I made sure to hit the town during my trip to Toronto with my uber-foodie-friend Michelle right after I got there. I knew that we would get up to some serious adventures so it was best to jump into the fire right away.
We had no idea what we were going to do for a few hours and ended up at St. Lawrence Market which I had not been to in eons!
The hardest part about picking up something to eat at St. Lawrence Market is figuring out what and where. I had not eaten that day and was starving!
It was like, oh, look at those perogies! OMG, check out that kitchen wares booth. So much foodie eye candy but my stomach was screaming EAT!
I finally collapsed at St. Urbain Bagel and wanted my favourite: cream cheese and lox on a bagel.
This humble everything bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese and red onion may be one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten. The bagel was soooo perfect! Chewy yet melt in your mouth-y… Divine. Man, did I need that!
Michelle was smart, she brought some bagels home with her. I should have thought of that damn it!
I loved wandering the market. When I was an English and Creative Writing student in university I sometimes went there imagining the days Loreena McKennitt used to busk with her harp. I was not a foodie back then but I was drawn to that market. It is so funny how life turns out.
Amazing that in Toronto you can buy fresh mussels there!
And find a REAL butcher that sells bones with marrow!
Michelle decided to take me on a little drive and we ended up visiting our friend Chef Steve! Such a fantastic surprise.
I could not walk by this bike without taking a photograph. It is just so Toronto. Toronto in the best way. There is a crazy bunny on top BTW.
That is just where our day started. This trip to Toronto ended up being a foodie adventure of a lifetime and began with my most food-obsessed best friends. Fabulous!
Cool factoid about Loreena McKennitt! Forty years ago, (long before her recording success, of course) she used to play the Drummer Boy Lounge at the Hotel Fort Garry in Winnipeg because she was a “local girl” from Morden, Manitoba. But I was a poor university student then and couldn’t afford to go to the swanky Fort Garry.
Wow! Can you imagine seeing her back then? I have never been able to see her in person but Reg did an autograph for me from her once when she was on his ship.
Food obsessed?!?! Me?!?! (Who am I kidding? Ya got me!)
It was great seeing you guys! Was like a flashback to a distant time when you came to visit me back in my Danforth days.
I sure hope you are considering you’re a chef! It’s true, it was a lot like that Danforth dinner that way. So glad we could get together Steve, it was great seeing you.