Lardo in Mexico City’s Condesa neighbourhood was one place I knew I wanted to try during our visit in March. Everything on their Mediterranean inspired menu was delicious! Lardo is part of the same restaurant group as Rosetta (you can even get their pastries at the side to-go window) and after dinning there I knew Lardo was going to be just as good!
Masala y Maíz in Mexico City’s Juarez neighbourhood was the perfect brunch spot when we visited back in March. Our hotel included breakfast but I wanted to try one of Mexico City’s amazing brunch places while we were there. Masala y Maíz explores the culinary traditions of South Asian, East African and Mexico.
Pujol by Chef Enrique Olvera in Mexico City is one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and as of 2019 it currently sits at #12. Mexico doesn’t have a Michelin Guide but I think it’s safe to assume that if it did Pujol would have at least one star if not more. On our trip to Mexico City in March we were lucky enough to dine there and truly had an amazing and memorable experience.
Ottawa’s newest pizza joint Farinella is an instant favourite and perfect for summer. Occupying an industrial space in Little Italy on Rochester St., Farinella is just one of the many new additions this year making it Ottawa’s up and coming foodie neighbourhood.
Gongfu Bao is one of my favourite little bites in Ottawa and if you haven’t been you really should. Gongfu Bao started as a food truck but recently opened up a restaurant on Bank St. in downtown Ottawa. I’ve been a few times now and it’s always great. The bao steam buns are delicious with great flavours.
Toronto is the biggest city in Canada and it’s a perfectly nice city but I honestly don’t particularly enjoy visiting it that much for some reason, but I inevitable end up there a couple times a year to see major art exhibitions. As someone who loves art and studied art history in school it’s one of my primary motivations for travelling places. So whenever I do end up in Toronto I try to make the most of it by seeing new things and eating great food (which there is lots of in Toronto). Over the last few years I’ve been visiting pretty regularly so this is my little Toronto Travel Guide that includes all my favourite places from my most recent trip as well as past trips to the city.
On my last trip to Montreal we dined at Le Vin Papillon, the sister restaurants of Joe Beef and Liverpool House. All these restaurants are known for being very hard to get into with reservations being booked up months in advance. But Le Vin Papillon is a wine bar and doesn’t take reservations, so we got there at 3pm when they opened and made ourselves comfortable.
Anyone who knows me knows I have a big sweet tooth and I’m also on the hunt for new treats. While walking through the Rideau Centre I saw free chocolate so of course I went over for a sample and discovered that Alicja Confections, an Ottawa based chocolate maker/shop now has a pop-up at the Rideau Centre through the holiday season. I’ve seen Alicja Confections before on Bank St. while walking through the Glebe but I’ve never actually stopped in before. I love supporting local brands and Alicja Confections is now one of my new favourite places for a sweet treat in the city.
There are so many restaurants in Ottawa that I’ve been wanting to try for a long time and North & Navy (226 Nepean St.) has always been near to top of that list. On Saturday night we made a last minute reservation for seats at the bar to finally try this modern Northern Italian restaurant. Spoiler alert, it was amazing! Also please note that I have no skill for taking food photos in a dark restaurant, so sorry about that!
In the last few years I’ve really started getting into cooking and baking, in fact my cookbook collection is starting to rival my art book collection. Chai lattes are one my favourite drinks and shortbreads are one my favourite cookies so I thought I would combine them into one delicious treat!
Rachel Neilson 