Toronto Restaurant: Valdez

Few weeks ago, the Hubz and I checked out Valdez.  A great spanish street food / tapas style restaurant in the King West area.

We weren’t too hungry so we decided to try a few of the apps.  The restaurant does offer fuller size meals as well but we were pretty excited to re-live our Barcelona tapas experience!

We started with the Croquetas – and obvious choice for me (deep fried with a side of aioli – slurp!)  Memories of Barcelona started flowing back….

Next up was Chuzos Al Plancha, beef skewers with a Chimichurri chutni and soft moist Arepa bread.


This next item was by far the most flavourful.  The Atun Japones had our tastebuds dancing with the watermelon, radish, pickled ginger and ahi tuna.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We washed all that down with a greasy bag full of Empanadas.

Valdez did a good job of making the “street food” style come to life with the disposable plates and paper bags (especially for the fried foods).  But I also appreciated having the more formal items served in the modern white dinnerware. All in all somewhere we’d definitely return to whenever we are craving some street food ;)

Earth to Table Bread Bar

Living in Toronto, we are always intrigued by restaurants outside of the downtown core.  Whether it be brunch, sushi or even a pizzeria we are always on the look out for the “pot of gold” restaurants in both TO and in the ‘burbs!

Imagine our surprise, when we found Earth to Table Bread Bar …in Hamilton!  Not that I have low expectations for the Hammer, but I went to school there so all I really remember of it was student pubs and 24hr Tim Hortons.  I was impressed to hear that Earth to Table prides itself in using fresh and local ingredients.  Definitely have to check this place out at Brunch!

We ordered the Popeye and Classic Pepperoni pizzas (gobbled up too quickly to photograph!) as well as Calamari and loaded Bruschetta.

The owners actually wrote a cookbook and they call the resto an extension of the cookbook (what a cool concept!)

And of course, the obligatory restaurant shots.  Loved the relaxed vibe…

Last but not least – My homemade cookie ice cream sandwich.  It was so decadent – so glad I shared it with the Hubz!!

Our trip to India – Quick Recap

“India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most astrictive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only!”  Mark Twain

In saying that, the food is amazing, the history is rich, the culture is a little blurred these days but the fashion is still intense.

We had the amazing chance to expore North India (Delhi, Gurgaon, Ajmer, Pushkar, Jaipur, Jalandarh, Amrisar, Chandigarh, Nalagarh & Agra) to visit some amazing sights and people (our family :P)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year…Can’t believe how quickly the holiday’s went by!  Lately I’ve been lounging in leggings, legwarmers, oversized hoodies, drinking copious amounts of starbucks (I thought I’d try to give up coffee for a January clense…but who am I kidding) and lurking tumblr for fashion, food, fitness…

I signed up for the hardest 5k race in Toronto (well at least its the hardest in my opinion).  The race is before our unofficial wedding season … so I won’t be limping to any post race wedding receptions (thankfully).

Here are some pictures I managed to capture over the holidays…!p

Birthday girl

Taking the day off for my birthday was the best idea ever.  If you are a corporate slave like me – you’ll probably enjoy it to.  I’m always so inspired by people who can say “I quit my day job to pursue my dreams”.  I wish my dreams/personal legend would be more apparent to me so I could possibly doing the same.  Until then I’ll “work to live” – enjoy my time off as much as I can, maintain my work life balance and enjoy myself as much as I can at work.

The photodiary is a bit backwards here lol.  We started off with brunch at “Coras”, then went over to “The Ballroom” for some daytime bowling and cocktails, and ended the evening with Milk (spiked with Baileys) and cupcakes.  The martini glasses were a must!