Food Review: Art Is In (Ottawa)

Our first morning in Ottawa, my friends took us to a place in the wholesale packing area, where the local bread artist holds his retail store.

With a spacious ocean of parking, you can find ART.IS.IN at unit 112-114 for their retail store.

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Unfortunately, it doesn't get prettier than this. BUT, the food you are about to see will make up for it. =0)

It's completely industral-looking and it's clean. They've got a very electic decor and lots of tables and chairs for their mountains of customers. 

But the real showstopper is in their food and baked goods. Take a look and I know you'll be drooling by the end of these photos.

Their baked goods are on the large side, so it's great for sharing and making new friends *wink*.

Art.Is.In also has a fair amount of food items to order. But, get there earlier than later because the food made that day get sold out quickly... on Sunday afternoon, 3 items on the list was sold out by noon (and it opened at 9:00am).

My breakfast started with their amazing-looking lemon raspberry danish (I honestly ate with my eyes). 

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After I saw these giant mommas, I had to try one. But don't worry I shared it! It was WAY too big to eat it all up by myself, I'm not a piggy ;p

Here's a way to measure just how big this danish was. I took their postcard to help. The box is not small, more of a medium size.

Also, I tried their peppermint tea -tasted like Christmas!

And here IT IS:

How'd it taste? I'll tell you!

It was GOOD. The fluffy croissant danish underneath the beauty was absolutely fresh, light and oh so buttery. The lemon sauce with the raspberry gave a tart flavour making the frosting taste not-too-sweet -which I like best.

Then I had a taste of the chocolate walnut chewy cookie (gluten free) and THAT was great because it wasn't overly sweet. The cookie inside was a soft like a brownie and I just devoured it! So... that was a good cookie and it's great for the gluen-free ppl. =)

In the midst of all this sharing of great pastries, I forgot to take a photo of the chocolatine croissant that doubled the size of "my" fist (photo above, to your left). Just like my danish and the chocolate cookie, it was ridiculously good. There weren't any fancy frostings or pretty fruit on it, but this, the invention of the croissant by Chef Kevin was perfect.  It did not take dry at all. The croissant was extremely flaky (stuck to my lips and made a mountain) and so soft inside with a nice toasted exterior.

Overall, I cannot gush more about Art.Is.In.... or can I? Wait till I tell you about my lunch adventure here. Yes, I came back the very next day!

It's got it all, Art in the form of bread. He's the Michelangelo of bread!

6/5 stars

Here's a little something for you to read about... the man behind the bread:

Thanks Kevin! I'll definitely be coming back!

Things to do this weekend: NIGHT IT UP

It's that time again.... time for....

Night It Up

Are you ready to join in on the dirtiest and crowded place in Markham?

Haha.. not really a seller eh? Well how about this. Along with all the night market booths from previous years, they're adding more "North American" food trucks like:

Buster's Sea Cove

Beaver Tails (desserts)

Marble Slab Ice Cream

Chilly Ribbons

But they've definitely added a lot more events to this shingdig. They're featured attractions this year:

100+ food, merchandise and game booths

55+ live stage performances

CCYAA Sports Zone

Outdoor Movie Screening (collaboration with TIFF, featuring Jump Ashin! (2011, screened at Reel Asian) on Friday and Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) on Saturday at 9:00pm)

Paint-A-Thon

Hunger Squad Awareness Exhibit

Food Trucks

Scavenger Hunt (get ready to use those hashtags on your social media pages to receive points)

Second Harvest Truck Pull Race

Location: 

Markham Civic Center | 101 Town Centre Boulevard

Main intersection: 

Hwy 7/Warden Avenue (one street west of Warden)

Date: 

Friday July 12 - July 14, 2013

Time:

Friday 7pm - 12am | Saturday 12pm - 12am | Sunday 12pm - 8pm

If you need more information, go to their website 

www.nightitup.com

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Have a happy, fun and safe weekend!

FREE Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Points

Who loves to get FREE points? 

Yes? You?

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Good, because today is your lucky day then! 

When you sign in to Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum account online, go to your "Update/Edit Profile" and there is a Promo code filler, enter promo code: 2050 to get 2000 free points for buying absolutely nothing!

But you must hurry because this special only runs until July 12, 2013.

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Awww... no need to thank me, just come back and tell all your friends/family about theccgirl blog!

Enjoy guys!

Food Review: The Wellington Gastropub (Ottawa)

On my travels up north to Canada's capital city, we arrived in the early evening and my friends arranged to have reservations at this cute little Gastropub called " The Wellington". 

If you say the name of this restaurant, it seems as though many locals will say, "Oh yeah, good food!"

Our first real Ottawa food adventure, we dine in at The Wellington Gastropub for dinner.

Reservations are required because they get full quickly with it's small to medium seating available.

Its place on the second floor of an independent plaza. It has two main areas, and we were seated in one of their spacious booths by the window -best spot in the house. The photo above shows the larger main space of the two.

The decorations are very homey and light feeling and not at all pub-like with a heavy look and darker palette. It's clean and the seats are far enough apart that it doesn't look overcrowded. It looks as though it's a more older crowd, but then again I've only been here once.

On the menu, they have 2 pages. I was told that their menu changes quite often, so it's a pretty nice surprise to come here to see just what's on the menu.

The prices run a bit higher here (entrees are between $21 - $28)

They provided the table with complimentary bread (free refills) supplied by one of Ottawa's local bread artists (you'll see more of this amazing bread artist in my next few posts) by a chef named Kevin. His work is simply amazing in its smell, texture and taste. Our bread was served with a cold press canola oil. From my bread-dipping experience, I enjoy the olive oil and balsamic combination for taste. With only the canola oil, it was tasteless, but it was still good only because of how fresh the bread was.

For this adventures' foodie file, I ordered the Parisienne Gnnocchi ($21.00).

Since I've been trying to eat more healthy and intake a larger amount of green veggies, I was delighted how green this dish was. But to my delightful surprise, it was the gnocchi that made it's punch. It was the most delicate gnocchi I've ever tasted. I'm not a pro on gnocchi, but I'm sure this is how fresh gnoochi can taste. It melted in my mouth and the kale and peas along with the creamy sauce molded together in my mouth so.. tastefully.

Overall, this was a very delightful place.

When we arrived with a reservation, we had to wait for a table for about 20-30 minutes. However, the staff was very nice and polite and gave us one of the best seats in the house to make up for the wait time. I appreciated this type of care for their customers.

4.2/5 stars

Food Review: Banh Mi Boys Sandwich Shop

It's been a very talked about sandwich shop.

Have you read the reviews?

Toronto Star reviewed it's nutritional contents

Word of Mouth
Passerby (Queen St/Spadina)

A local go-to shop for all your vietnamese sub-kimchi-fries-pork belly needs.

Start here (photo below)
1) Walk deep into the slim narrow restaurant and at the corner you'll sort of see the cashier/staff. I say that because it's so packed with  people hanging out along the wall -looking as though they are waiting in a line yet they're not in a line (go figure).

Menu is right above the cashier on 2 TVs

2) After you order, stand in another line to get your food. After you order, depending on how much you ordered, (for a simple sub) and if it's during their busy time, it can take as long as 20 minutes.

It's a semi-open kitchen. 

3) You wait along this area and when they call your name (you give your name to the staff when paying at the cash register), you go up to the semi-open kitchen and they will ask you what else you would like on it.. etc.

I've been here a couple times, but this trip I wasn't too too hungry, so I ordered a Kalbi taco ($3.99). For a girl, the size portion is okay. But if you're hungry, you'll definitely need to order more than 1. =)

For me, it was the softness of the bun that made it that much better. The Kalbi beef was seasoned superbly and the veggies tasted fresh. But that bun, yum. It tasted like the chinese "green onion pancake" but without the green onions.

Overall, I loved it. 

Only complaint: Get a bigger place OR make it just a take-out place, because the little tables they have (in the front) crowds the place that much more.

Price: $$ ($3.99 tacos/$5.99 avg sub/$5.99 avg fries)

Service: Good (even though they're pretty busy)

Location: Spadina/Queen (west of Spadina on Queen St)

I go back whenever I'm in the area. 

It's good decent priced food!

=0)

2013 Summer Deals Going On Now!

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This is not a bad deal, especially when you don't have time and need a "snack-sized" pick me up.

McDonalds

Deal is on NOW.... till this Wednesday (June 12, 2013).

(photo courtesy of women freebies)

Happy Deal Hunting!

Food Review: Qing Hua Dumpling (Montreal)

Late night dinner in Montreal's chinatown.

We found this place on the fly. It was still open around 9pm and so we tried it out. And it didn't hurt to see that they had a wall of "article achievements" to showcase their abilities. ;)

Here's a peek at their menu

We ordered quite a bit, so we definitely had our fill. I'm not a real dumpling fan, but the ones we ordered (2 veggies, 2 pork, 2 Siew Long Bao) weren't half bad. Although there was one batch of dumplings that were undercooked. But the waitress was very apologetic and very kind. 

Pork Dumplings (photo above)

The texture of the dumpling was not too thick but held the filling well. And the filling inside was not slim, but sizable portions. =0)

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Siew Long Bao (photo above)

These baos were delicious. And the size of them were pretty big (compared to some I've had in Toronto). The soup was super hot and tasty. 

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The space and decoration inside is actually very nice. Their walls have a concrete texture and the furniture and lights create a fusion in a modern appeal

 But you can see that they stay true in their original design (see through wall, photo below).

Overall, I liked this place for what it was. Going in on the fly (walk-in) because it was close to our hotel, I think it deserves a high 4/5 stars in my books. I'm sure there are other comparable places to eat, and when I get a chance I may go out and explore the others.

Give it a try! =0)

Toronto Happenings & Free Poutine

Are you a fan of FOOD NETWORK?

Are you a fan of POUTINE?

Are you in Toronto in the month of JUNE?

Here's some fun news | For all the Torontonians and lucky tourist visiting Toronto
When | come out on Wednesday June 5, 2013 to get in on the fun
Where | at Yonge-Dundas Square (Yonge Street/Dundas Street, south east corner) during the times between
Time | 12:30 - 7:00pm
So... what is this anyways | Meet John Catucci from "You Gotta Eat Here", Free poutine, Free samples for Dawn dish detergent

(photograph manipulated by theccgirl, does not belong to theccgirl in any way)

And even for the working folks, come during your lunch hour or even after work (goes on until 7:00pm)