’s Creamed Salmon. You add canned salmon and either fresh or frozen peas to a roux and serve it hot over english muffins. It’s insanely good and soo simple to make, just like the toasties.

Today I got a notice about Jenny’s Just Good Chili, but it’s over 30 degrees outside. Give me another month and I’ll be making chili every week.  For now,  I’m in search for something savory and satisfying for dinner.

I have some Merguez sausages in the fridge.  Hmmm… I’m off to have a look and see what I can do.

Orzo with Merguez Sausage and Chickpeas, it is.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Pining away

It’s not that my kitchen is so great.  It’s narrow and there’s little to no counter space and our stove is wonky and the fridge and freezer are too small.

But it’s mine and it’s mostly functional. and I miss it dearly.

See in this immense heat, it has become a place that I go only to get cold drink after cold drink and in the late evening, take out some salad or cold chicken to eat because really, you’ve got to eat something.

I miss the serenity cooking gives me.  Even when things are going badly with a dish, there is always hope that it can be saved.  I love the zen mind that happens when I’m chopping, stirring and whisking.  It’s like waves lapping against the shore.  It’s peace and quiet.  Mostly, anyway.

It is only the beginning of July and it’s been weeks of such intense heat, even my appetite has faltered (good lord, will it never end?).  I am trying to accept that it’s just too hot to cook and enjoy restaurant fare for my food book clubs and restaurant reviews.  I am trying to enjoy the “extra” time that I have now that I’m not in the kitchen for 2-4 hours a night.  I am trying really, really hard.

But it’s not working.

I guess that’s how I know it’s serious, that it’s complete and utter love, that it’s something that while I can live without it now, I can’t live without it forever.

Once that cool weather hits, you’ll be lucky to find me doing anything else.  I’ve got lists in my mind of dishes I want to conquer, pies I want to try and bake and meals that I want to create to sell to a nearby cafe.

And for now, I will try to be patient while the sun pours in our windows, heating up the joint and giving our cat various placed to sprawl until 9 p.m.  I will begrudgingly have salads and sandwiches and cold chicken (pictured above) for dinner as sweat pools in the crease of my arm.

But I’m telling you, that first hit of crisp, cool air – the place is going to be stacked to the ceiling with homemade food.

Just try and stop me.

Scrabble night – part 3

I had to throw most of the chicken out.

We tried to whittle down the mountain of poultry that had taken over the fridge, but it was a feat way beyond us. We needed my old gang of cadets – teenage boys that could drink 3 bags of milk and consume dinner plus 2 sandwiches for “dessert” in a single sitting.

I used to feel so guilty about having to throw out food. After all, not only had I carefully shopped (read: put a lot of time into it), I had lovingly spent umpteen hours prepping and chopping, sauteeing and broiling. But I have come to realize that in today’s crazybusy world, you can’t plan the way you used to. Some nights I am certain (and in the mood) I’ll cook and instead I have to do a restaurant review or a meeting runs late and I grab something where I am. And some nights things go awry, a phone call goes well into the night or a neighbour drops by and we open a bottle of wine and, well, dinner gets waylaid.

Since then, because of the heat,  we’ve had a lot of simple foods:

- corn on the cob

- salads topped with organic sprouts and sunflower seeds

- stir frys, pasta, sandwiches. – anything that doesn’t require the stove to be on too long

The most complex dishes I’ve made lately are veal scallopini and stuffed pork chops.

Most disappointing.

Especially since I’ve had the food book clubs and been dying to get to the stove to make some of the dishes we’ve been reading about.

It is 19 degrees tonight. Cold enough for 3/4 sleeves and a jacket.

Cold enough to cook.

Scrabble night – part 2

The following night, I put everything out on our kitchen table and awaited our hungry guests.

Paul came half an hour early (he’s always early) and was starving – could we start eating? Uh, I guess so (At least he was hungry).

We started in and waited for our other neighbour, John. He came about 45 minutes later, after polishing off a hearty Greek dinner, complete with stomach-bloating beers, with his out-of-town guest. Neither he nor his guest (an awesome singer songwriter, who had just performed with Jim Cuddy and Kathleen Edwards the night before) wanted anything to do with food. Damn you, Astoria! Why do you have to serve such hearty food in servings that topple you as you leave the restaurant?

We played girls against boys with Colleen going out first and John winning (he told us he would).

It was midnight by the time we finished and I had all that food to package up.

Would Scott and I have to have chicken for dinner for the 10 nights? Could we do it without dying from boredom or SCF – severe chicken fatigue?

Scrabble night – part 1

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I wrote, but if you live nearby, you’ll know that it’s been insanely hot here. Then there was the earthquake, followed by days of torrential rain. This does not make for good eating.

Last week, we had a Scrabble night, complete with an indoor picnic dinner. I spent the night before cooking in the damp heat for about 4 hours. If it was going to be over 30 degrees again, I didn’t want to heat up the place before the neighbours arrived.

I had decided on the idea of the indoor picnic due to our crazy, indeterminable weather. Plus it was too hot to eat anything too hearty.

We were having 2 fellas over who I was pretty sure could put away a lot of food, and there was Scott and I to consider. We can eat in one meal what I think some people eat in a day. That, and my irrational fear of not having enough food had me preparing quite the spread.

So I marinated 12 Dolly Parton-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts: 6 in a vindaloo paste and 6 in a green coconut curry. I made my usual 85 sides, which this time around included broccoli slaw, mixed bean salad, herbed mini potato salad, and a melange of roasted peppers, artichokes, portobello mushrooms, red onion, black olives and fresh basil in an olive oil vinaigrette.

The apartment was like a steam bath after I was done. Scott, Cosmo (our cat) and I looked limp and heavy with water.

What had I done?

Down in the treme

I don’t know why I didn’t take something out for dinner in the morning.

Maybe my hearty dinner at Caplansky’s for our book club meeting the night before made me want to put off choosing some meat.  After all, I had the Cabbage Borscht to start, following by the biggest knish I’ve ever seen, complete with smoked meat sauce and then their big salad to finish.

I had brought home a Caplansky burger for my fella – 20 % smoked meat, 80% ground beef – but told myself that one person can only have so much smoked meat in a day, so I didn’t even have a bite.  Maybe secretly I want as many excuses to go back there as possible!

So I winged it up until the last minute last night. Not my usual style, but planning too much can be a bad thing, so I thought, “Okay Dickison, what are you going to come up with? Is it going to be your usual boring standards of roast chicken, meatloaf or pork tenderloin?”

I left it up to:

- what I found at the grocery store and

- what I could remember I had on hand at home.

Here’s what I turned out:

Baked Tilapia with Southern Crust (breadcrumbs seasoned with Cajun All-Purpose Seasoning, brought back from Louisiana by our good friends Jill & Rob)

Coconut Ginger Rice

Fresh Farmer’s Peas topped with Horseradish Butter

Chickpea Salad with Roasted Red Peppers, Black Olives and Fresh Basil Leaves in an Olive Oil Vinaigrette

Broccoli Coleslaw with Onion Dressing

Not one of those things are a part of my repertoire, so I think I did okay. Plus my fella made “mmm” sounds all throughout dinner.  Our amazing neighbour John came in the door fresh off his tour with the popular band Holy F***,  and ate a heaping plateful and gave it a 9 out of 10 (Because giving it a 10 would seem insincere, he said. I told you he is amazing).

Because I am so easily influenced (see my previous post I Totally Fell For It), I was trying to think of where I got my idea for all of it.

I’d like to think it is because I love the Treme (HBO) character Kim Dickens is playing – she’s this amazing chef just trying to make exquisite New Orleans food after Katrina and she’s having a helluva time staying afloat.

Of course it could simply be that the tilapia was cheap and cheerful and everything else was just what I bought and had in the pantry.

But there’s no romance in that version. I think I’ll stick withthis, my simple ode to the Bayou.

The heat is on

It was over 30 degrees today (For you Americans, that’s like 100 and something), so I had convinced myself that I would just assemble some salads for dinner.  At most, I would get a piece of fish or slice up some chicken to go alongside them.

But as always, I got caught up in the excitement of creating something, with the possibility of it being memorable and/or fabulous, so by the time I had reached the grocery store, I was a quivering hot mess of enthusiasm.

Here’s what I decided on:

Crudites of carrots, yellow pepper, celery, including cucumber spears drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with chili peppers

Arugula salad with warm, sauteed wild mushrooms

Fresh salmon with pasta and peas in a homemade, dill cream sauce

Broiled prosciutto-wrapped asparagus

It was pretty fantastic, though next time when I’m making the cream sauce, I’ll add a little stock to thin it out.  Somehow though, the pasta took to it extremely well.

As did my fella.

I considered making a dessert too, but I’m not quite there yet – still haven’t got back my fingerprints yet from the forever-to-be-known-as “chocolate incident.”

There’s mango gelato in the freezer if the boy gets a hankering…