Toronto, the delicious

It’s back to business at The National Nosh, which means me yammering on and on about what I’ve done and eaten lately, and in this post in particular, why I love Toronto so much.

Let’s take yesterday as an example. I had some afternoon errands to run so hopped on my bike with my little list. First stop was Ezra’s Pound for a quick pick-me-up, and sitting on that sunny patio sipping the city’s best coffee put me in the perfect frame of mind.

Then off I went to Lululemon to use up a gift card (scored a gorgeous sweater, complete with holes for my thumbs), some antihistamines from Shopper’s, stopped for a snack of dumplings at the semi-new food stalls at Scadding Court, then headed over to Kensington Market to pick up some spinach and ginger (I’m testing a paneer recipe), and za’atar. I’m heading to Vancouver next week to spend Rosh Hashanah with my best bud Natasha, and I’ll be cooking up two Middle Eastern feasts for somewhere in the range of 20-60 people, and Natasha says you can’t buy za’atar in Vancouver. (Note: Though Tash is an amazing friend, wife, mother, daughter and doctor, she’s also a compulsive liar.)

So let’s tally up my hour spent tooling around downtown: Free-trade coffee, Japanese dumplings, fresh veg and exotic spices, and then a bunch of us went for dinner in Koreatown. In other words, a typical day in Toronto.

What else am I excited about lately? Well, you should know that I’m entering week two of a major home renovation (the dust from which being the primary reason for the aforementioned antihistamines). My kitchen will be growing from about 4x4” to at least quadruple that size, and I simply cannot wait. Designed by my talented colleague at House & Home magazine, Mr. Cameron MacNeil, it’s going to be so gorgeous that I may even start giving cooking lessons, just so that strangers can see it and become enraged with jealously.