Ice Cream Dreams Program, NYC

I've got a quick stop over in Toronto en route to Cancun, so I thought I'd pop into the Maple Leaf lounge to share this story: The Muse Hotel has an Ice Cream Dreams program to set them apart from the others in New York City. The hotel's executive chef, Patricia Williams, will whip up any ice cream flavor you can dream of, and have it ready upon your arrival. All you have to do is give 48 hours notice, and be willing to pay the hefty price for it. The custom ice cream is made by the pint. The base pint (base flavor) goes for about $14, and additional...

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Mexican Food Adventure in Cabo Mexico

I'm heading to Cancun tomorrow, and although I am not a huge fan of resorts, I will grab any opportunity to escape Ottawa's cold, snowy winters. My upcoming travels to Mexico reminded me of my trip to Cabo San Lucas last year. After a great afternoon of jeep rallying along the Mexican valleys and beaches one afternoon, my friends and I ventured into town to get some grub. By that point, we were so sick of the resort food, we were willing to eat...

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Dim Sum at Chu Sing, Ottawa

I met up with my mom and some family friends this morning for dim sum at Chu Sing, and although I didn't feel like it, I couldn't turn down the opportunity. If you're Chinese, you NEVER turn down dim sum. I always tell CK that it's like a Persian turning down kabob...it just doesn't make any sense. Dim sum is the name for a Chinese cuisine of small plates that consists of meat, seafood, vegetable, and/or dessert. It is somewhat comparable...

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Pesto's Deli, Ottawa

My friend, Wals, and I headed to Pesto's Deli for a quick lunch today. He had never been here before, and was impressed that there was a decent Italian deli sandwich place in the West End. Pesto's Deli is a family owned Italian joint located in a strip mall in Ottawa West (Kanata to be exact). It is actually more than just a deli. Besides the endless selection of Italian meats, they serve fresh pasta and sandwiches for lunch, and also have a wall...

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Mini Japanese Crab Snacks

I returned to Pacific Mall again last weekend in search for some Chinese dragon beard candy. Unfortunately the guy that normally makes it was not selling any that weekend (he wasn't there). I didn't want to leave empty handed because we had drove 25 minutes out of our way to get there, and ended up circling around the BUSY mall for an hour looking for parking. In absence of dragon beard candy, I headed to Ding Dong for some Asian snacks. I grabbed...

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Christian Lacroix 2008 Limited Edition Evian Water Bottle

My aunt Mims just bought me 2 beautiful Christian Lacroix "Prêt-à-Porter" 2008 Limited Edition Evian water bottles. Every year, Evian creates special edition water bottles to celebrate the holiday season. For 2008, two holiday bottles were designed with fashion designer Christian Lacroix. There is an ordinary pret-a-porter bottle with a snowflake/lace design, and there is an haute couture bottle that is in the the shape of a doll. While the pret-a-porter...

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Obama Tails

***[Updated Jan 14 '09] Just wanted to say thanks to BeaverTails Inc. who provided me with the photo above. It is a photo of founder Grant Hooker and his wife Pam showing off the latest Obama Tail at the event yesterday afternoon. The O's here look like they are chocolate and whipped cream instead of the Nutella that Grant showed on the CTV article. If anyone else have photos of an Obama Tail from yesterday's event, I'd love to check them out or...

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Nicest Convenience Store in Toronto...Maybe Even North America?

While CK and I were driving along Jarvis Street in Toronto, we were shocked to see a Mac's convenience store housed in an old Victorian style house. It looked like it was too nice to even go in. Naturally, I asked CK to pull over so that I could take a picture. I wonder how much their rent is? Mac's Convenience Store 471 Jarvis Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada Telephone: 416-921-27...

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The Tart Off - Pastel de Nata Challenge

After enjoying my very first pastel de nata (portugese custard tart) last week, I decided to search for the best pastel de nata in Toronto. This all started with Mark's comment on my Golden Wheat Bakery post. Two places that came up most frequently were Nova Era bakery and Caldense bakery. About half of the people were die hard Nova Era fans, and the other half were Caldense fans. I decided to try them both out for myself, and find out which was...

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Pain Perdu, Toronto

If you want to taste real french pastries, visit Pain Perdu. When we walked into this bakery, we forgot where we were for a second. There was charming French music playing in the background, we were greeted by soft spoken Parisian staff, and the majority of their menu was written in French such as tarte a l'oignon and croque monsieur. I came here for one thing, and that was for their croissants. Their croissants were named Best Croissant 3 times...

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