The Keys To My Heart: The Green Tea Cheesecake at Sushi Time and The Sushi Bar Dessert Mission!

Introducing one of my favourite, FAVOURITE desserts in the city: the green tea cheesecake from Sushi Time on Queen St. West!  That’s right, folks.  This cheesecake is not from a bakery, patisserie, or cake boutique.  It’s from a sushi bar.  And it is one of the most delightful things that has ever done the sexy rumba with my tastebuds.  As I am writing this, I feel kind of giddy and silly because I feel like one of the Food Network stars on an episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate, divulging about one of my favourite foods and where everyone can get it! 

If you’re a Food Network lover like I am, you know how fantastical this show is and how it makes you so ridiculously hungry while you’re watching it.  I’ve had to walk out of the room on several occasions because I was watching the show before dinner and it made my stomach rumble and my mouth salivate.  It’s that bad.  I love the show so much because every episode is devoted to a fun theme: best thing I ever ate spicy, crunchy, fruity, sweet, chocolatey, grilled, meaty, and so on and so forth.  I guess if I had to inject this post into a specific themed episode, I’d call the episode, “best thing I ever ate – green tea desserts”!  Or maybe just desserts or food made from tea if green tea desserts is too specific a theme.  But there it is.  My little Food Network daydream.

I’ve mentioned this dessert on the blog before (in this post), but I haven’t done a photo spotlight or posted any photos of it because, well, the first and only photo I had at the time stunk.  I’m serious!  You can actually see a little bit of it in the scrapbook layout I posted in the link up top.  I know my photography over the last two years has improved, but I’m not about to boast about my earlier efforts because in the beginning, I couldn’t take a picture worth a penny.  Not everything I do now is the greatest either, but some of the photos I took when I first started out were just plain awful.  So here are photos of my beloved dessert that are actually worth posting!

At $3.99, this green tea cheesecake is one of the reasons why I will always come back to Sushi Time.  Sushi Time is by no means the least expensive sushi bar in town.  It’s not the most expensive either, but let’s just say there are other places in the city that offer more budget-friendly options.  Despite this, the green tea cheesecake has me coming back time and time again and it delivers its knockout, heavenly, delicious punch each and every time.

As opposed to some cheesecakes that are a little more on the crumbly side, this one is one of the softest, creamiest cheesecakes you’ll ever enjoy.  It has the fabulous graham cracker bottom that everyone loves so much and two different green tea layers that differ slightly in consistency and flavour.  The middle layer is darker green in colour, a little thicker in consistency, and a little more concentrated in green tea flavour.  The top layer is lighter in colour and also lighter in texture.  It’s so fluffy and soft and smooth. 

When you run your fork through the cheesecake, it doesn’t catch.  It glides straight through and it is truly one of the best light-yet-decadent desserts around.  The cheesecake is finished off with a dollop of green tea jelly on top and a dusting of green tea powder.  The great thing about it is that it simaltaneously gives you both the richness of tradtional cheesecake and the herbal, slightly bitter flavour of green tea without being overwhleming on either front.  It isn’t so rich that it gives you that tingle in your throat and it isn’t so herbal that it takes away from the dessert being an actual sweet ending to a meal.

To my knowledge, Sushi Time is the only sushi place that offers this kind of dessert and on top of its uniqueness and deliciousness, it compels you to shell out the extra several bucks for it.  I love mango, red bean, and green tea ice cream as much as the next person, but those are desserts that you can have at a number of places so I always want to find and try the ones that nobody else serves or the ones that are a little more unique.  Off the top of my head, I know Ginza has a variety of new desserts on their new menu that I’m dying to try and the rest I’ll just have to find out about as I go along!  I’m definitely on a mission to find the best desserts at sushi places around the city and I’m so glad I found out and had this cheesecake for the first time three and a half years ago.        

*****

Sushi Time is located at 325 Queen St. West near the corner of John St. and Queen West.  Situated between University and Spadina Ave., Sushi Time is on the south side of Queen and are open for business at 12pm, 7 days a week.  You can view their menu in PDF form at their temporary website HERE.

Snatching Radishes and Ogling Quinoa Salads and Scones – The Farmers’ Market at Riverdale Farm!

It was hot yesterday.  Disgustingly hot.  Face flaming, sweat dripping down from my forehead hot.  And yet there I was, walking to the Riverdale Farm farmers’ market yesterday afternoon from the Eaton Centre in the muggy, sticky, gross heat.  Granted, I was wearing my little bucket hat and the sun kept coming and going while I was walking, but when it’s muggy out, it sticks to you and makes you feel all sorts of bleh.  I told myself I would go though so I kept walking, keeping my eye on the prize, and breathing a huge sigh of relief when Riverdale Park’s towering trees came into view, wafting in a light breeze.  THANK GOODNESS FOR NATURE’S LEAFY GREENS! 

The farmers’ market was in full swing and while it wasn’t as big as the one I visited last summer, market goers were snatching up goodies left and right and carrying their wares in  tote bags as they surveyed their possible purchase.  And I mean snatching.  As I was taking photos of the radishes up top, I was literally surrounded on all sides by people buying bunch after bunch.  A few seconds after I took my shot, there were only 2 bunches left on the table.  I kid you not!  One bunch of radishes after another kept disappearing and I thanked my lucky stars I got there when I did because otherwise, I would have been staring at a few remaining scraggly roots. 

The Riverdale Farm farmers’ market just started their 2012 season last week (Tuesdays from 3pm-7pm) so I have no doubt that the market will expand and get a little larger over the course of the summer.  Despite the smaller size though, I still found myself wanting to pick up more than a few items to take home.  What can I say, I’m a shopaholic at heart and that clearly extends to food! 

I saw some familiar vendors and faces at the market yesterday, including St. John’s Bakery, La Fiesta Catering (who appear at both Fresh Wednesdays and Tasty Thursdays at Nathan Phillips Square with some of the meanest cornmeal mashed potatoes and pulled pork in the city!), LKP Culinary Groove, and Best Baa Dairy!  Best Baa Dairy was back with their huge assortment of cheese and goat’s milk ice cream, LPK Culinary Groove had their vegan cupcakes, cookies, cakes, and sweet potato donut holes on hand, La Fiesta Catering was firing up their grill with kabobs and succulent hot food delights, and St. John’s Bakery was dishing up the bread, cookies, and scones! 

I was so tempted to grab an ice cream and some of La Fiesta’s cornmeal mashed potatoes (and, I admit, a smidgen of their amazing pulled pork), but I convinced myself I’d come back for them another time and instead, snatched up two amazing scones from St. John’s Bakery.  At $2.50 a pop, their scones came in a varity of amazing flavours such as apple cinnamon, cranberry pumpkin seed, blueberry, and lemon currant among others.  This was the first time I had come across any of St. John’s Bakery’s scones and I was so excited!  Especially when I found out they had a lemon one.  I took home a lemon currant and a cranberry pumpkin seed and savoured them this morning with my brother.  We popped them in the microwave for 15 seconds and they were good to go.  They were so good!  They were pull apart soft and incredibly flavourful and I only wish I had thought to put some apricot jam because that would have been delightfully amazing.

Familiar faces aside, I also happened upon some new vendors at the market, one of them being Rob and Barry’s Vegan and Vegetarian Foods!  Rob and Barry’s business and cooking operations take place right here in Toronto in a commercial kitchen located in Kensington Market, and they’re hoping to open up a retail shop in the near future so they can further spread the vegetarian and vegan love!

For those of you who love taking advantage of vegetarian and vegan options, the Riverdale farmers’ market has welcomed a new vendor selling everything from veggie pasta and pizza, caponata (a Sicilian eggplant salad or dish typically associated with antipasti), quinoa black bean salad, quinoa mango salad, and quinoa chickpea salad!  Prices range from $3-$4 for salads (sold in reusable containers) and $4-$8 for the heftier items.  The food is perfect for take-away to take back home, for picnics, for lunch, or for an afternoon snack (yes, that’s right, I’d eat this as a snack.  I know how to pack it in) and it’s great knowing there’s another vegetarian and/or vegan option on hand for when you want something lighter.

I’m really looking forward to coming back later on in the summer, seeing the market grow, and hopefully, have myself a nice little picnic out on the park when it’s less gross out!  Muggy weather aside, I’m glad I came because I left with some wonderful scones, was reunited with some old food favourites, and was introduced to new food options for the next time around.

*****

The Riverdale Farm farmers’ market is located at 201 Winchester St. in Riverdale Park.  My way of getting here is to either walk along Carlton St. eastbound from Yonge St., or take the College St. streetcar eastbound to Parliament St. and Carlton.  From there, keep walking eastbound on Carlton until you get to Sumach St. and you’re there!  This year, the market is held every Tuesday from 3pm-7pm from May 22 to October 30.

A Moment to Cherish – Yours Truly (in Poached Egg & Salmon Form) on Page 16 of Toronto Life Magazine

I am trembling as I write this because I am beyond excited and overjoyed.  I’ve been going crazy because I’ve been keeping this a secret for the past month and now I can finally post about this and let everyone know the happy news: I GOT PHOTOGRAPHY PICKED UP BY TORONTO LIFE MAGAZINE!!!!!!  My beloved photo of my poached egg on salmon and mascarpone from my first post on L’Espresso Bar Mercurio will forever be memorialized on page 16 of the newest and latest special Neighbourhoods issue of Toronto Life Magazine!!!  I am still reeling from the excitement, happiness, and anticipation and my heart won’t stop fluttering.  This is one of the happiest, proudest moments of my life and I am relishing it.  This is my very first piece of published work and I couldn’t be happier that it happened with Toronto Life and more honoured that it was used to illustrate part of their feature on Adrienne Clarkson’s favourite spots in her favourite neighbourhood in Toronto, The Annex.

The magazine JUST came out, it’s on magazine shelves now, and if there was a strait jacket in the house, somebody would have put me in it because I swallowed every urge to run out the door to get my copy the second I found out it was released last Friday.  Logic told me that they needed to be delivered, sorted, and displayed to and in stores before I could hug and squeeze my own issue so I waited until today to grab one and I am telling you, it was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. 

I made a beeline for the magazine rack, spotted the magazine, and felt my heart do a cartwheel.  My heart was thudding in my chest as my trembling fingers held the glossy magazine, fresh off the press and I thought to myself, “this is silly!  Why are you so nervous?!”  But I was a silent basketcase nevertheless and as I vigourously flipped the pages and landed on the one with my photo staring back at me, it took all the restraint in the world for me not to hug the stranger beside me.  Instead, I gushed to the cashier.

The original, before getting edited and dolled up

As I checked out, the cashier paused to take a look at the cover, commented on how interesting the issue looked, and it was at that moment that I blurted out, “I just got my first photo published in this issue!!”  It felt so good to let someone, anyone know!  Aside from my family, my boyfriend, and my best friend and another close friend, no one else knew about this.  I kept my mouth shut for a month (I didn’t see the point in telling everyone until I had photographic evidence!) and it damn well almost killed me.  I was shaking with giddiness and babbling like a buffoon as I showed her the page and she asked me, “what your name, dear?”  “I’m Debra.”  “Congratulations, Debra.”  I walked out, hugging the magazine in my tote bag, feeling like I was walking on air.

I bought a new Philosophy lip gloss from Sephora to celebrate, Full of Fortune Cookie, and the sweet passage on this collection’s packaging (which Philosophy’s brand is known for) summed up exactly how I felt about the good fortune and blessings I’ve been given:

“A bright, sunny future is ahead of you.  Make the most of your talents, and they will be recognized and rewarded.  Believe in yourself and others will too.  Give thanks for your blessings, and more good things will come your way.  Keep your glass half full, and it will never go empty.  Love in abundance, and you will receive more love in return.  Eat right and sleep tight and you will live a long, healthy life.” – Philosophy

My name & photo credit!

*****

The special edition Neighbourhoods issue of  Toronto Life magazine is out on magazine stands and will be displayed until December.  To view the original L’Espresso Bar Mercurio post, click HERE.   

Banana Buttons and Baking With Love – Squeaking Out the Last Layout for National Scrapbooking Month

*****

Scrapbooking materials used: powder blue, sky blue, pale yellow, buttercup yellow, cappuccino, and chocolate brown cardstock (Recollections); blue and brown patterned paper and green, brown, pale blue and pink circles patterned paper (Choco Mod scrap pad kit and stack by Stemma); baking stickers and embellishments (Jolee’s); chocolate chip cookie embellishments (handmade); sparkly banana button (De Serres art store); medium scallop circle paper punch (ek success); medium and small scalloped edge decorative scissors (Provo Craft); black fine point Sharpie pen.

The Strawberry “Pinkalicious” Cupcake & The Not-Quite-So-New Cupcakery – Bakes & Goods by Yonge & Eglinton!

I thought I was so savvy.  I thought I was one of the first people to know.  I thought I was on the cutting edge of something totally new, and I couldn’t wait to share the news with all of you!  Then my bubble kind of burst and I felt kind of silly.  So, what eaxctly has gotten me into this topsy-turvy tizzy?  Cupcakes.  I know, I know.  “Oh, Deb, only you would zero in on a cupcake sign on the sidewalk like a honing pigeon, race into the new shop squealing like a fangirl, and leave your friend behind”.  It’s true.  I couldn’t help myself.  Let me explain. 

Last Saturday, I was out and about with my dear friend Wini around the Yonge & Eglinton neighbourhood.  We walked north on Yonge Street, stopping along the way to browse at cute housewares, and to drool over the cupcakes at The Cupcake Shoppe.  And then it happened.  I saw the pink and brown sandwich board sign with its swirly cupcake image, looked up and over to see a cupcake shop I had never seen before, and lost all control.  And I mean all.  My breath caught in my throat (to save face I could tell you it was because of the heat, but we all know the truth), I let out a high-pitched, “ohmygodisthatanewcupcakeshop?!”, and left my dear Wini behind as I raced in.  Call it seeking refuge from the heat, call it cupcake insanity – my body went on autopilot, my eyes were locked in tunnel-vision, and there was no stopping me.

Bakes & Goods, located at 2523 Yonge Street, north of Eglinton Ave. between Sherwood and Keewatin Ave., is bake shop that sells nut-free cookies, cupcakes, cakes, shortbread cookies, and customized foodie gifts.  They create special order cakes for birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and seasonal occasions, as well as special giant, pull-apart cookie pies, cookie bouquets, and and cookie baskets!  They also have an adorable selection of decorated sugar and shortbread cookies available for purchase ($2.99 each, and on a stick!) on their retail shelves by the front of the store, similar to those at Yummy Stuff. 

Now, I’m always excited when I see cupcakes but I was extra excited because I thought for certain I was seeing and walking into a brand spankin’ new cupcake shop in town.  I thought to myself, “YES!  An honest-to-goodness discovery!”  Little did I know that Bakes & Goods was actually not a brand new cupcake shop but an already-exisiting bakery that had simply relocated. 

While I was perusing the cupcake selection, I eagerly asked them if they were new and I was told that they had just moved in from their Bathurst location.  I smiled and congratulated them on the move but on the inside, I was dying a little.  How.  Embarrassing.  And here I thought I had made some miraculously discovery!  Previously in the Bathurst and Lawrence West vicinity, Bakes & Goods moved into their new Yonge & Eglinton home (with adorable heart shaped exterior to boot) last Saturday and are fitting in quite swimmingly – the gentleman in front of me bought 2 dozen cupcakes on the spot!

Bakes & Goods has about 7 or 8 cupcake flavours to choose from on a daily basis including red velvet, cookie crumble, cafe mocha, choco ganache, and others.  While their selection isn’t particularly kooky-crazy, their flavours encompass many of the classics that cupcake lovers fall back on time and time again.  If you love the unique, the different, and the out-of-this-world, it might not be for you.  However, if you’re a diehard red velvet devotee, a committed chocoholic, or a lemon lover, the shop is definitely worth a looksee. 

To me, if you genuinely love cupcakes, there is absolutely nothing that will deter you from trying out a new shop or a shop you’ve never tried, even if the flavours are ones you’re extremely familiar with and accustomed to.  Much like sushi, everyone has a different interpretation of the classics and it’s worth it to see (and taste!) the differences and to experiment.  I am definitely going back to try their cookie crumble, lemon, mocha, and maybe their red velvet.  I’m not the biggest fan of red velvet (please don’t throw things at me), but like I said, it’s worth it to give it a whirl because you never know when you’ll be unknowingly surprised by something awesome.

At $2.75 a pop, their cupcakes rank mid-range on the cupcakery price ladder and their cupcake sizes are very decent and reasonable for the prices they charge.  Being the strawberry and pink lover that I am, I chose their very special Pinkalicious cupcake!  Their Pinkalicious cupcake is a vanilla cupcake topped with strawberry buttercream and a pretty little hot pink edible candy star. 

Knowing the topping was a buttercream, I anticipated the flavour to be very subtle but I was incredibly and pleasantly surprised at how fruity and sweet (and I don’t mean cloying or disgustingly sweet) and yummy the buttercream frosting was.  The buttercream didn’t leave that greasy film behind that so many people complain about and it definitely lives up to the strawberry flavour.  The whole cupcake from top to bottom was so light and fluffy and it was an absolute joy to eat.  This is such a great cupcake for spring and summer and definitely fit for all of us cupcake princesses out there.

*****

Bakes & Goods is located at 2523 Yonge Street in the Yonge & Eglinton neighbourhood.  The bake shop is situated on the east side of Yonge Street between Sherwood and Keewatin Ave., several blocks north of Eglinton Ave.  They have recently moved into this new home from their original Bathurst and Ranee location (around the Lawrence West area) and are open 6 days a week (Monday-Saturday) at 11am.

Memories, Milestones, and Cupcakes – Celebrating Ate by Ate’s 500th Post!

For the first time in 500 posts, I am having a difficult time putting into words how I feel right now and I am almost at a loss for words.  My thoughts, however, are collected enough to say this: THIS IS OUR 500th POST ON ATE BY ATE!!!  FIVE ZERO ZERO!  IF I HAD POM POMS, I WOULD PRANCE AROUND THE ROOM WITH THEM!  500 posts, everyone.  Ever since I hit 450, I’ve been mulling over how I wanted to celebrate this occasion and what I wanted to say.  And now that it’s finally here, all I really want to say is thank you. 

Thank you so, so much for reading, following, commenting, and joining me on this amazing, unpredictable, heartfelt journey.  I am so grateful to my boyfriend, family, and friends who all humour me when I take the first 5 minutes of every single honking meal to snap photos, to everyone I’ve met through social media, businesses, markets, and eating in general, and to anyone and everyone who has shown support.  You have made food and eating (and writing, scrapbooking, photographing, and basically all of THIS) more fun than I ever could have imagined.  Your support and friendship mean the world to me, and there is so much more to look forward to!  Globe-trotting for cupcakes, new series, more scrapbook and photography projects, more cookie recipes, and as much food as we can stomach!

A little sneak peek of posts to come!

Nurturing and pushing this blog since day one has been one of the most rewarding, liberating experiences of my life and I feel like a completely different person because of it.  It has been my creative outlet, my soapbox, my journal, my portfolio, and my baby and it has taught me so much.  It has taught me to keep pushing even when I’m tired.  To work my ass off because I know it will pay off in the end.  To never take “community” for granted.  To tune out all the negative energy and to channel it into something positive.  To focus on my craft and my craft alone.  To never pigeon hole myself or succumb to others’ narrow-minded expectations.  That the 8-year-old girl who loved Homemakers’ magazine and wanted to be a food editor is still very much alive and kicking.  And finally, to view life as one big, endless opportunity.  So, here’s to great food, awesome cupcakes, lifelong relationships and friendships, and the next 500 posts.    

Baked Omelettes With Asparagus, Roasted Red Pepper & Goat Cheese – Checking into Hotel Gelato for Breakfast!

I LOVE finding new breakfast, brunch, and lunch places!  The thought of relishing a good meal in a comfortable cafe makes me feel all dreamy and floaty on the inside.  And if you can believe (which I think you all can), I spent a good deal of time last week circling spot after spot in one of my Toronto magazines of all the places that offered breakfast and weekend brunch.  Aside from cupcakes, sushi, and pasta (my three great food loves), nothing gets my engine running more than a great breakfast and lunch cafe. 

I love the vast array of menu items, I love the feeling of freshness during the day (and admittedly, it makes my life easier taking photos in the daytime), and I just love the idea of sitting down to a great sandwich, brunch dish, and/or cafe drink with dessert.  I enjoy dinner, yes, but as Daphne Oz on The Chew reiterated on one of the more recent episodes, “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”.  Although in my case, I’d change that to a queen and a princess.  But you get the idea.  And it does, in fact, ring true for me.  I eat dinner almost out of necessity rather than want.  The star of the show is my breakfast and lunch and I sure as hell eat like it.  So, what’s my latest breakfast/brunch escapade?  Hotel Gelato on Eglinton West!

Hotel Gelato is a beautiful sit-down breakfast, lunch, and gelato cafe with an open, airy, inviting atmosphere.  Located on Eglinton West in the Upper Village neighbourhood, iIt’s exactly the type of place you envision yourself relaxing in during an easy Sunday morning or afternoon brunch, a midday coffee break, or a bright and refreshing weekday lunch with your best friend.  With its sleek black and white decor and upholstery, it’s pretty and fancy pants without being overly frou-frou and pretentious. 

In all honesty, I was taken aback when I stepped inside.  I knew it was pretty from the photos I saw on their official website, but I was not expecting it to be THIS pretty.  Chandeliers clothed in sheer black, clear plexi tables and chairs, comfy black upholstered chairs by the cafe’s front window, black and white wall decor, a beautiful fireplace mantel with candles, orchid flowers, and a sleek espresso bar and machine in acid bright turquoise!  In a nutshell, Hotel Gelato is NICE.

I was overjoyed when I viewed their menus online.  In addition to the gelato that makes them famous (and oh boy is there ever a ton of gelato goodness to devour!) and the cafe drinks and desserts that can ordered up at the front, they serve weekday breakfast from 8am-11:30am, weekend brunch, and all day lunch.  Although a number of their daily breakfast items appear on their weekend brunch menu, their weekend brunch menu does have some very special items that are not available from Monday-Friday including their challah French toast and their – wait for this – LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES!  I almost bounced off the walls when I found out they served this.  Weekend brunch would have to wait though as I decided to stick to their daily breakfast menu first. 

Menu items include breakfast sandwiches with either peameal bacon or smoked salmon with eggs, flavoured mayo, and different cheeses, baked eggs, waffles, breakfast parfait, smoked salmon and cream cheese with bagels, and more.  Prices range from $8-$12 for most items, with a separate set of prices ($3.50-$5) for extra sides including daily scone, basket of mini almond, chocolate, and apricot croissants, peameal bacon, and toasted ciabatta with butter and preserves.  As much as I wanted to inhale a breakfast sandwich or smoked salmon (and, come to think of it, their waffles), I went with their baked omelette because I got to choose my fillings and toppings! 

The baked omelette ($8) is made with three eggs and herbs and comes with crusty bread to go with it.  Filling and toppings ($0.75 each) include aged cheddar, goat cheese, Jarlsberg, portobellos, sauteed spinach, smoked ham, bacon, asparagus, and roasted red peppers.  Wanting to inject some veggies into the meal, I chose asaparagus (how very spring-like!), roasted red peppers, and goat cheese because I love goat cheese like crazy. 

T0 my surprise, my omelette and bread were accompanied by a dish of fresh fruit (how sweet!) and my omelette, just like the menu said, was literally baked!  I don’t know why I forgot about that detail, but I was delighted when my breakfast was brought to my table.  The omelette was baked into a small baking/casserole dish, almost like a skillet or casserole and the fillings dotted my baked eggs like a beautiful mosaic.  It was piping hot and so unique to any egg dish I had ever had.  And I was also pleasantly with how much bread I was given – almost like a little mini sliced loaf of delicious crusty bread!  I know the menu specifically said grilled flatbread as opposed to crusty French baguette, but frankly, I didn’t care because the bread was so good and so darn cute!

The asparagus was crisp and flavourful and the goat cheese in the omelette was to die for.  There were creamy, tangy pockets of goat cheese throughout the entire dish and it truly went a long way in making the omelette burst with flavour and dimension.  The eggs were light as air and so, so fluffy.  Keep in mind though that the eggs for this particular dish are baked and thus well done and thoroughly cooked.  If you’re like me and you like your eggs a little runny, just mention it to your server because the dish is cooked well done by default. 

It’s really just based on preference because my mum, for example, reeeeally doesn’t go for runny eggs and prefers hers cooked from top to bottom.  If you love your eggs the way my mum does, no sweat.  If you like yours the way I do, ask them if they can undercook them just a tad and if they can’t (which I can’t imagine them not being able to do, but for the argument’s sake let’s just throw that our there), just choose another menu item.

I am so, so looking forward to coming back because there’s so much more to try!  There’s the gelato (hello, creamsicle and strawberry shortcake oh my god), the drinks (teas, pumpkin spice lattes, and pot of hot chocolate?!), the lunch paninis and sandwiches, and yes, the multitude of breakfast and weekend brunch items waiting for me!  Like those lemon ricotta pancakes.  It’s only a matter of time.

*****

Hotel Gelato is located at 532 Eglinton Ave. West just west of Heddington Ave. between Avenue Rd. and Bathurst Street.  They serve breakfast and lunch every day from Monday to Friday with a weekend brunch menu on Saturdays and Sundays.  Their breakfast menu is available from 8am-11:30am and lunch all-day.