A foodie summary of 2011 in Tdot

'Tis the season for year-end wrap ups.

The Grid has wrapped up some of the highlights of Toronto's year in food here.

Toronto Star food critic Amy Pataki lists her 21 (a week's worth) favorite meals of 2011 here.
And food editor Jennifer Bain's favourite recipes of 2011 here.

Dine.To's Alan Vernon dishes on his top 11 restaurants of 2011 here.

And stay tuned for my own picks for my favourite restaurants of 2011, as well as the ones I am most salivating over for 2012!

Best restaurants in Toronto listed!

Hi all,
Been super busy with all my holiday socializing, eating and drinking that I haven't had time to post about all this deliciousness. Will be back shortly with amazing recipes and reviews. But for now check out this list of 2011 restos in Toronto and see how many you've been to, or agree with. One thing-- I think the new Parkdale establishment Grand Electric I went to last night certainly deserves a nod---and am sure it will next year. Will post on it soon, off to #79, Country General tonight. Wanna weigh in? What restaurants do you think should be on this list?

http://www.postcity.com/Post-City-Magazines/Kates-2011/Top-100/index.php

U.S. Thanksgiving dinner at DBGB

The rustic open shelves display the copper pots used by famous chefs around the world

DBGB is chef Daniel Boulud's more casual of his renowned NYC restos. Named after the now shuttered CBGB, the soundtrack pay homage to the punky musical roots of its Bowery neighbourhood. A $60 prix fixe was well worth the price tag, and offered a lot of choice, considering it was Thanksgiving.

NYC Eats: Lunch at Tasty hand-pulled noodles Inc.

Why it is is "Inc" I can't say. I doubt this tasty hole in the wall is incorporated.

For lunch on our first day, I had remembered a noodle place that chef Guy Fieri described as the Best Thing (He) Ever Ate--- in a bowl. Tasty hand-pulled noodles is in a back alley (1 Doyers St) in Chinatown. It was a little crowded, and not the classiest--- and there's a bit of a strange smell in the air. But by the end of our meal (which cost about $30 for four of us), the only thing I was disappointed about was the fact that I did not get to see the cooks actually hand pull the noodles.

Eating my way through NYC

This is my mom posing very cheesily, reading Mario Batali's latest cookbook, in his restaurant. Grrroan.

For my mom's 60th birthday, we decided to do a good ol' fashioned family trip ---to New York. Going with parents is very different from my last trip there with girlfriends (i.e. far less shopping), we did all the typical tourist-y stuff, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, Staten Island Ferry (with $3 beers!) and a Broadway show.

But I also got to be in charge of where we'd eat.

And we had some amazing food --from cheap and delicious homemade dumplings in Chinatown, to Thanksgiving at one of Daniel Bouland's restaurants, lunch at one of Mario Batali's and possibly the best mac and cheese I ever ate!

Gourmet ice cream comes to ... Dufferin Mall?

Oh, the Duff, the mall closest to our house, is anchored by a Walmart, Payless and some other ghetto fab finds. So I was surprised when I read this Toronto Life article about a molecular gastronomic treat setting up shop there!

Maple Leaf Gardens reopens to throngs of fans ... of food

I got to see the new Loblaws store at Maple Leaf Gardens today, and frankly it's pretty cool. Check out my video:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/video-fans-line-up-to-shop-at-maple-leafs-gardens/article2255280/?from=2255148

and story:
http://thetyee.ca/CanadianPress/2011/11/30/Loblaw-Maple-Leaf-15304511/

Brie, bacon and avocado sandwich

Joe specifically requested I make him this sandwich after he completed the detox with me. I told him he could have anything, but he saw this on the cover of Toronto Life's Eating and Drinking guide and my loosely based version turned out to be an amazing and simple choice. I used ciabatta buns and spread a little apple butter on as well. Amazing brunch sandwich.

Retox day: What a celebratory feast!

After slogging through with too much quinoa and veggies to mention. I am happy to report I am done with the detox. Honestly, it's not bad, I didn't really have any cravings I couldn't quell and it really wasn't too restrictive or expensive.

Food truck pop up spotted.

Damn I missed it! A food truck gathering. This is such a great initiative, especially to host at that former  Salad King site turned gravel pit that is the corner of Yonge and Gould. Notice though that the majority of the food trucks were from out of town--because city bylaws forbid food trucks from operating on public property. Grrrrr. Check out the Toronto Star's article on the event here: http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/1090234--food-truck-pop-up-revives-vacant-lot-at-yonge-and-gould

Tasty detox DIY brunch

After a party Saturday, I invited some friends over for Sunday brunch as it is much cheaper than those $14 breakfasts we pay for when we're hungover and want someone else to cook for us.

Detox day 5: Spoiler alert!

Yup, I drank. Alcohol. Fermented. Toxic. Alcohol.
I stuck with the food detox part, but had gin.
Three things in my defence:
1) I planned to go to this party long before I planned to detox.
2) I didn't ruin it any further by binging on food.
3) I had a great emergency if-you-have-to-drink drink:

gin (made of juniper berries, which are totally acceptable)
club soda
lemon

Detox day 4: Indian detox date night

After a relatively uneventful day 3, meal wise (oatmeal AGAIN, plus leftovers) I have only to report back that I was CRAVING. Man, I went into Starbucks on my break and surrounded by all these smells of coffee and holiday themed drinks, alas I ordered my green tea. I wanted every sweet in the shop too, especially because its the time of year they have those irresistible cranberry bliss bars out. Anyway I digress, thought I'd just skip ahead to day four and let you know about the feast my fellow detoxer friend and I cooked on a very healthy Friday night.

Fresh may be detox food, but it certainly is NOT diet food

OMG! Toronto Star's The Dish recently analyzed the Buddha bowl at Fresh (check out my recent review) as part of its weekly calorie review of popular Toronto take out meals and found it has more calories than six Subway vegetarian subs!

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/dietfitness/thedish/article/1084826--the-dish-the-buddha-bowl-from-fresh-not-as-healthy-as-it-sounds

Mmmm deep dish. Wait $40?

Okay maybe it's because I know I absolutely can't have it but this deep dish looks amazing. However,  feel like I'd have food/ budget guilt over load at $40 a pie.  Maybe it was better when Toronto didn't have deep dish, leave it to Chicago?

http://www.thegridto.com/life/food-drink/toronto-gets-deep-dish-pizza…-and-it-costs-40/

Detox day 2: The salmon secret

Day two was when I first discovered that a little salmon can go a long way in making you feel fulfilled. After my detox standard breakfast of oatmeal, cinnamon and berries (this time with the added bonus of a scoopful of almond butter, which helps to add some sweetness when you can't have any), I had a big salad for lunch and needed something substantial.

Review of Fresh:Detox edition

Good ol' fashioned hippie food

Because I have been to Fresh zillions of times, as I'm sure most Torontonians have, I won't spend too much time talking about the cuisine in general, but more specifically on how it fares as a restaurant destination for someone on a cleanse.

Detox day 1: "Sorry, I'm on a no fermentation cleanse."

I was a little afraid of how this cleanse would affect my social life. Living in downtown Toronto, there are always friends wanting to go out for dinner or drinks or both. I tried to plan to do this at a time when I could sit some things out, right before the hustle of the holidays.

More food trucks in Toronto!

Based on the gist of this Toronto Star story by Corey Mintz, doesn't look like we're going to get our act together any time soon...

Easy detox breakfast

Breakfast seems like it will be the most challenging meal as I will have to think ahead to be prepared. Here is my first day's. You can eat all the quinoa you can on this cleanse because it is the superest of superfoods. It has tons of protein and other good stuff.  You can use it like a rice or other grain, but its actually a relative of the spinach family!

Welcome to What Would Sunny Eat

Welcome! With a detox. Wait, what? Yes this is a blog about how much I love food and if you, dear readers, stay with me I promise I will get to those indulgent, too good to pass up recipes and restaurant meals.  BUT, I wanted to start with a bang, so I'm going to do that by following the Wild Rose cleanse.

This means no dairy  (just snuck two Babybels from the fridge as I realized, no cheese eek), no caffeine, no alcohol or processed grains. And no fun? No way! I am determined to make still-delicious meals and help others who might be looking for cleansing recipes.

I'm using mostly organics here from my weekly produce delivery box, which is also the best idea I may have ever had. I absolutely love the variety and randomness of it, as well as trying to find new recipes from everything from collard greens to tomatillos.

Please feel free to give me lots of feedback and any suggestions for recipes or restaurants you want to read about!