Fun in Toronto – Magic Oven (again), Sneaky Dee’s (again!), More TIFF stuff, and Kale Restaurant.

It’s been an amazing few days. I had the opportunity to be an event scavenger for a few TIFF screenings after some friends were either too burnt out, or just not able to attend films. I saw Tamara Drewe the new one from Stephen Fears (which I didn’t like) and Jucy from Australia (which I loved.)

Before I went and saw Jucy with an old friend, I dropped in to Magic Oven for a pizza. Last time I tried the “vegan magic” because well… why not. This time around I tried the “tropical magic” and I’m so glad I did. The pizza came out with a decent helping of Daiya cheese and big juicy chunks of pineapple. I even inspired someone else to order that one. Yum.

One thing I’ve always wanted to do is be a member of a live studio audience (don’t judge 😀 ) So I signed up to go on The Hour through the CBC website. It seems like a great thing to take an out of town visitor, so I know I’ll keep an eye out for future shows if/when my family visits me.

I have a long standing love of the CBC, ever since I little and called in to the Radioactive radio show for their quizzes (which by the way… I won stuff from them several times. Thanks redial button!) So it was thrilling to be in the building, where some of the magic happens. The audience on that day was lucky (and maybe unlucky) because we got to see 8 different interviews, but that also meant we had to stay for all of them (as in 6 hours.) I saw Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Edward Norton, Jason Priestly, Zach Braff, Errol Morris, Gene Simmons (with Shannon Tweed, complete with the film crew from Family Jewels) & Jill Hennessy.

After the show, I was walking down the street, and right next to the BellLightbox,there was Jill Hennessy and her sister “busking” for a few cameras. It’s funny because Jilly Hennesy had said during her interview that she used to busk on Queen street in Toronto when she was younger, before her career on TV had started. Just a random day during TIFF in Toronto I suppose. Haha.

That same evening I went over to Sneaky Dee’s again, and ordered a giant plate of vegan nachos. I need to remember… I will never finish that plate of food by myself. I’ll have to bring someone with a big appetite that likes guacamole with me next time. It seems to stay really good for a

Sometime last week I went to Kale (2366 Yonge St) near the Eglington Subway Station, and while I loved the location, and the ambiance, I didn’t think the food was exciting or filling. While I know some people love the place and everything about it, I’m not one of them. If you do order from the pay-by-weight, keep in mind, it can get quite expensive very quickly. I was joking with my friend that it would be a great place to go if I was on a diet.

I’d recommend ordering one of their daily specials, because that was actually a good portion of food for a decent price. When I was still hungry after I had a plate from their pay-by-weight buffet bar, I had a soup and a veggie burger and it was actually decent. I was impressed that they made their own veggie patty, and it had a tofu/poached egg texture rather then the “meat” texture with most veggie burgers. The bread was fresh, warm and layered with veggies.

In vegan baking related news… I’m thinking about participating in the 3rd Annual Vegan Bakeoff on October 2nd, 2010, from 2 to 4:30 pm at the Harbourfront Community Centre. I have until the 20th to register, so I’m still debating on whether I’ll have enough time to do it. Even if I don’t bake anything, I’m still hoping to attend the event in any capacity (maybe even volunteering there.) I’m sure it would be an amazing experience.