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.

A Taste of India: Tandoori Flame

I will admit my taste buds are not too familar with Indian cuisine beyond curry and samosas, so when you get invited to eat at the largest Indian Buffet & Restaurant in North America, of course my natural reaction was “Hell Yes!” That’s right folks, Tandoori Flame offers such a wide variety of delicious and exotic dishes that no other Indian restaurant in Canada or even our lovely neighbours down south can claim that they are literally the king of the jungle in sheer size and variety of Indian cuisine. 

Tandoori Flame offers over 150 delicacies spread over 14 000 square feet and with a capacity for more than 500 guests. Their first location opened up in Brampton, Ontario but now they have recently opened up their second location in Mississauga, Ontario as well.

This grand buffet covers the largest tasting in Indian food where the choices just seem endless. From Gol Gappas, Butter and Tandoori Chicken, Biryani, Samosas, Fala Fal, a significant variety of vegetable and non-vegetable Tandoori Kabobs, Tikkas and Curries, plus a huge dessert selection to finish it all off, Tandoori Flame is truly an all in one buffet. 

When I arrived at the restaurant, I was immediately in awe at how beautiful the decor and architecture looked outside and inside of the building. The entrance was extremely inviting with its outdoor lights all lit up that were hanging from its wooden walkway. Inside there are also many sculptures within the restaurant to really showcase its Indian hertigage, with other parts having a very rustic and even modern feel to it such as the white brick walls where my guest and I were seated for our dinner. It’s a great blend of traditional meets the modern age.

Another observation of mine was just how clean this place was. You would think with so much food coming in and out of the buffet kitchen, the buffet tables or floors would be somewhat messy (and understandably so), but not here. Everything from the stainless steel counter tops to the floors were extremely well maintained and cleaned creating an even more enjoyable eating experience. 

With all that being said, lets take a visual look at what Tandoori Flame has to offer, their 150 Indian delicacies in all its glory. 

We have here some naan, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, samosas, chick peas, papadum, yogurt, rice.

Here we have some jelabi, ice cream, mango pudding, gulab jamon, and waffle for dessert.

Tandoori Flame is a great introduction to Indian cuisine for anyone like myself who may be unfamiliar with the food as you instantly get exposed to so many different types of Indian delicacies all at once. The fantastic thing about buffets is that you can try a little bit of everything. If you don’t like one aspect of the food, don’t eat it again. If you do like it, go all in and have as much as you like.

The Mississauga location is also halal which is also a driving factor for many people who are on a more strict dietary regimen as Tandoori Flame caters perfectly for the more health conscious minds as well. Tandoori Flame truly offers a grand buffet in pure, authentic Indian fashion. A restaurant perfect for all occasions!

BUONANOTTE TORONTO - NEW MENU TASTING

Guest Blogger Edition

When someone says ‘Italian food’, the first thing that comes to mind for me is ‘feast’.  Well…truthfully, that comes second after ‘yum’.  Put those together – *voila* – yummy feast.  Naturally, when I was invited to a media event to sample Buonanotte Toronto’s summer menu, I was excited.

Mind you, the extent of my knowledge regarding Italian cuisine (aside from the meals I’ve had at Italian restaurants in the past) only reaches as far back as intel shared with me by my Italian friends and of course, my severe like for anything pizza and pasta.  At the end of the day, I revert back to one primal belief – food makes me happy.

Following is a visual depiction of the 13-course meal that unfolded that night.

Keeping up with the Italian norm, the dishes neatly classified into one of the following:

Antipasti

Prosciutto D’Anatra

This duck prosciutto accompanied with some fresh figs, onion jam, truffled honey, and Pecorino Romano generated the most buzz around the table.  The juxtaposition between the freshness of the figs and the cured meat proved to pair quite well.  Immediate reactions put this atop the best tasting dish list.

Carpaccio di Pesce Spada

Swordfish Carpaccio with Squid Ink Bread Crumb, Serrano Chili, Lemon and Olive Oil

Radicchio Alla Griglia

Grilled Marinated Radicchio with Orange Segments, Walnuts, Parmesan, and Balsamic Dressing

Polipo Grigliato

My favourite component of the night was this grilled octopus.  It was tender with a nearly melt-in-your mouth texture for a tentacled food.  It was served with fingerling potato, chorizo sausage, black olive, cherry tomato and saffron aioli.

Capesante al Tartufo

Seared Scallops with Truffled Cauliflower Puree, Sautéed Asparagus, and Crispy Leeks

Pizza e Pasta

‘Nduja e Rapini

Failing to read the menu prior to this dish’s arrival at our table, I assumed a bite of cheesy sundried tomato goodness awaited.  What met my mouth was this equally-as-tasty white pizza topped with fresh basil, ‘Nduja Salami, oven-roasted rapini, Fior di Latte, and EVOO D.O.P.  MVP goes to the salami.  For those unfamiliar with this Italian meat, ‘Nduja is spicy.  This fiery number is not for the gastronomically meek.

Scarola E Pomodorini

White Pizza with Fresh Basil, Escarole, Black Olives, Sundried Tomatoes, Fior di Latte and EVOO D.O.P.

Prosciutto E Funghi Bianca

Though very similar in foundation to the other two white pizzas with fresh basil, this was my personal favourite dish of the night.   The addition of Buffalo ricotta, ham, Champignon mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano and EVOO D.O.P. created a complete package to me.  Each slice was like a triangular piece of elevated, home sliced goodness.

 Ravioli di Aragosta e Granchio

Homemade Ravioli with Lobster, Crab and Lemon in Lobster Bisque

Fazzoletti All’uovo di Pesto Genovese

Fazzoletti Pasta with Pesto, Fresh Pine Nuts and Baby Basil

Carne e Pesce

Salmone Arrosto con Spugnole

Roasted Salmon with Morels, Fennel and White Wine Butter Sauce

Vitello alla Siciliana

Excitement on the guests’ faces was evident with this sous vide veal tenderloin dish. Supplemented with sautéed mushrooms, spinach and Marsala sauce, I swear I heard faint ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ around me.

Pollo Toscano

Roasted Chicken Breast with Grilled Panzanella and Marinated Pistachios

Don’t want to feel left out? Hurry on over to Buonanotte Toronto!

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming…

- Pedestrian Pat

*** All photos taken by Pedestrian Pat ***

LG G4 Unviel At Trump Tower

As a self proclaimed Foodie I would also like to think myself as a self proclaimed Techie as well. Even before I started taking pictures of food and journeyed into the realm of blogging, I was always at the forefront of the latest technology and gadgets I could get my hands on. I am what people call, the “Early Adopter.”

An early adopter is described as a person who starts using a product or technology as soon as it becomes available. It’s often times a role I don’t like to find myself in as other early adopters will know, it can be quite frustrating buying a brand new product that just hit the market only to find out that it has kinks and glitches galore.

Let’s see, some of the products I’ve “early adopted” in the recent past where I either pre-ordered it or purchased it the first day or week it was released were the Blackberry Torch, Samsung S4, the Blackberry Playbook, and the Pebble Steel. Some of the above products were great and gave me nothing but satisfaction and affirmation that I made the right choice in purchasing it right off the bat. Others **cough I’m looking at you Playbook cough** became painfully obvious that my role as an early adopter meant that my hard earned cash went straight down the drain. I was so excited about the first tablet that Blackberry offered that I was ready to shell out over $600 on its pre-order and the belief that everything that was promised about it worked the day I got it. Nope, after delays upon delays of false promises and pretenses, I quickly realized that I should have at least waited before I jumped in head first. As a matter of fact, I probably should have waited 6 months after the release date to find out that what I bought for $600 was now being sold for $200. Yeah, bad decision there.

Fast forward to May 2015 where my food blog is in full swing and my reliance on my smartphone is at an all time high. From keeping up to date with social media to taking food pictures at any opportunity I can find, my current smart phone (Samsung S4) is truly a tool I cannot live without.

Enter LG Corporation, a South Korean multinational conglomerate known to millions of people worldwide through their electronic, chemical, and telecom products. You probably even have one or two LG products that you own right now at home. Like any of the major international technology companies out there like Apple, Samsung, HTC, Sony, and Microsoft, LG has also made its mark in one of the most competitive industries out there right now for the battle of smart phone supremacy.

LG’s flagship smart phone line up is their G Series. The “G” was first introduced in 2012 as a branch of their old flagship LG Optimus series. The first purely “G-branded” phone, the LG G2 was unveiled in 2013 and two years later, LG is putting forth their most revolutionary smart phone yet, the LG G4. 

I was beyond thrilled when LG reached out to me (me… seriously?), and invited me to “test drive” their new flagship phone, the LG G4 before it even got released in North America! I follow many technology websites in my spare time such as Engadget and I have always wanted to be one of those people who had the opportunity to get first dibs on a new product before anyone else.

LG was holding an exclusive Toronto briefing at America Restaurant located at the highest floor of Trump International Hotel. Attendees had a chance to learn about the product directly from LG executives and were given our very own LG G4 to take home and test for a month.

When I first arrived I was immediately given my LG G4 and sat down to set everything up. The unboxing and first few moments of turning on a brand new gadget is always my favourite part. One of the LG tech experts came over to set up all of the more complicated aspects of it such as hooking up my phone to the Bell network. I have a working phone number and data to use as well! The phones we all received are unlocked phones flown from Korea since the LG G4 is still not yet released here in Canada, but I was told that the unlocked phone I have will be the exact same once it gets released in just a few short weeks here.

Once I got settled I soon realized that I was not at my usual food blogging event as I didn’t see any other food bloggers here. LG picked the select attendees from different industries where the LG G4 can be showcased in various venues and environments. I noticed there was a TV host present, businessmen, a concert goer, professional photographers, and then there’s me, the food blogger. I really felt honoured that LG chose me to represent the food blogging community! We even got ourselves some customized LG cards that were personalized to what we were each known for. For me, my LG cards were all personalized about food and restaurants! 

Throughout the night we were served some seriously delicious food from America Restaurant and we then sat through the power point briefing from the LG executives to give us a breakdown of all the new features we would find in our new LG G4 phones. The night ended with some cute little LG G4 cupcakes and chocolates that we were able to eat and take back home with us. 

I am still in the middle of testing out the LG G4 and have incorporated it with my daily life. It’s actually great to be carrying two smart phones with me all the time (one smart phone runs out of batteries, no worries I have another one!). So far the LG G4 has been nothing but positive and as a food blogger who relies on my camera, the camera on this phone is phenomenal and definitely one of the best out in the market right now.

Stay tuned for a more comprehensive review of the LG G4 after my testing is done! The LG G4 will officially be launched in Canada on June 19th, 2015. I have a few other LG events to attend this month so keep an eye out on that as well. Life’s Good. :)