Month: April 2009

Restaurant Apr 28, 2009 The Waffle 3 Comments So tonight was the retirement party for outgoing New Democrat Federal Secretary Dick Proctor.   A former MP from Saskatchewan, Proctor was also federal secretary in the late 80s and chief of staff to NDP Leader Jack Layton between 2004 and 2006,  Proctor came out of retirement after the last federal election to help out on an interim basis, which was much appreciated by many New Democrats. But tonight was the night to say thank you and goodbye.  And what better way to say goodbye then by raising a fork filled with fries, cheese and gravy?  Well, apparently something better was some season tickets for the Victoria Salmon Kings.  But still. The invite for the thank you party did mention that appetizers would be served.  Of course, at the Centretown Tavern, the list of appetizers is very limited.  Some were having the nachos, but they did…

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General Apr 23, 2009 The Waffle No Comments On our way back from our baseball road trip, our last stop was in Colborne, township of Cramahe, located in Northumberland County.   The Big Apple. The Big Apple is the biggest apple in the world. Over 35 feet tall, you can climb on its observation deck to look at the township, the 401, or Lake Ontario in the distance.  The structure can hold 653,800 apples.  And that’s only one of the things you can do at the Big Apple :  you can pet llamas, you can play mini-golf, you can run away from the wild rabbits, you can learn about apples, you can find out how far you are from other cities, and you can watch them make pies in the factory!  Fantastic. But, most importantly, you can eat and buy a wide variety of apple-based treats, from pies to apple…

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Baseball Apr 18, 2009 The Waffle 5 Comments The Toronto Blue Jays are off to a hot start, and today the Oakland A’s were in town.  Josh Outman was starting for Oakland and was facing David Purcey.  I could talk to you about the game, a good one for sure, but you can read all about the Jays’ defeat here. I have complained before about the price of beer at the Rogers Centre.  Well, it hasn’t gone down.  The alley vendors are selling tall Budweiser (or Bud Light) cans for $9.50, and a large draught at a Bud Booth is $10. Shame, I say. I was, however, looking forward to some food.  Although I had had a snack already, I was curious about how the new offerings at the Rogers Centre would turn out. I had seen some “coming soon” signs when I came here for some WBC games back in March.  But…

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General Apr 18, 2009 The Waffle 1 Comment After a night of baseball, which included an encounter with Kelly Gruber and Rance Milliniks at Arriba (which incidentally was not broadcasting baseball but hockey games), I was in charge of finding a location for a breakfast and recovery meal.  Thankfully, I had brought along my CheapEats Toronto book. Near the Skydome, there was not a lot of recommendations.  One caught my eye immediately though, the Avenue Open Kitchen on Camden Street in the Entertainment District.  It caught my eye for the location (near Queen and Spadina) and for the prices listed ($3.95 for a breakfast plate before 11 am); and it was listed as a “greasy spoon”. And so we ended up there. Classic diner environment, a long and narrow room, with stools by the open kitchen and small booths by the wall, an old fridge filled with pop, newspaper clippings…

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Baseball, General Apr 18, 2009 The Waffle No Comments A new trend in sports stadiums around North America is to diversify – people are looking, apparently, for different fare than the usual hot dogs and pretzels.  I was impressed by the Amway Arena in Orlando. So the Rogers Stadium has come to an agreement with Aramark to do just that.  So you can now find on the main concourse a very different selection, like the Muddy York Market in section 109, which is based on a “fresh market” concept showcasing fare from different Toronto communities, such as gyros and souvlakis, satays, kung pao wraps, salads, Mediterranean meze and sushi.  Who the hell wants to eat sushi while watching baseball? There is also a Carvery station in section 122 – hot turkey or “Keith’s Red” roasted beef sandwiches, this is the place to go if you like to pile it high,…

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