Light Cafe - Offering Light Meals, Desserts and Coffee/Tea on Baldwin St.

A clean and modern space, Light Cafe 路燈咖啡 will appeal to those looking for a light meal or leisure chat with friends over waffles and coffee or tea.  Light Cafe is originally from Taiwan and I believe this is their first branch outside of Taiwan.  Gosh, how I miss cafes in Taiwan!!

You'll notice quite a bit of detail went towards the atmosphere, menu, and food presentation.  Especially important in this age of social media, pictures are worth a thousand words.  Typically, cafes like these have average food (of course there are some exceptions that also have stellar food) but the draw for people is the food presentation and the space is usually a haven for a girls get-together. Not to say guys don't go, but walk into a cafe like this in Taiwan and the majority of patrons are groups of females.  However, if it's near a university than there will be a more balanced ratio, but I would say girls still out number guys.

Anyway back to my meal.  I was by myself on a Monday and ordered the smoked duck salad and an iced Southbrook berry herbal tea. Although I thought about ordering one of their sandwiches, the smoked duck is not too common in a salad and I had quite a bit of bread for breakfast so a salad it was.  The salad was very fresh and paired with their yuzu salad dressing, it added just the right amount of zing.  But, I would have liked a little more butternut squash or tomatoes or both to make it a little more like an entree salad.  Overall, a good salad.  But to be honest, I was still hungry afterwards...I think I would have even settled for just a slice of buttered toast with my salad.

The berry tea was also very nice; both in taste and presentation.  A nice berry taste, not too sweet, no artificial aftertaste and quite refreshing. I also liked how they presented the tea with frozen berries and apple slices...makes the price of the tea a little more worth it.  If I were to say anything negative, it would be that there was a ton of ice in the drink!

It's interesting that the cafe decided to use Pluck Teas which is a local purveyor of tea rather than Taiwanese tea.  I've heard about Pluck Teas, but have not purchased or tried any of their teas until now.  Pluck Teas tries to separate themselves by stating that they use local ingredients in their tea blends.  Of course the tea leaves are from overseas, but the added ingredients could be local depending on the blend.  On their website, they list whether they use local product or not however in a blend with 6 ingredients, I'm not sure if all are local when they say local.  I've noticed Pluck Teas showing up in a lot of places now and I think it definitely owes to the personal touch of the founder...definitely look out for this tea company!

Quite spacious

Looking out through their front window.

In terms of value, I would say that is where the salad was lacking.  It was over $10 and in a city like Toronto where you have lots of great options for salads (e.g. IQ foods for a quick lunch option), it's a bit steep for what you get.  Especially when most of the salad is actually spinach and mixed greens. Despite this, Light Cafe is definitely worth a second visit to try their sandwiches which looked very appetizing, and their waffles and ice cream!  Oh, and bring CASH, they don't accept anything else.

Also, if you're a coffee fan, they also have some interesting coffee options.  Their Light Cafe Special coffee and the cotton candy coffee (the online menu offers a picture of these items) are definitely worth a look!

Light Cafe 路燈咖啡
23 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1L1
647-347-3883
http://lightcafe.ca/

August: I'm Dreaming of...

Hello August.  Ok, mid-August.

I can't really say there is anything that I'm particularly dreaming about these days.

I've been reading again.  Finished 2 books in just over 2 weeks, Pen and Palate and The Elephant Vanishes, if you're interested.  Both books I'd recommend, but Pen and Palate is a biography geared at 20-somethings and The Elephant Vanishes is considered modern literature so may not be suitable for everyone.

I've baked some really simple things like the above butter cake dotted with sour cherries or a peach bread pudding because the peaches were bruising and I had a little leftover bread.

But really, I'm just trying to enjoy August (with a glass of iced tea).

However, I have been thinking more about that cafe.  I know, strange for August when most people think about the outdoors and sun, but here I am thinking about cafes.  I'm always on the look-out for that cafe though.  That cafe that has everything you want in a cafe.  Now, everyone has their different take on what their perfect cafe is or truthfully, I don't know if there truly is a perfect cafe.  I just like to think that there is one and that one day I'll find it in Toronto and love going with friends or alone.  I would prefer to say that tea room, but in all honesty, when I say tea room, the vision of bubble tea places pop up.  Not that they're bad (I have my favourites), and I probably frequent more bubble tea places than cafes, but tea rooms overseas are just different from bubble tea places here.  Also, the word cafe is just more encompassing.

Anyway, if you love "looking" at cafes, here is a blog that has many, many posts on cafes in Taiwan (and Japan); I was inspired to write this post after seeing the pics on this particular post as the place gives off such a mood!

I haven't come across too many blogs that focus on cafes in Toronto but I had started to like this one called Latte with Me but it looks like they have stopped posting.

Enjoy the rest of August!

Cafe Fiorentina - Low Key Brunch on the Danforth

Brunch is one of those meals that you can spend hours chatting and whiling away the time with your close friends or significant other (which I love); unfortunately quite a luxury these days.  However, the thing I dislike about brunch is the long wait if you don't get up early enough to snag a table.  So, I set out to find a place that offered great food, takes reservations, and also is convenient to get to.

Cafe Fiorentina popped up.  Now, convenience is subject to where you live, but for me it was a lot more convenient to get here than to Queen West where a lot of the popular brunch places are located.  It's close to the DVP if driving and right near Broadview Station if taking public transportation (but recently they posted that they are moving more east, closer to Chester Station).  Reservations are only taken for their first seating at 10am.

Another thing worth noting is that they aim to create and cook food that uses local produce, humanly raised animals, sustainable seafood and heritage eggs.  I'm not too concerned with these things when choosing a place to eat, but I do think it's important to think about these things and while they aim to maintain these values, their menu is simple with unique touches and quite reasonably priced.

One of my friends ordered the french toast (decadent, the toast tastes like creamy custard)...

Another, the quiche (which was very light and fluffy!)...

And the duck eggs benedict which was served with tuna instead of the usual peameal bacon.

I had the Croque Madame which was very delicious; bread was nice, thick and crispy with ham and Gruyere cheese and sunny-side up eggs.

We all chose salad as our side but they also offer potatoes.

At the back there is a table of baked goods but they were selling fast throughout the morning so I would advise going early!

They have a small display of pastries which I considered but then I saw...

...these beignets and couldn't resist.  Essentially they are like donuts, but I was just drawn to them for some reason.  Also picked up a croissant which was well made too, buttery and flaky and a very good size!

At home, I enjoyed the light fluffy dough filled with a rhubarb strawberry filling.

Loved this place for the food and the comfortable feel of the place and staff.  I also hear that they do a wonderful prix-fix dinner.  Hoping to check out their new location in the fall and hope they maintain the cozy feel!
很愛這個餐廳/咖啡店 的餐和舒服的感覺.  聽說他們也有很棒的 prix-fix 晚餐.  希望秋天可以到訪他們的新店, 也他們能保持舒適的feel!

Cafe Fiorentina

new location to be open in the Fall of 2016

463 Danforth Ave.

Toronto, ON

http://cafefiorentina.com/

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!

Laveanne - Enjoying the Lavender Fields

Last weekend I was adamant about going to a lavender field and only the rain was going to stop me.  I don't know why I was so preoccupied with the thought of visiting a lavender farm since I don't use anything lavender, but I came across an ad for one in Milton and was surprised that I could drive there is less than an hour and wouldn't have to go to France or Quebec to see a field of lavender.  Plus, I was hoping to pick up some culinary lavender.  However, the lavender season actually ends at the end of July and may go into August depending on what type of lavender the farm grows as different types have different growing periods.

After some research, I found more lavender farms in Ontario and decided to head to Laveanne, which was east of Toronto and just a bit further than the Milton one, but one thing they mention on their website was that you are welcome to bring a picnic and sit in the fields which I loved the idea!!  Off we drove and unfortunately it took twice as long to get there because of traffic out of the city! We finally arrived at Laveanne in the afternoon with picnic in tow.

Packed a simple picnic of smoked salmon, cream cheese, baguette, cheese, and strawberries.

The place is not too big but we walked around taking pics and there is a labyrinth there made of lavender plants (not very tall) but you can try walking it.  Unfortunately the sun was so strong that afternoon we didn't try it out.

This was their last weekend (last weekend in July) before they do a big harvest and start distilling the lavender to make essential lavender oil. They had a demonstration set up and were there to explain the process and answer questions which was so nice of them!  We also got to smell the difference between English lavender and French lavender.

They also do a number of special events there like yoga in the fields (love this idea even though I don't do yoga, lol!) or there is a pop-up restaurant on the weekend.

The terrace where the pop-up restaurant would be held

The gift shop was small but carried a number of different lavender products and baked goods made with lavender. They sold out of culinary lavender so I just ended up buying some lavender shortbread cookies which were tasty but you do have to like the taste of lavender.

at home with my cookies...

They don't charge an entrance fee but there is a donations box.  A very lovely place to visit during lavender season or to stop by while travelling east of Toronto.


Laveanne
8667 Gilmour Rd.
Campbellcroft, ON L0A 1B0
http://laveanne.ca/index.html

Beff Pan Steak and Roll House

Prime steak

Going to a steak house is not something we can do often with a toddler, come to think about it, we haven't gone to have a steak since she was born.  So, when a friend recommended Beff's, we knew we wanted to try it out.  It's not your traditional steak place, instead the steaks are grilled on a cast iron pan but still very enjoyable and for the price, excellent!

They serve you some side dishes (common in Korean run restaurants) which I always enjoy getting.

And we ordered the cheesy corn which came with quite a bit of melted cheese as an appetizer.

We ordered two types of steak the rib eye and the prime, both were under $20 and comes with some veggies, a side of fries and bread.  I must say, their 8 oz steak was actually fairly good quality and quite filling - the perfect size for me!  It was tender and juicy and slightly seasoned.  The one thing that you'll have to do is once it arrives, you need to check if it's cooked to your liking.  If you need it cooked more, you leave it on the pan as it's still very hot.  If it's perfect, you'll need to either start eating or place your meat on the bean sprouts to stop the cooking.  Mine did cook a little more even though it was served to my liking, the pan was still sizzling.

Beff also offers a few pasta dishes, sushi rolls, and some fusion dishes like Kimchi poutine but we didn't try any of those.  Square wooden stools are the only seating option (except at the bar) so I'm not sure what you would do with your coat in the winter, but it was well spaced out.  They do have a high chair though if you have a little one.

Service was also very polite and fast (but we did go on a slow night).  Definitely recommend!


Beff Pan Steak and Roll House
Unit 17-100 Steeles Ave. W.
Thornhill, ON L4J 7Y1
T: 905-597-7288
https://www.facebook.com/thebeff/