Scaddabush Left Us Giddy and Full at Yonge & Gerrard

Words by Leigh van Maaren, photos by Yuli Scheidt

The night that Yuli and I visited Scaddabush was an evening in severe need of a pick-me-up. As a student working on my thesis who’d faced a major deadline the day before, and on one of the coldest days of the year, the warm, friendly and delectable experience that Scaddabush offered up is exactly what that cold day needed.

Over several hours we were able to sample large portions of the extensive Italian menu that Scaddabush offers, so much so that we’d be here all day if I tried to describe every one of the dishes we sampled to you. Instead, here’s some highlights for every category to give you a crash-course on deliciousness:

DRINKS: While both Yuli and I loved the not-too-sweet Babba Straga cocktail we sampled that featured apricot puree, gin and egg whites, the real winner was the Blood Orange Bellini. We spotted them farther down the communal table that the 30 or so people in attendance had gathered at, and were both immediately drawn to the hot pink, sugar-rimmed slushy concoction. It wasn’t too sweet and perfectly refreshing – and showed up looking like something that had been styled for a photo shoot.

CHEESE: I was excited to try the made-to-order mozzarella a week before we’d arrived. Upon our arrival, we were able to watch some of the cheese being made through a window that allowed us to look into the kitchen. It’s an impressive set up, but nowhere near as impressive as the cheese it creates. The mozzarella platter with prosciutto and toast was delicious, but it couldn’t compare to the burrata.

Celebrating Artisanal LA One Bite at a Time

By Heather Kuklin

Back in October Artisanal LA was held on the 2^nd and 11^th floor in the LA Mart building. I love that place! So many studios and showrooms, you could spend days wandering around. We started on the 11^th floor until we realized that the food was on the 2^nd floor. We quickly went back downstairs to the grub after grabbing a coffee from Verve.

Pretty much the second we got downstairs we ran into my friend Ducky, a fellow food lover, photographer, and rad chick (you’ll find out more about Ducky when she photographs and curates my “LA ice cream tour” for FGFS).

Let me start off by saying that this place was insane. It was totally fucking overwhelming. Booths upon booths upon booths upon booths. It was all stuff I was interested in, which was the super amazing part. From raw vegan cashew cheese to fierce lady butcher demos, Artisanal LA had it all. I renamed it, “The hipster county fair.”

I think the highlight of the day was the butcher demo from Lindy & Grundy. They’re an absolutely epic lesbian couple that own the best meat market in town. They’re located in West Hollywood and I wish they would open up on the east side but they’re worth the schlep. Check out their website and get to know them better. They made butchering a pig look so fucking cool I almost signed up for their apprentice program. I could follow in the footsteps of my great grandfather, who was a butcher.

As I bid adieu to the real pig I approached a booth that made coconut bacon. It was vegan, gluten free, and delicious! I was pleasantly surprised. I bought three bags.

I decided to mix it with my Nary Dairy cashew cheese. Raw, vegan, gluten free, and soy free cashew magic. Okay, Nary Dairy is MIND BLOWING!!! Seriously, I’m their biggest fan, for real. It tastes like cream cheese, like for real cream cheese, I mean it! If I could jump into a pool of Nary Dairy, I would. My two favorite flavors are the smoked and the garlic. In my world, there is no such thing as too much garlic. The family that started Nary Dairy, Allen and Lois, are like, the cutest things ever — I’m totally biased because I also work with them at the commercial kitchen we both use to manufacture our goods. I was hooked from day one and it’s only gotten better, if that’s even possible. I wish you guys could taste it. I need to stop talking about it because I’m out of it right now. I ate almost two tubs while walking around yesterday.

There were so many different booths it is hard to remember them all. Baked goods, meat, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, succulents in cute glass containers, coffee, confections, clothing, art, kombucha, beverages other than coffee, and probably a lot more stuff I didn’t get a chance to get to. After about 4 hours we were spent. I am so glad I decided to not have a booth and just be a spectator. If you’re in LA next year for Artisanal LA I highly recommend going, totally worth it.

Fat Girl Gone Vegan

Hi, I’m Traci and I eat and make vegan food! Now, I’m not going to call myself vegan. I don’t eat meat, but I haven’t given up the whole cheese thing. However my boyfriend is vegan, so every meal I make for both of us is vegan. (Except that one time I put honey in our smoothies. I was uneducated, I didn’t know!)

I felt inspired the other night, so I went a little crazy. Baked marinated tofu, with creamy avocado pasta! We finished it off with strawberry-blueberry pie, topped with sweetened coconut cream!

If you haven’t tried avocado as a pasta sauce, you’re missing out. The trick is to get the perfect avocado. You know, the ones where they almost taste like butter? Mash that thing up with some lime juice, olive oil, basil, garlic, and mix it in with cooked pasta. It’s so good!

We usually fry our tofu, or mash it to make fake egg salad (really good by the way) so I wasn’t sure if baking it would give me the results I was looking for. But holy crap, it was better than I expected! It was still soft on the inside, and slightly crispy on the outside! I made a simple marinade for it, and it matched the pasta pretty well. I added some hoisin sauce, olive oil, lime juice, basil, garlic, and a tiny bit of agave nectar to sweeten it. A little agave can go a long way. It made the tofu sweet, and even a little sticky, like a good BBQ sauce. A great protein to go with our pasta!

And then the pie! I love pie. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. The crust is buttery and flaky, and the filling is luscious and rich. This was my first pie ever. I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve never made a pie crust before. And how does one make a vegan crust buttery and flaky?? Three words my friends: Becel Vegan Margarine. It has made my morning toast so much more enjoyable, not to mention my baking. The pie was filled with juicy strawberries and blueberries, and I finished it off with a drizzling of sweetened coconut cream! I don’t think they will be any pie left for my breakfast tomorrow.

I definitely don’t cook like this all the time. It’s hot, and I’m lazy, and going to Harvey’s for a veggie burger is much easier. But it’s so rewarding when I can successfully make a tasty vegan meal that even non-vegans will love!

Put this Wiggle in your Mouthhole

Burgers are being brought to the next level, thanks to Wiggle Room (found at Bathurst and Dundas, as part of Market 707).  These reformed shipping pods, which measure in at a whopping 8′ by 10′ became the ultimate dream sacrifice for owners Daniel Tremblay and Ashley Shortall.  “We used all of our honeymoon fund to open up this space.  We decide to follow our dreams,”  Daniel told us and so far – the results have been phenomenal.

Neighbourhood locals and visitors alike have taken to the East-Coast stylings from Wiggle Room’s small but delicious and ever changing menu.  Wiggle Room is the first full-fledged Canadian inspired ‘pod’ from the Scadding Court vendors, which provides a unique taste from Asian or Latin.  Daniel mentions to us while slaving over a temperamental grill that day, “Ashley is a proper East-Coast girl and that is where we got a lot of the inspiration for the menu.  All the recipes are home-made and we’re going to try and keep everything as seasonable as possible.”  As such, we were introduced to classics such as the Newfie Poutine ($6, not had at time of visit) and the Donair burger ($8).

The Donair burger is East-Coast done right: lamb and beef patty seasoned in the same style as the east coast favourite. Tasting as if it was just cut off the rotating spit, this sandwich is served with the traditional sweet-garlic Donair sauce, fresh chopped onions, and tomatoes on a fresh Cobbs Bakery bun.   Daniel is quick to mention that all sauces and pickling is done on-site at the Wiggle Room.

Next up, we were served up the Classic Burger ($7).  All the chuck is bought from Sanagan’s Meat Locker, Daniel tells me and not much else is done once it’s brought over.  “The meat is so well prepared, there isn’t much else to do to the burgers but grill them up.”  While this might just be another burger, the thing that really gives it that extra kick: Wiggle Sauce.  While I press Daniel to tell me what it’s made of, it tells me the sauce is a top secret however, we can reveal the following: aioli garlic, Sriracha.

Wiggle Room relies on a lot of the local vendors from nearby Kensington Market to bring together their inspired dish.  The Blue Wiggler ($8) would not be complete without Global Cheese huge chunk of blue cheese atop a chunk of meat and some caramelized onions to finish it off.

Since their opening, things have been on the upswing for Daniel & Ashley.  Next, they will be appearing in the Stop Community Food Center’s Night Market (happening on June 18 and June 19) which is entirely sold out.  In-house, Daniel mentions that while him & his wife are cramped within the space they are always brainstorming new menu ideas.  Case in point: just recently announced the Kimchi Grilled Cheese.  Although the space may be smaller, it does not running the space any easier.  “Ashley & I are always back to back when we’re in the space together, which is how we came up with the name, ‘Wiggle Room’.  There is just enough Wiggle Room in this space but we always want to have Wiggle Room with our menu.’

You can visit Ashley, Daniel and Wiggle Room anytime at Market 707, part of the Scadding Court (located at Bathurst and Dundas).