Restaurant Recommendation Superheroes

Greetings from my hotel room in downtown Toronto. I am here attending the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial Convention. I am thrilled to be staffing the Religious Coalition's table (and supporting my friend Cara F. who was on the planning team for this momentous event). Come visit, we're #341, right across the aisle from the 37th modern Judaica table and in between the synagogue-data-management and learn-Hebrew-on-your-Mac software booths.

As I'm sure you've figured out my now, I travel quite a bit for work. Sometimes I actually go months without any work travel and other months I am on the road more than I am home. This month is one of those crazy travel months--after I return from Toronto I leave for Utah (for the Medical Students for Choice conference) three days later. Before most trips, I make a point of getting at least a few authentic, local restaurant recommendations so when I have some free time in my destination city I end up dining in somewhere other than TGIFriday's (not that there is anything wrong with Friday's).

Oddly, I had lots of trouble getting any good information about delicious eateries in Toronto. Also, can we spend a moment discussing Toronto? I have only been here two times. Both times I attended very large conferences for more than 3,000 Jews in the same convention center. (In 2005, when I was working at Hillel, I was here for the United Jewish Communities General Assembly, which oddly enough, this year is happening in DC right now. Everyone got lots of chocolate in their conference totes which I think happened because there wasn't a recession going on and it made for a very enjoyable conference tote experience.)

My time here has not afforded me much time to explore the city, but the little contact I've had with life outside the Convention Center has been fascinating. (WARNING: generalizations ahead) I love that everyone has healthcare here. And Canadians seem to be so progressive and polite. I just wish it didn't get so cold. One of the conference volunteers told me that it will be "unseasonably warm" today with a high of 57 (that's 14 degrees Celsius).

Okay back to my search for delicious food in this cold city. So for the week or so leading up to my trip I scoured Yelp and Chow Hound to get a feel for what Toronto is known for. I came up with a few leads but nothing was a clear or overwhelming favorite. I figured I would talk to some locals at the conference and get my answer. (I find this is usually the best route anyway. A restaurant recommendation scribbled on the back of a piece of paper is like gold.) I chatted with several volunteers at the conference and was met with either food apathy or Canadians who didn't live anywhere near Toronto to make suggestions. I was beginning to think that my week with Swine Flu and Tamiflu nausea had permanently altered my food touring karma or completely eliminated my appetite....

Then something significant happened. Although they weren't wearing capes, Laura H. and Aaron L. swooped into the Biennial and saved the day. I know Laura and Aaron from my days working at Hillel. (Aaron happens to be one of those people that Facebook LOVES and whenever I log-on, his status updates are very prominently displayed for me to see. Laura won me over when she came home (to Toronto) for Thanksgiving last year and brought a box of Smarties* for me back to DC.) They stopped by my table and we quickly got to talking restaurants.

Aaron drew me a map of Toronto and tipped me off to his friend Zane's new deli called Caplansky's. (Have we discussed delis recently? Washington is a little sparse on the good delis front so this recommendations was particularly interesting.) Laura seconded the Caplansky's recommendation and also threw out the idea of Wanda's Pie in the Sky into the mix. How could anywhere with a name like that be bad? Laura's list also included a dim sum suggestion (Rol San) and several other Toronto specific sights to see before we left. My search for some Toronto pride and good food suggestions was finally gaining traction.

I've made my way to Wanda's and Caplansky's and Rol San over the span of the last three days. I have too much to say about these adventures to fit them into one readable post so I've decided to break my report up into a few posts. Stay tuned for the yummy details and delicious photos.

*Smarties: You've heard me talk about them before. They are similar to M&Ms, except way better, complete with a significant focus on the candy shell and a much wider color selection. Do not confuse these Smarties for the Smarties found in the US that are tart and not as delicious. I'm stocking up on Smarties while on this trip and will bring you a box if you leave a nice note in the comments section of this post.