I think the first time I realized something to this tune was during my move from Hamilton back to Oakville 3 years ago. I loved my apartment in Hamilton and since I had a car at the time it was pretty easy living (even if it was in Hamilton *shiver*). My mom, however, needed a roomate and my apartment wasn’t big enough for two so she asked me to move in with her (also in Hamilton). I really, really, really didn’t want to. I really, really didn’t. So she suggested we try and move back to Oakville – my knee-jerk reaction was this “Yes, please – there are Starbucks’ in Oakville!”. Now, obviously Oakville is way more suburban than Hamilton, but the point is that I crave and need a connection to wherever I live. I love Starbucks (sorry), and Oakville offered that. Toronto has way more Starbucks’ – so we’re already starting off in a good place.

One of my most favorite things in the world is grocery shopping. I think it’s the Chantelle Equivalent of shoe-shopping, or clothes-shopping for normal girls. Given the right environment, I could probably shop for two hours strait and enjoy myself. Another major reason I moved back to Oakville was for the Whole Foods. Shopping at No-Frills, or Food Basics, or even the slightly-better Fortinos is just not as pleasant an experience. For someone so profoundly invested in the experience of shopping, Whole Foods is right up my ally. I’m not vegan, or celiac, or on a raw-food diet, or even all that concerned about Organics – I just like the experience. In fact, when it comes to food itself I don’t have many strong opinions. Lactose-Free Milk (Soy or otherwise) is probably my only peculiar weekly item. That being said, if given the option, I will almost always choose to buy Local. It just makes sense to me. If it’s not an option, then I will gladly eat blueberries from Costa Rica, but I’ll never choose them over Ontario ones.

With that in mind, last week I signed up for a CSA Farm Delivery service. It’s a bi-weekly share of veggies & fruit from Fresh City Farms (from Toronto), and Monforte Cheese (from Stratford), and costs about $40 every two weeks. My first delivery was this Wednesday, and it was OK. The veggies were mostly top-knotch and don’t even get me started on the Cheese (Phenomenal), but I realized something important – it wasn’t about the food at all.

This isn’t a replacement for grocery shopping (also, why would I replace something I enjoy doing so much?), this isn’t for necessity, it’s for fun! Like going out to a restaurant, or what I love most about grocery shopping – it’s about the experience. Food in General (but more specifically Local-Sourced, Organic, Free-Trade Produce & Cheeses) is definitely my New Favorite Hobby. Like this guy says, it’s sort of a bit of an adventure. It’s the best possible replacement for my smoking habit, costs about the same and it actually super healthy for me.
(Behold the amazing salad I made from the Box – so good))

I know that this is something I could have done in Oakville (actually, not with this parciular company, but you get my drift), but I’ve equated it with a perk of living downtown – perhaps it’s because Fresh City’s main farm is at Downsview Park, I don’t know. I’ve already got my feet wet with the local restaurant scene in Toronto, I feel like I’m fairly up-to-date on the major goings-on on that front, now it’s time to get to know the next layer of the onion (har har – food joke!). Stay tuned!

Luckily, however, taking pictures of nearly every restaurant meal I ever have is a (slightly odd, but very satisfying) hobby of mine – so buried deep in my iPhone is probably photographic evidence of each. Perhaps one day I’ll unearth them to talk about it – but in the meantime, I’m going to try and make a more concentrated effort to share my meals more frequently.

I do not expect this to be a popular blog topic per se, but I’m certain I know of at least two people who will get a kick out of it.

So, to start, let’s cover this most recent weekend, which was filled with culinary delights, starting with Friday.

Eddie and I were sitting around his flat, pondering about what to do for dinner. I wanted fish, but didn’t want to cook – he suggested French – after some negotiating availability on OpenTable, I’d remembered a Tweet I’d RT’d about restaurants *not* taking part in Winterlicious – La Societe was listed, and is literally two blocks from the apartment. I booked right away. (Ah, the power of Social Media!)

We arrived a few minutes early and were seated at the (totally absolutely wonderful) bar. I got a Chambord/Vodka Sparkling Cocktail and Eddie got a Rose Shiraz (in the end, not a great choice for him). I’m pretty certain that they’d forgotten about us, as nearly half an hour later we had to ask if our table was ready… they seated us almost immediately.

The dining room is large, and has a fantastic ceiling feature of stained glass.

Eddie says they must have renovated like crazy, since the last time he was there it was a mid-range Chinese restaurant with bad lighting. Now, it’s cozy with its dark wood and plush booths.

To start I got, what can only be described as, The Best Mushroom Soup I Have Ever Eaten. Topped with Truffle Crème Fraîche – just delightful. It was smooth and potent, creamy and dangerously savoury. I could probably eat a bucket full of this soup, and it will most likely be the #1 reason for my future return to this restaurant. Kudos.

Eddie got Duck Confit [left], which looked and tasted heavenly. He said it was possibly the best duck he’d ever had (and he *loves* duck!).

I got the special of the day; Sea bream in Bacon Broth [right]. It hit the spot for my fish craving perfectly, although I don’t know if I would order it again.

I’m very interested in returning to try the items from the $36 3-Course Price Fixe Menu, which has The Soup listed, and other interesting fare.

Next up, a delightful Liberty Village brunch with Angelina on Saturday afternoon.

We were looking for somewhere to grab lunch before heading over to the Bridal Show (she is engaged, after all!) at the Ex, and I had hoped the we’d be able to try Liberty Belle, but apparently it’s shuttered. So, randomly I found The Brazen Head (which Angelina had been to before) – and was immediately drawn to it by the promise of $4 Caesars and a Brunch Menu.

The Caesar was delish, if a bit spicy – and we both agreed there was possibly Lemon it in (although this was deemed neither good nor bad). My Eggs Benny were… alright. They were standard and the homefries were crispy, and it was all very pleasant. I am profoundly jealous of Angelina’s dish: the Brazen Benedict, with its smoked salmon and potato pancakes, and salad. She won at Brunch.

Saturday evening was set aside specifically for our Annual Winterlicious Double-Date. Angelina had been trying to plan for the four of us to go to Mildred’s Temple Kitchen for some time (since she has a brilliant meal there last year), and she finally succeeded.

@BillyBobMac & @Anzi, @ChantelleJoy & No-Twitter-Eddie.

Since she’s written an entire review of the meal – I’ll simply link to it here – and you can read all about it, complete with tasty photos, I don’t really have anything to add.

I have just one last meal to share, which was lunch on Sunday.

Eddie and I spent the majority of the day wandering around the city looking for gifts for his soon-to-be-retired Father. By early afternoon was quite hungry, and had my brain SET on Raman (I actually specifically wanted Chinatown Ajisen), but Eddie didn’t like the sound of that – so we compromised and went to the new Urban Eatery at Eaton’s center.

I love this food court. Seriously, it’s the bees knees.

Eddie got some Vindaloo and I got a steaming bowl of Spicy Chili Beef Ramen from the Liberty Noodle. (Which, is funny since the Main Location is now closed???) It was very, VERY Good. Made me completely forget about Ajisen, and leave with a happy full belly.

So there you have it – my weekend food adventures. Now I’m hungry :(

In fact, most of the shows that I watch have little to do with creating Haute Cuisine, and focus more on the entertainment and fun factor of preparing and enjoying food. Here is my rundown of the best Food TV Shows for the average Geek (in no particular order).

Good Eats

I thought I’d list this first as it’s the most obvious. It’s been running for nearly a decade so if you’re not familiar with Alton Brown and his Science! meets Food! format you’re definitely missing out.

Why it appeals to Geeks: It’s funny, informative and entertaining. Alton often uses Hacked kitchen gadgets, and despises ‘unitaskers’ (a device that can only be used for one thing). He focuses on simple ingredients and even simpler recipe’s, and often uses scientific equations to explain certain baking or cooking principles (while also using funny characters, skits and superheroes). Also what other food show has guest spots by a nutritional anthropologist?

Hell’s Kitchen

Ok, not strictly a food show, but from my estimates 98% of average geeks love Gordon Ramsay, and in particular, Hell’s Kitchen. This reality show offers a group aspiring cooks/chefs the chance to become the head chef at a Top Restaurant (Season 4′s winner got the privilege of being hired by Ramsay himself), and $250k.

Why it appeals to Geeks: I’m not 100% sure on this one, it just does. It also appeals to non-geeks but the majority of geeks I know love this show. It might be that it’s a Reality Show, it might be that it has a cool video-game spin-off, or it might be some other reason. If you’re a Geek and you love Hell’s Kitchen, definitely leave a comment, because I’d like to get to the bottom of this.

Iron Chef

The great Japanese Chef vs Chef cook-off. Part reality show, part cooking show, with an odd sport-like overtone this show has been popular ever since they started importing it over from Japan in the late 90′s.

Why it appeals to Geeks: Well, firstly, it’s hosted by aforementioned Alton Brown, King of Food Geeks. But even before they imported and adapted as Iron Chef: America, Geeks have been watching Iron Chef. I prefer the Japanese version, and still remember the whole Bobby Flay/Cutting Board controversy. However, Iron Chef: America has much of the same appeal as the original.  And who could forget that the short-lived precursor Iron Chef: USA featured William Shatner at The Chairman. Also, this TV show had it’s own spin-off Reality Series and Video Game.

Ace of Cakes

I’m going to use the quote from the opening credits here to describe this show “After pastry school, I decided to make cakes my way. So I set up shop and hired the most talented people I know, my friends. We do it all, make it bigger, make it better, make it awesome“.

Why it appeals to Geeks: Watching geeks make giant, awesome cakes. What’s more appealing than that? This is my #1 favorite Food TV Geek show – and it has as much to do with the people in the show as it does the cakes. Duff,  Mary-Alice, Geof et al are hip thirty-somethings with a passion for cakes. Some of the best Geek Cakes they’ve made:  Super Mario Bros, Hogwarts, Stargate, and Star Trek.  Oh yeah, and lots of Star Wars. Chef Duff and the team are cake geeks and lucky for us they film it and put it on the TV for our viewing pleasure.

Honourable Mention:
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

A bit of a long-shot for this list, I felt I should include it anyways. Guy Fieri hosts this road-trip style show featuring local American cuisine and fast-food.

Why it appeals to Geeks: Guy himself is not very geekish, but I think this show appeals to geeks who like watching people eat food bigger than their head. At least several times a show you’ll see Guy trying to take a bite out of something that’s either a) Ginormous b) Oozing with Cheese  or c) Deep Fried Questionmark?! Plus the locations he visits are often unique or interesting such as a Hot Dog Restaurant built out of an old Bus. Not quite as on-the-mark as the rest of this list, I though it deserved a spot, near the end.

Geek Food TV Fail

I wanted to mention a couple of food shows that are trying desparately to market to geeks, but I just don’t get it.

Food Detetives
Ted Allen of Queer Eye, and sometimes-judge of Iron Chef seeks to solve life’s Food Questions. Sort of like Mythbusters, for food – with a dash of Good Eats science. I just don’t’ get it. The most obvious of the obvious wanna-be-geek shows falls flat with bad humour and uninteresting topics.

Unwrapped
How it’s Made, for food. This show wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t almost always focus on candy. There’s only so many times you can watch an assembly line of jars getting filled with liquid before you just don’t care anymore. And as much as I love Chocolate Enrobers, I can’t stand Marc Summers and it’s irritating ‘Did you know?’s

So that’s my life of the best (and worst) Food shows for Geeks. If I’m obviously missing your most-favorite Geeky Food show, please let me know. Happy NOMNOMNOMing.