I think it is pretty clear that food falls under my list of favourite things in the world. It makes me happy when I eat it, look at it, and think about it. BUT I have another favourite thing – my cottage. My parents have a cottage in Haliburton on Kennisis Lake and I have been going up to the cottage every summer for as long as I can remember.
So you must be thinking, how does Julia last an entire summer without eating out in Toronto? (side note – now that I am an ‘adult’ I don’t actually spend the entire summer up north anymore but I do go up almost every weekend in the summer and now that I am in school they usually turn into long weekends – ah the life! I am considering being a student as a career). Anyways, I have two favourite food places up north that get me through the summer:
1) Webers
Webers is located in Orillia on the East side of Hwy 11 and is easily identified by a large orange coloured bridge installed over the highway so you can access Webers if you are going either north or south – whoever thought of that was a GENIUS…or they were worried about their customer’s safety. Actually the story goes:
June 1981 – The ministry of transportation put up a chain-link fence above the barrier to prevent thousands of customers from crossing the highway barrier.
June 1983 – Webers acquires a portion of the CN Tower pedestrian bridge to provide their customers with a safe way to Webers when travelling southbound and to prevent them from dropping their delicious burgers, fries, and chocolate shakes while attempting to run and jump across the highway.
Webers has been charcoal barbequing burgers since 1963. I have only being going since 1992 but my parents both went to Webers on the way to the cottage growing up.
If you haven’t heard of Webers or don’t like Webers, I don’t like you. I have had a long lasting love for Webers since I was a kid. As a kid I would beg my parents to wait in the long line up for a burger – I never mind waiting. Actually even to this day I will still wait in the long, long line for my Webers burger. I get excited thinking about Webers – I’ll most likely have one this weekend – I can’t wait, even though I just had one on Tuesday…
For the most part, I strategy pick who I will drive up with to the cottage to ensure we can go to Webers. After my first year of university I gained the freshmen 15-30 and my mother was trying to “help me” on our way up north. I fell asleep in the car and instead of waking me up and stopping at Webers my mom kept on driving. This was one of the few times I yelled at my Mother. And to back up my reason for yelling - I hadn’t been to Webers since the previous summer. Not cool mom. She now knows to never pass Webers if I am in the car whether I am coherent or not.
Anyways, I LOVE Webers and you should definitely stop next time you are driving by. They have great grounds to enjoy your meal with picnic benches and a water station for your dog. If it is raining or too hot outside there is a CN railway car you can eat your meal – one of the cool parts of going as a kid!
1) Rhubarb
Rhubarb is an upscale casual dining restaurant located in Carnarvon, which is 35 minutes away from my cottage. It is an awesome restaurant that has a craft Brewery, Boshkung Brewing Co., in the basement. Rhubarb has amazing food, a great atmosphere and looks onto Mirror Lake, providing quite the picturesque view. Rhubarb uses local seasonal food as well as a wine list that features many Ontario wines.
My family and I frequent Rhubarb all year round. My mom and I popped in after golfing earlier in the week and split a few appetizers. We started with one of the specials, the French Farmers Plate. It was awesome and quite interesting. There was wild boar apricot terrine, chilled duck breast, aged goat cheese, and delicious chutney. To be honest, I was a little bit worried about the wild boar terrine but it was unbelievable - It pays off to be an adventurous eater.
Now for my favourite dish: The Duck Confit Poutine:
This falls in the top 3 poutines, maybe even the BEST poutine I have ever had and I recommend visiting Rhubarb solely for the purpose of trying it. Even my dad, the pickiest eater in the world, loves this poutine – although, I don’t think he realizes that it is not topped with your standard gravy but instead a grainy Dijon mustard gravy (which is to die for). Also, instead of cheese curds they use old cheddar. I am drooling thinking about this. AND if you are not up for the full size poutine or don’t have anyone to share it with you can ‘duck confit poutine’ your side fries on any other dish!! We paired our meal with a bottle of Norman Hardie Unfiltered Pinot Noir – ALSO RECOMMEND TRYING THIS. It is delicious but hard to find at the LCBO so use their website location inventory details. I am going to visit the Norman Hardie Winery in Prince Edward County next week and will have the all the details for you!
I think it is safe to say I have a food addiction.
Check out my Twitter & Instagram account for my cottage eats this weekend!
About two months ago, my cousin Maggie asked if my boyfriend Dave and I wanted to go to Taco Fest at Ontario Place. Naturally, I responded within one minute of her texting saying, “send me the info and I’ll purchase our tickets!” I didn’t have to think twice about going. How could we pass up tacos, beer, and margaritas? There is truly no better way to spend a Sunday.
Taco Fest is hosted by TASTETORONTO to showcase some of Toronto’s best chefs that cook with a Mexican twist. There was live music, an authentic Mariachi band and 25 vendors on the grounds. They served a variety of tacos, nachos and salsa, churros, Mexican street corn, and sangria, plus tons of hot sauces. If you enjoy Mexican food, this was definitely the place to be. Here is a great after video from 2016 that TASTETORONTO put together: click here.
Here is a little recap of my first Taco Fest experience:
To start, I have few tips if you ever plan on attending a TASTETORONTO event:
1) Do NOT eat before! You surprisingly fill up much quicker than expected;
2) SHARE everything. Sharing is caring – the more food items you get to try, the better; and
3) Do NOT over indulge at the bar the night before – I previously went to Brunch Fest and struggled to enjoy myself due to a few too many beverages the night before
We followed my advice and went bright and early. We did not eat breakfast beforehand and therefore did not ruin our appetites – HIGHLY recommend this tactic. We arrived starving, hit all of the stations we wanted, and missed all of the lines, which started to form as we were too full to eat anything else.
It was a little bit overwhelming at first because everything looked delicious and the smells were heavenly. We decided a drink to start may be the best idea. We headed over and ordered Margaritas and Coronas.
Our first food stop was at Busters Sea Cove:
I tried the Jerk Shrimp Taco, which was amazing and one of my favourites. It included jerk fried shrimp, roja, creamy coleslaw, pico de gallo, and jerk aioli on a corn tortilla. Next we headed to the Kathi Roll Express to try The Legendary Butter Chicken Taco. This one is pretty self-explanatory – the taco shell was naan bread. It was my second favourite of the day.
Then we headed to The Citizen to try their Beet & Avocado taco. This was an interesting one and probably my least favourite, BUT it was a beautiful looking taco (see below). This taco consisted of guacamole, coconut queso, beet crema, and puffed quinoa.
Next we tried the Pulled Yam Taco from Rancho Relaxo, which was seasoned shredded yam and carrot topped with vegan apple slaw in a flour tortilla (I wish it was in a corn tortilla but still delish) and the Buffalo Cauliflower Taco from Fidel Gastro’s. This consisted of fried cauliflower tossed in a buffalo sauce with creamy slaw, radish coins, celery, and chopped chives. These two tacos tied for third place.
We ended the day with a Mexican street corn called the Taco Sweet Corn Parfait from The Mighty Cob and Ice Cream Tacos from Booyah Inc. I thought it was quite unfair since I can’t eat dessert due to my bet… WHICH IS ALMOST OVER! T-minus 54 days… not that I am counting or beyond excited at all.
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed Taco Fest and will 100% attend again next year. It was a great way to try multiple restaurants in one sitting and figure out where I may want to go back for a full sit down meal. The live music and Mariachi band was a great addition and provided the perfect pit stop to enjoy a beverage and digest before food rounds 4, 5, and 6!
Enjoying every last bite....
TASTETORONTO is hosting an event similar to Taco Fest and Brunch at the end of the summer called Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ. If you are looking for some great craft beers, bourbon cocktails, grill master lessons, and bull rides I would definitely consider going!
I'M HERE AT @topgunsteak @topgun_burgers Now!!! . . My pics will be up later 🌟🍔🌟🍔🌟🐓🌟🐔🌟 Enjoyed my Chicken S #Repost @topgun_burgers (@get_repost) ・・・ This is what everyone has been talking about: Today tomorrow & Sunday, free free free!!! 2 of our chicken strips on any burger or steak sandwich you buy.Three days only. Always fresh @topgunsteak & burgers #uoftstudents Toronto's best burger and steak sandwich #ed_otoole 😍😍😍🍔🍔❤️❤️🇨🇦🇨🇦🚀🍔#burger #burger🍔 #burgertime #burgerjoint #burgersteak #steak #steakhouse #steaknshake #dineto #dinertime #uoft #uoftabroad #uoftstudents #topgunsteak #topgun_burgers #abrahimnehme (at Top Gun Steak & burgers)
From Gastroposter Jennifer Lynn Cua, via Instagram:
The churro ice cream sandwich is one of the best desserts I've had for a long time! Even with the syrup and chocolate bits, the dessert did not turn out too sweet. The churros was crispy enough that it did not get soaked or soggy. Highly recommend trying this out!
