Bacon, Gravy and Maple Syrup

If the title made your stomach turn, we please ask that you leave quietly and never come back.

But if the thought of these three delicious ingredients layered on top of hand-cut fries makes your mouth water, then "Hello" new friend.

Christmas shopping is all done - with a week to spare to gloat and possibly make exchanges when we find items cheaper at another store. And since the last of our shopping took place on Queen West, we thought there would be no better way to reward ourselves than with a hot, gooey paper bowl of Poutine from Poutini's. A Bacon Poutine with maple syrup, to be exact.

Pair that with some good ol' fashion Rootbeer, it's enough to make you forget about all the grumpy shoppers, crying babies strapped into their srollers, annoying front door store greetings, and endless holiday music you have had to endure just hours before.

In our personal opinion, this place kicks Poutine ass, and offers the best fries/gravy ratio in town. 'Cause that's important, don't ya know?

Thankfully, the Regular size was huge, with enough leftover to take home to heat up while watching some perfectly fit holiday movie like Die Hard.

Yay Bruce Willis. Yay us. Yay Poutini's.

WagJag deal for SunnySide Grill

Brunch is a lazy man's way of having two meals at once. And since we're lazy, it also happens to be our favourite meal of the day.

Lucky for us, a new brunch place recently opened up on St. Clair and we will definitely be checking out on our next lazy Sunday morning walk. It's called The Sunnyside Grill and today, WagJag has a $10 for $20 deal for two of their locations.

And one of them is the St. Clair location...woooooo!

Just checked out their menu - sounds yummy and the prices are decent. You can get a good hearty brunch for under $10.

Sah-weet!

If anyone else checks it out before we do, please share your reviews!

For the WagJag deal, go here.

I heart cheese

Growing up, I (Inga) always looked forward to Sunday dinner. That was the night my dad, who is German, would serve a typical German supper which included fresh coldcuts, cheese, bread and tea. Was it because it felt like a little tea party that I enjoyed it so much as a kid? Ummm...no.

It was because of the CHEESE. Fresh slices of Havarti, Swiss, Cheddar - the list of what we would have that night was endless. On a plus side - I got my fair share of calcium. On the not-so-plus side, I also now have hips.

Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

When we moved into Corso Italia, honest to god, one of the first things I thought about was where we could buy cheese.

And then we found Tre Mari (cue choir Aaaah's). I was out with my mom one Sunday, showing her the neighbourhood when I discovered this bakery. As we walked in, the smell of fresh bread lingered in the air. And then...I saw the cheese.

My hips began to scream but my stomach muted them with its cheers.

The woman behind the counter could see we meant business, and was quick to help us pick out our selection. It might have something to do with my face pressed up against the glass, breathing heavily, who knows?

We walked out with some fresh cut provolone and chicken cold cuts, and headed home ready to eat our Abendessen ("supper," in German).

Ja, ja, das ist gut.

Tre Mari is located on 1311 St. Clair Avenue West.

Lasagna...mmmmmm

Last night we decided to try out one of the recipes from Bride and Groom: First & Forever Cookbook, a wedding gift from our friends. Admittedly, this was our first time using the book (Hey! We had a shoe box of a kitchen in our old apartment, and it's been a busy few months in the new digs - get off our backs!), so we opted for one of the classic recipes - lasagna, mmmmmmm.

While Matt prept the meat (ground beef and crumbled italian sausage), I mixed the cheese (ricotta, cream cheese, and fresh parmesan from Tre Mari Bakery on St. Clair).

And then we put it all together to get this:

Pair that with a bottle of Jackson Trigg's Cab, and we got this:

Perfect meal to beat the winter blues!

Big Love for The Big Ragu

I think I've died and gone to food Cielo.

Last night, Matt's parents came down to visit and we decided to take them to the popular Corso Italia restaurant, The Big Ragu.

We arrived just in time - the owner and head chef, Carmine Accogli, had just finished a shoot for OMNI TV, and the restaurant was open for business. Carmine greeted us warmly as we entered and joked about how he was going to be a big TV star.

As we were brought to our table, we noticed two women having dinner in the corner, and one of them was our very talented wedding caterer, Jen Draper, from Eatertainment. Suddenly it felt like we were regulars at a local Trattoria, and Carmine commented that Jen seemed to know everyone. She told us that The Big Ragu was the first place she goes when she's craving Italian cuisine, and she lives on the other side of the city. And knowing that Jen has a palette for fine food, we knew we were going to have a great meal.

So, let's just get to the food already!!

For appetizers, we had grilled calamari served over a bed of greens topped with homemade salsa verde...

...Along with "magic mushrooms": Portobello & button mushrooms baked with goat cheese over arugula with a wine reduction...

...oh, and don't forget the toasted bread with prosciutto, pear, gorgonzola & toasted walnuts, drizzled with honey.

Pair that with a bottle of Italian white wine, and we were off to a good start.

For my main dish, I went with one of their specials for the evening; Tagliata di Manzo, a savoury steak fillet on a bed of arugula and paired with roasted potatoes.

YUM.

Matt had a pasta dish drizzled in Truffle oil (a favourite of his since our honeymoon in Tuscany), and his parents had a white fish filet dish and a chicken filet in a lemon & white wine sauce.

The service was great (our glasses were never empty and the bread basket was always full), the atmosphere was pleasant (lucky for us, we got there before the regulars filled up the place), and well, suffice to say, the food was delicious!

If you're looking for an intimate space for great Italian food or a venue to hold your next special event, this is definitely the place to be.

Big Ragu, you've made regulars outta us. See you soon!!

The Big Ragu is located on 1338 Lansdowne Avenue, just south of St.Clair.

Sunday Morning at Nova Era

What smells like fresh baked bread and sounds like a bunch of old Italian / Portuguese men deep in conversation?

Give up?

Nova Era on a Sunday morning!

Matt, sporting his Movember 'stache, which only makes him look more like all the other patrons.

Heading over for some coffee and almond filled croissants after a night of debaucheries has become somewhat of a tradition for us since we moved to the west end. Walking in, it's as if suddenly we've been transported to a local bakery in a small Italian village, where's it's packed with fresh baked goods and tons of chatty people (how do they do it so early in the morning?!).

Another highlight for us is bumping into our friend's dad ("Home Deeps") and all of his friends, who also make it a point of meeting there every Sunday morning to talk about work, politics, and women (mind you, these are all guesses, since they're speaking Portuguese and we don't understand a word they're saying).

We've been here so often that on our last visit the cashier said our order out loud before we did. We've finally reached "Regulars" status and we're loving it.

Manila Food

After a Friday night soccer game at the St. Michael's School field,  we decided to walk west along St.Clair on our way home.  Just up ahead we saw a guy bbq'ing in front of a storefront called Manila Food and we knew we'd have to stop for quick snack break (I'm also half-filipino, so I was happy to discover a filipino store near our hood). 

He was cooking up some talapia and BBQ chicken - Yummmm.  Ok, so Matt was the one to play soccer so he had an excuse for his appetite.  I'm just hungry all the time, so that's my excuse.

We didn't get his name, but the guy running the BBQ was really friendly.  I guess it helped that I also used the little filipino I knew to thank him.  Yup, I pull out that card every once in a while :)