That is Love

When someone else's happiness is your happiness,

that is love.

I love this! And it's also so true.

When you're happy, I'm happy :)

So be happy y'all!

Transitioning to Spring

My new favorite necklace!

Also, I've officially transitioned to this Spring weather.

I've moved from an all black outfit to...hints of white.

I already miss wearing all black :'( slowly by surely...

Happy Saturday!!

The Red Bench

Can you find the Red Bench? Because we did :)

V and I stopped by The Red Bench due to the cool concept of this place.

Besides being completely adorable inside, it smelled amazing.

Why?

Because they're constantly baking cookies.

The Red Bench has 3 specialties - frozen yogurt, loose leaf tea, and custom-made cookies.

(We came for the cookies..obviously).

To start, you choose the type of dough you want. You can choose between original, chocolate, or peanut butter.

Then you get to choose 2 toppings to mix into your cookie from a variety of choices. 

Then you sit back and wait for your fresh baked cookies.

V chose the peanut butter dough with toffee bits and dark chocolate chips.

& I chose the chocolate dough with chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

Overall, The Red Bench is a pretty sweet idea ;)

The cookies were warm and delicious as any fresh baked cookies could be!

I feel like more of these kinds of 'cute idea' cafés are starting to pop up around Toronto - love it!

Mos Mos Coffee

The best part of my days are when I go for coffee breaks.

I mean, who doesn't go to work for the coffee? ;)

Discovering new coffee places is always a big plus though.

I've never heard of Mos Mos until one of my friends told me about it.

It is located in the corner on the concourse level of the Commerce Court East Tower in the PATH.

I tried out their Vanilla Latte and it was actually really delicious.

It was $3.75 and I was a content little coffee fiend.

Here is a better photo of the design before I put the lid on it.

They literally just sprinkled some cocoa powder on the top and used a plastic spoon to swirl it around and it became this design. It was so cool! I can't wait to go again and hopefully try to learn how to do that. Haha that probably won't happen, but one can hope!

Any latte with a design on it tastes significantly better, don't you think so?

Pusateri's Fine Foods

I was strolling along Yorkville when I spotted this corner market.

From the outside, it looked so pretty and Yorkville-esque, but when you step inside... It's like a whole other world. People were bustling around, there was barely anywhere to walk, and everything looked absolutely delicious.

It reminded me exactly of Vincenzo's in Waterloo, Ontario!
Pustaeri's is an Italian supermarket with deli and cheese counters, and also a hot foods section. And of course, a beloved pastry section.

I almost bought something from here but opted to buy a coffee instead...obviously.

Such a cute cup! And what a great find :) 

If I lived near here, I could just imagine myself swinging by here after work to pick up some food/groceries. Omnomnom

57 Yorkville Ave

Toronto, ON M5R 2B1

Sidenote, I love how nice sunsets are when you catch them at the right time.

The Carbon Bar

The Carbon Bar, a gorgeously designed restaurant located on Queen Street East, seemed like a perfect little date night restaurant to go to with one of my faves.

From the same owners of Nota Bene, I was excited to see what they would do with The Carbon Bar. Southern/Texan cuisine and succulent meat slow-roasted in an actual wood fire pit? Hells yeah.

To start off, we ordered the Cabrito Papusa ($13). It was a goat-stuffed masa tortilla, that was fried on the outside to provide a hard crispy shell. On the side, it included an in-house salsa and 'guajillo date jus' that would pair the meat in the tortilla perfectly.

This dish was good. I was scared that the goat meat might taste a little too gamey for my liking, but it was prepared so that it didn't have that overpowering after taste. The sauce complimented the meat well. You just have to make sure you eat it quickly because the tortilla gets a little soggy if you wait too long.

For our main course, we decided to get two entrees and split them.

First up, we decided to order the Beef Brisket from the Wood Fire Pit ($19).

As per their menu, their Beef Brisket is "dry rubbed with sea salt and black pepper and enhanced by the smoke of white oak and cherry wood that smoulders in their wood fire pit." Amen.

It was so good! I really enjoyed this dish. Only thing that was missing was that it didn't come with enough pieces!

Lastly, we ordered the Octopus & Lobster Gumbo ($23), which was a tomato-based mixture of octopus and lobster with okra, sausage, hominy corn, poblano peppers and chorizo.

As a seafood lover, I am not particularly a big fan of octopus and lobster (actually the only two types of seafood I don't like). However, the waitress highly recommended this dish so why not? I decided to give it a try, and I was glad I did. All the different textures blended with the tomato-base well and the little kick of spice made the dish.

Oh, I also ordered one of Carbon's Original drinks, The Volstead (Hendrick's gin, Amaro Montenegro, cucumber, agave, lemon, and organge bitters) which was really good.

Thanks Mr. Bigourdan, Mr. Prevedello, and Chef Lee for the great meal!

99 Queen St. E.

Toronto, ON, M5G 1S4

Phone: (416) 947-7000

Book your table now!

Dineen Coffee

On a dandy day after work, V and I stopped by Dineen Coffee on Yonge.

I've always heard of this coffee shop but I've never been.

It really reminded me of Balzacs, in a good way!

Would it be crazy if I said that I didn't get coffee at a coffee shop?

Because I didn't :)

I got Roasted Almond tea. It was rather odd at first, but it actually tasted pretty good after it cooled down.

I can't wait to come back (aka I'm going today) to try their lattes/coffee!

- - -

But the main reason we were here was...

To meet Luca Manfè, the winner of MasterChef U.S. Season 4!

:D

La Société

One thing I love about weekends: Brunch

Welcome to La Société!

Situated on Bloor street in Yorkville, it was a perfect little Parisian bistro to have brunch for a Paris reunion! We originally wanted to come here for the Winterlicious menu (yes, this is a long overdue post) but instead, we got the brunch menu.

I ordered La Société Club, which was Dark Bread, Grilled Chicken, Smoked Bacon, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Avocado & Frites with Mayo

Absolutely delicious! The chicken wasn't dry, even though it looks like it could be. The fries were also unbelievably good! I was very happy with my choice.

V and Tee ordered the Winter Salad.

Endive and Butternut Squash, Shaved Comte, Radish Celeriac, Pumpkin, Baby Carrot

Brie is clearly used to V and I taking photos for our blog... :)

Brie ordered the French Vanilla Waffle with Maple Syrup

Berries and sweet butter

I loved my experience here! All the food was delicious and all the food at the other tables looked amazing too. I would definitely come back in the summer when the patio is open (aka now). Go to OpenTable now to book your table at La Société before mother nature decides to take away this beautiful weather!


Happy Sunday!

Be Brave Enough To Let Go

You are only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with.

So be brave enough to let go of those who keep weighing you down.

Best reminder.

Photo Diary: Winter Edition

xx