Brunch at the Ritz-Carlton: Morning Mimosas & More

Sunday Brunch at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota was always a culinary highlight and one of my family's more decadent traditions, whenever we all gather on Longboat Key. That was until they permanently closed the doors on this divine diversion last year. Imagine our delight when we discovered that the Ritz in Toronto had launched their own Sunday Brunch in the hotel's signature restaurant TOCA, when the hotel opened in 2011. From the moment you arrive under the stylish porte-cochère and a liveried doorman opens your door with a "Welcome to the Ritz," you know all will be well.

The Ritz Bar with fabulous light fixture by Vancouver-born 

and Toronto-based glass artist Jeff Goodman

A stylish Art Deco Absinthe fountain accents a side table in the bar

The Ritz Sunday Brunch is held at TOCA, the hotels' signature restaurant 

on the second floor above the lobby

Sunday brunch at The Ritz is indeed one of the priciest in the city, but it's also one of the most extravagant. For about $80 per person, diners can explore a wonderland of lobster tails, chilled poached shrimp, mussels, sushi, a live carving station, omelette station, charcuterie and more, plus access to the all-inclusive mimosa and bellini bar. And if that wasn't enough, a chocolate fountain, crêperie, and French pastries for dessert. Not to be outdone, the Ritz also holds a Veuve Clicquot Sunday Brunch on the last Sunday of every month at $145 per person, which includes all of the Veuve Cliquot you can quaff. 

Never ending glasses of delicious Mimosas, Bellinis or Prosecco 

are complimentary with the Ritz brunch

A lovely chilled glass of Prosecco is a splendid way to start a Sunday

A spicy Caesar with seasoned rim and flash of celery — Cheers!

One part of the buffet was a symphony of cold salads and antipasti

An assortment of small plates like Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese, Croutons and Micro Greens, and in the background, Sundried Tomato Mousse with Grilled Shrimp

The Seafood Bar with lobster tails, cold poached shrimp, mussels and sushi 

including Califormia rolls and nigiri salmon

Buttermilk pancakes served with maple syrup or warm chocolate sauce

Lobster tail, chilled mussel, poached shrimp and smoked salmon with 

sushi garnished with wasabi and pickled ginger

Sundried Tomato Mousse with Grilled Shrimp, and Butternut Squash, 

Triple Crunch Mustard & Smoked Duck Parfait, Zucchini Custard Torta with 

Tomato Coulis and a slice of Prociutto di Parma

Vegetable and Pork Dumplings with Roasted Squash, Asparagus and 

Grilled Salmon topped with matchstick potatoes and flash fried lime

The Dessert Room was filled to bursting with an array of sweet temptations

Beautifully presented and outrageously good

Little Lemon Cream cakes

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake

A sinfully decadent Chocolate Fountain complete with fruit, marshmallows and cake for dipping

A slice of sweet, dense and intensely rich chocolate cake garnished 

with a ring of chocolate topped with a fleck of edible gold

The Ritz S'more with marshmallow and chocolate sandwiched between 

two fresh baked graham cracker biscuits 

A slice of Raspberry and Pistachio Cream Layered Cake

A little Almond and Apricot cake

Silky smooth Crème Brûlée topped with pearls of chocolate covered wafers 

and a perfect blackberry 

A hot steaming cappuccino is the best way to finish a sumptuous brunch at the Ritz

Enjoying an exquisite weekend brunch with a mimosa in hand and all the breakfast stations you can possibly enjoy makes for the perfect weekend morning. When 'extravagant' is on your culinary wish list, the Ritz brunch is hard to beat. Order your Signature Bloody Mary or ask your server to keep the champagne coming, then take your time and explore all the different stops among the culinary offerings. For a morning of pure decadence, you don't need to look any further.

www.ritzcarlton.com

Homemade Sweet & Savoury Tomato Chutney

I don't 'can' or 'pickle' as a rule, however I do make an exception for this delicious Tomato Chutney, that is both sweet, savoury and full of deep rich flavour. Late summer or early autumn is the perfect time to tackle this recipe, when plum tomatoes are plentiful and our apple tree is bursting with fruit. I usually make this chutney a few days after making 'Mamma Styles' Tomato Sauce, when there are always a few leftover tomatoes. It goes beautifully with pork tenderloin, grilled chicken or tourtière and is absolutely delicious on simple cheese sandwiches. Homemade chutney also make fabulous holiday gifts, so I often double or triple the recipe if I plan on putting jars under the Christmas tree for special friends and honoured family members!

Our apple tree is bursting with fruit — perfect timing for making my favourite Tomato Chutney

Chopped apples, tomatoes, onions, sultanas, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar are mixed with allspice, curry powder, chili powder, dry mustard and minced garlic

The mixture is covered and allowed to simmer for at least one hour

The chutney is then ladled into sterilized mason jars and stored for the upcoming year

Homemade Tomato Chutney
Makes 24 250ml jars

Chutney:
40 medium ripe plum tomatoes (4kg), peeled and chopped
8 large red McIntosh apples, peeled and chopped in small dice
8 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped in small dice
6 cups brown apple cider vinegar
4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dry mustard
3 cups sultanas
4 cloves garlic, crushed
8 tsp curry powder
8 tsp ground allspice

Equipment:
24 250ml Bernardin canning jars, screw caps and 'snap lids'
non-metallic funnel & tongs


Combine all of the chutney ingredients in a large pot and stir over medium heat, until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile sterilize the jars according to Bernardin 'step-by-step home canning' instructions — but in short, place the jars in a pot of boiling water, keeping jars hot until ready to use. Set screw tops aside and place 'snap lids' in a small pot of hot, but not boiling water. While the chutney is very hot, remove the jars from the boiling water using the tongs, and tilt out the excess water. Using a non-metallic funnel, ladle the chutney into the sterilized mason jars, quickly top the jar with a hot 'snap lid' and fasten with the screw cap — firm but not tight. Repeat for remaining jars. After a few minutes, the 'snap lids' will in fact make a distinctive snapping noise which lets you know the seal has succeeded! The screw cap can then be tightened, but let the jars cool before storing for future use.

If the 'snap lid' doesn't make a snapping noise, sterilize the jars again and refill with heated chutney. Timing is everything — the first time I made this Tomato Chutney, none of my lids snapped! I had to re-sterilize all the jars, reheat the chutney and try again. It worked the second try and it's worked every year since. Judging by the empty jars I get back each year from family and friends, this recipe is a winner.

Louboutin Grand Soirée + Ki Modern Japanese

The London Design Museum’s acclaimed retrospective dedicated to iconic French shoe designer Christian Louboutin made its North American debut in Toronto at the Design Exchange this past summer, from June 21 to September 15, 2013. The exhibition entitled Christian Louboutin: An Exhibition Celebrating 20 years of Design, Artistry and Magic, celebrated Louboutin’s twenty years of designs and inspiration, revealing the artistry and theatricality of his shoe design from stilettos to lace-up boots, studded sneakers and bejeweled pumps. It was a magical journey of style, glamour, power, femininity and elegance. 

True to the designer’s theatrical spirit, the exhibit featured a fairground-like carousel, a giant spinning top, a topiary garden, a recreation of Louboutin’s Paris atelier and a sexy three-dimensional Dita von Teese hologram formed a stunning centrepiece of show. For total sensory overload, Grand Marnier even sponsored a party one Thursday each month during the exhibition, with free cocktails and complimentary appetizers, courtesy of Parts & Labour, and music spun by DJ Hannah Bronfman — and we were there to take full advantage of the 'Final Grand Soirée'. 

The mixologist is busy concocting the evening's signature cocktails

Upon entering the exhibition, we were handed two drink tickets to indulge in specialty cocktails concocted by Grand Marnier, with one cleverly named The Louboutini, which was served in a glossy Louboutin-red martini glass! The second cocktail served this evening was The Grand Garden Smash, made with Grand Marnier, lemon juice, strawberries, orange blossom water and garnished with a fresh basil leaf. Both cocktails were very tasty, perhaps too much so, and rekindled my admiration for this amber coloured orange-flavored liqueur.  

With stacks of Grand Marnier bottles at hand, the servers were efficiently handing out the evening's delicious signature cocktail, The Louboutini!

A complimentary charcuterie and cheese table was prepared courtesy of Parts + Labour

A bright and playful lighting exhibit marked the entrance to the show

Prestigious, expensive and aggressively high, Christian Louboutin's sexy stillettos are the stuff of legend. Louboutin, who began his career more than 20 years ago, hit the headlines when he called high heels 'pleasure with pain', adding, 'If you can't walk in them, don't wear them.' Visitors at the exhibition get a unique insight into his design process – from initial drawings to factory production – and, for those hardcore lovers of Louboutin, there’s even a Fetish room dedicated to the shoes he designed for the 2007 Paris exhibition of the same name, produced in collaboration with film auteur David Lynch. 

Louboutin fetish shoe — not meant to be worn standing up, 

but rather, reclining seductively in bed!

Louboutin, who guards his red soles jealously — Pantone 18 Chinese red to be exact — is currently embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with YSL over their use of a red sole

Pigalle Ring Strass shoe by Christian Louboutin

Delicate lace and intricately-beaded heels highlight this exquisite shoe

Louboutin, famous for the red soles on his stilettos, has made Von Teese, one of his most fiercely loyal customers, appear in the form of a three-dimensional holographic performance to illustrate Louboutin's earliest design inspiration - the showgirl. The burlesque performer's silhouette morphs from a Louboutin shoe to dance on stage before she transforms back into a stiletto. But despite his fondess for Von Teese, Louboutin, who opened his first boutique in Paris 20 years ago with Princess Caroline of Monaco as his first customer, has always maintained his passion lies not in impressing celebrity, but in creating shoes that are, he says, 'like jewels'.  

The jewel-like Dita Von Teese shoe that she uses in her famed cabaret act

A still from the Dita Von Teese hologram at the show

Louboutin at work in his studio

A Louboutin sketch of one of his creations

The wonderful entrance to Ki from the BCE Place interior courtyard with it's spectacular glass wall sculpture designed by Jeff Burnette, one of Canada's premier glass blowers

The 'Louboutin red' Ki signage in the restaurant's foyer

After enjoying our Grand Marnier cocktails and wandering through the Louboutin exhibit, we sauntered over to Ki for a light dinner in the restaurants elegant and refined sushi bar with it's spectacular 36-foot long black granite counter. Seated in the gracious round high-backed chairs, we were first handed two hot towels and then presented with a cocktail list and dinner menu. At Ki, chefs prepare dishes in both the hot kitchen and at the sushi bar, featuring an array of dishes that are meant to be shared, from soups and salads, kushiyaki skewers, tempura, nigiri + sashimi, classic makimonos, Ki modern makimonos, signature hot and cold plates and daily bento box selections. We ordered two glasses of Pinot Grigio and started with some Edamame tossed with a spicy seven spice mixture, while we perused the menu.

Ki dinner menu

We sat at Ki's beautiful sushi counter

We followed with a Kushiyaki of pancetta-wrapped unagi stuffed with grilled onion and pickled daikon, served with chili ponzu sauce. The two skewers were lightly sweet and salty with a delicate texture and fabulous flavour. We also chose the Ki modern makimono of sweet potato tempura yam, avocado, asparagus and kabayaki sauce, and an ikura salmon roe sushi. Warm with a light tempura batter, the Tempura sweet potato Makimono was outstanding. However, my favourite dish of the evening was the Spicy Maguro and Sake on Crispy Rice Cakes, similar to mini sushi pizza but better. To finish, we selected the Saikyo-marinated black cod with rapini, salmon roe and orange reduction, which was perfectly cooked and fragrant with the aromatic orange reduction. 

 Ki modern makimono: sweet potato tempura yam  avocado, asparagus and 

kabayaki sauce, with ikura salmon roe sushi

Ki tossed edamame with seven spice mixture

Spicy maguro (tuna) and sake (salmon) on crispy rice cakes, similar to mini sushi pizzas

Ki is not cheap, but it's worth every penny. Everything was excellent, from the service, to the décor, to the cuisine. Ki is a serene and sumptuous oasis in the middle of Toronto’s financial core — a culinary journey I hope to repeat with great regularity. Arigatou gozaimasu.

Saikyo-marinated black cod with rapini, salmon roe and orange reduction

www.kijapanese.com

12th Annual 'Mamma Styles' Tomato Sauce Day

Every year for 12 years now, my friend Paul and I have gotten together to make homemade tomato sauce at his studio in downtown Toronto. The tradition started on September 15, 2001 just after the events of 9/11 stunned the world. We had plans to go to a friend's cottage for the weekend, but we were so shell shocked from the news coming out of NYC that we decided to stay in the city, get back to basics, and soothe ourselves in an age-old culinary pursuit — making homemade tomato sauce! A new tradition was born. 

Bushels of san marzano tomatoes from Joe's on Davenport

Tomato Sauce Day starts a few days ahead with the purchase of 2-3 bushels of fresh local San Marzano tomatoes, which we buy from Joe's Garden Centre on Davenport, as well as harvesting our own home grown herbs and peppers when we can, and also grilling 2-3 pounds of yellow onions and large eggplant. Paul is the alchemist and creates the aromatic base of olive oil, garlic and a bouquet garni of oregano, thyme, sage and italian parsley, in a large cooking pot. The tomatoes are blanched in boiling water until the skins are loose and wrinkled, squeezed by hand, eliminating the excess water and seeds, then added to the pot with a couple of hot peppers. The sauce is left to simmer 3 to 4 hours, until it transforms into an intoxicatingly rich and complex flavour. The sauce takes the good part of a day to make, with the obligatory pause for a glass or two of wine and a sumptuous lunch of Polish sausage and the first taste of 'Mamma Styles' Tomato Sauce!

The tomatoes are trimmed and popped into boiling water for a few minutes to loosen the skin

They're then tossed into a sink of cold water to cool down

Meanwhile a pot is prepared with olive oil, chopped garlic, a bouquet of fresh garden grown herbs, a can of tomato paste and some hot peppers for extra zing

The tomatoes are squeezed to get rid of as much water as possible then aded to the pot

Fresh home grown basil from my friend Paul's garden

...and garden fresh thyme

Eight enormous yellow onions were grilled the night before...

...along with eight huge eggplants

The symphony of extra ingredients boost the flavour of the tomato sauce

A couple of handfuls of chopped onion and eggplant are added to each pot 

of tomato sauce then left to simmer for 4 or 5 hours, or until we collapse!

My husband Guy is in charge of boiling and peeling the san marzano tomatoes, 

in preparation for this years batch of tomato sauce

My husband Guy joined Paul and I in 2002, the year after our first annual Tomato Sauce Day, and being the newest member, continues to get the worst job — boiling and peeling hot tomatoes! The irony is that he absolutely hates raw tomatoes. Now that's selfless dedication.

Four big pots of tomato sauce are well under way by mid afternoon, along with 6 Polish sausages slowly simmering in the depths of one pot

A few bottles of wine are also well under way by mid afternoon!

We splurged on a few particularly lovely bottles of wine this year to celebrate some very special occasions: 1. Paul was club champion at his tennis club this year; 2. This was our 12th annual Mamma Styles Tomato Sauce Day; and 3. My blog Scrumpdillyicious, which I started 4 years ago (with an inaugural blog on Mamma Styles Tomato Sauce!) exceeded One Million hits earlier this month. What better way to celebrate than with good food, fine wine and sharing special times with loved ones. Life doesn't get much better than that.

By 3:00pm we're starving and sample the first of this years batch of tomato sauce with a plump and delicious sausage that's been simmering in the sauce for an hour or so

A gorgeous day, we were able to sit out under the sun on Paul's outdoor patio 

and enjoy our lunch, a glass of wine and rest our weary legs 

Paul proclaims our 12th annual batch of 'Mamma Styles' Tomato Sauce "The best yet"

Mamma Styles Tomato Sauce

Makes about 30 quarts

3 bushels roma or san marzano tomatoes

2 750ml bottles extra virgin olive oil

4 heads of garlic, chopped coarsley

1 bunch fresh parsley

1 bunch fresh oregano

1 bunch fresh thyme

1 bunch fresh basil

8 bay leaves

6 156ml cans Tomato Paste

8 hot banana or jalapeno peppers, whole

8 eggplants, sliced and grilled

12 onions, sliced and grilled

salt to taste

A day before making the tomato sauce, grill the eggplant and onions until golden, then wrap in tin foil overnight. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch tomatoes a handful at a time until skins are loose and wrinkled, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer blanched tomatoes into cold water, letting them cool slightly. The skins will just fall off. Squeeze out the water and seeds, and toss the tomatoes in a colander to drain. Discard the waste. Make the bouquet garni: using a piece of string, tie together 1/4 bunch each of parsley, oregano and thyme, leaving a length of string attached so it can be retrieved from the pot. 

In a large pot, combine 2 cups of olive oil and 1 head of chopped garlic and sweat until aromatic, then add enough blanched tomatoes to fill the pot to 3/4. Add 1/4 of grilled eggplants and onions, bouquet garni, 2 banana peppers, 2 cans of tomato paste and salt to taste. Repeat the process with additional pots until all tomatoes are used. Simmer the tomato mixture uncovered over a med-low heat, 2-3 hours, stirring frequently, to prevent the sauce from sticking. Cook until the sauce has thickened and become a lovely auburn color. To store, let mixture cool, then portion into Ziploc plastic containers, garnishing each with a basil leaf. Tomato sauce can be frozen and stored 12-18 months.