Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws & College/Yonge Bulk Barn

 Even putting aside the historic significance of the magnificent building in which it is housed, the new Loblaws in Maple Leaf Gardens is an impressive store in its own right.  In addition to all the usual suspects of Presidents Choice products, there is a "Wall of Cheese" that is literally floor to ceiling in size.  Even more thrilling for me was when I discovered what I will call the "Wall of Mushrooms" - a healthy selection of assorted organic mushrooms.  The Patisserie section is filled with rows of cupcakes as far as the eye can see, as well as other pastries, cakes, candied applies similar to those from Rocky Mountain High, and chocolate truffles.

Chocolate is chipped off from a huge block and sold by weight.  The deli counter displays an array of cold cuts including Italian (Serrano) hams and salamis while the fish counter offers everything from pickerel, cod, tuna, to all sorts of shellfish and squid.  Fresh Ace Bakery artisan breads are created right on the premises and you can smell the aromas as you wander by.   There is seating for fast food dining with options including a Sushi bar, tea emporium, cold salads and a prepared food counter creating pizzas, paninis, and other hot meals that seem a bit higher end than the typical Loblaws offering.

The store honours the memory of its previous occupants in many ways.  A beautiful mural regales past Maple Leaf highlights (aka those mythical Stanley Cup victories we've heard about all our lives), a clever sculpture forming the blue Maple Leaf is created from old stadium chairs, and on grocery aisle 25, a round red dot marks centre ice.  You can almost visualize the ghosts of former players jockeying for position on a faceoff.

Just a block away from Maple Leaf Gardens is another surprise that is possibly even more exciting and useful for downtown Toronto than another super-sized Loblaws.   There are only two things that I miss since moving away from suburbia .. one is the private tennis courts in our old condo and the second is the Bulk Barn.  But now a giant Bulk Barn has opened right on the subway line at the NE corner of Carlton & Yonge!  For someone like me who likes to sample a little bit of alot of things, this is like my own personal Disneyland.  While it seems contrary to the name and concept of the chain, I look forward to being able to buy the small required quantity of something for a recipe rather than the huge prepackaged container that it would otherwise come in.

Imagine what seems like an infinite variety of flour ranging from traditional all purpose to ones I'd never knew existed (buckwheat, quinoa, tapioca, coconut) or even know what is in them (red fife??).  There was also a wide selection of spices, coffee beans, tea leaves, rice, bread spreads (cashew butter, almond butter, chocolate hazelnut), nuts (raw or roasted, salted or unsalted, mixed in cereal and granolas) and of course, enough chips, chocolate and candy to break any New Years Resolution.

The Bulk Barn is also a baker's dream in terms of baking decorations (sprinkles, food colourings, icing, candied roses), cake pans and molds, cookie cutters and wedding cake paraphernalia including the columns to separate the tiers of cake and mini brides and grooms.

I ended up with many little bags of nuts, aborio rice for Christmas dinner risotto, and multiple types of candy, perfect for the Gingerbread House party that I'm attending.  My favourite were the green Army men gummy bears and the candy coated chocolates that look like beautiful pebbles.  I also got some pomegranate flavoured cranberries and dried cherry raisins that I look forward to putting in my cereal.  It was so much fun wandering the aisles looking at all my choices.  I can't wait to go back and use 25% off coupons that they were giving away for use over the next few weeks.

Wrvst vs Fusia Dog

Gourmet hamburger joints have been around for a while and lately new ones seem to be popping up everywhere.  But the latest culinary trend of eateries that specialize in one main staple is expanding to include a variety of foods including grilled cheese sandwiches, porchetta sandwiches, meat balls, and sausages.  We recently had the opportunity to compare and contrast two recently opened sausage restaurants.

Wrvst (think bratwurst) features sausages made from a wide variety of meats ranging from the traditional (pork, beef, lamb) for $6, to poultry or non meats (a.k.a tofu) for $7, to exotic (boar, bison, elk, kangaroo, rabbit, etc.) for $9.

The grilled sausages are served on a fresh chewy bun, topped with 2 choices from either grilled onions, sweet red peppers or sauerkraut.  Three types of mustard and a home made ketchup are available as condiments.  Alternately you can have the sausage sliced up, topped with a tomato curry sauce and a slice of bread.  Fries can be fried in duck fat or topped with peppers, jalapeno and sauteed onions.  They come with a choice of mayo, tomato or yogurt based dipping sauces of various flavours such as curry, chive&garlic or chipotle.

We tried the wild boar with mushrooms and tea(??) and duck with maple and fois gras sausages.  They were both nicely grilled, flavourfully spiced and tasty.  Of course we could not resist the idea of duck fat fries but we didn't really taste any difference, especially after dipping them in curry and wrvst (spicy) sauces.  The fries were also thicker than we like them since we prefer thin crispy fries.

Wvrst is in the huge space that used to be the old Thuet location but is now a casual fast food restaurant where the sausages are ordered at the counter and seating is at long communal tables with bench seating.  On a Saturday afternoon with just a few diners, the place seemed cavernous, but I guess it fills up at lunchtime on weekdays, or maybe at night during hockey games projected on a 10 ft screen.

By contrast, Fusia Dog by Dinah Koo (formerly of Wanda's In the Kitchen with Dinah) is a very small venue on a side street a few blocks from the Entertainment district.  It has just a few seats and seems more of a takeout joint.

Also selling gourmet priced hotdogs and sausages, the spin here is that these are "multicultural dogs".  The meats are mostly beef or chicken with some vegetarian options and one exotic meat which is duck.  So for $7-9, what you are paying premium for is a bunch of toppings and the concept of eating a "Chop suey" dog (with stir fried veggies, ketchup, hickory stick potato chips), Mediterranean dog (grilled veggies, feta cheese, olives), Peking duck quesadilla  (duck skin with carrots, scallions, bean sprouts, hoisin sauce).

We tried the Fusia dog (beef dog with kimchee, carrot salad, wasabi mayo and coriander in a wrap) and the Crispy Cream dog (beef dog with pork belly, scallions, cream cheese and mustard).  As they had just opened, they gave us some free sample salads so we had a cold broccoli salad and a luke warm potato salad.  I thought the experience was more gimmick than superb dining experience.  For me the best part of the meal were the home made potato chips, and the icy cold Boylan black cherry cola on the very hot day.

In my opinion, Wrvst was best (pun intended) in this sausage war.  Although I'm not sure that either option is worth twice the price of the good old fashioned street sausage, especially from those vendors that provide a slew of toppings including sweet corn, tomato, bacon bits, or if you go to the truck on Queen St in front of City Hall, you can even get grilled onions and mushrooms!

Wrvst - 609 King St West
Fusia Dog - 65 Duncan St.