Tag: Dear Grain

Quick Bites: Susie’s Rise & Dine, Dear Grain, The Saj Wraps

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Mapo Frito Pie from Susie's Rise & Dine at the Taste of Little Italy
Mapo Frito Pie from Susie’s Rise & Dine at the Taste of Little Italy

The food at last year’s Taste of Little Italy was a bit of a disappointment — it was mostly an assortment of generic street festival stuff, without a whole lot of local flavour.  There were a few gems, however.  Most notably: the Mapo Frito Pie from Susie’s Rise & Dine, which consists of a bag of Fritos topped with a seriously tasty chili (that, as the name implies, is infused with mapo tofu flavour).  They serve this at the restaurant, and clearly I’m going to have to check the place out.

Buckwheat cookie from Dear Grain
Buckwheat cookie from Dear Grain

I can’t say I’ve ever had a buckwheat cookie before, but if the one from Dear Grain is anything to go by, I need more buckwheat cookies in my life.  It’s basically a chocolate chip cookie, but with a nuttiness and earthiness from the buckwheat.  It’s also got a nice sprinkling of salt on top to cut through the sweetness.  It’s a very good cookie.

Sujuk saj wrap from The Saj Wraps
Sujuk saj wrap from The Saj Wraps

I feel like, very broadly, there are two types of restaurants: restaurants you’re happy to go out of your way for, and local joints that are solid, but not exciting enough to warrant any kind of trek (well, I guess there’s also a third kind — a bad one — but I make it a point to not discuss anything I outright do not enjoy on this blog).  I’d classify The Saj Wraps as more of a local place — the wrap I tried was solid, but nothing about it particularly jumped out at me.

Tasty Sandwiches at Dear Grain

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Dear Grain
Location: 48 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://deargrain.com/

Mostly, Dear Grain is a bakery that sells some seriously tasty sourdough loaves.  But they also have a variety of sandwiches and pastries, and yeah, those are quite good, too.

Dear Grain

I had the roasted turkey sandwich (“brie, brown butter and chutney”), and it was very tasty.

Dear Grain

They toast the sandwich until the bread is crispy and the brie is melty, and the combo of that creamy, slightly nutty cheese and the meaty turkey works very well.  The chutney is cranberry-sauce-esque, which works for obvious reasons.  And, of course, the bread is great.  It’s a stellar sandwich.

Dear Grain

I also tried a sesame cookie; I found the texture to be a bit cakier than I normally want in a cookie, but it’s not too sweet and has a very pronounced roasted sesame seed flavour.  It’s quite good.