Marion Kane: Food Sleuth®

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End of an Era: European Quality Meats Closes in Kensington Market after 53 Years

April 15, 2012

I remember the day I was strolling through Kensington Market in the heart of downtown Toronto and realized that, for the first time in my life, I’d found that place called “home”.

It was the late-’70s and, a divorced single mum of a young daughter Esther (now 40 years old, married and a successful therapist living in B.C.), my career as a food writer was germinating.  I was also learning some hard life lessons. While dealing with a lot of painful change, I was about to find my calling.

As often happens in my life, serendipity was about to strike. Read more…

Filed Under: European Quality Meats, Kensington Market Tagged With: augusta ave, babysitter, bellevue park, daughter esther, downtown toronto, dundas, food media, food writer, gentleman, kensington market, portuguese restaurant, row house, squid, steak sandwich, stint, time in my life, town of stratford, wandering jew, younger daughter

Moveable Feasts – and Nature is Not for Me

July 29, 2010

This summer, I finally made the move back to Toronto after giving Stratford, Ont., – the well-known rural home of Shakespeare, swine and swans – the five-year college try.

To say that small-town life didn’t agree with me is probably putting it mildly. To say that living in this seemingly bucolic but actually often bleak and occasionally sinister spot led to a slippery slope from which I am gradually climbing back to health and happiness is only partially true. What I do now know is that too much change at once, living alone for the first time in my life and misguidedly choosing an isolated, alienating environment located in Ontario’s snow belt as my new locale was a geographical cure that, as is usually the case, didn’t work.

Coincidentally, I have met several people who have made midlife decisions to leave their urban home for what seem like greener pastures in the countryside, only to return. No one is wrong or right here but, to quote my brother Eric, who recently moved to West Harlem and claims these words are from Andy Warhol: “The best thing about a small town is that, when you leave, there is nothing to miss.” Read more…

Filed Under: Story Tagged With: andy warhol, azepam, benzodiazepines, boudoir, brother eric, car trip, greener pastures, health and happiness, kensington market, magnificent view, recovery discovery, rural home, sleeping pills, slippery slope, snow belt, spiritual path, stint, time in my life, urban home, west harlem

Tourtiere for Breakfast – vive la difference

April 10, 2010

After a disappointing dinner at much-touted and chi-chi restaurant Toast! in Quebec City (pricey and, except for the Lobster Risotto, underwhelming), it was wonderful to wind up having breakfast seated on a stool at the counter of Buffet de L’Antiquaire : a charming, authentic diner on the edge of the old city close to the river.

Bought a few years ago by short-order cook Gilles Boulet, this 40-year-old establishment was bustling when we arrived just before noon. Ruddy-faced Boulet was multi-tasking as he juggled eggs, bacon, sausages, ham, burgers and fish on the open grill while adorable Florence Feugere, age 80 and a longtime cook here, niftily garnished each plate with salad and other fixin’s.

Gilles Boulet: Sunny side up
Gilles Boulet: Sunny side up

Read more…

Filed Under: Breakfast, Restaurant Tagged With: boulet, chi chi restaurant, creamy mashed potatoes, eggs and bacon, fixin, gilles, home fries, homemade strawberry jam, lobster risotto, multi tasking, piece de resistance, quebec city, sausages, short order cook, stint, sunny side, tourtiere, vive la difference, warm welcome, wonderful place

Marion Kane, Food Sleuth®

Marion Kane, Food Sleuth®

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Marion Kane, Food Sleuth®

Marion Kane has been a leader in the world of food journalism for a few decades. She is an intrepid populist whose work combines social commentary with a consuming passion for all things culinary. For 18 years, she was food editor/columnist for Canada's largest newspaper: the Toronto Star. She lives in Toronto's colourful Kensington Market and is currently a free-wheeling freelance food sleuth®, podcaster, writer and cook.

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