We’ve Moved!

I have a business card!

I’m excited to announce that I’ve finally upgraded my website to www.rysratings.ca, so I’m trying to direct all of my followers to my new website so please notify everyone interested!

I’ve included a picture of my new business card here – I designed the logo myself (but my mom helped a bit). It’s the lightning bolt to signify “Storm” (which is my last name and I liked the shape from Harry Potter too), plus obviously a fork for my love of eating!

I’ve already posted a new blog post over at rysratings.ca on My Little Dumplings – hope you like it and try it!

See you at my new site,

Ryan

 

Woodlot

Me and my onion soup

The Woodlot Oven

Woodlot’s busy kitchen

Awesome fish dish with fiddleheads

We sat at a table upstairs overlooking the open kitchen

Woodlot is a really nice restaurant on Palmerston just south of College. It has two floors with seating upstairs and downstairs – and a cool bar, a step down from the downstairs.

The first things that I took note of walking through the door, were that the interior was very cool, the staff were SO kind and that they were cooking lots in their own woodburning oven.

Our waitress Crystal was really excellent and recommended her favourites on the menus – there are two different menus, a meat one and a vegetarian one. The only difference between the two, really is that the meat menu has some un-vegetarian dishes, but the sides are virtually the same. The great thing about Woodlot is that they are so willing and ready to accommodate any type of eater.

I started of the evening with a caramelized onion soup baked until bubbly with crispy cheese baked onto it. Although, I love cheese, and really enjoyed the soup, it was very rich and I decided not to finish it all to save room for my main course which I knew was going to be great. In between courses, I took the opportunity to stand up and look over the railing at the open kitchen below. The fire in the woodburning oven with lots of chefs working busily to create people’s meals. You could tell that they were really working hard at what they do and loved being in there. I went downstairs and they were incredibly nice and allowed me to come right inside their workspace to approach the oven. It was cool to get to take a peek inside and watch them create my meal, and my mom’s meal too (and other diners’ dishes as well). For my main course, I ordered a pickerel with potatoes and a yogurt sauce with a bright dill pesto. The highlight of the dish, and the real reason why I ordered it, was the fact that it came with fiddleheads, and boy were they tasty. I really recommend fiddleheads, but the season for them is so short, so they might not have them anymore, but there’s always next year!

They made an incredible vegan meal for my mom. Her appetizer was this great looking wild rice and mushroom dish with microgreens on top and it was really delicious. Her main course consisted of beautiful looking cabbage rolls, which I didn’t try, because I really don’t like cabbage rolls, but she was happy!

We were so full, and we didn’t have room for dessert, and I knew we were going to go to Delight Chocolate later on, so we passed this time.

I have to remark on how much they fill up your water glass. When I was in New York City, I was so impressed with how attentive everyone was at every restaurant there in filling up our water, and had never experienced anything like it in Toronto, until I went to Woodlot.

I hope you all enjoyed my review, and try Woodlot for the freshest local food on your next night out.

Organic Oven

There are not that many places north of Lawrence that we can eat at it seems, but my mom, sister my brother and I had the privilege of stopping by Organic Oven on Yonge Street to try out their desserts (because we had already eaten lunch). They seriously bake for everyone. They have nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free, full vegan, gluten-free, and it’s all done in many different combinations. They needed to explain a lot, for us to figure out what to get!

I decided upon an apple cinnamon muffin (dairy-free, but had organic eggs in it) which was great and actually tasted like I was eating an apple with cinnamon on it. It was a little dry, but the flavour made up for it. My sister ordered a chocolate chip, banana muffin (full vegan), and she loved it and thought the chocolate chips tasted like coffee (where she knows what coffee tastes like is a mystery – unless it’s from our family favourite, Coconut Bliss cappuccino ice cream!). My little brother got a package of 3 gingerbread men (vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free – just coconut sugar). Now, this was absolutely outstanding, fresh baked goodness and I think the fact that they used coconut sugar in them made them just melt away in our mouths (he only shared very little, so next time, I might have to get my own). He also ate my mother’s raspberry icing cupcake which looked good but I don’t like raspberries….it’s a texture thing.

My mom hadn’t had lunch, so she got a vegan chili (she was thrilled that it didn’t have any soy in it and included tomatoes, butternut squash and beans, all perfect on a rainy day). It was great, even though squash isn’t my thing, and I ate the toasted gluten-free bread off her plate (thanks, Mom). This made me hungry again, so I ordered a vegan, gluten-free grilled cheese sandwich (seriously!!!) with Daiya and avocado – it was my second lunch of the day. It was absolutely stupendous – this will get me to go back, it was so good and just hit the spot.

We even bought a brown rice gluten-free pizza crust and some gluten-free poppy seed bagels, which we have really enjoyed at home. Please note that gluten-free stuff really needs to be toasted to taste good, otherwise it will be way too crumbly.

I highly recommend going to Organic Oven, so you can open treasure chests of taste and flavour that I got to. No matter what your diet or allergies are, or even if you are just a picky eater, they have something sweet and/or savoury for you.

Eating cupcakes at Organic Oven

Pizza crusts and bagels- and an empty plate from my grilled cheese

Feel Good Guru

Feel Good Guru is right across from Trinity Bellwoods Park!

Breaking food news in Toronto! A new organic vegan spot has arrived!! Feel Good Guru on Queen Street West across from Trinity Bellwoods Park is now “open-ish”, and by “open-ish”, I mean that they are still in production developing their menu, and making, blending, soaking, dehydrating and even growing their own sprouts. When I arrived, almost everything was empty, but the space looked really, really good and nice and bright (with a good view of the park from bar stools in the window). They gave us very, very good kale chips and bliss balls (cacao balls with shredded coconut and agave) – all no charge because it’s their grand opening. I’ll definitely be going back and buying lots of “hyper-local, super-awesome, organic, plant-powered food” (my type of description) when they turn from “open-ish” to open! Go and support good real food in Toronto!

Take your own containers or they have good compostable bags!

Really cute space (check out that big green smoothie on the counter!)

Talk about fresh!

Wall of Sprouts and Fresh Green

Villa Restaurant

When it’s nice out, you just got to sit on a patio! So, me and my family tried a new restaurant (for us), called Villa, on Bloor Street West. It had been recommended by Marni Wasserman, and she knows her food, and what we are after on a menu!

They have a great little patio right out front of their restaurant, and they even took a reservation for us on a Saturday night – that is very, very rare it seems for restaurants in Toronto! The servers were very understanding when we talked to them about my sister’s nut allergy, and even cut our bread and poured our olive oil separately just to make sure there was no cross contamination. We were off to a great start!

We started off with a bruschetta that came with the chopped tomatoes in a small bowl to place on our gluten-free multigrain buns on our own. I don’t even like tomatoes, but I did like the dish a lot – there was the perfect amount of garlic and onions and just the right amount of fresh basil and a light dressing.

My dad ordered a Mill Street Organic beer, which is his favourite! And, even though my sister is holding the bottle in the picture on this post, don’t worry, she didn’t drink any of it!

Now for the main course – we ordered 3 pizzas and a pasta. You can choose one of their pizzas, or make a custom one with 3 different crusts (regular, spelt or brown-rice gluten-free) and at least what seemed to be 40 different toppings. My mom ordered a gluten-free crust with roasted tomatoes, zucchini and hot peppers (no cheese) and they had no problem making it crispy and she really liked it! My sister ordered a very different type of pizza (from what I’ve ever seen!) – she ordered a spelt crust, roasted sweet potato pizza, but made a couple substitutions from their menu. The final pizza she ordered had roasted sweet potato, caramelized onions, spinach, chevre and roasted red peppers and green onions, and she really loved it. Her favourite part was the sweet potato (she asked me to add that into this review). My dad ordered a spicy pasta with brown rice, gluten free pasta. I tried a few pieces and loved it, the flavour from the jalapeno peppers was amazing. Now, it took me only moments to build my custom pizza. It started with a spelt crust with tomato sauce and chevre with grilled red onions, wild mushrooms, arugula, roasted garlic, and wait for it…sliced avocado! That’s right, sliced avocado! I myself had never had avocado on pizza before, but as soon as I bit into that crispy crust pizza, I knew that I would be ordering it next time we go there. It’s like when I bit into the pizza that a grenade of flavour was in my mouth, and when it exploded with the fresh avocado, I was very happy!

I hope you all try Villa Restaurant too, because it’s a great spot for Italian food. Everyone in the family can be happy no matter what your eating habits are. My one request for them – please try and use more organic ingredients. It’s so easy since they could shop for so much at the farmers’ markets!!

 

My sister & her sweet potato pizza

My Avocado Pizza!

Mill St. Organic Beer

The Beet

The Beet isn’t the fanciest restaurant in Toronto, but it has a nice atmosphere with a cafe-ish look. On their website it says the following:

The Beet was created to promote health for our customers as well as our planet. This is why we prepare all of our dishes with certified organic ingredients.

In an effort to reduce “food miles” and encourage a close relationship between the consumer and the farmers who produce our food, we use locally grown grains, dairy, meats and produce whenever possible. Our recipes are continuously adjusted to reflect what is in season and locally available.

Because of our deep commitment to the environment, The Beet was constructed using recycled and sustainable materials, from flooring to cabinetry.

Isn’t that amazing?

My favourite dish to get at The Beet, is the Huevos Rancheros which is two baked eggs with raw Quebec cheddar, sweet potato mash, and is topped with sour cream and avocado on a Canadian corn tortilla. My little brother had the vegan mac and cheese special, and they even gave him organic ketchup (so many restaurants don’t do that, so I especially appreciate that they do). My sister had a humungous smoothie and fruit and she got to have a Wild Blueberry Tonica Kombucha as a treat and was very happy too!

The service was excellent and the waitress was very, very nice, and thankfully was quick since my little brother was being very impatient when we were there. Luckily, my sister shared her Kombucha with him, so he stopped complaining for a bit!

Don’t get me started about normal kids menus at restaurants. They are usually filled with chicken fingers, macaroni, plain pizza and caesar salad plus pop, juice and some gross dessert. At The Beet, they have a kiddie menu, but it’s filled with fresh, real, organic, good food. They get an A+ for that!

The greatest thing about the Beet is that they serve everything from vegan, gluten-free to burgers and fries! How can everyone not be happy here? Another good thing, right after finishing your meal, you can take a stroll right down the street to Bunners Bakeshop (which is my next review – stay tuned) for a yummy dessert!

Eat Healthy and Feel Good About It!

Speaking at the community centre

When I was invited to talk to kids and their families at the Dufferin-Perth Community Centre, I knew automatically that I would design my presentation in Keynote since I love using it and I love computers. I was a little bit nervous when I walked into the room and saw how many people were there, but as I set up my computer and projector, I realized that there was nothing to be worried about because all of these people really wanted to learn how to eat healthy, and how I eat healthy. Since I am more used to my friends and people being not interested, I was so happy when all of the kids and their parents listened on and asked questions, too. I hope you’ll flip through the slides that I posted, although, it’s much more fun in person! A real highlight of speaking to this group was having them ask me for my first autographs ever! I brought all of the kids a Yummy Earth Lollipop, and told them it was coloured with beet and carrot instead of fake chemicals, and they all loved them…of course! Hopefully, they are all still eating better now, and trying new things!

Although I wrote and designed this slideshow for my talk at the Dufferin-Perth Community Centre, I would like to share all of my tips about “Eating Healthy and Feeling Good About It” with you all. (link below!) It includes my favourite restaurants and stores in Toronto. I would also like to speak again if anyone has an opening.

Click to read through and see my slideshow. Click the arrow to make the slideshow play!

http://www.slideshare.net/rystorm/eat-healthy-and-feel-good-about-it

Live Restaurant

Unfortunately we cannot go to vegan restaurants with my sister, because almost all of them use nuts (except Loving Hut, which is nut free). We had tried to go to Live Food Bar a few times, but they never had a table for us when we got there – which I guess is good, because they are getting busy serving really good, real food.
We were the first ones in the restaurant on a weeknight, dining early before my talk at the Dufferin Peel Community centre, where I was so excited to speak to other kids and their parents about eating healthy and feeling good about it.
The only problem with the menu at Live, was that there were so many good things, that I couldn’t decide which to choose. The appetizers were a really big problem since I wanted them all. We finally settled on a jicama poutine, which was excellent – it’s a raw dish (which means nothing is cooked, sometimes it can be dehydrated), and it was chili seasoned jicama, miso gravy, macadamia cheddar cheese, and cashew sour cream. I’ve decided to have a battle of the jicama fries between Carol Belmonte (her cashew cheese is better than anything!) and the chef at Live. In the meantime, I suggest you try both! Next time, I am definitely going to try the chickpea fries and the layered Mexican dip as appetizers!
I also really enjoyed the Chia Lemonade, I had never had chia in my drink before. My mom had a blueberry kombucha that she really liked, if you want a bubbly drink that is fruity, I suggest ordering that.
We also had a kale Caesar salad, which was really large, in a good way. The flavour was really, really good, and I liked the smoky, bacon-like flavour of the eggplant “bacon”. The sprouted grain croutons were amazing and a really nice touch. The Dijon Caesar dressing was certainly not devoid of flavour and there was just the right amount on it.
My main course was the “Bacon Cheeseburger” (it’s cooked, not raw) and was very tasty. It’s a chickpea patty, macadamia cheddar cheese, eggplant bacon, sesame hemp mayo, BBQ sauce, tomatoes and arugula on a gluten free bun with pickles and veggie chips. I loved dipping the veggie chips into the hemp mayo – if I wasn’t so full, I would have asked for more!
The portions are so big (again, in a good way), that I had to take the leftover jicama fries home, but couldn’t take them to school for lunch because of a no nuts policy. And, I sadly forgot about them the next day and they went to waste. I will not make that mistake again!
The desserts looked amazing, but we were too full and in a rush, so we’ll have to go back again to try a selection of them.
Live is a great casual spot, and more like a café than a fancy restaurant, and they have lots of their stuff to takeout.

It’s Ramp Season!

I will be posting another restaurant review soon, but I got really excited about this, so wanted to share the local goodness with you!

It all started at dinner tonight with a slice of Monforte’s Waltzing Matilda cheese that I picked up at Brickworks on Saturday. I like combining foods, so I picked up a still-warm, sauteed ramp (thanks Meghan and Josh for sharing) and put it on top of the cheese and ate it – there was a party in my mouth!! My mom suggested that I wind the ramp around a thin slice of cheese and the party in my mouth grew a little bit in magnitude. THEN, I got inspired and decided to get really creative on my own and added a few drops of Vicki’s Veggies Smoked Hot Sauce and a drizzle of our homemade ramp, tomato and hemp dressing and placed it on top of a large bed of pink kale microgreens from Kind Organics and broccoli microgreens from the Big Carrot. Then, finally, I drizzled a little of our homemade roasted red pepper and hemp heart salad dressing around the outside and garnished it all with 5 croutons we make with sprouted Ezekiel Sha Sha Bread. By now, the party in my mouth turned into a full blown out fiesta! And miraculously, the entire Waltzing Matilda cheese disappeared quickly tonight!

Moral of the story: have lots of good foods in your fridge and get creative, it leads to total awesomeness. Beware that your tastebuds might get overloaded with flavour, in a good way!

The full blown out fiesta! photos by me

My trip to the Green Living Show

Doug McNish and I going to choose food at Farm Fresh Fare Court

I always love going to the Green Living Show because I like walking around and checking out the booths – seeing people and products I already know and finding new ones is really fun. The food is usually great too!! It’s late at night now, but I wanted to tell you all about the show, so you can get there and know what to expect.

Here are my notes:

Why is the Fahrenheit Grill still selling hot dogs and fries and coke at green living show? That’s disappointing and totally gross.  I saw people eating there even though right beside it there was awesome chef’s food!

I tried a new cheese at Monforte called Waltzing Matilda, a water buffalo cheese with an ash rind. It was really outstanding with the herbs, and had a great flavour. I plan on getting one at the market tomorrow! They are (like always!) beside Evelyn’s Crackers – all of their flavours of crackers are great!

I tried the organic hummus from Sunflower Kitchen that was pretty good for something in a container.

You must stop by the Organic Garage Booth! The people are very nice, and the highlight was obviously RawFoodz. (I even convinced Jacqui from Gone Shopping to buy 3!) You can also get Silver Hills sprouted bagels – try the Herb’s Garlic ones, they’re really really good.

jacqui from goneshopping.ca loves to shop

I should admit that I ate more than just one sample of Daiya Cheese, I think I had around twelve, I just couldn’t help myself! It’s so gooey when it’s melted. Have you ever tried vegan cheese? I really, really love cheese!

Daiya!

It was great to try Giddy YoYo‘s Xtra Dark Chocolate – absolutely awesome, but their mocha bar is still my favourite of theirs.

As far as chocolate goes, you must try the Cheeky Monkey Bar from ZaZu Bean – the real banana flavour in it was absolutely incredible!

Jacqui bought a lot of ZaZuBean Chocolate Bars

I signed the petition to stop the Mega Quarry – you really should too, it really doesn’t make sense what they are doing with that Mega Quarry! (and I forgot to pick up my sign on the way out, oops!) If they don’t sell out, you should get an organic Foodstock shirt – they are very very comfy.

The Mega Quarry is going to ruin our food and water! Please help stop it and sign the petition.

Loved the dude in the fair trade banana suit. I do NOT want that job when I grow up.

Mr. Fair Trade Banana

It’s always good to see and sample Neal Brothers Chips and Popcorn.

Explain to me also why the Organic Council of Ontario with ONFC is promoting organics and organic tomato sauce while serving it in a paper cup with conventional white bread. I asked them and they didn’t really understand or care. That’s really annoying to me.

Vida Grains was amazing and so nice. I loved their Savory Fiesta Meal Booster. The woman working there (I forget her name, oops!) was so nice and I gave her some advice to label her product nut-free to boost her sales.

Sodastream flavour mixers (syrups) are really gross, but I love the glass bottle machine they sell. I imagine myself carbonating a big green juice! (my mom wouldn’t buy one)

Dinner was fun as usual. Buy voucher tickets and you can go and speak to different chefs and choose to get their dishes (or not). Most dishes are very small so you can have many. My highlights included:  LPK’s sweet potato donuts, Jamie Kennedy’s recipe of Mushroom Barley Soup, Magic Oven‘s Spelt Flatbread (Tony from Magic Oven is SO nice), I also really enjoyed the  incredible grilled cheese with Monforte Cheese on De La Terre Bread (you can get their bread at Sorauren Farmers’ Market).

Farm Fresh Fare Meal Tray

After walking up and down lots of aisles, I treated myself to a Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich from LPK that you wouldn’t ever believe is vegan and gluten-free!

My favourite booth of the show was Rise Kombucha. They have just rebranded and you might remember them as Crudessence. They have four flavours, and my favourite is the Lemongrass (formerly known as Clarte).  It’s really a great fizzy drink. Stop by for a sample and tell them that I sent you!!

rise kombucha!

Overall, I highly recommend going and be sure to take an old appliance or gadget and you can properly recycle it AND get in for FREE!