H-Town

I spent a day and a half in Houston – mainly to see my old friends and eat some of the foods that I’ve really missed the most.  One of my best friends – Jenny – had a baby a few months ago, so it was my opportunity to meet Baby Rachel for the first time:

SOOOO CUTE!

OMG LOOK AT THAT FACE!  I don’t even like babies but I have to admit, she was pretty hard to resist.  She didn’t fuss and she didn’t spit up on me and I didn’t smell one poopy diaper while I was there.  That’s my kind of baby.

On Day 1, Jenny took me to my favourite lunch spot in all of Houston:  Barnaby’s!  I had my usual:  the world’s best chicken sandwich with an iced tea.

We popped by our university for a walk around.  It’s amazing how the campus has changed in the 7 years we’ve been gone.

After a visit with Lilit and her new baby, Carley picked me up to take me for cake and coffee.  I love cake and coffee!

The winner, however, was dinner.  Chuy’s.  I don’t even need to elaborate any more than just saying the name.  Chuy’s.

Fucking delicious Tex-Mex dinner.  At Chuy’s.  I started with a swirl margarita!  It’s half regular lime margarita and half strawberry margarita – frozen of course!

Then there were chips to snack on – with salsa and Chuy’s famous “Creamy J” (Creamy Jalapeno dipping sauce!)

I had tacos and rice and beans and I almost burst I was so excited!

I was joined by brothers Mike and James:

Matt and CW:

Alana and Kat:

And Amber:

Uncle Phill had some quality time with Rachel the next morning:

And then Jenny and I stopped at Goode Co. BBQ on the way to the airport.  I had a turkey sandwich on jalapeno cheese bread doused in their famous BBQ sauce with sides of cole slaw and the world’s best potato salad.  I washed it down with a Dr. Pepper, because, you know, when in Rome…

Next on to Dallas where the food fiesta will surely continue.

Special thanks to everyone who came out to see me in Houston, and extra special thanks to Jenny, James, & Rachel for hosting me!

Florida

Florida was all about four things for me:  (1)  Food  (2)  People  (3)  Shopping and (4) More Food.

Of course, I saw my mother and sister:

My high school mate, Brian:

And another high school mate, Louis:

And those were pretty much all of the people left in Florida.  Of course, there was shopping – lots of it, and almost too much to fit in my suitcases.  I spent a night at my sister’s apartment in Miami and the view from her balcony was amazing:

A big ass Macy’s!  I did some damage there.

But despite the emphasis I placed on shopping, the food was definitely the bigger ticket item.  I went to get Cuban/Spanish food, my local ice cream joint, a mojito, the brewpub in our city, and a handful of select chain restaurants.  Pizza was also important.  After New York, Florida probably has the next best pizza in the US due to the high concentration of New Yorkers there.  And for any of you naysayers who think Chicago deep dish is supreme, you can eat me.  But I’ll eat my Florida pizza.

Notice the half of a chicken parmesan sub next to my cheesy slice!

Jew food was another important staple.  I started my day off right at Bageland with scrambled eggs, home fries, a sesame bagel with cream cheese, and a bottomless cup of coffee.  Normal coffee – from the pot with the brown rim!

We went to one of our local delicatessens later in the week where I started off with a knish:

I’ve met Australian Jews who’ve never heard of a knish despite it being a staple of American Jewish cuisine.  I was determined to get one before I went back and I feel very accomplished.  I also had a deli sandwich with coleslaw and Russian dressing!  You can’t get these things in Oz.

My sister and I skipped dinner one night and went to Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlour:

Giant heaps of ice cream crowded our table.  I had a “Senior Sampler” with five flavours:  Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Snickers, Cotton Candy, and Butter Almond – with 5 toppings:  chocolate syrup, butterscotch syrup, melted peanut butter, marshmallow sauce, and pound cake.  Look at this!  AMAZING!

But our biggest and most fantastic meal was at the Cheesecake Factory.  I know, you’re just as surprised as I am… (just kidding!)  I usually get a pasta dish from the Cheesecake Factory’s extensive novel of a menu.  But something else caught my attention this time:

“MACARONI AND CHEESE BURGER:  Charbroiled and Topped with our Creamy Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls and Cheddar Cheese Sauce.  Served with Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles and Onion” (and, of course, French fries).

Let me repeat this in all CAPS for much needed emphasis.  THERE IS A BURGER OUT THERE WHICH IS TOPPED WITH A SLAB OF FRIED MACARONI AND CHEESE THAT IS THEN DOUSED IN MORE CHEESE SAUCE AND THEN SERVED WITH FRENCH FRIES

HOLY FUCKING JEBUS.

They even substituted a turkey patty for me because I don’t eat beef.  AMAZEBALLS!

And then, as if I hadn’t yet had enough calories that meal, my sister and I got cheesecake.  She got the Red Velvet Cheesecake and I got the Caramel White Chocolate Macadamia Cheesecake.

I’m going to need a bigger plane on the way back to Australia.

#63: CN Tower!

The ultimate tourist attraction in Toronto is the one that you can see from pretty much anywhere in the city:  the CN Tower!

For over 30 years, the CN Tower was the tallest free-standing structure in the world.  That all changed with the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, but the CN Tower’s height is still the tallest in the Americas – far surpassing even the Sears Tower.  As this is one of the architectural wonders of the world, I thought it an appropriate addition to my list of 103 Things.

A glass elevator – including glass on the floors – whisks visitors up to the observation deck at height of 1,136 feet in under a minute.  From there, the views of the city and Lake Ontario are fantastic.

For approximately $6 extra, you can opt to go further up to the SkyPod, which sits at a height of 1,465 feet above the ground.  From there, you can actually see skyscrapers across Lake Ontario.  That’s like well over a hundred miles away – probably more.  Holy cow!  I’m pretty sure it must have been Niagara Falls (the city) or St. Catharines, Ontario, that I was looking at, but I’m not 100% sure.   If you click on the picture to enlarge, you can make out the distant skyline.  It was much more noticeable in person.

On a super clear day, visitors at the top of the CN Tower can allegedly see the mist coming off of Niagara Falls.  Apparently it wasn’t clear enough on the day I was there.

The CN Tower, while the most prominent, isn’t the only attraction in Toronto.  I wandered over to the Distillery District one afternoon for a look.  The Distillery was a whiskey distillery (as the name implies) in a previous life but has now been converted into funky outdoor mall of sorts complete with restaurants, galleries, shops, condos, and even its own brewery.  Walking around, plaques describe the history of the place (including which buildings served which purpose), as well as details on the distilling process.

There was also some great public art in the outdoor spaces.

Jeremy took me over to Riverdale Farm one afternoon.  Right in the middle of the city, Riverdale Farm is a working farm and a little respite from the hustle and bustle of Toronto.

That night, we wandered over to Dundas Square – Toronto’s version of Times Square – to check out the lights.  It wasn’t remotely close to being anything like Times Square, but given that Toronto is significantly smaller than NYC, I’ll let it slide.

There were also some great opportunities to view the CN Tower at night.

Last stop in Toronto:  the gay village!

Toronto has a huge gay population and all of the great things that go with it.  Jeremy took me to Woody’s on my last night in town for a local beer (or two) and pretty fantastic drag show.

Overall, Toronto was equally as impressive as Montreal, despite the unfortunate crime incident, the lack of European charm, and the less than aesthetically pleasing concrete skyline.  The shopping looked great, the food was even better, there was heaps to do and see, and everybody was super friendly and helpful… except for the pesky homeless.

Could I live in Toronto one day?  Absolutely.  Though I’m not sure how I’d handle -30 degrees in winter.

So maybe I’ll put that idea on the backburner and wait a few years to see if global warming lives up to its name and makes any sort of noticeable difference.  Until then, I’ll happily stick with Australia.

Toronto

Toronto was the third stop on my North American tour.  Canada’s largest city by far, Toronto is to its country what New York is to the United States:  big, busy, full of concrete, and absolutely buzzing with life.  Of course, being a big city comes big city problems.  The homeless were quite aggressive, and I unfortunately had to chance to experience that very closely when my friend Julija’s purse was stolen by a homeless right off our table on a pub’s patio.  By the time we got around the beer garden’s fence, he was long gone.  So, I spent part of my first evening in Toronto waiting for the police to come take our story, but aside from that hiccough, the rest of the city was impressive.

Just like in New York and Montreal, food dominated my itinerary.  For Toronto, it was easy for food to dominate.  The city is one of the most multicultural in the world, and that fact is reflected in the food options.  On any given block you would walk by a dozen or so restaurants, each completely different from the next.  It’s not just the staples – Italian, Mexican, Thai, Greek, etc. – but also all sorts of random ones that would stand out anywhere else but seemed commonplace here:  Ukrainian, Chilean, Jamaican, Cajun, and more, one right after the other.

To experience this amazing variety of food, I made my first stop in Toronto the Kensington Markets!

I met up with Helen – a friend of mine who I met in Sydney who has now returned to her native Canada – to wander around and check out the food options.  The Kensington Market takes up several square blocks and offers store after store of souvenirs, clothes, and other wares, as well as food – lots of food – delicious smelling food!  The range of food is as diverse as in any and every other part of the city.  Not exactly what I consider a traditional “market”, the area consists of individual stores rather than tents, stands, or a bunch of things under one roof.  It was a bit different and I liked it.  After walking around and thoroughly scrutinizing the options, we decided on empanadas from a little Chilean place:

And, of course, we just had to pop into the churros place afterward for dessert.  It would have been rude not to.

I was impressed that they actually squeezed chocolate or caramel sauce INTO the churro rather than offering it as a dip.  Less mess = more fantastic!

There was also some public art in the Kensington Markets, like this decorated old car.

The St. Lawrence Markets offered a more traditional market experience – with butchers, bakers, cheese makers, and more all under one roof in an old historic building.

I met up with Jeremy – another Canadian who I met in Australia but has since returned home – to wander the streets the next day and sample more of the food.  For dinner, Jeremy chose to take me to a vegan restaurant for something a bit different.   There are tons of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Toronto so they all have to be good to compete.  I was a bit skeptical at first, but a few bites in and I was won over.

It’s all meat free!  The carrot cake – despite being egg-less and dairy-less – wasn’t any less impressive.  We ate it so fast that I only remembered to take a photo right before the last bite.  Oops.

But, even with all of these incredible options, there was no doubt in my mind that the crown jewel of Toronto, and the thing that I was most looking forward to, was the Free Times Café.

Free Times Café was recommended to me by my old flatmates Vicky & Nick.  It’s an all-you-can-eat Jewish brunch buffet.

Allow me to repeat that in caps lock for much needed emphasis:  ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT JEWISH BRUNCH BUFFET!

2.5 years in Australia and I am seriously deprived of Jewish food.  This place had it all:  bagels with cream cheese, challah French toast, blintzes, potato latkes with sour scream and apple sauce, pita with hummus, pickles, eggs, fruits, chocolate covered matzah, and more sweets than you can shake your big Jewish stick at!

Not only that, but they also have a live Klezmer band on Sundays!

This was just the thing to recharge my Jewness after so long down under.  The owner actually remembered my friend Vicky, and she was such a sweet lady that she let us get a picture with her.

I asked her if she’d open one in Sydney for me, and she said all she needed was a $1,000,000 initial investment.

Dear Jews of Sydney,

We have a major problem in our community.  It is a problem that disproportionally affects your fellow tribe members who originally hail from North America.  That problem is a severe shortage of proper Jewish food.  Yes, there are one or two kosher restaurants in Sydney, but making it kosher doesn’t make it Jewish.  For far too long, Australian Jews have deprived of proper Jewish cuisine.  Nowhere in our community can you find a proper blintz or a bagel that isn’t complete crap.  Most of you have never even heard of some of the staples of Jewish cuisine like knishes and matzah brei.  I have a plea for you, fellow Jews of Sydney.  Please help us feed the starving North American Jews in Australia by each donating $30 to the Feed the Jews Fund.  All proceeds will go directly to the opening of the Free Times Café Down Under Branch.  Do it for yourselves.  Do it for your children.   But more importantly, do it for all of your fellow Jews who have transplanted themselves from the United States and Canada to your glorious land and who are dearly missing proper Jewish food.  Remember, we can only achieve our goals if each and every one of you participates with your $30 donation.  I thank you in advance for your generous contribution.

Most sincerely,

Phill