28. January 2010 by joan.

Don’t forget Winterlicious in on starting this Friday in Toronto- Barrielicious is on now until Feb 4th (some are going to continue later).

But here are some different ideas: 

Amuse Bouche has Tapas Tuesdays where you can try a sampler plate for $10.00, or a 5 course tasting for $40.00. And wines are at $5.00 a glass. The restaurant is on Tecumseh at King and Bathurst.

Scaramouche has Lobsterlicious now until April. For $60 they serve a lobster centric 3 course meal. This is one of the city’s best, most romantic restaurants with stunning views of Toronto from its Forest Hill location on Benvenuto Place.

Eight Wine Bar 8 Colborne St. Every Friday, the restaurant in the Cosmopolitan Hotel offers all wines by the glass at $1 an ounce. Smaller versions of appetizers are available for $8. This probably is not offered during Winterlicious.

Biff’s 4 Front St. E. This lovely restaurant sells oysters for $1 each (at the bar, not in the dining room).

Oddfellows on Queen Street West has some wild ideas. I have not been there, but recommend you call. I have heard of an all you can eat perogies night among other crazy sounding stuff. It sounds like a cool spot.

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25. January 2010 by joan.

We just returned from a wonderful week in Mont Tremblant. It was mostly cloudy weather, but unseasonable warm. The old MontTremblant of my youth is no more……it is MUCH more!

Mont Tremblant is now comprised of 3 distinct areas: Secteur du Village - the old village; Sectuer de Saint Jovite - the “city” and the Mountain with its pedestrian village. Your most expensive accomodation  is in the pedestrian village, and there is lots of variety from the wonderfully located Country Inn and Suites and  The Residences by Marriot to the lovely Fairmont to the exquisite Quintessence and then over to the “forest” of condos with ski in ski out capabilities. The ultimate in condos are in La Panache - high above the Fairmont with phenomenal views over the lake.

More modest and moderately priced places are available in Saint Jovite, around the golf courses and where we stayed in the old village. Wherever you decide to stay, everything is quite close, but you need a car. If you are in a condo, there is a wonderful Metro grocery store in Saint Jovite where you can find anything you could want. There are smaller stores in the villages as well.

They say nobody goes to Tremblant for the food, but we can recommend some great places! For fine dining, there are two 4 diamond restaurants in Mont Tremblant: Aux Truffes in the pedestrian village is wonderful, and the dining room at Quintessence is also supposed to be first class - we didn’t go  :-(  . We also ate at Patrick Bermant in the Old Village, and would suggest it to anyone - it was fantastic! We understand the the Cayenne Grill in the Old Village, and La Petite Cachee on chemin du Village are also superb. SEb in Saint Jovite was also highly recommended.

For casual lunches we would recommend Le Shack at the foot of the mountain, which is also terrific apres ski; La Maison du Spaghetti, which is a local diner in Saint Jovite (right near the Metro) and has great comfort food (eat in the back), or if you feel like a bit of a drive Le petit Poucet on #117 near Val David is the place for authentic Quebecois fare. Don’t miss the ham or the tourtiere.

We spent the better part of a day at the Spa Scandinave, which is heaven. The massages were so so, but they include the cost of spending as long as you like in the hot tubs, suana, steam, zero gravity room (don’t miss it) and plunge pools (catch your breath!) They even had a hole cut in the ice of the lake for the really brave ………… no we didn’t! If you have your own bathrobe, take it - they charge $12 to rent one. It was a lovely way to spend a day, and a nice alternative to all the hard work of skiing, cross country skiing and snowshowing

There are great trails through the National Park with awesome views. And speaking of views, you can take a “pedestrian ” pass to the top of Mont Tremblant for $20 and lunch or snow shoe up there. For skating buffs, there is a wonderful huge oval rink on Lac Moore which is lit at night - so pretty!

There is a casino at Tremblant - it doesn’t seen like anything special to me, but it does have a wonderful fire place in the foyer. One interesting thing to do is to park right at the casino and then take the gondola over to the pedestrian village. The views are spectacular! Then you can wander the village, working your way down the hills, pick up the open cabriolet lift back up the hill and connect back to the casino gondola - all for free! At the bottom, there is a small church called the Chapelle Saint Bernard which was built in the 40’s as an exact copy of the first church in North America (I think) on Ile d’Orleans near Quebec City.  There is a small skating rink there, too.

Gorgeous part of the world with some of the finest skiing in the east. Lovely people, lovely experience. All you need is a fireplace and a good book…………………

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5. January 2010 by joan.

More “didja know stuff”:

1 -You can buy gift certificates from Costco for some exclusive spas in Toronto: 2 - x $50 cards for $79.99. They also have some wonderful restaurants (like Barbarian’s in Toronto or the Skylon in Niagara Falls) for 15 % off. Buy $100 certificate for $84.99. Go to www.costco.ca click on gifts/tickets and go to gift certificates.

2 -Rainbow cinemas have first run movies for $4.00 on Tuesdays, and are $6.00 for matinees the rest of the week! The locations are in Thornhill, Woobine and Front Street in the Toronto area, and they exist in other cities across the country.

3 - Winterlicious is coming to Toronto January 29th to February 11th. Most restaurants have a 3 course prix fixe at $15 - $20 for lunch or $30 - $40 for dinner. It’s a wonderful time to try some new (pricey) places. Reservations open January 14th, but if you have an Amex card, you can book the 12th and 13th. Go to www.toronto.com/winterlicious for restaurants, pricing and menus.

4 - Barrielicious is coming January 22 to February 4th. The restaurants have been announced at www.barrielicious.com

5 - Virtuosity is a new show at the St. Laurence Centre for the Arts until January 24th only. It is a fabulous night of exciting song and dance with some Tony award nominated performers. There are some really excellent prices, and I can get seats  - $70.00 at half price. email me if you want me to organize it for you. We went, and it was pretty good - lot’s of talent in little vignettes showcasing their acting, dancing and singing. The front rows are only $25.00 each, and I can still get them half price!!! Amazing deal.

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