Last weekend while in Toronto I got to visit some great restaurants, but my favourite was Bannock.

Bannock is located on the corner of Queen and Bay in Downtown Toronto and has actually carved out space from The Bay next door. I passed it while on the streetcar, and the graphics immediately caught my eye. I had put it on my potential hit list for my visit, since someone had instagrammed an image from the restaurant a week prior to my trip, and I was intrigued.

The restaurant's focus is on Canadian comfort food. Here's how it's described on their website:

Bannock’s honest approach to food is rooted in familiar, wholesome ingredients that are reflective of Canada’s rich regional and cultural diversity, delivered in an innovative and playful way. Everyday classics are revitalized as the Chefs pay homage to traditional Canadian comfort foods, putting our cultural favourites front and centre.

The menu is also surprisingly affordable. Everything was well priced considering the quality of the food.

I started with the soup special of the day, which was a Cream of Field Mushroom soup. It was perfect for the cold blustery day outside.

Choosing a main was difficult, as there were so many great choices on the menu. In the end I went with my first instinct, which was the Pickerel Taco with Cucumber Apple Salad. The taco was served on a steamed bun and featured pickled rutabaga and caviar tartar. The tacos were awesome. I could have eaten twelve. The salad was a bit lame. My recommendation would be to substitute the salad with another taco. And the presentation on the plate was a bit lacklustre.

To finish, I had the Canoe Fireweed Butter Tart. Since they make the tart with honey rather than sugar, the centre is more liquid than a typical butter tart. It was delicious and was served with a berry compote. It paired excellently with my Earl Grey tea.

The room was nicely outfitted but didn't blow me away. Although I am so over the barnboard thing, it did make sense in a Canadian restaurant. Maybe they could have tried something different with the application. The antique wood is actually reclaimed from one of the Queen's warfs that was submerged in Lake Ontario for the past 100 years. So that's cool.

My favorite feature was the brown wool blankets that were rolled up to act as a window treatment. You can just see them in these pictures.

Here's the view from inside the Bay. The restaurant is actually a joint venture between The Bay and the restauranteur, and this location is hopefully the first in a chain of locations to open in Bay stores nationwide. The best news is that the first city they are hoping to expand to is Calgary!

I also have to mention my server, Marcel, who was absolutely fantastic. He had such enthusiasm for the food and made for a very pleasant visit.

So next time you are in Toronto, I highly recommend a visit. Or maybe it will be coming to your city soon.

Life List: Eat at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant.

New York presented all sorts of great opportunities, but unfortunately, there was no sea kayaking, no camels, and I definitely wasn't buying property there. But it had loads of restaurants, 2 of which are owned by Gordon Ramsay. So it was pretty easy to make this my NY Life List item.

The London Hotel is home to both Gordon Ramsay at the London, and Muse by Gordon Ramsey. We decided Muse was more our speed, especially with all the other restaurants we had planned to eat at. You can order a la carte, or have the Chef's menu. We decided to have the Chef's menu and eat the same things, so we could better compare notes.

Prior to our first course we were served a taste of potato and leek veloute, which was fresh and creamy. Then we had bread and butter, which I wasn't very pleased with. The bread had such a thick, tough crust which was really difficult to eat. The butter was fine. I guess I'm a bit of a butter snob though.

First Course: chilled tomato gazpacho, marinated lobster, avocado puree, dried tomato

This soup was a nice summery start to the meal. I love when they pour the soup over the accoutrements at the table, and they did just that. Sometimes I find gazpachos are over seasoned, but this was very nicely balanced with a fresh tomato flavour. I hate when tomato soup tastes like pasta sauce.

Of all the restaurants we went to, this one felt the most designed. The restaurant was designed by David Collins Studio, and was conceptualized to bring together "classic British style with Manhattan vivacity." It had a subtle, sophisticated colour scheme with a crisp geometric ceiling design, and touches of sparkle throughout.

Hand sewn silver buttons on the soft grey-blue shagreen banquettes.

There was a nice level of ambient light throughout, that allowed the space to still feel intimate.

Sparkly chandeliers were hung over the bar. There was a nice variety of materials such as textured glass, lacquer, stone tile, woven wallcovering, chrome, and wood. It kept the space interesting, despite the subtle colour scheme.

A shot of the grid work design on the ceiling.

The worst part of the interior? The lame table decor. Seriously? When was the last time I saw those glass marble things? I think I was 12. They would be better off to do nothing.

Second Course: pastrami spiced baby beetroots, air-dried duck ham, Kendall farms creme fraiche

You can't go wrong with beets in my book. These were perfect.

Third Course: sauteed sea scallops, english peas, crispy bacon, lettuce hearts, sauce paloise

This was the highlight of the meal for me. The scallops were divine. The peas and lettuce with the bacon, delightful. Don't you just love a good fresh pea? And that sauce. So delicious, I can't even describe.

Dave didn't like the sauce. But opposites are supposed to attract right?

Fourth Course: dry aged strip loin, pommes anna, roasted portobello, spiced eggplant

I chose the beef for my main, while Dave had the skate. Honestly, beef is beef to me, especially coming from Alberta and getting to eat great beef all the time. The winner on this plate was the pommes anna. I loved that little stack of thinly sliced potatoes. The loser was the portobello. It was boring.

And this was the vanilla custard with citrus fruits, steel cut oats, and mandarin sorbet. I ate it before I remembered to take the photo.

It was a nice light and refreshing way to end the meal.

The steel cut oats were the curious part. They were served still hard, but I think had been baked to bring out their nuttiness. Curious and unusual, but pretty good.

After some coffees, we wandered around the neighbourhood to take in some night sights. Times Square was incredible, with more people packing it at night than during the day.

I can't get back soon enough.

Most days in New York we started with a quick coffee and a muffin, either from Whole Foods or Dean and Deluca. The Bouchon Bakery is deserving of a mention here, as it is operated by Thomas Keller and served some really beautiful French pastries and great coffee. I especially loved the graphics.

During our shopping excursion to Soho, we couldn't help but stop at Balthazar, a great New York institution. I'd been trying to have a cucumber martini for three days, and I finally got one here. It was blissfully refreshing on such a hot day.

We of course had to order the oysters. Delightful.

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La Esquina was the place I had the most recommendations for. Everyone raved about their corn and taco's. There was no room inside when we went, so we ordered at the window and sat outside. We had a cob of their infamous corn, which was really interesting with a chili powder rub and grated cheese. I'd like to actually dine inside if I ever go back.

My husband would have eaten pizza for every meal if I didn't restrain him, but I did let him visit Artichoke twice. Their namesake pizza was incredible, with a creamy artichoke sauce, and big chunks of melted mozzarella. We ordered it both times.

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Another thing about my husband, he didn't want to eat anywhere that he hadn't researched and ensured that it was worth eating at. But one day his stomach trumped his head, and we stopped into Peels. It turned out to be great spot for lunch, and we really enjoyed the modern take on some American classics.

I was determined to eat and black and white cookie while in NY, so we stopped in at Crumbs one day. It was great, although I don't have anything to really compare it to. It was thick and cakey with a nice, smooth icing.

I'm always interested to see spaces that I have seen published, to see how accurate the photography and story was. Our hotel was quite close to Quality Meats, which is published in Best Ugly, a book that profiles a few of the restaurants by Avroko. Overall I was pretty impressed. The space did feel smaller, but cameras do tend to make things feel larger as they manipulate their viewpoints. Like ABC Kitchen, this restaurant had a really strong concept that flowed through every element of the brand and interior. Being a meat focused space, all the waiters even wore butcher coats as their uniform. So we felt that the best thing to order would be the Tartar. We loved it. It came deconstructed and the presentation was great. Once we stirred it all together, we realized it also tasted great.

Quality Meats also has an ice cream bar which we couldn't resist. You can see why.

One of my favourite places was Bill's Gay 90's, which is one of the original NY Speakeasy's. It was a fantastic piano bar that was full of enthusiastic patrons. We had such an awesome time sipping Manhattan's and Cosmo's and enjoying such a unique part of of the city. This was the one place I wish I could have transplanted back to Calgary.

The one place we actually had a sit down breakfast was The Breslin, which is located in the Ace Hotel. Brunch was good, but made me happy that we didn't spend a lot eating out for breakfast. I never really find that meal to be special enough to justify the extra expense sometimes.

The interior was interesting with lots of interesting art and accessories cluttering the shelves. The millwork and furniture had an old English pup/cafe feel.

On our last day, we stopped over at the Frying Pan, which a bar that sits on one of the docks overlooking the Hudson River. It was a really interesting place, and it was great to sit somewhere in the cool breeze. Unfortunately for me, I tend to get a bit seasick at those types of places. A moving boat in one thing, but a slightly moving dock is another. It was all I could do to drink one ginger ale before bailing.

Our very last stop was for a quick taste of the ubiquitos Pinkberry. I have always wanted to taste their special frozen yogurt and I finally got my chance. Any boy was it good. The yogurt was perfectly tart and sweet. And now I will spend my time trying to recreate it's perfectly balanced flavors. Or, you can now get it in Vancouver!

So that was our food adventure. I've kept one under wraps for a post later this week, and more great details of our trip to come.

So we spent most of our time doing what we love best, eating. It was incredible. So I'm going to take some time here to list out everywhere we visited, because they are all worth going back to! But we ate at so many places, I'm going to divide it up into a couple of posts. So here it is. Our NYC Eating Extravaganza, Part 1.

The first place that we officially sat down to eat at was The Modern, which is the restaurant at MOMA. It featured a great menu of French-American cuisine, and was divided into three courses, and also encouraged sharing. It was very stylish with a glamourous clientele, and looks out to the garden at the museum. Pictured above is the Lamb and Goat Cheese Terrine.

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The Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien hotel was really fun. This space is hidden behind a floor to ceiling curtain in the hotel lobby. The only hint that it is there is the smell of sizzling beef on the grill, and the little neon burger sign tucked at the end of a corridor. Inside is a great dive of a burger place, with a very simple menu. The walls are covered in handwritten scrawl from past customers, and the brick wall is lined with names of celebs who dropped by.

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One evening we went out for drinks before dinner and chose the Russian Vodka Room. It's dark and moody interior has been around for ages. The menu features several house infused flavoured vodka, including a horseradish vodka that actually turned out to be really good. The menu looked great too, featuring lots of pickled fish and caviar dishes.

Our big splurge meal was at Eleven Madison Park. The entire experience was phenomenal from start to finish. The restaurant was awarded an Outstanding Restaurant Award by the James Beard Foundation this year, and for good reason. The menu features four courses, with a list of only the main ingredient of each dish, so what you eventually get is a complete surprise. The meal was preceded by a parade of incredible amuse bouche's including a Goat Cheese Lollypop. Then after the meal, trays of sweets emerged from the kitchen, which is pictured above. Here you will see the Lemon Shortbread, a Meringue, and an Earl Grey and Blackberry Macaron, each about the size of a quarter.

The end of the meal also meant that this bottle of cognac was left at your table with the encouragement to help yourself. Indeed.

The service at Eleven Madison was absolute top notch. It was like sitting amidst an orchestra as the service unfolded around you. Servers would pop up out of nowhere to replace or remove things, to refill the wine and refold your napkin when you left the table. It was certainly a meal I won't soon forget.

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After that extravaganza, we ventured to the West Village to Little Branch. Here's the exterior shot. Sure doesn't look like much.

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My husband was a bit obsessed with going to a Speakeasy, and this was the closest we got. Little Branch is known for it's great bar tending staff and delectable cocktails. It's located in a basement with a pair of curious vintage washrooms, and while you sip your drink, you can hear the rumble of the subway as it rolls along nearby.

After we saw the McQueen exhibit at the Met one morning, we went up to their rooftop patio for a quick bite to eat. While the food service was just a couple of cold pre-made sandwiches and drinks, the view of the Manhattan skyline more than made up for it. You should ask at the info booth how to get up there, as only one elevator will take you to the roof.

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We went to a concert on a dock one afternoon, which meant we got to try some NY food truck food! We went to the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck for a couple of the best dumplings I have ever had. The Chicken and Thai Basil dumplings had a coconut sauce inside along with other veggies, which made the whole thing taste like a fabulous bowl of Thai Coconut Chicken soup. I will dream about those dumplings.

My husband also insisted on going to ABC Kitchen, which won the Best New Restaurant award at the James Beard awards this year. What I loved most about this restaurant was that the concept flowed through every element of the space. Anything that the guest saw or touched continually reinforced the concept of the restaurant. No surprise it was fitted out with lots of gorgeous pieces from ABC Home, which it's adjacent to. The food was nice, with a focus on local, sustainable, and organic cuisine. But honestly, I don't feel like that was the only restaurant that I could have had that meal at.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for Part 2!