The Black Hoof is Carnivore Heaven

On Friday night I had a lovely dinner with my best foodie friend, Diahanna. She's been raving about The Black Hoof for a while, but we just couldn't get our schedules figured out until now. Warning! This restaurant isn't for everyone, The Black Hoof has a distinct menu. By distinct, I mean it serves the innards of the animals: tongue, heart, horse meat and all that good stuff. 

This small charcuterie restaurant is situated in an obscure location on Dundas West. I don't venture out to the West end often, but I've heard this is where all the new trendy eateries are sprouting up. We arrived shortly after the restaurant opened for the evening. After we were seated, the dinner rush came pouring in. The restaurant itself is tiny and the kitchen is pretty much right in front of you. The menu changes frequently, everything is written on the mirrors and blackboards around the restaurant.

I didn't know what to order, so Diahanna made all the shots. We have very similar food tastes, she's the trendy foodie who tells me about all the great restaurants. She hails from Vancouver, where eating is a serious hobby. We started off with the house cured meats ($18). I was expecting a very small serving of cured meats, but I was pleasantly surprised that almost every inch of the wooden board was covered with six types of meats! Prosciutto, salami, blueberry salami, I can't remember, mortadella, chorizo, and homemade mustard! We ordered a side of pickes ($3), for all those who don't know, I LOVE anything pickled.

{ charcuterie } 

{ pickles! }

We ordered drinks, they were a little pricey in my opinion, but I guess the price is justified with how strong the drinks are! I had the City Guy Sour ($9) and Di had the Royal Gala Collins ($10). I had no idea what to expect with sweetbreads ($15), I literally thought it was pieces of sweet bread fried, but I couldn't be more wrong. Sweetbreads are pretty much the intestines of an animal. It was poached in buttermilk and then fried. The sweetbreads laid on a bed of truffled rapini. The rapini sauce tasted like caramelized butter, I couldn't get enough of it!

{ tongue on brioche ; sweetbreads with truffled rapini }

Next on the list was the tongue on brioche ($14), it actually reminds me of Schwartz's smoked meat sandwich. The tongue was surprisingly tender and very moist. A side of pickles and raspberry mustard topped it off. 

No dinner is complete without dessert! We ordered a pumpkin and almond cake with sage ice-cream ($8). The cake was not too sweet, which I liked, but the best part was the safe infused ice-cream. I've never had an herb flavoured ice-cream before, so this was very refreshing to the taste buds. Does anyone know where I can find this in a grocery store?

{ pumpkin almond cake with sage ice-cream }

The bill came up to $87, eeek!! A little hefty, but I will return after my wallet recovers :{



The Black Hoof
923 Dundas St. West
Toronto, ON
(416) 551-8854
Website
Cash or Canadian debit only

Elle Canada Turns 10

Elle Canada magazine celebrated its 10th anniversary at Urban Amish Furniture this past week. I'm just going to put out there, the only reason I attend fashion parties is to get my hands on the awesome swag bags (S.W.A.G. = stuff we all get --Michael Scott, Dunder Mifflin). Other than that, the parties are usually boring and there is always a lack of food. I really think fashion girls don't eat! To my surprise, this party was pretty fun!

A couple of my co-workers arrived a little early just because we heard the party was at capacity. As soon as we arrived, we were snatched up by the girls of Bourjois to get our makeup done. Thank goodness, I needed this to "somewhat" fit in (my face was sans makeup). A few local television hosts/celebrities were present. I heard Jesse Palmer (former NFL quarterback and Bachelor star) was at the party, but I didn't spot him through the crowd of VERY tall people! 

The venue was decorated beautifully, it was pink and sparkly and it was open bar *yes!*. In addition to beer and wine, they served two signature drinks: the cocktELLE and Ginger Red. I had the cocktELLE, anything with tequila floats my boat =9. Side note, please bear with me on my less than stellar pictures, I used my iPhone 4 throughout the night...

{ Pandora booth to make your own charm bracelets }

This fashion party ACTUALLY had food throughout the night *gasp*. They served three types of rice dishes at the food station: tandoori chicken, thai green curry seafood and beef. I'm a pig, so I ate three dishes. In my defence, three tiny dishes equaled to one bowl of rice! My favourite was the thai green curry seafood, there were large pieces of shrimp and scallops!

A handful of apps were passed around, my favourite was the mini grilled cheese and apple sandwiches. The apple slices gave a nice spin to the regular grilled cheese. I liked how it balanced out the heaviness. I'm definitely going to re-create this at home one day. *nom*

{ neat shrimp station }

{ mini elle cupcakes }

In the end, I did manage to snatch up a sweet swag bag and I left with my belly full, so I'm a happy camper!

Sunday Brunch at School Bakery & Café

After a night of bad singing and rapping (I went karaoking), I definitely needed a fatty breakfast to cure my small hangover. Julian and I decided venture out to Liberty Village for brunch at School and a little shopping on Queen West West. A friend brought us to this place back in the fall and I must say I'm still in love. 

The theme to the whole restaurant is school. I enjoyed every little detail the owner injected into this place. Everything from the menu printed on line paper clipped to a clipboard, drinking out of science beakers, to receiving your bill in a report card envelope. Even the washroom resembled a grimy gym change room equipped with lockers and dirty sneakers. I live on the east end, so there's not many places like this.

While waiting at the table, we watched the kitchen line pump out brunch orders. The gigantic french toast caught Julian's eyes. They have baked goodies up in the front as well.

I love a good benedict the morning after a night out, I ordered the Spiced Benny on Cheddar Chive Biscuit ($14). After reading the menu, Julian decided on the Super Cheesy French Toast ($14). He also ordered a Peanut Butter and Banana smoothie ($6), seemed strange/a little gross for a drink, but I was curious to try it. IT WAS DELICIOUS. The sweet bananas was complemented with a hint of peanut butter, so heavenly. For all those peanut butter lovers, you will enjoy this.

The benny was served in a cast iron skillet. The chive biscuit is a nice change from the regular english muffin. The home fries were well seasoned and cooked perfectly. I didn't need to drench them in ketchup to compensate for its dryness!

Good thing the Super Cheesy French Toast came with a side of greens because this dish was very heavy. Julian poured too much maple syrup, so it was a little too sweet for my liking, but I did like the contrast to the salty bacon and cheese. Of course he ate the whole thing and I wanted to finish my benny as well! =_=

{ so cute! }

Since it's a little bit of trek, I'll be back in a few months...!

School of Bakery & Café
70 Fraser Ave.

Toronto, ON

(416) 588-0005

Website