Friendly Restaurants

Last Friday I met 2 friends at a restaurant in a plaza on Lawrence Ave. This place fulfilled our lunch requirements: it was easily accessible, and it had some interesting food items on the menu. The choices are vegetarian; no meat is served. But there are lots of fish options and interesting salads. And their specialty, bagels, are a good choice any time. Finally: it’s almost next door to Winners!

The 3 of us, and often another friend, have been meeting over food for almost 40 years. It all began at work. We were teachers at a high school and every Friday we would celebrate the end of our week with a drink and munchies at Diana Sweets. We called it Period 5. It was a place and time to shed our school issues. We heaved sighs of relief as we contemplated a couple of days to rebuild our strength and shore up our lesson plans. We began to relax as we drank vodka and orange juice and nibbled on quesadillas, and potato skins.

After we all retired, we stayed in touch. Diana Sweets closed down so we had to find other places to meet. Our days were free and we could meet any time; for example, lunch! One place that attracted us was Red Lobster. We discovered that their seafood chowder was delicious and the rolls were all buttery and warm. We could even ask for extras to take home. And the restaurant, located close to a highway, had a huge parking lot.

Another place that caught our eye was downtown on the subway; The Queen and Beaver Pub. It had a great menu with delicious salads. Because we were so healthy on the first course, we decided to try their sticky toffee pudding for dessert. WOW. It was out of this world. Which led us in another direction – a search for the best sticky toffee pudding in the city. We scoured the internet and found sticky toffee pudding at the Pickle Barrel. We tried 2 different locations but their STP was no match for the one we had at the Queen and Beaver. So we gave up and focused on something else: shopping.

Since we were retired, why not combine lunch and shopping? One of our favourite places to shop was Second Nature, a high-end consignment store on Mt. Pleasant Ave. We found some unique clothes there, even a wedding dress! But it took a lot of energy to browse all 3 floors. We needed to fit lunch into our plan. Lo and behold, there was a fish and chips store nearby.

Penrose Fish and Chips was an iconic spot; a family business started in the 1940’s. The entire family worked there, frying up the fish and rolling it in newspapers. Their menu was short – fish and chips and coleslaw. And maybe a coffee. Sadly, this historic spot closed down in 2014. We tried a replacement on Laird Drive. The fish was quite good but the parking was terrible and there was no transit or shopping. So we moved on.

One place that served well as a replacement was Swiss Chalet. The quarter chicken dinner with fries and coleslaw could always be counted on. The meals were reasonably priced and the restaurant had clean washrooms. It was our back-up when other ideas failed. In fact we went there so often that, when one of us was about to celebrate a milestone birthday, she jokingly mentioned Swiss Chalet. She was pretty surprised to see 12 of her closest friends gathered there on the appointed day.

Recently one of our group moved into a retirement apartment at Christie Gardens, so naturally we had to try out the restaurant. It’s large with bright windows looking onto a patio and garden. The meals are displayed on a table at the entrance, so you can actually see what you are going to order. The seats are comfy and the wait staff very friendly and patient. Three courses are offered: soup or salad, a main course and then a dessert trolley with many choices, although sticky toffee pudding hasn’t appeared so far. And there’s a small gift shop too.

This past weekend I finished reading the latest book for my book club. The story covers life in a Veterans’ hospital built in Toronto during the first World War. The story briefly touched on the food served to the vets – cheap, with little variety and cooked in huge batches. The ending shocked me: the hospital was torn down in the 1960’s and replaced with Christie Gardens! Too bad the vets didn’t get to eat there.

Sue

Patriotic Shopping

I wrote about shopping several times during the difficult years of the Covid 19 pandemic. I thought we were done with that topic. But politics has changed the shopping scene and now it’s harder than ever to navigate.

We Canadians are ethically challenged every time we visit a store or a website. To buy or not to buy? For example, after my last post where I joyously shared a photo of my favourite Miss Vickie’s potato chips, a reader wrote to correct me. His research showed that, while Miss Vickie’s were originally created by Ontario farmers Vickie and her husband, the company is now owned by Frito Lay in the USA. So my question changed: To eat or not to eat? I read the package over and over again, seeing only a red maple leaf with the words “Made in Canada.” I ripped open the bag and started munching. Really, how much temptation can a person stand?

Then I received a coupon in the mail for 25% off any item in my favourite women’s store, Talbot’s. Without a thought I drove straight over to the mall. And there, right in front of me, was the most glorious shirt in brilliant shades of red and pink, so spring-like. How could I resist? I handed over my credit card. At home I took the shirt out of the bag and thought…oops… is Talbot’s a Canadian store? My phone showed me that Mr. and Mrs. Talbot had started the store in the United Sates back in 1947. No question about being Canadian. So what to do? I rationalized about all the time and gas needed to make the return trip. And I am sorry to admit that my ethical self was outvoted by my colourful self.

This Canadian shopping can test even the most patriotic of us. Another real temptation is COSTCO. We have one location very close to us and it’s easy to stop by for a few bulk items. I’ve heard many people say they will never give up COSTCO, even if it IS American. especially when they think about inflation. What most people agree on is to buy only Canadian products there, which seems to be a reasonable compromise, since each COSTCO outlet also employs a lot of Canadian workers.

But how do we know what IS a Canadian product? The language is endlessly confusing. Apparently “made in Canada” means that the last transition of the product was done in Canada. The rest of the item may come from somewhere else. But “product of Canada” manes that most of it, over 90%, comes directly from Canada. There are now some apps available to help us sort all this out. Two that I know of are Maple Scan, and BuyBeaver.

I was delighted to discover that my favourite shampoo and moisturizer come from Quebec. While shopping for crackers I found that my go-to brand is made in England. Quite close to Talbot’s in the mall is Sportchek (Canadian) with nice shirts! Staples, a really handy store with a lot of useful products, is Canadian. It even has a recycling depot at the store I visit, where shoppers can leave empty cartridges, toner, used batteries, and other non-recyclable items.

But so far one item on my shopping list evades me. Every morning Peter has a cookie with his coffee. It is a plain biscuit without much sugar and it’s made by Christie. Christie was originally a Canadian company owned by Mr. Christie in Toronto. Then he sold the business to Mondelez, an international company headquartered in the US.

So last week I bought Peter some biscuits from Italy – too sweet. Then I bought some gluten-free ones at Sobey’s – too expensive! English shortbread – too buttery. Arrowroot – too childishly embarrassing. Can any of you Canadian readers help me out with this?

Elbows up!

Sue

Buffalo

Did you know that Buffalo may be Canada’s best revenge against Donald Trump and his tariffs?

I grew up in St. Catharines, not too far from the US border. When our car needed gas or my dad needed beer, we would often drive “over the river” (the Nagara River that is) and fill up, at very cheap prices. When the family wanted a Saturday night outing, we would travel to Buffalo and gorge on wings and fries. During school vacations we would go to the Niagara Outlet Mall and stock up on school clothes. We saved a lot of money that way. Not only were the prices cheaper to start with, but back then the Canadian dollar was at par with the US dollar.

Many Canadians living in cities and towns near the US border shopped this way. Holidays were built around a trip to a US mall. The mall garbage cans were filled with price tags and shopping bags and shoe boxes discarded by buyers, along with the old clothes and shoes they had been wearing in the morning. Families would stay overnight at a nearby motel that had an indoor swimming pool. Everyone was happy.

Crossing the border to return home, the family would meet the customs office who would ask: “What are you bringing across the border today?” The driver would smile and say “Oh sir, nothing to declare. We just went over for lunch.” Then he would sneak a peak at his gas gauge which read FULL. Meanwhile the kids in the back seat would stare down at their shiny shoes, scuffed up enough to betray their newness. And the wife would be wearing two new dresses under a jacket, as she wiped perspiration from her brow.

Even after I moved to Toronto I would sometimes join friends on a weekend shopping trip. We’d drive across the borer to the outlet mall, split up and raid the stores. Then we’d meet for lunch and share our finds. And then we’d go back at it again. After loading up the car with clothes, bedding and cosmetics, we’d drive farther along the highway to a boutique hotel, just past Buffalo. We’d settle in, enjoy a fabulous meal, and drink wine.

The next morning after a bountiful brunch, we’d head home, stopping here and there at antique stores and fruit stands. When we got to the border, we’d smile politely at the customs officer who usually asked the total price of our purchases. The customs allowance back then was $100 for a weekend away. Coincidentally each one of us had spent just under that limit – $96, $91, $94, and $97. Hard to believe that we were so good at doing math in our heads. In fact, when we added gas, hotel, food, and wine, we’d probably each spent well over $500 in the Buffalo area.

Nowadays these fun Canadian shopping habits are beginning to disappear. With the Canadian dollar trending downwards and gas prices going up, fewer people are making their way south to Buffalo, or Michigan, or Seattle. We stay put and make do with our local Winners and COSTCO. And with the Trump tariffs on the way, this downward trend is going to continue. We’ll be spending our holiday shopping sprees in our own country. And we’ll have fun too.

So Donald, take that! Who says that average Canadians can’t protest over the shameful results of the recent US election?

Sue