Oh, Canada! Eating in Toronto

I spent 4 days in Toronto, Canada for work last week. Thankfully, I got a few hours to have some fun! I got to visit the CN Tower (above), which is 1815 ft. tall. (The Empire State building is 1250 ft.) It has this really cool “glass floor,” where you can look straight down, 1815 ft. Cool idea. Felt like I was going to puke.

I also took a tour of the Steam Whistle Brewery. It was quick and fun, and TripAdvisor had listed it as one of the top things to do in Toronto. I don’t know if it was a top sight… but I had a nice time. At the end, I sampled some beer. They make a premium pilsner. They talked a lot about it using a lot of the European techniques, and about using natural ingredients. It was fine… nothing to write home about, but a decent way to spend an hour in a different city. It makes me want to check out the Brooklyn Brewery, with one of my favorite beers, finally.

We also ate at Wayne Gretsky’s — how awesome is that? It had a revolving Wayne Gretsky figurine playing hockey at the top of the restaurant. Food was sub-par, as you could imagine, but it was fun to see all of his all sports paraphernalia and all the hockey glory. It felt very Canadian! And, the restaurant was connected to the famous comedy troupe: The Second City, so we popped in for a show before going back to our hotels.

All in all, I found Toronto to be really pretty… until the G8/G20 protesters destroyed it.

Washington DC and Hotel Food

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Washington DC lately… and I mean A LOT! Unfortunately I’ve been eating almost exclusively at convention centers and hotels. When I ordered crab and spinach dip from room service last night, I knew I hit an all time low. BUT, catching a glimpse of the Washington Monument on my way to the train really did make me smile. I’m vowing now to see at least one museum (suggestions?) and eat at one restaurant (suggestions?) next time I’m there.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday…27. Nuts. I’m feeling old and cranky about this birthday, but J did his best to raise my spirits with a fancy meal.

We went to Mas (farmhouse), a farmhouse style menu with lots of fresh, seasonal, local ingredients. We opted for the menu option: “bring us a bunch of food.” They brought 6 different courses, of varying levels of yummy. There was a vichyssoise that I could’ve done without, and I experienced the first pork belly I didn’t love. There were two dishes of the 6 that I loved: a duck breast with pickled cherries and faro and a halibut that I think was cooked in duck fat… a trend. Dessert — what you see above — was also delicious with a really clever take on a s’more: some crumbled chocolate (kind of like a fancier crumbles from Carvel ice cream cake), a marshmallow, and an intensely good salted carmel ice cream. We enjoyed, and felt a bit too full at the end. But… it was no Blue Hill.