Toronto Food and Culture Tour
A Toronto weekend getaway package called Heaven, Earth & Enchantments of the Chinese Zodiac visits Chinatown, rests at the Sutton Place Hotel and relaxes you beyond measure!
Playing tourists in our own city never felt so good. Immerse yourself in the varied cultural climate of Toronto and prepare to eat, sip, learn and shop until you drop.
With hushed tones and some covert ops work the FBI would be proud of, I managed to surprise my husband this past weekend with a special Toronto getaway package: Heaven, Earth & Enchantments of the Chinese Zodiac. A weekend retreat geared at an early wedding anniversary celebration, we started by departing our home at 8:30am and driving to the grande dame of Toronto hotels, The Sutton Place Hotel.
[Ed note: If you love Toronto, also visit her St. Lawrence Market]
The Sutton Place Hotel has been an elegant fixture in Toronto since 1967 when it opened to accolades far and wide. It's one of the few, old-world charm type of hotels in the city exuding European style and comfort. Every Toronto International Film Festival sees A-listers and paparazzi coming and going around the marble lined grand lobby. Not exactly celebs by any stretch of the imagination, my husband and I pulled up to the hotel and made our way to a luxury suite on the 18th floor that felt as if we were staying in the home of a wealthy couple in Manhattan. A deep soaker tub, grey marbled bathroom, kitchenette, lounge and a bedroom almost as big as my old apartment greeted us as we stood and stared. This promised to be a good weekend indeed!
At 9:20am on the dot, the affable Tim Finlason of Shop Dine Tour Toronto picked us up at the hotel in a funky little trolley-like bus and dropped us off in front of the Prosperity Moose statue in one of the Greater Toronto Area's six Chinatowns. Tim, as it turned out, wasn't just our bus driver for the day- he's one of the co-owners of the Shop Dine Tour outfit that offers everything for the visitor from shopping and dining packages all over the city, to guided or self-guided tours on their jump-on, jump-off yellow double-decker buses.
We said our see-you-laters to Tim (who would later be picking us up to drop us off at our final destination), and were met by fellow foodie and owner of the "Taste of the World" Tours- Shirley Lum. Shirley is a walking encyclopaedia of knowledge about Toronto- from food tours (as was the case with our tour) to ghost and literary walking tours; Shirley is the go-to girl for a fun-filled day of discovery.
Our first stop was the Taiwanese shop- Jin Cheng Bakery. A veritable cornucopia of delectable goodies awaited us as Shirley piled up a tray with treats for us to sample. We started with a Tea Egg-, a boiled chicken egg that's steeped in dark tea, light and dark soya sauce and a host of spices including star anise. This was both delicious and delightful- the tea and soya sauce causing the egg to look beautifully marbleized in the process. Next up, one of my all-time favourites, the coconut butter bun- a light, fluffy sweet bun filled with a marzipan-like coconut mixture that went very nicely with our honey red date tea. New to my taste buds was the Immortal Peach Bun- a gorgeous looking pink steamed bun filled with lotus seed paste. Another new addition to the favourite's list is the almost electric-green looking glutinous rice gelatine square with a layer of mung bean in the middle. We also sampled some lovely Taiwanese Engagement Cakes, the wife cake and the husband cake- all studded with sesame seeds representing fertility. Apart from the history and culture-rich stories behind all of these treats, is the fact that they're not cloyingly sweet or over-whelming like our North American baked goods almost always tend to be. It was the perfect way to start our day.
A short walk away, we found ourselves at the Po Chi Tong Chinese Natural Herbs shop on Dundas Street West. This was unexplored territory for my husband who had never really ever ventured into Chinese herbalist domain before. Dried roots, herbs, flowers, lizards, snakes and even sea horses and deer antlers lined most shelves. Every imaginable natural remedy and elixir was housed in this colourful shop. Shirley likes to joke with school-aged kids, telling them that they've entered a Harry Potter-like place- and then she holds up two splayed, dried lizards on a stick. Hmm- a lizard sickle I muse to myself? Clearly another ingredient in an ancient Chinese remedy. Fascinating stuff for the uninitiated. We head to the back of the shop where Sandy, the company president makes us a perfect cup of nine flower tea sweetened with natural stevia (also known as sweet leaf or sugar leaf). I ask about a tea that's good for lowering cholesterol levels and she points me to a dark green tea that I'm to take with some dried flower tea. Sure beats cholesterol meds- so I bought some (and promise to lighten up on the eggs and coconut butter buns- yeah, I know!).
We perused the aisles of a typical Asian grocery on Spadina, bought some tropical rambutan fruit from a street vendor and made our way to Tap Phong Trading Co. on Spadina Avenue. Every manner of serving plate, utensil, chopstick and cooking contraption made for the Asian kitchen can be found at this wonderful store. I eyed a few dishes that I may well be back for, and in the interim settled on a handy bamboo steamer that's perfect for steaming veggies before adding some olive oil and garlic to them (see, I don't always willingly raise the bad cholesterol levels).
After our shopping excursion, it was time to head over to the Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant where throngs of Chinese and Canadians gather for some wonderful Dim Sum. An Asian brunch of sorts if you will, Dim Sum means snacks or "little eats." Translated to English, it also means "touch the heart," which is exactly what it's meant to do if consumed with good friends or family. Carts of steamed, fried and baked goodies are wheeled by on carts- there are between 80-100 choices on offer every single day. My husband was delighted by the Ha Gow (shrimp dumplings) and the Sui Mai (pork dumpling). I loved the bean curd roll stuffed with shrimp and vegetables as well as the tender green pea shoots served with oyster sauce on the side. A few pots of tea later and we finished off our banquet of dim sum with a serving of pan fried water chestnut/taro cake (which was more gelatinous than traditionally cake-like- but just as delicious).
During the meal, Shirley passed around her Year of the Dog Chinese Horoscope book. This is my year, and as the loyal doggy, I read that this would be a good year with lots of opportunities on the horizon. My husband who was born in the year of the Rat read his "year ahead" with more astonishment than the usual cynical scepticism. Food for thought with your dim sum indeed!
We bid Shirley good bye after our lunch and headed to The Bata Shoe Museum to see the "Watched by Heaven, Tied to Earth: Summoning Animal Protection for Chinese Children" exhibit. Featuring Chinese children's footwear, clothing and other garments, the artfully executed exhibit examines how Chinese mothers and grandmothers would dress their children with animals from the Chinese Zodiac to protect them from any harm. Over 200 pieces are on display, augmented by photographs, videos and paper cuts. A beautiful exhibit for the young and the young at heart. My mother would love this!
We strolled along Bloor Street after our museum visit and meandered back to our suite at the Sutton Place where a nap awaited before our early anniversary dinner. We felt like tourists in our own city in the best possible way. No computers, no distractions- just a celebration of culture, food, beauty and the endless possibilities this fine city offers locals and travelers alike.
The Heaven, Earth & Enchantments of the Chinese Zodiac package is available until October 15, 2006 and starts at $319.00 CDN per adult couple- including your one night stay at the Sutton Place Hotel, two passes to the Bata Shoe Museum, Shirley's Taste of the World walking tour, dim sum at The Bright Pearl, bus transfers and a Sutton Shopper Catalogue offering discounts and special offers to numerous city shops and sight-seeing destinations.
Want some more Asian shopping information to help you decode the produce? If so, visit: June Chua's Asian Vegetable guide.
Looking for some healthy eating out tips? Check out: these valuable tid bits and enjoy.
