Still a Chance to Save Red Rocket?

Leslieville residents have been downcast at the news that Red Rocket Coffee's original location at 1402 Queen Street East will be closing as of the new year. Owners Pam MacDonald and Liako Dertilis have announced they will be opening a new location at 1364 Danforth Avenue, between Greenwood and Coxwell; however, that's a little too far for many devoted regulars to go for their habitual coffee, sandwich or muffin.

The move has been prompted by an increase in rent beyond what Red Rocket can absorb, given the narrow profit margins of even the most popular and successful of coffee shops. Ironically, the café's presence over the past five years has been one of the key factors in turning the Greenwood section of Queen East from a slightly depressed strip into a dynamic retail hub. I have just found out that MacDonald and Dertilis would still entertain a discussion over a renewed lease; if a price compromise could be reached, they would be able to operate both on Queen East and on Danforth (as well as at their other current location on Wellesley).

If they close, it will be a huge loss to the neighbourhood in general, and to many individuals for whom it has become a dependable home away from home. I am certain, for instance, that Red Rocket has been a vital sanity-saver for scores of new parents who have used it as an inexpensive and convenient getaway when they were starting to burn out from the stresses and isolation of child care. I have watched kids from the local grade school doing their homework there, and observed innumerable business meetings in progress. And it's a critical resource for at least a few individuals in unusually difficult circumstances, who can always look forward to a cheerful welcome from someone who knows them by name at Red Rocket.

Apart from all this, it's easy to understand that property owners need to be able to make a profit from their buildings. However, in the case of Red Rocket, my guess is that the owners may be killing the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs, as it's generally wise to keep a dependable tenant, even at a slightly lower rent, than to risk a succession of vacancies and short-term occupancies by other tenants unable to earn enough revenue quickly enough to cover costs.

And I am certain that if a chain coffee shop tried to occupy the same spot, a large proportion of Red Rocket's current business would evaporate in favour of independent alternatives like Voulez Vous, Tango Palace, Sideshow and Lazy Daisy's. A Toronto Life online article about the closure has provoked numerous comments. There's even a Facebook group that has sprung up over the issue.

The café's current building, which is known as Leslieville Place, is owned and managed by Queen Street Partners, which also owns the dynamic Burroughs Building on Queen West near Bathurst. Leslieville Place houses the thriving Queen Margherita Pizza, as well as The Ten Spot (a beauty salon), Yoga Yoga East, and several office tenants upstairs. Should you wish to offer your opinion on the matter, there is a contact page on the Queen Street Partners website that offers an email feedback form, as well as the address and phone number of the company.

Photo from Red Rocket's blog.

Open Hearth Baking at Fort York

Okay, I've come home. Honestly, have you ever seem me look so happy as in this photo of me in the cinders, cast-iron implement in hand, tending the griddle-baked Derby Cakes I've just helped concoct? I must be the only girl in all the land who prefers to escape the ball, doff the enchanted gown and flee to her corner in the ashes. (Sorry, Fairy Godmother!)

In all seriousness, I've just had a very engaging day at Fort York with a small group of other people who have begun the training to become historic cooks and possibly volunteer interpreters in the 200-year-old kitchens at Fort York. I've already learned a number of useful and interesting things.

For instance, I've occasionally wondered what "pearlash" is in antique recipes. I found out today. First of all, it's "pearl-ash", not "pear-lash". Second, it can be used to leaven baking, like baking soda. Third, its scientific name is potassium carbonate. Fourth, you can actually make it by pouring water through the white ash from burnt hardwood and then letting that water evaporate to leave a powder residue. Fifth, they didn't use it much in Europe because they weren't burning so much hardwood as the North Americans. Finally, you can buy it at this time of year from some German delicatessens (on Roncesvalles, for instance).

One of my clues that I was really in the right place came when we were presented with a version of the very same 1820s Twelfth Cake recipe that I myself tried to replicate last year. It was a half-size version, or double the size I made.)

You can see the Twelfth Cake on the far right of this plate; it's the one that looks like fruitcake. Next to it, the things that look like small brownish pancakes are my Derby, or Short Cakes, based on The Cook Not Mad of 1831. The large round cutout cookies are Shrewsbury Cakes from John Farley's The London Art of Cookery, 1800, which were delicious, flavoured with caraway seeds. The pale drop cookies at the top left are Rout Cakes, which contain orange-flower water, rosewater, wine and brandy, from Maria Rundell's The New System of Domestic Cookery of 1806. These happened to get baked without their sugar, so they were paler and perhaps slightly less flavourful than they might otherwise have been. The larger pale tan cookies at the top right are "Mackeroons" from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse, 1796. These are not a coconut confection, but instead a meringue made with pounded almonds. They were wicked good. (All these except the Derby Cakes were baked in a wood oven.)

During the first part of the training, we will attempt to master (through at least two attempts at each) these and a list of other biscuits that might have been baked in the late 1700s or early 1800s at York, including King Cakes, Hard Gingerbread and Jumbles. So I have one batch of cookies down, with 13 left to go. Later we'll cover other types of baking, then work our way through the culinary branches until, theoretically, after a couple of years or so, we'll be qualified to spit-roast a joint with the best of 'em.

I for one can't wait.

Many thanks to Mark D'Aguilar for permission to use his photos. I must mention that the top photo was taken in near darkness with no tripod and no flash; it does not do justice to his photographic skills.

Why I Love My Market Food Box

This was the joke of the Leslieville Farmer's Market crew today during the pickup of the weekly Winter Food Mix boxes. One of these two items is a bunch of kale that's imported from Texas and sells for $2.79 at a large chain grocery retailer that shall remain nameless. The other is a bunch of kale grown a short drive away from here using organic practices; it sells for $3 at our very own market. I leave you, dear reader, to figure out which is which. Well, as I pointed out to the other market volunteers, I wouldn't look my best after 1,450 miles in a truck either.

Photo courtesy of Sandra Brunner.

Unusual Wine Grapes at the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo

Sure, every Ontario wine drinker knows about chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. But at this year's Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, I thought it would be fun to explore some of the more unusual grapes being grown in this province.

Pelee Island Winery has been established for a long time, and its bird- and flower-labelled bottles are a staple for Ontario drinkers of modestly priced wines. A few years ago, the winery partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to rehabilitate a walking trail in their neighbourhood, and they marked the event with the release of a pair of unusual blends named Eco Trail, both priced at about $10. The red (LCBO 612465) is a blend of baco noir, cabernet franc and chambourcin, which, explains Pelee Island sales manager Darryl MacMillan, is a French native varietal sometimes grown in Australia that winters well and yields small, intensely-flavoured grapes.

In combination with the baco noir, he says, the chambourcin lifts the flavour and adds elegance. For the price, I was pleased with the blend's light juicy taste that reminded me of roses and cherries. In Ontario, Konzelmann and Frog Pond also use chambourcin grapes.

The Eco Trail White (LCBO 591719) blends chardonnay with another relative rarity: auxerrois, a grape related to pinot blanc that is grown in Alsace and in the Moselle region of Germany. Although it isn't as prominent here as some other grapes, MacMillan says that auxerrois is "grown quite a bit in Ontario", since, like the chambourcin, it withstands our winters well.

I found the Eco Trail blend to have a bright citrussy scent of sweet melon with pear undertones and a sweet-sour nectar flavour with a pineapple quality; for the price, it seems a bargain. Some other wineries that use auxerrois grapes are Southbrook, Château des Charmes and Ancient Coast. Mike Weir Wine has recently launched a second label called Underdog, with White (LCBO 248476) and Red (248484) blends that sell for $14. The White uses auxerrois with sauvignon blanc, riesling and gewürztraminer; both red and white were being sampled at the expo.

Incidentally, in 2010, Pelee Island launched a couple of new wine series: Lighthouse (a riesling and a cabernet franc, soon to be joined by a merlot and a chardonnay), and Alvar, named for a landscape type consisting of a thin layer of topsoil over limestone (a pinot noir, a cabernet sauvignon, a cabernet sauvignon-merlot, a semillon blanc and a chardonnay-gewürztraminer). The Lighthouse and Alvar wines sell in the $12 to $15 range.

Alvento Winery is a much newer establishment; their first vintage arrived in 2006 and was released in 2009. Their portfolio includes a wine called Aria, which is made from nebbiolo grapes, common in Italy but extremely rare here. However, says Alvento winemaker Bruno Moos, "it's a similar climate. [In Italy], nebbiolo grows up to 2,000 metres. It doesn't get as cold in the winter there, but it does get quite cold."

I didn't previously know that nebbiolo is famously a wine that's supposed to be opened hours before it's drunk. I was told the 2007 bottle I tried had only been open for a shockingly brief two hours. That might explain why it seemed to have so little scent; however it was a pretty amber-red colour and offered a pleasing taste of woody herbs like thyme and oregano. There's still some of the 2006 Aria at Vintages ($21.35, 176874) Ridgepoint Winery may be the only other Ontario winery to use nebbiolo grapes.

On a side note, I enjoyed tasting some British Columbia wines, courtesy of Jamie Crain of Terroir Wines and Spirits. He handles about 40 of the best known BC wines, which are rather difficult to come by in Ontario. He sells mostly to restaurants and private clients who can afford to buy a case at a time, but through his agency several interesting choices are launching at Vintages, including LuLu Island Cabernet Sauvignon ($19.95, Vintages 254219), Aces Wine Seven Deuces Red ($29.95, 273631) and the pricey but delicious Cassini Cellars Collector's Series, a juicy syrah with a rich aromatic scent and a fruitcakey blackberry-plum flavour ($45.95, 255752).

The 2011 Gourmet Food and Wine Expo continues until 6 p.m. today.

Christmas Crafts Boutique on the Toronto Islands

For me,the Christmas season doesn't start until I attend the Algonquin Island Christmas Boutique, a supremely Dickensian community party organized by Toronto Island residents, who make and sell gift-type goods to one another to share each other's talents and raise a little cash. For me, it's every good thing about community spirit and a local focus. (That said, the event generally channels some money into a few international causes like the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers Campaign too.)

It's a heart-warming event at which you might purchase a construction-paper-and-glitter Christmas card from a seven-year-old, or a painting from a well known artist. What else would you find? Glazed tiles; bike bags; jewellery; cards and prints of all kinds; t-shirts; hand-painted baby wear; unique crafts made from found natural objects; glassware; organic soaps, creams and lotions, and a plethora of creative items you'd never have thought of. My annual contribution is our Nip Trip catnip toys. (I dare your cat to resist 'em!)

Since this is after all a food blog, I should mention the edible treats you'll likely find there. These include home-made jams and jellies (not mine!), baking, olive oil and fair-trade chocolate. Last year someone turned up with a sensational medieval treat of nuts and dried fruit. I sometimes whip up fancy shortbread or pecan tassies; I have a few thoughts for this year. There is always chili (meat and veggie) by the bowl, and you can buy plates of mixed Christmas cookies to munch on the spot from entrepreneurial nine-year-olds. But the greatest lure in the comestibles department is the famous eggnog, which must be about half whipped cream and half alcohol.

This year, the Algonquin Island Christmas Boutique falls on Saturday, December 3. It runs from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Algonquin Island Association (AIA) Clubhouse. The night before (Friday, December 2), there's a preview from 7 to 10 p.m. where you can peruse the offerings but not buy them, so everyone gets a fair chance at the most popular and unique items. (There'll be eggnog then as well.) You can catch a ferry almost every half-hour; the full ferry schedule is posted on the event site. You can check it all out on Facebook too.

Ticket Giveaway: 2011 Gourmet Food & Wine Expo #gfwe

I don't do very many of these sorts of promotions, but I was pleased when the folks at Toronto's Gourmet Food and Wine Expo contacted me to see whether I'd be interested in giving away some tickets to tomorrow's VIP Preview Evening. I really enjoy going, partly because I'm sure to bump into people I like and partly because it seems like a cheerful way to face the coming chilly season, but mainly because I find it educational. It gives me a chance to try lots of wines (and beers and spirits) that I might not otherwise taste. In particular, of course, I'm especially interested in local wines, but it's also great to learn more about wine from Chile, Germany, Austria and other locales.

The preview runs from 6 to 10 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, November 17 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. I have two pairs of tickets to give away. Each pair gives you free admission; once inside, you can purchase strips of 20 $1 tickets to sample food and drink. To win, be the first person after 3 p.m. or the first person after 4 p.m. Toronto time to leave a comment below responding to the following questions. (Remember, I need an email address or some other way to contact you so I can send you the code you'll need to claim your tickets!)

Which of the Tutored Tastings at this year's Gourmet Food and Wine Expo interests you most? Or is there a wine-related topic not covered that you'd be keen to learn about?

See you there!