the rooster coffee shop

It is family day in Toronto today.  Businesses are closed and it is a time for families to spend time together/an excuse for a long weekend.  To celebrate a day off work, I went to explore a new coffee shop with my mom and boyfriend that opened not too long ago, called The Rooster Coffee Shop.  I remember driving by the space on Broadview south of Danforth a couple times over the past five months and noticing construction and something new brewing in the neighbourhood.   Well the word on the street is that it opened in December 2009 by Shawn Andrews and her partner Dave.  The result of their hard work and entrepreneurship is a super cute, modern-meets-French subway tile-meets-vintage looking coffee shop with fun board games, magazines and coffee table books met set in the backdrop of  communal and individual seating.  Two cappuccino and one hot chocolate later, the three of us felt satisfied and warmed by our selections.  I loved the hot chocolate.  It was rich and creamy and was generously covered with marshmallows.  The two opposing coffee palates both decided that Rooster Coffee House’s coffee was “nice,” “dark,” “flavourful,” and they loved the little “leaf milk designs” on top.  I can’t comment because I have never had a cup of coffee in my life.  My favourite thing about the Rooster Coffee House is its view through the big storefront windows overlooking the valley adjacent to Broadview.   For the non-coffee drinker, they serve tea from Tealish (Queen and Walnut)Go check it out- it’s a good alternative to Broadview espresso which is tiny and Si which is also tiny. This is a place where you can sit comfortably for the afternoon and have a meeting, lose yourself in a book or catch up with a friend.  It’s full of life and interesting things to look at.  Rooster coffee shop is located at 479 Broadview Avenue and is open seven days a week early in the morning until dinner time.

via blogTo

via blogTO

via blogTO

Wedding Dress Cake

This is a cool pic that I found on blog, Twig & Thistle who got it from Gather and Nest.  I am so happy that I stumbled upon this one because it’s seriously cool.  Someone actually made this wedding cake dress (a super complex checkerboard cake), posted the pics on Facebook and like all things viral, it got passed around.  Lukka, the cake’s artist, is a mad scientists, sculptor and artist all-in-one.  What a daring and risky undertaking and a phenomenal outcome. 

via twig and thistle

via gather and nest

chocolate organiko

I think I am subconsciously craving chocolate because I have featured more cool, new chocolate brands on my blog this month than ever before.  Either that or I have a thing for minimalist packaging.  I think it’s a bit of column A and a bit of column B. 

So back to more important things, my new chocolate find: Chocolate Organiko is a boutique chocolate operation out of Madrid, Spain where cacao beans from the Caribbean are imported and designed into extraordinary confections.  The team behind Chocolate Organiko hail from both the chocolate world and the design world (easy to tell) and in 2006 combined their talents and passions to launch a brand.  The chocolate is organic, hence the name Organiko and is available all over Europe, in North America and in Chile and Taiwan.  I have yet to see Chocolate Organiko on any shelves in Toronto and unfortunately the company website does not list its retailers in the city.  Let the game of hide and seek begin!

via kitsune noir

via bien manger

via the life in luxury

via mequemaelbolsillo

raspberry dacquoise

I just found a dessert that would look stunning served at an intimate dinner party or event called a raspberry dacquoise.  I first learned about a raspberry dacquoise from my teacher’s wife who used to cater these things to friends and family in Toronto.  Apparently this was her go to cake and specialty.  She was clearly experienced in making this dessert, she had a photo album and busted out several stunning photos of her accomplishments.  When I spoke with her, she was preparing  dozens of sugar cookies for her daughter’s upcoming wedding and told me how she had baked a huge raspberry dacquoise for her daughter and son-in-law to be’s engagement party.   That conversation must have taken place over a year ago and only now, when I read a blog post on Chocolate and Zucchini about a raspberry dacquoise, did I decided to look into this dessert and blog on it myself.  From my understanding, a dacquoise is a layered/stacked dessert made with meringue and whipped cream or buttercream, served chilled with fruit.   This is a general description of the basic components of the dessert but if you think about it, such a general description is wide open to interpretation.  Therefore, there is plenty room for creativity when constructing this dessert. 

Martha Stewart has a recipe for a mocha dacquoise here while the food network has posted a lemon and fresh strawberry dacquoise here.   A dacquoise looks pretty simple to make but that is me talking from absolutely no experience.  My family and I recently renovated our kitchen and were planning on having a big kitchen warming party in a couple months.  Maybe I’ll test out my dacquoise making skills and share with you my experience! Finally some pictures to tempt your senses and to show you how creative you can get with this sweet.

via flying kiwis

via a merrier world

via st phillips bakery

via chefnini

gingerbread teacup

The cutest idea for the holidays/winter- mini gingerbread houses that sit on teacups from blogger Meghan behind Notmartha.  Are they not to die for?  Meghan provides a how to on her site if anyone is interested in attempting such intricacies for their tea parties.

not martha

via not martha

via not martha

Nadege Patisserie

Finally the Toronto baked goods market is being blessed with a touch of creativity and design.  Enter new patisserie shop, Nadege, on West Queen West (Trinity Bellwoods Park area).   The owner, Nadege Nourian, exported here international experience in Paris and London to “compete” in Toronto’s rather drab pastry scene.  While there are some great bakeries in the city, I think creativity, design and a good product is more the exception than the rule in comparison to other international cities.   What is interesting if you want to talk about competition is the location of the Nadege bakery.  It is clustered among some of the better bakeries in the city (Clafouti and Dufflet).  I am all for the business strategy of clustering and keeping your competition close.  It has worked for a coffee company or two.  The Nadege website could not have chosen better words to describe this hot spot, “a playground for the senses, where French pastry meets fresh modern panache.”  I love it. Check it out if you are in the neighbourhood.  I am still waiting to get down there to try some of Nadege’s macarons (the subject of a future post).

In the mean time, some pictures to make your mouth water on this snowy day in Toronto.

via compendium daily

via toronto life

via the top down

via holts contemporary blog

via nothing crazy