Hello everyone! I am so sorry I was not able to post last week but I was booked the entire week for food styling assisting! I can’t believe it has taken off so well; of course, I take nothing for granted and keep pounding the pavement for my next job. Many of you have been interested in what this new position for me entails, well let me tell you. I met with the food stylist on Monday morning and we went over the recipes and shopping list. Of course, being the type of person I am, I had asked him to send me the list the week before because I wanted to prepare myself and practice if need be. Well, there was a need, BIG TIME! Of all the things to be prepping that week was CANDY! Now I’ve had some experience with candy making, but few and far between. I know some of the basic rules but I haven’t made a lot of candy. But the prepping wasn’t all of it, there was shopping to be done.
I had touched on shopping in a previous post so I’ll keep it brief this time; it’s gruelling. It’s about buying the most beautiful fruit/vegetable when it isn’t even in season! Next time you’re at the market, take a look at off season fruits/vegetables, the pickings are slim and what’s there isn’t even pretty. So it’s dragging your butt all over the city to buy the perfect beet is exhausting. But I do love grocery stores, so it’s not as bad as it sounds.
The shoot last week was on location, which for this particular situation meant it was at a home. Sounds like fun? Think again. The downtown home is chosen for the shot, and nothing else, particularly not the kitchen. Small, unknown (appliances); it’s a challenge. And then there was the parking issue — there was NO parking, hence the $30 ticket kindly left on my windshield by some thoughtful parking police person (thank you by the way)! But it went well and we’ll all see the results next year.
I also wanted to thank you for your kind wishes and your encouragement, it’s not easy starting out something new, but to do it at my age is even scarier; your encouragement and kind words have been paramount in my confidence and I can’t thank you enough. I would also like to thank you for not ostracizing me for failing to comment recently, I’ve been swamped and I’m just trying to get my balance back. I’m reading your blogs, I just haven’t been able to comment on my phone (usually reading in the middle of the night!), so I thank you.
Now back to the usual programming…
We were finally able to get into Gusto, a very popular restaurant on Portland in Toronto, but just. We decided that waiting in line for dinner was not our bag so we thought lunch might be more forgiving. We scored the last table on a recent visit with my niece (a newly graduated lawyer) and her botanist beau! You may recall that I got a bit ahead of myself and made their famous Kale Salad site unseen or palate tested! It turned out that I had it pretty close but their version was a tad sweeter — I have modified my recipe.
The restaurant itself is a very cool, contemporary warehouse design. Lots of super hard surfaces makes it very noisy and I suspect I wouldn’t like it as well at night because it was reasonably noisy at brunch when there isn’t as much boozing. Our server was friendly and attentive without being over bearing and was knowledgeable about the food. The courses were brought out with reasonable timing which made it an event instead of a rushed meal that some places offer. There was absolutely no attempt to rush us from our table and the place was packed.
I thought I had taken photos of the other dishes we all ordered, but sadly they are no where to be found so I shall review only the Kale Salad which we ordered for the table and the Popilo which was my lunch dish.
The Kavolo Nero ($13.95) was macerated with lemon juice and honey decorated with toasted pine nuts (the short Italian kind), Pecorino cheese and currents. Since I’ve tasted the real thing I have increased the honey a touch in my recipe and have switched up the currents for either dried cranberries or dried sour cherries. Parmesan can also be substituted for the Pecornino.
The Polipo ($14.50) was a char-grilled octopus with an olive tapinade and a celery root cream with baby zucchini, chorizo all harmonized with a delightful sherry smoked paprika vinaigrette. It was wonderful and my mouth is still watering as I type this review. It was a decent portion as were all the other dishes at our table.
Overall rating of Gusto 101 (in my opinion): Decor 3.5/5, service 4/5, food 4/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 1.75/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).
Disclaimer: We purchased our meals for full price and my opinions just that, my opinions.
Gusto 101
101 Portland Street, Toronto
eat@gusto101.com
General inquiries: 416-504-9669
Mon: 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Tue: 11:30 am – 11:00 pm
Wed: 11:30 am – 11:00 pm
Thu: 11:30 am – 1:00 am
Fri: 11:30 am – 1:00 am
Sat: 11:00 am – 1:00 am
Sun: 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Eva, I haven’t been around the blogs I follow much so I’m only just catching up. Your new job sounds so exciting and something I’d love to do one day when my hands become too shaky for the camera. As it’s nearly midnight now, I’ll be leaving your other posts entailing this adventure till tomorrow, but I just really wanted to put out my best wishes. I hope you enjoy every minute of it! 🙂
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Grr, I hate parking tickets! I’ve only had one before, and that was only because the meter was broken and I couldn’t pay (I tried!). Was only €12 or something which isn’t much… I suppose it makes up for all the times I didn’t bother paying for tickets and never got caught :D.
I’ve already told you how pleased I am for how your new activities are going – it must be really fun. I guess kind of like a “dream” for someone as interested in food as you!
The restaurant looks good too – that octopus… mm!
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Thank you for your generous words Charles, they mean a lot to me.
If a metre is broken in Toronto, you can put a note on your dash to say it’s broken and most of the time you won’t get a ticket and if you do, you can fight it in court and win. But for $30, it’s usually not worth it.
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Eva, I am so happy for you and your new profession! On the other hand it’s so close to your passion, to your blog, I’m sure you feel like fish in water. I don’t know how you find time to post recipes, photographs and even a restaurant review! I will say only one thing: a place serving excellent octopus is a real treasure! Have lots of fun with your career! (And please forgive me for coming so late… my delays in posting, commenting etc. have much more banal and down-to-earth job reasons 😉 ).
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Hi Sissi, pls don’t apologize, life is busy, particularly this time of year. I am very fortunate to have been able to work and be do passionate about it. I’ll let you in on a secret, I have enough posts right now until mid-January! I just need to add stories to them. I like to work ahead! During university I finished a paper so far in advance I forgot it at home the day it was due, I had to race home to bring it in to my professor (1 hour each way), fortunately my prof knew me well and trusted me. He was my favourite, he recently passed away.
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It’s hard enough shopping for beautiful produce for the blog, let alone for a paid job! But you are conscientious enough to be very successful with your new career…I just know it Off to check your salad recipe 🙂
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Thank you Liz, I’m very flattered that you think so. I made the salad again on Monday and Tuesday, it’s one of those flavours that becomes addictive
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Lovin your humble way of review….
that’s too kind of you my friend!
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Thank you so much Dedy, it’s very nice of you to say.
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It’s not going to be easy — good things in Life rarely are — but you were meant for this career, Eva. You’ll do very well, I’m sure, and who knows what doors may open for you.
Although your meal sounds wonderful — love the look of that octopus — I fear I wouldn’t care for the restaurant because of the noise level. I find it really off-putting.
Don’t worry if you haven’t time to visit the blogs — at least not mine. We’ll catch up later. 🙂
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Hi John, thank you so much for your lovely words of encouragement. Noisy restaurants are rather off putting.
And thank you for your patience.
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gosh you go to the best restaurants! Wishing i had dinner there tonight or any night for that matter! COngrats on your new adventure! You are going to do amazing
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Thank you so very much Jessica.
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I’m really so excited for you and more importantly I can really tell how excited YOU are Eva!! It’s never too late 😀
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Hi Lorraine, thank you for your wonderful words of encouragement. It’s a real adventure for me.
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Congratulations Eva, what exciting times for you… when one door closes another one opens, right? (and wide in this case :)). How fun and adventuresome. The ticket is a bit of a drag but hopefully you won’t be in that situation very often. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the images from the shoot (if/when) you are able to share. You know that appetizing looking kale salad you posted a while back (the Christmas tree formation ;-)) had the effect of resurrecting kale salad for me in a big way — and I’ve discovered that citrus dressings do such nice job of softening the kale (almost like a ceviche effect) and tasting delicious in the process! Glad you were finally able to get in to Gusto — sounds like it was worth the wait (albeit a bit noisy).
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Hi Kelly, thank you for your wonderful words, things are definitely on a upswing for me. I’m glad you’re enjoying kale too, I made that recipe again on Monday and Tuesday, I just can’t get enough of it!
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How fun to be working as assistant to a food stylist, go Eva! That octopus looks delicious!
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Thanks Lizzy, it’s a fun new avenue.
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Sounds like your having fun with your new challenges, Eva, even if it is exhausting. I know some jobs like this one seem glamorous, but are hard work. My husband is in film and video, and I’ve been on location with him and even catered craft services for the crew…I never worked so hard! 🙂 But it’s always fun, challenging and interesting to try new things, and continued success in your new career!
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Hi Betsy, thank you for your kind words, yes indeed I am having a great time. That’s so cool that you’ve catered for your husband’s crew; I was at a motion shoot two weeks ago and the lady that was catering cooked all day long — it’s very tiring work.
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Congratulations on your new profession. The best of luck for the future. Based on your previous styling/photography … I think it will be a good fit for you. Take all the time you need to get stuck in to the work and routine.
Sorry to hear about the parking ticket but I guess you’re making friends with the people at the different grocery stores and in time you may be able to call ahead of time and get them to set aside the best looking produce for you or at least have them let you know if they have any on hand without having to schlepp all the way there.
Lovely octopus though your presentation of the salad was nicer, I think.
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Hi Maria, thanks so much for your lovely words of encouragement, I really do appreciate them. The parking ticket sucks and it was the very first one I’ve ever gotten! Thank you for your compliment on the kale salad.
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Hi Eva, don’t be daunted by the food styling. I appreciate it will be scary, but they wouldn’t ask you to do it they didn’t think you could. It’s strange getting back into school mode to learn and prepare for it. It sounds you’re already one step ahead of the game though.
Looking forward to further details.
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Thanks so much for your kind words David, there is certainly a lot to learn but I’m very keen so it shouldn’t be all that difficult.
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Wow, food styling sounds like a great balance between challenging and fun, especially given your talent with and fondness for shopping and food! And it must be so exciting to find out about what you’ll be cooking each time, especially since it can be so varied to include candy. It sounds just perfect for you. Continued success, and congratulations once again!
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Thank you so very much Michela, it’s been a wonderful experience so far and I’m finding the people I know have been incredibly generous with their advice and connections.
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Will we be able to see the ad? Don’t worry about missing posts and not posting comments to blogs, all bloggers understand that we have lives outside of blogging so need for apologies.
Sounds like you are enjoying your job and learning a great deal. Wishing you continued success.
I am drooling looking at that octopus dish. Like you I dislike lots of super hard surfaces that makes for a very noisy environment, gives me a mega headache.
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I meant to say NO need for apologies.
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Hi Norma, I’ll put a link to the ads and stories as soon as they come out. The one I assisted last week won’t be printed for a year!
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Your job sounds very exciting. I’m sorry to hear you got a parking fine. My daughter drove to uni a few days ago, parked my and put $20.00 in the parking meter. Went to an exam and came back a few hours later to find a $101.00 parking fine – she’d mistakenly parked in a no-go zone but they’d happily taken her money! xx
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I think your new job sounds smashing. The stuff you’re learning is priceless. All of us are filled with envy.
Gusto 101 sounds like my kind of place minus the noise.
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