Nota Bene - New 4 to 7 Menu

An upscale, fine dining restaurant offering food for $4? Now you don’t hear that statement everyday. However, Note Bene which was named Canada’s best new restaurant in 2009 by Toronto Life is doing just that by launching their new 4 to 7 menu meaning that from Monday to Friday between 4PM to 7PM, you can get bar snacks for only $4! 

Even with its affordability of just two toonies, don’t automatically think the food is cheap, because what you can get on this menu should by all accounts be priced higher. From what you will see below, Executive Chef David Lee has crafted bar snacks that are simple yet refined with touches of gourmet elements that will bring you back to the fine dining ambiance that Note Bene provides. 

Below are the 10 bar snacks that only cost $4 if you drop in between 4PM to 7PM on the weekdays, and then only $7 from 7PM till close. Please note that this menu is not offered on weekends. 

Cumbrae Farms Beef Sliders

Harvarti Cheese + Maple Bacon

Salt Cod Fritters

Kimchi Mayo

Truffle Popcorn

Parmigiano

Burrata Pugliese

Grilled Miche, Olive Oil

Calamari A La Plancha

XO Sauce + Coriander

Calabrese Olives + Cheese

Rosemary + Garlic

Shoshito Peppers

Lemon + Maldon Salt

Porcini Arancini

Truffle Aioli + Parmigiano

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Smoked Oyster Mayonnaise

Belly Buster Slider

Pork Belly, Frites, Ketchup, Pickle

No meal is complete without some liquid gold.

Cava

Pares Balta - Penedes, Spain

Stella Artois

If you’re in the area after a long work day in downtown Toronto, definitely drop by for these bar snacks. What I would suggest is to come down with a friend and order the whole menu! Since it’s only $4 per dish, to have all 10 items you are only going to have to pay $40. I split the entire menu with my friend and in my opinion the portions are perfect for two people to enjoy. 

I just wanted to thank Nota Bene for inviting me down to try this menu out. It is extremely refreshing for a well established, fine dining restaurant in the city to still cater to the customers who are on a tighter budget, but still appreciate good food in an upscale, sleek, and contemporary setting. Now I’m just hoping this trend catches on and other restaurants start creating $4 menus. One can only hope right?  

Village Juicery - Cold Pressed Juices Review

By now you may all have heard about this juicing trend that has really caught on with the masses, especially those who are health conscious and want to live a clean and healthy lifestyle. The concept of juicing has been around for ages so that is nothing new. If not yourself, you probably know a handful of people who owns their very own juicer at home; a fun do-it-yourself kitchen appliance where you throw in your fruits and vegetables into the machine and within minutes out comes a cup of freshly squeezed juice. 

Over the past few years, the concept of “cold pressed” juices has spread like wild fire. Traditionally, juices that are not considered cold pressed (basically the old school way of juicing) utilizes a fast spinning blade within the machine to separate the juice from flesh through what is called centrifugal force (a motion tending to move away from the centre). The problem with utilizing this fast spinning blade is as it spins, it generates heat. This heat destroys some of the enzymes in the fruits and vegetables you are juicing causing some of the nutrients to be destroyed as well. 

So what does “cold pressed” actually mean? Well as the name suggests, the juicing process does not generate any heat to maximize on all the nutrients it can extract from the fruits and vegetables. It extracts juice by using hydraulic pressure crushing, squeezing, and pressing the fruit and vegetables for the highest nutritional yield having very little exposure to oxygen. Since the fruits and vegetables are literally being crushed the living day lights out of them using sheer force, heat does not get generated and more of the fresh ingredient’s nutrients stay in tact. 

One of the companies in Toronto on the forefront of this cold pressed movement is Village Juicery who call their juicing community their “Villagers”. Village Juicery believes in increasing access to raw, plant-based nutrition and a focus on keeping everything local, from their produce suppliers, industry suppliers, and the charitable organizations they support. In fact, it is almost hard not to notice just how local their business is. On every one of their bottles, a sticker is firmly placed on its cap that says “Made in Toronto.” As a loyal admirer of my city I grew up in my entire life, I can truly appreciate how much love and devotion Village Juicery has on this great city. 

Now onto the good stuff, the actual juices! The Village Juicery delivered to my very own door step their line of 100% organic cold pressed juices. I received 7 of their cold pressed juices and 1 of their handmade nut milks in my package. Once you open the cardboard box, you will see that each glass bottle is neatly compartmentalized by dividers to ensure that the glass does not shatter as it gets delivered to your door. 

The one thing I love when I received all the juices is on each of its bottles, it prints out on the front all the ingredients so you know at a quick glance exactly what you will be consuming. On the back of each bottle also comes with a fun description of that specific cold pressed juice which gives you a better understanding of the different nutrients and benefits it has. At the very bottom on the back of the bottle also shares with you a breakdown of “What’s Inside” as each cold pressed juice has 3 types of ingredients, fruit, root, and green. The percentage by weight of each ingredient is shown so some of the cold pressed juices will be more fruit centric, where others will have a higher percentage of vegetables mixed in. 

Here is a breakdown of all the Cold Pressed Juices I tried.

Be Active

60% Fruit; 40% Root; 0% Leaf

Although there is a high concentration of juice in this one, I found this juice to be the toughest for me to drink. The taste of ginger is extremely strong and leaves a burning sensation in your mouth. I’m not a fan of ginger to begin with which makes Be Active my least favourite out of all the cold pressed juices I tried. I know ginger is supposed to be really healthy for you, but I think I’ll move on to the next one…

Be Radiant

20% Fruit; 80% Root; 0% Leaf

Although the ingredients in this one is 80% root, there is no ginger in this one which is fine by me. The vivid orange colour to this juice comes from the carrot and sweet potato. Carrot was the strongest flavour throughout with a settle hint of apple in it. I liked it but didn’t love it. 

Be Calm

20% Fruit; 0% Root; 80% Leaf

Being that I have rarely juiced before, especially with using vegetables, I was a little bit hesitant to try this just because I was afraid that with the majority of the drink being composed of leaf type ingredients it may be too overpowering to drink. I was completely wrong and it became one of my favourites. The pineapple counteracted the taste of just pure vegetables perfectly. The combination of pineapple, fennel, and mint really created a soothing effect within my body as I drank it. 

Be Nourished

50% Fruit; 0% Root; 50% Leaf

The perfect balance between fruits and vegetables giving you an even nourishment on both sides. This is a gentle introduction to anyone who is not a fan of green juices as the two types of apples prevalent in this juice gives it a sweet and fruity flavour, while you are still consuming equal amounts of vegetables with every sip. I would definitely recommend this one. 

Be Strong

30% Fruit; 10% Root; 60% Leaf

The most unique tasting juice of the bunch for me. The red cabbage is definitely the star of the show in this juice with its dominant flavour profile. You would think that the taste of cabbage may be unpleasant, but it wasn’t hard to drink at all. The familiarity of apple juice is present as well which makes this juice just as easy to stomach as the others. 

Be Clean

10% Fruit; 0% Root; 90% Leaf

My favourite cold pressed juice of them all which surprised me since the majority of the ingredients in this one is vegetables with very little fruit. The vegetables chosen in this juice is not overpowering as the likes of celery, kale, and lettuce all have a very subtle taste to begin with. The splash of apple mixed in made this juice very pleasant to drink and the fact that I enjoyed a juice dominated by vegetables makes this one a home run for me. 

Apple Cider

The classic apple juice, cold pressed edition. Nothing hard at all about drinking this one if you’re a fan of just good ole’ apple juice. With the apples being cold pressed, you get even more nutrients in this one, not to mention its also unfiltered with no added sugars. 

The Handmade Nut Milk which I treated it like a dessert. 

Be Happy

What a perfect name to this drink. It truly was a joy to drink because it tasted so damn good. It’s a sweet, creamy, decadent drink with the primary flavour of this being cashews and a hint of maple syrup. The only thing bad about this drink was that the bottle was so small! If I could drink this everyday for the rest of my life I totally would. 

Many other cold pressed juice companies use a technique called HPP (High Pressure Processing) which is a cold pasteurization technique where products are subjected to a high level of isostatic pressure. This pressure will extend the shelf life by 10 times, but in doing so killing bad and good bacteria along the way. As seen on every bottle, Village Juicery firmly believes this is not a viable solution for our well-being as bacteria plays a critical role in digestion and are needed to support proper nutrition. That is why they will never use HPP and their cold pressed juices are best consumed within 3 to 5 days of pressing to ensure maximum nutrition. 

Also keep in mind that if you keep the glass bottles after you finish the juice, you can return the rinsed bottle to a Village Juicery store for a discount at your next purchase! Myself, I’m keeping several of them at home for future use. My only qualm with it was that the fonts used on the bottles are all stickers so with a little water on it, sometimes the stickers would start to peel off leaving a slightly sticky residue on the bottle. 

All in all I’ve had a wonderful experience with the cold pressed juices from Village Juicery. As a food blogger, often times I am eating tons of fatty, greasy foods for the sake of a picture so being given the opportunity to cleanse my body and re-fuel it with organic, nutritious ingredients was certainly welcomed with open arms. 

If you think you are ready to go outside of your comfort zone and try some of these cold pressed juices, you can visit their flagship store in Toronto in the heart of Little Italy (540 College Street). Many other retailers across this city also carries their cold pressed juices which you can find their locations here. Thanks to Village Juicery I’m feeling rejuvenated, healthy, and ready to take on anything that comes my way. I am definitely proud to be considered now as one of their Villagers. 

Interview with Executive Chef Eron Novalski - Aria Ristorante (Summerlicious)

It’s that time of the year again where everyone’s favourite culinary celebration in Toronto is upon us. Summerlicious has officially started (from July 3rd to July 26th) where more than 210 restaurants across this city are offering three-course prix fixe lunch and dinner menus at a fraction of what you would normally pay.

Also for the first time ever, Summerlicious will be extending the celebrations by an additional week due to the Pan Am Games, so there is even more time now for you to indulge and taste some of the diverse cuisine this city has to offer!

A prime example of a restaurant ready to welcome you with open arms over the next 3 weeks is Aria Ristorante, located adjacent to the Air Canada Centre and Maple Leaf Square. With its dramatic 35 foot ceiling and contemporary design, you will be transported inside to a luxurious fine dining experience where an infusion of Italian cuisine, design, and culture will take over. 

With such a successful Summerlicious last year, Aria Ristorante has crafted a stunning menu in an ode to Mother Italy for this year’s diners. Think octopus carpaccio with Calabrian chillies and charred pineapple or local grilled beef with broccoli rabe crema and sweet corn potato crisps.  Once the mains are done, the sweets are delightful, Italian-inspired ways for you to finish the perfect dinner, like the bufala mozzarella gelato with tomato and strawberry gazpacho or the vanilla budino with local peaches. 

I was fortunate enough to dive even deeper to this Summerlicious menu as I had the chance to interview Chef Eron Novalski and find out how he crafted the menu for Summerlicious 2015. All the while learning more about him and his culinary journey that has currently led him here to one of the best Italian restaurants this city has to offer. 

Chef Eron Novalski began his culinary journey in the kitchen as a tiny infant, creating his own recipes. Upon graduation in Culinary Management at George Brown College, he studied at Le Manoir Culinary Institute in Paris, graduating with honours. Having the advantage of being fully bilingual, Eron worked at the prestigious ‘Tour D'Argent Restaurant’ in Paris, one of the most famous restaurants in the world where it even inspired scenes in the 2007 Pixar movie, Ratatouille. 

After completing his studies, Eron embarked on a wine and culinary tour through France and Italy and returned to Canada with a broader knowledge of French and Italian cuisine. Eron worked at Senses for five years and during that time traveled to New York to work with some of the top Chefs in the United States. He also participated in the James Beard event in New York, Vancouver and Toronto.

A passionate food aficionado, Eron brought a wealth of knowledge acquired through his travels abroad working at Noce Restaurant in Toronto. Just as he did in the kitchen at Noce, now as Aria’s Executive Chef, he spares no expense in sourcing the freshest, highest quality ingredients to create dishes of elegant simplicity.      

When discussing what his thought process and influences were into creating the 2015 Summerlicious menu, Chef Novalski tells me “My main influences are always doing something new, keeping things innovative but simple using the best local and Italian-sourced ingredients.” In being able to put ingredients and flavours together, one must know the science behind it. He explains, “History and culture are very important in understanding what food is all about. It’s like art and history. Things are being executed a certain way because of our environment and seasonality.”

The one thing I quickly noticed when looking at this year’s menu was exactly what he touched upon. The use of local and Italian-sourced ingredients is extremely prevalent on this year’s menu and it turns out he will have it no other way. “Local produce, International food”, this is my new mantra. Using local ingredients in kitchens has been a success story and a major plank of Toronto’s dining scene push. Certainly we are all doing what foodists want us to do. Rather than letting the food-industrial complex steamroll our culture, we Canadians (and all other worldwide cultures) are fighting back and wanting the regional specificity of our food - in a way that links into issues of memory and history.“

Now with each Summerlicious menu comes choices. At times you may stumble upon a menu where it is extremely difficult to pick out a dish because everything on the menu is just calling out your name. Looking at this year’s Summerlicious menu for Aria Ristorante, I’m afraid it will be no different as each offering seems just too good to pass. Knowing this I tried to find out for you guys what his personal favourites are on his menu to try to ease the pain when ordering. Chef Novalski tells me, “My favourite dishes on the menu are the testina and salmon crude from the Lunch menu and the asparagus salad from Dinner.” A good place to start if you ask me, straight from the chef’s mouth. 

For all us foodies, Summerlicious is something we look forward to all year long. I personally find a lot of enjoyment being able to try out so many different restaurants in Toronto during this time, restaurants where I may not normally go to otherwise because of the price or for the simple fact that I may have never heard of it before. One great thing about Summerlicious is it puts a spotlight on so many different types of restaurants across this city, big or small, cuisine of all ethnicities, and talented chefs like Eron Novalski gets a chance to be creative in putting out stunning set menus, showcasing their culinary talents for an entire community to enjoy. “I love being part of this program because it is a way to celebrate being part of the restaurant community in Toronto. I am excited to show off Aria’s great cuisine and hospitality to the guests that may not normally dine with us, and hopefully turn them into regulars. I take great pride in our high level of food quality and service and the ability to share it with others.“ 

As we end here, I want to encourage everyone to take part in this 3 week long culinary celebration and check out a restaurant maybe you have never been before for either lunch or dinner. With the extra week given to us this year because of the Pan Am Games, there is no reason now not to. As a great beginning point, Aria Ristorante will be the perfect restaurant to start your culinary adventure with. It’s Italian cuisine at its finest and its as authentic as it can get. You are left in very capable hands from Chef Eron Novalski. I hope to see you all there! 

Please call 416 363 2742 to make your reservation at Aria Ristorante today! 

See below for their lunch and dinner menu. 

Address

25 YORK STREET

TORONTO, ONTARIO 

M5J 2V5

Photos do not belong to me

The Stop’s Night Market

With Taste of Toronto coming up this weekend I thought it would be fitting to write about another food festival in Toronto that is a little bit more under the radar which you may want to check out next year. The Stop’s Night Market is an annual fundraising event in Toronto where a mix of local restaurants, beverage vendors, and artists all come together to transform a public space into a tantalizing feast for your senses over the span of two glorious nights in June.

The unique thing about The Stop’s Night Market that sets it apart from all the rest is that it is all you can eat and drink! And when I say drink it’s not just water and pop. You can literally drink as much alcohol as you please throughout the entire night, beers, cocktails, and wines alike! However, most of the guests at this night market are not only here for the drinks, but for the delicious food that over 60 different restaurants have prepared. 

What’s the catch though that this is an all you can eat and drink affair? The ticket for admittance will cost you $100. However even with this price tag, the event sells out all the time and I for one am very glad that the organizers put out a limit on how many people are able to attend. To be perfectly honest, a lot of food festivals in Toronto has been an utter failure because of poor planning and execution. Do I have to remind you of recent examples such as the Mac and Cheese or the Grilled Cheese festival? If you do not pick the right venue and do not place a restriction on how many people can attend, what you will have is pure chaos where disgruntled guests will spend an hour waiting in line either just to get through the doors or partake in a small piece of food that was completely underwhelming and wasn’t worth the long wait.

What Taste of Toronto and The Stop’s Night Market does so well is the ratio of food and beverage vendors to the guests. With over 60 restaurant booths and 20 local beverage vendors spread over the two days, the wait in line for me to get some food or a drink was a maximum wait of 5 to 7 minutes. In fact, the wait time for me probably averaged around 3 minutes throughout the entire night. The food kept pumping out so the lines kept on moving!

As stated before, each ticket to get in will cost you $100 but it is all for a good cause as all proceeds raised in this event goes towards The Stop Community Centre’s critical food access and community-building programs. This year alone over $200 000 was raised for The Stop Community Centre which will go towards their programs such as their drop in meals, healthy food banks, perinatal programs, community advocacy, local food markets, community cooking programs, sustainable food systems education, community gardening programs, and their state-of-the-art greenhouse and compost demonstration centre.

To break it down even further, the $100 ticket purchase will provide our neighbours with either access to 20 meals in The Stop’s drop-in meal program, healthy food hampers for 4 families from their food bank, or increased access to their urban agriculture, community cooking, and education programming for children and adults in our community.

Beyond the philanthropic initiative, you will definitely get your moneys worth in terms of food and drinks. I have never been so full in my entire life after the night was over and for all the food and drinks I devoured, the bill at the end of it all would have easily been way over the $100 price tag. The pictures you are about to see below is every single dish and beverage I personally ate and drank at this event! By the end of this visual depiction, you will likely see why I got my money’s worth and then some.

Abokichi - Popcorn Chicken

Sea Witch Fish & Chips - Halibut Croquettes

Nana - Southern Fried Chicken

The 47 - Cevapi

Woodlot - Stuffed Grape Leaves

Mad Maple - Stawberry Rhubarb Rugelache

Broncos - Hot BBQ Chicken on a Bun

Rose & Sons - Ground Beef & Cow Heart Chilli Cheese Dog

Enoteca Sociale - Tuna Conserva

Hello Darling - Sweet and Spicy Tart

Barque - BBQ Pork with Chicharon

Cafe Bar Pasta - Chocolate Beef Ravioli, Ricotta Fritter

La Carnita - Chicken Escabeche Tacos

Babi & Co - Nasi Jinggo

R&D - General Sander’s Chicken

Richmond Station - Grilled Tomato Pita

El Caballito - Espuites (Street Style Corn Soup)

Sugar Mamma’s - Vegan, Gluten Free Chocolate Donuts with Sprinkles

Citizen Catering - Tongue on Toast

Table 17 - Crostini ala Toscana

Bar Fancy - Numbing Wings (by this time I was already so stuffed, but wanted to continue eating to get all my food pictures… it is hard work being a food blogger)

Mata - Coxincha (Brazilian Chicken Croquettes)

Carmen - Octopus Pinxtos (they ran out of Octopus)

Oyster Boy - Oysters (duh!)

Dundas Park Kitchen - (Chilli Chicken Papri Chaat)

Hey Meatball - Eastcoaster

Midfield - Smoked Eggplant Flatbread

The Stop CFC - Tempura Trout and Zucchini Slaw Slider

The Emerson - Ba La Lot

Dolin Vermouth - Dolin’s ‘n’ Such

Lake of Woods Brewing Company - Sultana Gold

Alchemy Pickle Company - Kombucha

Hidden Bench - 2012 Chardonnay

My favourites of the night go to the dishes from Sea Witch Fish & Chips, Mad Maple, Enoteca Sociale, Cafe Bar Pasta, and Rose & Sons. As you can imagine after seeing everything that was consumed, there is definitely no food or drink shortage here at The Stop’s Night Market. I also loved the fact that many of the vendors used local designers to create their one of a kind food carts which really showed off the chef/restaurant’s personality.

Now that The Stop’s Night Market is on your radar, mark this food festival in your calendar for next year and help support a worthy cause all the while eating and drinking till you physically can’t do it anymore. To end, I’ll leave you all with some words of wisdom for this event. Eat an extremely light lunch before coming to The Stop’s Night Market. Do come with a hungry stomach to capitalize on the monstrosity of the sheer amount of food and beverage choices you will have. You’ll thank me later.