Hoof Café…is back!

A part of me felt irrationally sad when Hoof Café closed two years ago. With it went the bone marrow doughnuts, foie gras brioche French toasts, beef tongue grilled cheese, pig tails and grits, and all the dishes that made weekend brunch in Toronto exciting and different. It had the charm of robust Quebec, think Martin Picard’s Pied De Cochon and Sugar Shack, combined with a definite Anglo coolness of Queen West hipsters. Needless to say, the lines were long, space tight, and the service harried.

When Jen Agg announced that Hoof Café was back with a new menu, I made it a point to go the next weekend.

We ordered the Fried sweetbreads and waffles (savoury and sweet combo with a green onion waffle and a maple sriracha sauce), Breakfast cassoulet (a heifer of a dish: breakfast sausage, pork belly, duck egg, crispy kale, beans), and  a side of  Hash browns (crisp exterior with chewy interior, the flavours akin to salt and vinegar chips). It was belly-filling. It was rich. It was good.

I already have plans to go back again to try the Bombay hash. (We don’t know what the Bombay hash is either, perhaps a colonial breakfast variation on Mumbai hash? Didn’t mean to inject politics into this as Bombay/Mumbai is a bit of loaded topic, isn’t it? Yikes. But hey, politics make for exciting conversation over brunch though.)

Hoof Café
926 Dundas Street West | Website

Late lunching at Asian Legend

Leo has been cheating on King’s Noodle for Asian Legend over the past few months. Tsk!  Have I mentioned how much I like tofu?

Asian Legend
418 Dundas St. W. | Website 

Tosta Mista

Tosta Mista is a classic Portuguese sandwich of toasted ham and cheese. It’s also the name of Toronto band Hooded Fang‘s most recent and charmingly throwback album.

Back in September we went to said album release party hosted by Wavelength in the former parking lot of The Academy of Lions cross-fit gym. It was the kind of summer’s end block party blowout that apparently threw leitmotif to the wind; the proceedings included a hip-hop set by Scarborough’s own Wio-k, installation art by Wowee Zonk, choreographed luchadore dance troupes, panini pressed tosta mista sandwiches from Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company, beer and espressos. And from what we can recall, pure showmanship from hooded fang who played a winning set before an enthusiastic crowd and curious passersby. We had a splendid time.

Concord Sour at Yours Truly

HAPPY FRIDAY

We’ve taken an interest in cocktails. I can only deduce that this came about from no longer eating at restaurants and bars serving Tequila Sunrise and Sex on the Beach, which were (probably still are) my favourite drinks. (I know better now, really! Pedestrian I am no longer. Hahaha. Ha…ha.)

Here’s a variation of a Whiskey Sour that I had at Yours Truly using: white port, whiskey, Concord grape juice, citrus, and egg white with a cherry surprise waiting at the bottom of the glass. The black napkin was a nice touch.

If you’re wondering where the food pictures are, I’m sad to say that both times we’ve been to Yours Truly, I was without a digital camera. I did manage to take a few shots on my Canon AE-1 the second time we went, but then it got too dark and our wonderfully thoughtful tasting menu began.  We had two amuse gueles followed by the menu of the evening: Carrot (very playful plate!), Trout, Beef Cheeks, and a Yogurt mousse.

I’m hoping we’ll get some better pictures in the spring or summer, especially if we get to sit at the bar again or the communal table by the window.

Yours Truly
229 Ossington Ave. | Website

Canon AE-1 | Lomography Film 400

Toronto Doughnuts: Nova Era Bakery

With the term doughnut liberally applied these days, the sheer range of fried dough available in Toronto kinda runs the gamut. We’re a city that supports more Tim Hortons than public libraries afterall. With Glory Hole Doughnuts set to bring their impressive fried chicken and waffle toroidals to the masses – with all due fanfare, we thought we’d take the opportunity to catch up with some of the establishments quietly serving our favourites old and new. - BHH

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Nova Era Bakery

Nova Era Bakery opened its first location on Dundas West in 1991 and now has 9 bustling storefronts across southern Ontario. In addition to their expansive line of Portuguese baked goods, they also serve these whopper sized malasadas on the regular. The sugary coated crunch is offset nicely by creamy custard filling, although they’re available without filling as well. I think they have a case for a 10th location. $1.50 each.

Nova Era Bakery
1172 Dundas Street West | Website

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7-Eleven

This is our first post in the series so in the interest of contrast, here we have 7-Eleven’s… interpretation. Glazed and larded a la Kwik-E-Mart. 2 for $1.

canon ae-1 | black’s 400