Sipping Sake in Toronto

Our trip to Toronto this summer started out in misery when the air conditioning broke in our train car and by the time we arrived we were cranky, miserable, tired, and very hungry.

Ki's vast sake menu

Hubby and I debated dinner options and when he suggested modern Japanese restaurant Ki for dinner, I threw on some lipstick and off we went.  A soothing setting and pretty food was just what we needed to change our luck and put our weekend back on track, so to speak.

Three of many in our sake tasting

It turned out to be a brilliant choice.  The setting at Ki was chic, the dinner was delicious, the service was skilled, but by far the star of the show was Michael Tremblay.  Michael is Ki's Sake Sommelier.

Hubby is a big fan of sake.  On our last trip to Tokyo, he sampled many and loved a few but it was a mixed blessing. Even though we were being served memorable sake by Japanese experts, because of the language barrier we learned nothing about them.  Sadly, our Japanese is limited to, "do you speak English?", "hello," "goodbye," "it tasted good," "excuse me," and "thank you."

So here was Michael, an English speaking sake sommelier, and he was willing and able to share his vast knowledge with us.   We absorbed both his sake and his expertise like sponges.

Izumi president Ken Valvur

During dinner, hubby sipped things both rare and delicious, all the while discussing  the merits of each.  We've never met anyone as knowledgeable nor as enthusiastic as Michael. This was amazingly good fortune.

When we were about to call it a night, Michael gave us a final sake hot tip:  the Ontario Spring Water Sake Company or "Izumi" in Japanese, was producing some excellent sake out of Toronto's Distillery District, just a kilometre or so from where we were sitting right now. 

Of course the next morning we zipped right over.

A tasting flight

When we arrived at Izumi, President and founder, Ken Valvur was there taking a break between conducting personal tours so he told us about his sake and how it's made.

Izumi started operations in the winter of 2011 but with brilliant foresight, before making his first bottle, Mr Valvur sought the advice of master award winning sake brewmaster, Yoshiko Takahashi of Nagano.  She spent time at Izumi as an advisor, training staff and setting the operation on the right path.  Japan's Miyasaka Brewing Company, who has been brewing sake since the mid-1600's, served as consultants as well.  Such a depth of expertise at the outset could only portend good things.

We hadn't booked a tour in advance so we were content to sit at the tasting bar where hubby sipped his way through a "Tasting Flight" or two, each consisting of three different sakes.

Arabashiri "free run" sake

He described each as different and delicious in subtly different ways but he had a clear favourite:  the Arabashiri #23.  

We learned that the process of making the Arabashiri #23 was different from the rest.  The secret lies in the last step of the sake making process when the mixture of rice and liquid called moromi is placed in a cloth bag. The cloth bag is then placed in a press and pressure is applied to extract the liquid from the rice.

Before the bag is compressed, the liquid that runs freely from the cloth bag beforehand is called arabashiri.

Waste not, want not.  Leftover paste from the sake making process

Perhaps it was the sake talking, but when hubby sampled the Arabashiri #23, he heard notes, not words.  He described the sake in the tasting flights as skilled solo artists but the Arabashiri #23 as a symphony:  sweet, balanced and harmonious.

Naturally, we bought a few bottles to take home and share with friends.

If you'd like to sample or buy Izumi's arabashiri, you should plan your visit to coincide with their pressing days.  It's unpasturized and has a short shelf life so tempus fugit and follow their twitter feed. 
 

There was something for both of us at Izumi.  Before we left, I poked around the sake cooler and discovered little containers of sake kasu which is the ground, fermented,  boozy rice paste left over from pressing the maromi mixture.  I bought some to take home and play with in the kitchen.

When our weekend began so badly we thought that all was lost.  So Michael and Ken, thank you for resuscitating it with sake.

The tasting bar

 

The Tin Barn Market

This summer after the sad news that a few of our favourite flea markets had closed, BFF Sean and I pulled out road maps, filled up the gas tank and sought out new territory to indulge in our all day Sunday, flea market and thrift shop bargain hunting marathons.

This is how we discovered the beautiful town of Almonte, about 30 minutes from Ottawa.  For a town with a population of about 5,000, it has a remarkable number of great antique shops and flea markets, and it's here where we bought some of our favourite vintage finds of the season.

Most of Almonte's antique shops are speckled along  picturesque Mill Street, and this is where Sean and I discovered The Tin Barn Market.

We both just fell in love with this shop and the gracious and welcoming  Errin.

Owners Errin Stone & Vicki Veenstra opened their charming pop up last year in a space that was formerly Baker Bobs who has moved his operation next door. Talk about good karma.

They've themed their shop, "Create. Re-purpose. Re-invent. LOVE again," and true to that, their shop is filled with unique and interesting antiques with new and  re-purposed items like soaps and jewellery sprinkled here and there.

Both Vicki and Errin seem to have a gift for finding just the right thing and when you poke around, you can tell they put a lot of thought and effort into the treasures they put on their shelves.  I want it all!

Whether it's the natural light in their shop or how the items are arranged, I find the shop somehow compellingly photogenic and soothing.

A few weeks ago they posted on their Facebook that their shop is no longer a pop up - it's now permanent - so who knows what goodies will make their way there and how their shop will evolve?

To quote the Michelin Guide,  it's "worth a special journey!"

Toronto's St Lawrence Market, The South Side

Hustle and bustle between the north and south markets

When I visited Toronto back in May, I popped in to the St Lawrence Market on a weekday which was all well and good but what I really fancied was a Saturday visit to the South building.

A lull at the "Saturday only" South Building

Every Saturday, the South Building is alive and bursting with local and artisanal producers.  The rest of the week we somehow muddle through with the hundred or so vendors and resellers in the North Building although "muddling through" may not be the mot juste:  the market was named in National Geographic's Food Journeys of a Lifetime book as one of the Top 10 Food Markets in the World.

I have fond memories of the South Side market when I lived in Toronto in the mid-1980's and I was looking forward to seeing what the year 2012 and the recent locavore movement would bring.  

It was interesting to see how the market has evolved in the intervening 30 or so years.  There was a new energy and abundance everywhere and a much wider variety of trendy, locally produced and eco friendly products.  I can assure you that in the mid '80's you wouldn't have seen anyone selling organic arugula or quinoa nor a company that roasted Fair Trade Coffee.  Back in the 80's, most local producers were considered part of a small niche market, reserved mainly for fresh obsessed vegetarians (like me) or enlightened cooks and chefs.

Mrs Stephanie Ivanoff

Mrs Ivanoff's dairy products

One person who has stood the test of time with her lack of pretension intact is Mrs Stephanie Ivanoff.  

Back in the '80's, she and her son were selling their own goat, sheep, and cow's milk Fresh and Feta cheeses and here she is, over 30 years later, still at it.  

It's clear that she knows her stuff.  Her Feta was, and still is, skilfully made, a balanced mixture of creamy, tangy and not too much salt, but it's her Fresh cheese that I was hoping she still made and thankfully, she still does.

Her Fresh cheese is sublime.  The texture is soft and yielding.  Its flavour is light, clean and buttery and  it's a perfect canvas for fruit, honey, olive oil, preserves, or just by itself.

It's the product of the the first stage of cheese making, the immediate result of separating the curds from the whey and not compressing it.  You'll notice that in the time between when you buy it and get it home, the whey continues to seep from the cheese, the texture becomes firmer and the flavour more concentrated.  Since she adds no salt, the subtle flavours of the milk come through and it won't keep:  it's best if you consume it within a day or two.  Poor you!

Acropolis Organics Olive Oil

I discovered other delicious and interesting things at the market that morning.  Fruity, buttery, Greek olive oil from Acropolis Organics, delicious French-style goat cheeses from the Best Baa Dairy and some good advice and foraged organic herbs from Linda Rose and her Black River Gatehouse. 

I never drink coffee but Hubby does, so when we saw all the hubbub and a steaming kettle at the Merchants of Green Coffee stand we stopped to see what they had on offer.  Hubby eagerly sampled some of their delicious, fresh roasted, sustainable coffees while a charming caffeine-fuelled Barista tried in vain to convince me to drink some too.   I will never surrender!

Next time I'm in Toronto I'll have to make my way back and not wait another 30 years.  Although who knows what will be on offer in 2042?

Merchants of Green Coffee

Cheeses from the Best Baa Dairy

Herbs and helpful advice from the Black River Gatehouse

Selling it old school.