Lifesaving Lattes

Last weekend something horrible happened- I had to come into work on a Sunday. One could say it was my fault for slacking off most of the week, but I'm not here to point fingers, I'm here to relent on how depressing it is to have to drag yourself into the office on Sunday to try and hurriedly finish your work that will determine your legacy (it's my last week). As per usual, when things started to get really depressing I started getting hungry. I waited as long as I could but eventually I had to cave and go get lunch. Coburg Coffee is the closest cafe to my work, and being the cool hipster joint that it is, it is always filled with healthy and sensitive choices.

My first recommendation is not to go into Coburg too hungry, because I always get distracted by the book exchange shelf on the way to the counter. There is something about (free) books that I just cannot resist, and usually spend a good 20 minutes looking through the shelf to see if there are any keepers before I make my way to order.

I always have a hard time when there are so many gluten and dairy free options to choose from- There usually aren't very many options that suit my dietary needs, and I'm just not expecting the staggering weight of a food decision when I've committed to going gluten and dairy free. I was craving a green tea latte so I skipped the salads and went for a soy latte and Pakora, (which I would describe as a giant Indian style potato latke) probably the least healthy of all my options. I had not gone out drinking the night before, but it was Sunday morning so I felt like I deserved at least a bit of grease.

I smuggled the food back to my office so I could eat on a couch and catch up on some TV before I had to get back to work, sipping the latte as I quickly walked, desperate to get to my food. The green tea latte was as flavourful as ever, the best in the city, in my opinion. I usually find when I order tea lattes, they mostly taste like warm milk or syrup, but this one, made with real green tea finds the perfect combination of green tea flavour and creamy soy milk.

The pakora comes with a side of chutney or hummus, the chutney sounded more exotic so I went with that. It was perfectly greasy without the overwhelming breading or bacon grease that these dishes are usually fried in. It had gotten a little soggy on the bottom during my walk, but that did not effect the taste. The chutney gave it a little kick, and the pakora had a hint of spice mixed in with the potato, cauliflower and chickpea flours.

As my show ended I slowly made my way back to my desk to continue my work, anxiously awaiting my next meal.

Stats:

Gluten Free: yes!

Dairy Free: yes!

A Real Francais Lunch at Chez Tess

"we can go anywhere!"

"anywhere?!"

My roommate and I are horrible at making decisions, especially when it comes to food where there is so much at steak (pun intended). So when she ducked out of work to pick me up at the airport earlier today and we decided to stop for lunch, we began the usual "where do you wanna go?" , " I dunno, where do you wanna go?" routine that we so often get stuck in. Luckily for us, we had been planning the staff dinner for our office, and had gotten a few suggestions from the staff about good places to eat. We decided to give Chez Tess a try. From my experience, the North End of Halifax is filled with little dining gems, and we were already outside of the downtown core so it would be a convenient stop. After a little glitch with my inability to tell direction on a smart phone map, we found the place, looking Mediterranean and a little understated next to it's bright bakery neighbor. The interior had a bit of an Italian feel to me, which is strange, because it did not look like any restaurant I had ever been to in Italy, and I have never been to France for comparison, but my instincts began filling me with fear about a menu filled with pasta and pizza.

Fortunately, the main items on the menu were crepes, soups and sandwiches, and they even had Gluten free batter for their crepes! I ended up going with the mushroom salad because I was still full from my holiday meals, and we got the liquid gold tasting platter to start. This is unfortunately not as exciting as it sounds; it is a tasting of oils and vinegars for bread dipping. We had decided this was a special occasion (it's not everyday you get to duck out to a nice restaurant for lunch)and what better way to celebrate that then by ordering a 3 course meal? We got the blood orange olive oil and the fig vinegar. It came out pretty fast with some nice crusty bread (not gluten free, oops). We were both surprised at how much you could actually taste the flavours in the oil and vinegar, we ran out of bread but our waitress told us to keep the rest of the dips because we had some bread with our meals as well. This was turning into a not so light and healthy lunch, but what's a gal supposed to do when faced with such a culinary treat!

Usually, when I order a salad, I feel great about myself at first, and then in the impending moments leading up to the arrival of the food I begin regretting my decision; thoughts of bland lettuce, cold vegetables and over-dressed salads begin to cloud my thoughts and I almost wish I had the guts to ask to change my order (I never do). But on a few very rare occasions, I have actually been presently surprised at the arrival of my salad, and end up enjoying it like it was a plate full of big juicy steak. And luckily this was one of those times. The mushrooms and red peppers were warm and sauteed so that already alleviated some of my concerns. There was a good amount of dressing, and not an overcompensation of lettuce. Now, just having nothing wrong with a dish, may not seem like cause for joy, but as I prepare myself for the release of the upcoming Hobbit film I slowly begin to feel my Hobbit-like features return, and an intense love for the perfectly cooked mushroom is one of those such features.

We had already been eating for over an hour, so a little desert with some tea and coffee couldn't hurt anyone. We got the banana ice cream desert and sat for another hour, chatting, eating banana ice cream and sipping on green tea. By the time we eventually left, it was already after four- too late to go back into work! So we just went home, overly full and satisfied, in true french fashion.

Overall:

Gluten Free: If you have some self control

Dairy Free: Order without cheese

Tastiness: délicieux

www.cheztess.ca 

5697 Charles Street 







 

Market Adventures: Part 1

Foodie haven. Every Saturday morning the seaport is packed with locals, tourists and hipsters alike trying to squeeze their way through the crowds of the double level farmers market to get the freshest catch of the day, a slimy breakfast oyster, dark raw chocolate, marinated chicken skewers or apples; always so many apples.

North America is not kind to us Gluten free folk, but the farmers market sure is, and this Saturday I woke with a craving for a taco or Tostada. There is a great little Mexican place on the second floor of the market, squeezed in between a Greek and bakery stall. An array of green, red, brown and orange dips are displayed at the front of a table, with (gluten free) corn chips for sampling. Beautiful ceramic Spanish pieces line the shelves behind the counter, "all authentically made in Mexico" I am told. The menu features tacos, tostadas, burritos and enchiladas, all either gluten free or with gluten free options. I go for the Tostada, because I need my guacamole fix, and skip the cheese.

There are some people who love a messy meal. They finish eating epically with wing sauce all over their face, burger juice dripping down their shirts, sauce in places where no one is quite sure how it got there- I am not one of those people. I like the food to go to my stomach.

If you've never had a tostada, it is a crunchy corn tortilla topped with exciting things such as black bean paste, lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream. And while some would jump at this challenge I found a space at a table and tried my best to figure out how to get this thing in my belly.

HOW DO I GET YOU IN MY MOUTH!?

The plastic fork was no help, but with a little picking off the top, breaking the tortilla and eating it like chips and dip seemed to work out pretty well, only a few pieces of lettuce made it into my hair and a bit of guacamole made it's home on my nose. The mixture of crunchy chip and creamy black bean spread and guacamole would tempt me to go back for seconds, but I took control of myself to search for other munchies around the market.

Overall:

Gluten Free: yes!

Dairy Free: yes! (sans cheese and sour cream)

Tastiness: extremely

Having family from Poland, I am always drawn to the small Polish stand with rich looking pastries decorated with strawberries, kiwis and cream and homemade pirogi's. Unfortunately, all I see when I walk buy are hand fulls of gluten so I usually steer clear. But today was a special day. I hadn't been to the market in a while, and I had my camera with me so I could immortalize this moment forever and never have to go back again. All I wanted was one pirogi but they came in dozen or half dozen, and how was I supposed to say no now after I had made so many excuses to allow myself to eat them? With my gift for rationalizing I told myself I could bring a few home for my room mate. But once I took the first bite I knew I would eat them all.

look at all that delicious grease.

They reminded me of the best Pirogi's I've ever had, mixed with the potato blintzes my mom used to make when we were younger. The dough was not crispy, which was surprising at first, but I don't think I could ever go back to the pirogi's I thought I knew. The dough was a little chewy, this may throw some off, but loving the texture of raw meet and fish and cookie dough this was my perfect treat.

I paid the price the rest of the day with horrible stomach cramps, and I've still to determine if it was worth it, but they score high on the tastiness scale.

Overall:

Gluten Free: no

Dairy Free: possibly

Tastiness: absolute

The Halifax Seaport Farmers Market can be found at 1209 Marginal Rd. Halifax. It is open 7 days a week but has the most vendors Saturday mornings/early afternoons.