FOODISM’S FINEST

FOODISM’S FINEST We endeavour to sample tasty, new products and attend events for noteworthy restaurants. Here are the bites and sips we can’t stop thinking about.

HIGH SOCIETY Katie Bridges, Associate Editor On a gloomy night, I trudged through the slush to attend an ‘Englightened Dinner’ unlike any other. With Ted Corrado at the helm as newly appointed director of culinary for cannabis lifestyle brand byMinistry, me and 40 other ”canna-curious” dining companions sat down to a micro-dosed, fi ve-course feast that included dishes like wild mushrooms with confi t duck egg, and stracciatella with squash and persimmon. I wish I could report back on the matcha dessert fi nale, but after the sensory overload of trippy artwork by Dahae Song that decorated the moving (no, really) walls around us, I decided to abstain from dessert. Go home Katie, you’re high.

DANFORTH AND BANGKOK David Ort, Copy Editor When you fi nd a restaurant that’s good enough to be busy on a cold Monday night in January it is tempting to keep the intel to yourself. But Sala is too good for secrets (that is, except for the “secret” menu they bring to your table). The seasonal pomelo salad with plenty of spicy bits and crunchy peanuts has converted me to the cult of savouryfruit salad. Get the roti (a crispy, fried, Thai pancake) with your just-spicy-enough panang curry. Don’t sleep on the laap salad or chef Mo’s tom yum pad Thai – packed with vibrant ingredients imported from Thailand.

SEARCHING FOR SERGE Meredith Hardie, Editorial Assistant It’s unlikely I’ll be getting a drink with Serge Ibaka anytime soon – he’s busy, I get it, whatever – so a drink named after him is the next best thing. Every year, Thai restaurant Pai releases their own starting fi ve cocktails: Steady Freddy (Fred VanVleet), Spicy P (Pascal Siakam), the Lowry (Kyle Lowry), Big Daddy Spain (Marc Gasol), and the Serge Protector (Serge Ibaka). Each drink’s components represent their namesake player – fresh-cut Thai chilis for Spicy P, smooth Creyente Mezcal for the always suave Serge and a sherry and vermouth concoction that tastes way better than the lukewarm bottle of wine Gasol chugged at the championship parade. It’s unlikely I’ll be getting a drink with Serge Ibaka

ALL ABOUT THAT TASTE, NO GLUTEN Emily Buck, Marketing Coordinator For the holidays, we took a company excursion to the Parlour restaurant with one mission: eat our way through their menu of ”tricked out” pizzas. They make their own gluten-free pizza dough in-house daily. And toppings are sustainably and locally sourced wherever possible. The owners are clear that they aren’t an Italian restaurant, they just make really good pizza – we couldn’t agree more. The favourites of the night were the Five-O and Yaletown, all washed down with their infamous punch bowls.

KITCHEN-STRAVAGANZA Krista Faist, Publisher and CEO We all know that the best parties end up happening in the kitchen so on a frigid January evening, I headed to Ricarda’s for the fi rst installment in their Kitchen Party series. For $55, guests toured an array of stations for Southern European bites including baked oysters, ceviche and pistachio-crusted lamb chops. Inventive cocktails and live entertainment – a DJ blasting tunes from inside the open kitchen – rounded out the night. This was the perfect showcase for the culinary talent that makes up the team at Ricarda’s, and at a real bang-for-your-buck price. The event is shaping up to be a regular Wednesday night fi xture, with upcoming dates available to book on eventbrite.ca. We all know that the best parties end up happening in the kitchen so on a frigid January evening, I headed