The night before the movers came to take all our possessions and put them into storage — including all my pots and pans and cookbooks — Jason and I sat in our neighbourhood pub over dinner, pondering our living situation.

The newly built condo we were supposed to move into was delayed again, throwing us into a bit of chaos. We hastily found a sublet in a building scheduled to be torn down.

"We have to settle into some sort of routine because we can't eat out every night," I said. "It's too expensive, especially in Calgary."

But then Jason threw down a challenge to me: Eat out for a week of dinners on $70.

"You have to follow my rules or I will revoke the challenge!" he said.

• No coupons.
• No fast food.
• No repeat visits.
• No 25-cent chicken wings.

And so I was off on my cheap eats challenge!

MONDAY

I could've cheated and had pasta three nights of the challenge. Chianti Cafe has a terrific deal on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, offering more than 40 pastas for $6.99.

On a cold day, the warm buns placed in front of us were welcome. I got the creamy spaghetti carbonara with bits of bacon. It wasn't gourmet, and it wasn't very pretty, but it was a decent, solid plate of pasta for a total of $7.34 including tax.

(Yes, there's a glass of wine in the crappy picture that I didn't count, but damn it, I needed it!)

Chianti Cafe, 1438-17th Ave. SW, Calgary, and two other locations in the city.

TUESDAY

I know the Mexican places in Calgary don't come anywhere near to the amazing ones in the U.S. or even the Chipotle chain (which I love). But Salt & Pepper has a good thing going every Tuesday with all-you-can-eat tacos for $10.98.

They come in sets of three with your choice of chicken, beef, chorizo or vegetable. The first plate is served with some delicious refried beans and rice.

The tacos are wrapped in soft corn tortillas (not the deep-fried hard shells), sprinkled with lettuce and finely shredded mozzarella, and drizzled with sour cream. Chorizo is the best filling, hands down.

Subsequent trios of tacos are served on their own, which is too bad because the rice and beans are really good. In any case, Alison and I had to draw the line at six tacos, while Jason and Luke (making his debut behind the bottles of hot sauce) plowed ahead with nine.

Beware the hot sauce though. It really is hot.

I splurged a little and ordered a side of homemade guacamole (tasty!) for $1.95 so my total tab with tax was $13.58.

Salt & Pepper, 4351 Macleod Trail, Calgary, (403) 243-3173. Two other locations in Calgary and Cochrane.

WEDNESDAY

Block Sixteen is where the challenge started, because of its Wednesday special steak sandwich for a measly $5.95.

The steak (I'm guessing 5 oz.) is a decent cut and crusted with a kind of Montreal steak spice. It comes with your choice of one side — mashed potatoes, fries, sweet potato fries, house or Caesar salad or grilled vegetables.

I'm always happy when my steak — no matter what price — is cooked as ordered (medium-rare yay!). My total here was $6.25.

Block Sixteen is the most underrated bar around the 17th Avenue strip. It's got the big-screens for hockey games but enough ambiance to take it a step up from the local watering hole. There's great service, great food and extremely reasonable prices even off the regular menu; thin-crust pizzas and burgers run around $11.

Unfortunately, it took me so long to post this that Block Sixteen changed owners and has been renamed the Balance Lounge & Eatery. They don't appear to have a steak sandwich special or two tacos for $2 on Mondays, but their menu still seems reasonably priced.

Balance Lounge & Eatery, 1504-16th Ave. SW, Calgary, (403) 228-5955.

THURSDAY

Chinatown is always the best place to find value, and I'm partial to the Hong Kong-style cafes. They serve Western-style food with Cantonese influences. Kind of like a Chinese diner, in a way. Think spaghetti but cooked in a wok, or steak marinated in soy sauce and served with gravy.

ABC Bakery & Cafe is a typical one. There are lots of one-plate Cantonese dishes, like curry beef brisket on rice or shredded duck fried noodles. But I love their combination meals.

For $9.99, I can get a sizzling hot plate of minute steak or pork chops with a choice of onion gravy, black pepper gravy, satay sauce, tomato sauce or cream sauce. It comes with onion soup, rice, mixed (frozen) vegetables, and tea or coffee.

The gravy comes in its own boat, so you pour it over the meat on the still-sizzling hot plate — shaped like a cow — and then transfer the meat to the plate of rice. It's quite a bounty. As you can see in the pics, my order came with THREE pieces of pork chop.

My total here with tax was $10.49.

ABC Bakery & Cafe, 112-3rd Ave. SE, Calgary, (403) 266-2888.

FRIDAY
Years ago — and I suppose even now — the cheapest "meal" of all was those handy packages of Japanese ramen. It's hard to beat a steaming bowl of MSG and noodles for oh, 75 cents.

But real Japanese ramen in a nice broth is quite lovely, especially at Shikiji Japanese Noodles and Sushi, an inconspicuous, yet very cozy, spot off Centre Street and 16th Avenue NE.

Shikiji has the ramen available in the standard soup bases of shio (salt), soy and miso. (There's no tonkatsu, white pork bone broth.) They all come with a couple of slices of roasted pork, seawood, bok choy, and green onions. The miso ramen has additional corn and bean sprouts.

I got the shio ramen, which was a clearer broth than Jason's darker soy-based soup. I really liked the broths, especially because they were obviously not laden with MSG.

They gave us little bowls of toasted sesame seeds that we crushed with a mini pestle to release the aroma and flavour right before we added them to our ramen. There was also a tiny basket of dried garlic flakes on the table too.

The ramen was nice and chewy, just a tad past al-dente, and not the instant noodle mush you get at home.

For some reason, the shio and soy ramen are listed on the menu as $10.60 but they only charged us $8.60 each for them. So my total and tax ends up at $9.03.

Shikiji Japanese Noodles and Sushi, 1608 Centre St. N.E. Calgary, (403) 520-0093. Click here for online menu.

SATURDAY

There was some debate over Falafel King because it could be construed as a fast-food place but Jason deemed it eligible for the challenge after I pointed out we were eating at proper tables and chairs and that my dinner came on a plate.

I got the chicken shawarma platter ($8.49) which is pretty much a deconstructed pita wrap. It's a huge plate of chicken sliced off the rotating spit, with lettuce, raw onions, tomatoes, pickles, my favourite bright pink pickled cabbage and a heap of garlic sauce and hot sauce. I passed on the pita bread, which is served on the side.

It was SO GOOD. (But verrry garlicky. So make sure you're with someone who really loves you, or at least have some gum handy after.)

Total with tax: $8.91.

Falafel King, 1610-10th St. SW, Calgary, (403) 802-5464. Relocated downtown location opening soon on Stephen Avenue.

SUNDAY

Things on sticks are fun, and the House of Kabob specializes in them. A similar Persian restaurant used to be in this same spot but there are new owners and an interior revamp.

The menu is pretty much kabobs and a few Greek-style souvlaki dishes. Service is sketchy, but it's one of these small, independent places where it's somehow forgiven.

I got a chicken sultani ($14.95), which was one skewer of chicken breast (jujeh kabob) and one skewer of ground beef (kubideh kabob) with grilled tomatoes and half rice, half salad. The kabobs are juicy and full of flavour.

If you're lucky, you may get there in time for what looks like a cross between a Persian soap opera and karaoke on the flat-screen TVs.

The total with tax was $15.70 which officially brings me $1.30 over my $70 challenge... OR we could pretend instead that I got the chenjeh kabob ($11.95), a skewer of marinated chopped steak, which would've set me back only $12.55 — leaving me $1.85 under.

Ta-dah!

House of Kabob, 1115 Edmonton Trail N.E., Calgary, (403) 277-7151. Open seven days 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

McDonald's used to own almost 90 per cent of Chipotle before it divested itself of the chain a few years ago. But Chipotle has very unchain-like policies. It uses only chicken, pork and beef raised without antibiotics. Its sour cream comes from cows that haven't been treated with bovine growth hormones.

Any chance I can get in the U.S., I try to stop by Chipotle. My favourite is their barbacoa, shredded beef braised in chipotle adobo, cumin, cloves, garlic and oregano, in crispy tacos with their fantastic guacamole.

Jason is partial to the burrito bowl ($6.25), which has everything in a burrito except the tortilla. The smoky (organically grown) pinto beans are particularly good.

All their meats are quite juicy and tender. The carnitas (pork), for example, is seasoned with thyme, bay leaves and juniper berries, and then braised for hours before it's shredded.

Chipotle is also a pretty good value. You get three tacos, or one huge burrito, in each order that runs an average of $6.25.

Suck it, Taco Del Mar.

The rumours that Chipotle is coming to Canada are true! Toronto gets the first Canadian location, but we can only hope that Calgary isn't far behind.

Chipotle, more than 450 locations in the U.S. Click here for website.

Jason vaguely said, "I want something casual. With beer."

I remember lying on the hotel bed, going: "Pub food? Indian? Go back to Tadich Grill? Pizza? Chinese? Thai?"

As I listlessly surfed the internet, I somehow found the Thirsty Bear. For the lack of agreeing on anything else, we headed that way, and boy am I glad we did. Thirsty Bear is an organic brewery in a brick building that tries to serve only hormone-free meat, and local produce.

We had no problem getting a table in the cavernous space, filled variously with stagettes, families, businessmen, tourists, sports fans watching some game in the bar, and couples.

Jason started with their nine-beer sampler, which is a hell of a deal at $9. The seven they usually have on-tap are:

• Polar Bear Lager: golden, pilsner-style
• Valencia Wheat: a hint of coriander and Spanish orange peel in a Belgian white
• Brown Bear Ale: classic British style brown ale with caramel overtones
• Golden Vanilla: infused from whole vanilla beans
• Meyer E.S.B.: extra special bitter
• Howard Street I.P.A.: India pale ale
• Kozlov Stout: dark, dry, Irish stout

Then you also get two of their specials brews. On our visit, one was called Elixir of the Damned; I can't remember the other one. Uncharacteristically, Jason's favourite that summer night was the Golden Vanilla.

Our server was fabulous. We weren't starving so we told her we wanted to sip our drinks and order a few tapas at a time. She never rushed us, and was always perfectly timed. In that pace, we ended up eating a lot more than we thought we could.

The lamp empanadas ($10) were also fab, hot and flaky, filled with spinach, idiazabal cheese, peppers, potatoes and cilantro mint sauce. The pastry was a lot thicker than I was used to, but the three pieces still disappeared quickly.

We also got one of their flatbreads ($10) with chorizo, asparagus, piquillo peppers, rosemary and queso fresco. It was nice, especially with the asparagus — even if it makes your pee smell funny after.

Second round, we got the patatas bravas ($6.50) and the albondigas ($9.50). The fried potatoes were not bad, but the Spanish meatballs were better in a sofrito tomato sauce with a sprinkling of fried onions.

Third round was my favourite of the night. The kokotxas ($9), panfried halibut cheeks in sherry and olive oil, were kickass with a big squeeze of lemon over top.

Later in the night, I saw one of the servers sitting down to dinner, and he had the halibut cheeks and a flatbread. To me, that's proof it must be one of the restaurant's best dishes.

Finally, for dessert, I could not leave without having churros ($7), those delicious deep-fried sticks of pastry dough, rolled in sugar and cinnamon.

Thirsty Bear's cinnamon churros came with a mug of thick Spanish hot chocolate and whipped cream for dipping, which zooms it to the top of my list as the best churros I've had so far — not counting my very first time at Disneyland when I was 10.

Thirsty Bear Brewing Company, 661 Howard St., San Francisco, (415) 974-0905.

Open Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday 11:30 a.m.-midnight, Saturday noon-midnight, Sunday 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Menus and more info here.

I had to go to a family function this evening, and so put on the HAPPY DRESS of SUNSHINE. And RAINBOWS. Didn't work.

I forgave the pug her previous indiscretions, although she doesn't deserve it.

Growing up, I used to have this "Book of Farts". It put a name to your various farts, including the "Thank God I'm Alone" fart and the "Silent But Deadly" fart (obv). I used to think about this during class and start lol'ing like a weirdo. That and the old rectangular Garfield books:

TONIGHT'S BUSINESS: Watch "I Love Money", eat red wine + leftover mac n chee and play Tony Hawk. Tomorrow is my Day of Action!!! I shall be productive tomorrow....Wait for it... ?

I want to marry Tadich Grill — if, you know, humanoid-restaurant unions were socially accepted, and legally recognized.

The restaurant has been around for 159 years — in its current location since 1967 — and is a total legend in San Francisco.

Tadich is old-school, with almost an old-boy's club feel in the dark wood, the brass wall scones sconces and coat hangers, and the crisp, white jackets worn by the servers.

It's easy to see why a quarter of Tadich's daily 800 customers are regulars. You immediately feel like this well-oiled machine is going to take good care of you.

I had been warned about a regular half-hour wait at peak times for Tadich, which doesn't take reservations, so we timed our arrival for earlier than when we actually wanted to eat dinner.

But the moons must have been aligned or something, because as soon as we walked in, the man behind the bar yelled, "BARRY! TABLE FOR TWO!"

I was in love.

There's a long wooden bar on one side of the restaurant, and booths and nooks on the other. We got a little table for two in front of a big mirror and a bowl of halved lemons.

When Barry, our baritone, pretend-gruff, but super-nice server asked what I wanted to drink, I stupidly said, "A Caesar?" betraying my Canadianness. I opted instead for a Bloody Mary, and Jason got a locally brewed beer.

A plate of fresh sourdough and butter soon came. I sipped my oh-very-strong drink as we perused Tadich's gigantic menu, which is printed off every day with more than two dozen lunch and house specials next to the straight-forward, regular items. Regulars swear by the various sautéed and pan-fried filets.

We started with a sliced tomato quartet salad ($15), four beefsteak tomato slices on iceberg lettuce, topped with a big prawn, crab, baby shrimp and anchovy. It was so simple, so fresh, and so good.

On Barry's recommendation, we had it with Louie dressing, which turned out to be a delicious, homemade sauce similar to Thousand Island.

Jason's crab and lobster thermidor ($29.25) looked like what I expected: a casserole dish with a golden-brown cheese crust. But underneath, it was ALL seafood meat in the classic creamy, mustardy sauce.

We expected it to have some sort of starch filler on the bottom because who serves that much crab and lobster meat in one dish? Apparently, Tadich does!

I took the plunge and ordered the seafood cioppino ($24.50) after I asked Barry if it was good and he replied, "It's the best thing on the menu." I knew he wasn't lying because I heard him say the same thing to the table behind us too.

Cioppino is the Italian version of French bouillabaisse. This fish broth was packed with clams, prawns, scallops, bay shrimp, crab and white fish. Oh. My. It was sooo good. Two thick pieces of garlic bread that came on the side was handy for sopping up the soup.

Neither of us could finish our portions, much less have any room for dessert. When we told Barry that, he swatted at me with a menu. Jason thought that was quite entertaining.

Good. He doesn't suspect that I'm plotting to elope with the Tadich Grill.

Tadich Grill, 240 California St., San Francisco, (415) 391-1849. Open weekdays 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Saturday 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Yes, Fisherman's Wharf is a tourist trap but it's worth visiting for an hour or two if only to have some fresh seafood and gawk at the noisy sea lions on nearby Pier 39.

There's a wax museum (which always freaks me out) and a Ripley's Believe it or Not! museum, but I would much rather enjoy the fresh air, wandering the pier and the awesome seafood stands.

There are some beautiful fresh stacks of crab at every stand. This is definitely the place to get your hands all messy pulling them apart if you're a big crab fan. We stood next to a guy who looked like he was having a great ole time, sucking on the crab legs and piling up the shells in front of him.

But because I'm not that big of a crab fan, I wandered around looking for the best place to have raw oysters. Yes, I have an addiction.

I finally settled on Nick's Lighthouse because it was the only place I saw actually shucking them in front of me as opposed to displaying them already open on the half shell.

I was delighted to see their blackboard also offering raw clams (yes, another addiction), so knowing dinner was still ahead, I had to restrain myself to four oysters and two clams for $1.50 each.

A squeeze of lemon, and a shot of hot sauce. Oh heaven.

Granted, these oysters were all texture and very little brine (ones from the Maritimes are still the best in my books), but the atmosphere made up for it, just standing there at the metal counter with the ocean wind blowing through my hair.

Jason had disappeared and returned with an overflowing shrimp sandwich ($6).

I don't know which stand it was from, but it was pretty good. I think you're generally safe if you stick to the bustling stands which have high turnover — meaning there's no time for things to sit there and get fishy or stale.

Oh, and the sourdough bun was awesome, all crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Like me sometimes. Heh.

Nick's Lighthouse, 2815 Taylor, San Francisco, (415) 929-1300. Website here.

If I lived here, I know Bocadillos is where I'd hang out all the time. It's cozy and relaxed, and has some nice wines and enough variety in their tapas menu to keep you hopping.

We came here for a few drinks after dinner, and ended up having some some munchies too.

We had some olives, as well as a great calamari with a refreshing romesco sauce ($11).

I wish I wasn't so full from dinner; otherwise, I'd have been all over the oxtail, ceviche and at least something from the menu's "innard circle" section (braised tripe, pig trotters or cold poached foie gras).

I had an OK glass of red wine, but Jason had a really nice rosé tempranillo-grenache 2004 Vina Ijalba Aloque Rioja. I hope we can find it here in Calgary.

As we were leaving, I noticed Bocadillos (which means little sandwiches) had a pretty good breakfast menu posted. Our hotel was only a few blocks away, so I decided to come back the next day.

As I sat facing one of the windows, I kept noticing shuttle vans stopping across the street, tourists scurrying out, snapping pics and then hustling back into the vehicle. I realized the corner is the prime spot for taking shots of the distinctive pyramid top of the Transamerica building.

It was entertaining people-watching as I tucked into my delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and house-made chorizo ($7.50), which came with a toasted ciabatta bun. I caved and even got a bowl of fruit salad. Figured I hadn't eaten something healthy in a while.

Check out this great little spot if you're in the Financial District.

Bocadillos, 710 Montgomery St., San Francisco, (415) 982-2622. Open Monday-Wednesday 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Thursday-Friday 7 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Saturday 5-10:30 p.m. Menus here.

I could tell you about my latest job prospects, but more important that I share the latest in NECKLACES THAT I NEED:

They call this the "popsicle" necklace. Do you know why? I don't. I've never encountered a popsicle with sprinkles, so I have decided it is a delicious ice cream bar.
As I am currently living off of my savings = "ha! ha! ha!", this one has been added, along with the others, to failnecklaces.com/chipmunkfart.

Okay twatlettes you know I wouldn't leave you without a gratuitous shot of ME ME ME. I can be found in this position for most of the day now because UNEMPLOYMENT RULES.

The jobs I'm looking at are Rescue Coordinator for the city pound (they're trying to go "no-kill" by 2012, they currently kill shitloads every day), and "Make-a-Wish" Foundation Program Director. These have zero to do with my Computah School background, but I'm applying anyway. I'm just happy knowing someone out there is reading my application and laughing at me.

ME THEN.............................ME NOW:

MOVING RIGHT ALONG, today's viewing assignment is below. If you bore easily or you're running late for something or you don't care about me, skip to the 0:27 mark. It's a documentary about high school debate teams who act insane.

I wonder if that screaming blonde chick is embarrassed. I would be. But she's probably not unemployed like me. She's probably screaming at someone somewhere.

Okay that's enough. It is now TACO TIME.

The Sled Island festival was in full force in Calgary this weekend, and what a weekend it was. One cloudless sky, dozens of mostly indie, mostly unknown rock and folk bands and forced hot dog consumption make me one happy girl.

You see, there was only a handful of food stands inside the park so I was "forced" to eat a couple of meals at Tubby Dog. The infamous hot dog restaurant on 17th Avenue came to the festival in portable form, so I finally got to sample a lot of their menu.

All right, the one that raises the eyebrows the most first. The Cap'n's Dog has peanut butter, jelly and Captain Crunch cereal. Jason says he liked it. I don't like PB but I had a bite. I can see why this dog works, with the sweetness playing against the savoury.

I looved the Sumo with Japanese mayo, wasabi, pickled ginger, and sesame seeds. Sweet, hot, crunchy and all-round delicious. Not for the faint-at-heart.

The basic Tubby Dog (left) is a little alarming to see, piled high with homemade chili, bacon, cheese, onions and mustard, but it's really good if you're in a basic meat-lovers' mood. Make sure you get a fork and knife and lots of napkins.

The A-Bomb (right) is pretty popular too, probably because it's covered with everyone's favourite — crushed ketchup chips. Ketchup, mustard, mayo, bacon and a whole whack of squeeze-cheese round it out.

JJ got a Cheetah on the first day with sauerkraut, cheese, mustard, relish. I didn't get a taste because I was stuffing my face with a Tubby Dog but I'm sure it was good too. However, I did get a shot of his new Tubby Dog button on his too-cool Evan Davis T-shirt.

All the dogs are 1/3 pounds and were going for $6 — about 50 cents more than at their regular location. But I was more than happy to fork that over after I felt the blast of heat the workers in the stand were sweating in.

This was the first year the two-year-old Sled Island had a main stage and it rocked. Friday's highlights for me were the always-stellar Tegan and Sara and the admittedly hungover, but ridiculously energetic Calgary stalwarts Chixdiggit.

Yo La Tengo lost me with their drawn-out songs, and Broken Social Scene was meh.

Saturday was full of shiny discoveries. With just his voice and classical guitar, Jose Gonzales, a Swedish folk singer of Argentine descent, gave the sunny day a nice start.

Calgary's Jane Vain & the Dark Matter did a tight four-song set (we wanted more!), and Of Montreal (from Athens, Georgia) gave the most theatrical performance for sure — ie, masked people in silver capes skulking around to catchy pop tunes.

My favourite was Still Flyin' from San Francisco. I hate their name, but I love their sense of fun. I think there were 15 people on stage, including a xylophonist (he's wearing the captain's hat in the photo) and a skinny guy in a red Tshirt and tight shorts whose only task I think was to dance like mad.

I dare you to listen to their ska-influenced songs and NOT feel happy.

I think I spent a total of 16 hours at Sled Island under the sun (I did remember sunscreen), but next year, I'm going to try to get to more of the smaller performances in the week leading up to the main stage. And you should too if you're in Calgary. This is one of the best music festivals I've been to in a long time.

Note to organizers: please add more food vendors, or relax the silly no re-entry rule. I mean, hot dogs are good, but even I shouldn't have had so many in 48 hours. Thanks.

Sled Island, website here.
Tubby Dog, 1022-17th Ave. SW, Calgary, (403) 244-0694. Myspace page and menu here.

Hotel front desk operator: "Hello, how may I help you?"

Me: "Hi, can you give me the number for Sliding Doors? There's no phone book in the room."

Him: "I'm sorry?"

Me: "Sliding Doors. The restaurant?"

Him: "Oh.... I think Sliding Doors is a movie with Gwyneth Paltrow. Do you mean Slanted Door?"

Me: "Oh right. Uh, yes, please."

I had Thursday evening all planned out. Jason had an event at his conference, so I was going to wander down to the Ferry Building and enjoy happy hour at Hog Island Oyster Company. Their site advertises $1 oysters and $3.50 beers between 5 and 7 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.

I had considered Slanted Door, a modern Vietnamese restaurant, which is also in the Ferry Building, but I couldn't get a reservation and was a little hesitant about eating at what appeared to be a large resto by myself.

So I opted for the smaller, and more casual Hog Island, which farms their own oysters in Tomales Bay, northwest of San Francisco. I figured since I was solo, it wouldn't be hard to nab a bar seat. Boy, was I wrong.

This tiny place was packed. The waiting list at 6 p.m. was three pages long. And even solo, forget it. The numbers just weren't playing out for me. Every time it looked like an odd chair was opening up at the bar, a party of three would be up next.

After an hour of fruitless waiting, I walked out of Hog Island and into The Slanted Door — where I slid into seat at the bar.

The restaurant is huge but divided into a dining room with windows facing the water on one side, and a bar/lounge area on the other.

The bar service was just amazing: courteous and genuine and never, ever rushed, even as the pack of people behind me grew throughout the night. I appreciated it not only as a visitor, but especially as a woman eating alone.

I was lucky enough to find myself next to another solo diner, who lives in San Francisco, to chat with. She even let me taste some of the chicken clay pot she was eating because I couldn't decide if I wanted to order it.

I did know I wanted some oysters! I got a half dozen ($15) of Drake's Bay from California and Hama Hama from Washington.

The Drake's Bay were small and mineraly; the Hama Hama much meatier and briney, which I prefer. They weren't as good as the ones I've had from New Brunswick — which is probably why the other oysters on the menu were from there and B.C.

I did end up getting the chicken claypot ($16), a piping hot concoction that gets a sweet kick from a caramel sauce with chilies and fresh ginger, and a side of jasmine rice ($2).

I started with a glass of 2007 Avinyo Penedès Vi D'Agulla ($7) muscat, but the bartender suggested a glass of 2006 François Pinon Vouvray Cuvée Tradition ($8) — which actually wasn't listed as available per glass — to offset the sweetness of my dinner.

Spoiled by inexpensive, delicious Vietnamese food in Canada, I wasn't sure how much I would embrace the cuisine's higher-end cousin. Well, the people behind the Slanted Door know what they're doing; the place is hopping, and I thoroughly enjoyed my evening through these doors.

The Slanted Door, 1 Ferry Building #3, San Francisco, (415) 861-8032. Reservation info here.
Hog Island Oyster Company, 1 Ferry Building #11-1, San Francisco, (415) 391-7117. Website here.

On Saturday afternoons, the Italian Supermarket fires up its wood-burning oven and churns out homemade thin-crust pizzas til 4 p.m.

I figured it'd be fun to stop by and grab one as a snack one Saturday, not realizing there's only one size — large. But what a deal. We got a quattro stagioni for $13.99. There are about half a dozen basic choices.

It's amazing to watch the ladies make the pizzas in front of you on the impossibly tiny counter, with vegetables from the store and meat from the deli down the aisle. They write your name on the box, so they know it's yours.

While you're waiting, you can look around the countless different kinds of espresso, canned tomatoes, and of course, pasta.

Our pizza only took about 15 minutes but it was late afternoon already. The four quarters were split into (I think): ham and red peppers; sausage, roasted green peppers, artichokes; black olives, onions and mushrooms; and red peppers, mushrooms and black olives.

Lina's Italian Market, just a few blocks away, is brighter and bigger, but the Italian Supermarket has more of an old-country character. When we were there, there was a table of Italian men chowing down on pork chops and sausages for lunch as a World Cup game played on the TV.

Italian Supermarket, 265-20th Ave. NE, Calgary, (403) 277-7898 or 277-7875. Open weekdays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Click for website here.

I'm not sure, actually. Why DO we do that? Maybe we just don't have enough brunch spots to satiate everyone's cravings for eggs and stuff. Someone should do a per-capita study.

As it is, there are five Nellies scattered in convenient inner-city locations, easily distinguished by hand-lettered green and yellow signs. As far as I can tell, all are decorated with knickknacks and old Life magazine covers, mismatched plates and Christmas coffee mugs.

Calgarians seem to have a love it or hate it attitude towards the city-wide chain, which might also depend on the location they frequent.

We went back to the Kensington one, which seems to be pretty consistent. The weekend lineups move along fairly well, and the busy, but very nice, servers get food to the table extremely quickly.

I've also never seen so many offers to refill my coffee. It's just too bad the coffee isn't very good.

The food I've had, on the other hand, is tasty. Jason's eggs benedict (it got a thumbs-up) came with potatoes and fruit, which he appreciated. JJ was satiated with his French toast with a side of bacon.

I very rarely order huevos rancheros ($9.50), but Nellie's is done with refried beans, which makes it very yummy. It's got some crunch from red and green peppers as well as a LOT of cheese.

Hats off to the potatoes. I hate breakfast potatoes that are undercooked and unsalted. These were done properly by my books.

Nellie's adds some nice, little touches. Mini muffins (chocolate chip one day, lemon poppyseed another) are added to every plate. Lollipops send you off with your bill.

The menu is extensive enough to keep you coming back into lunchtime, including sandwiches and the Ukranian "break the fast" (kolbasa sausage, perogies, eggs and toast).

Now someone do something about those lineups.

Nellie's on Kensington, 1414 Kensington Rd. NW, 270-0173. Open Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. weekends 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Five locations in Calgary.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Shibuya Izakaya is no Guu or Kingyo or Hapa Izakaya. It just doesn't have the same flow or cheap prices that make the Japanese hangouts so successful in Vancouver.

However, you can be content that there is now such a thing in Calgary, and that it's a decent place for decent grub late into the night.

Our beef tataki ($10.78), Kobe style beef with ponzu sauce, is pretty good. I like the shredded red onions on the side. We've had bigger portions elsewhere, but hey, where else are you going to get beef tataki at this time of night?

Our favourite is the curry pork ramen ($10.98) which comes with a huge deep-fried pork cutlet in a thick curry broth, with the usual noodle accompaniments of bean sprouts, hard-boiled egg and nori.

The ika sukayaki ($8.98) is a huge sliced piece of calamari, grilled with butter and drizzled with teriyaki sauce. It's quite pretty, and has a nice taste, but it's a tad rubbery.

The only sushi we get, the Rock 'N Roll ($16.98) is a bit of a disappointment. The deep-fried soft shell crab by itself is good, but it's lost in the roll with cucumber and topped with real crab meat. The rice is too warm and soft, and there's not much of a flavour punch even though there's a wasabi cream sauce on the plate.

At 11 p.m. on one Saturday, a big table of Asian twenty-somethings were toasting the night away in the middle of the restaurant, with smaller groups in the side booths. The mood is casual, the decor sleek with hints of chrome. Service is friendly, albeit often distracted.

(If really loud R&B isn't your thing, stay away from the tables under the speakers.)

Anyway, Shibuya's got potential, that's for sure. It's only been open a few months. And like I said, at least Calgary now has something that resembles an izakaya.

Shibuya Izakaya, 449-16th Ave. NE, Calgary, (403) 277-8823. Open until 1 a.m. weekdays, 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 p.m. on Sunday.

The chain markets itself as a fresher, tastier option to Taco Bell et al. I'll admit I didn't have high hopes, but I figured people lining up every lunch hour at Taco Del Mar's downtown location at least meant it was passable, no? NOPE.

We went to the new northeast location near Sunridge Mall. Service was atrociously slow. When the counter guy asked what meat I wanted, I told him, "Carne asada," as it's listed on the huge menu on the wall. He looked at me blankly. I said it twice. Finally I said, "Steak?"

He scraped the bottom of the container and put three sad, tiny beef cubes into my second taco. I said, "Can I get more meat than that?" Again, blank stare. Never mind. Later, he called to his colleague for more steak, and she took out a big container and threw it in the microwave.

My two hard corn tacos were stale. The carne asada had that texture of meat sitting around in liquid for too long — dry, gritty and chalky — and tasted entirely of salt. The "hot" salsa was so bland I doused my lunch in Tabasco sauce.

Jason's soft corn tacos were better, I guess. His pork was "OK" and the tortilla was fine. He got a combo with chips and salsa, and a drink.

Our lunch came to just under $16. I say, save your money and don't bother. The Mexican food drought continues in Canada.

Taco Del Mar, website here.

I've never spent so much time in a restaurant bathroom before, and I mean that in a good way. The toilets in Banff's Bison Courtyard sense, ahem, your presence on the seat, activating a foam that slowly flushes and pulls waste down into a composting tank.

I was fascinated by the system, which is thoughtfully explained on a sheet taped to the bathroom door.

So what does this have to do with food and eating? Well, the toilets are a small part of the sustainable ethos held by the owners, residents, and businesses of the Bison Courtyard, including the Bison Mountain Bistro. The complex uses 70 per cent less energy than standard buildings in Banff.

It's a heartening story of how green can prevail. A local developer bought the Crag Cabin that was built in 1890 with plans to restore it, and grander plans to turn it into a sustainable living community.

They rejected chain restaurants with money to burn for the second-floor space, in favour of a husband-wife team with a vision for "Rocky Mountain comfort food."

We got a perfect, sunny spring Sunday for the always stunning drive into the mountains to celebrate JJ's birthday with a brunch at the Bison Mountain Bistro.

The menu screamed local and fresh, with an assortment of benedicts, bison burgers and pizzas from the wood-burning oven.

Three out of eight of us got the duck confit eggs benedict ($16) with fresh goat cheese, wild mushrooms, preserved lemon zest and hollandaise. This is the rough transcript of what was going through my head: "Mmm! Duck confit! Whoa! Goat cheese. Yum! Wild mushrooms!"

All the benedicts come on a cheese and herb biscuit with roasted potatoes and a hothouse green salad.

Jason opted for the French toast ($14) stuffed with Sylvan Star gouda and double-smoked bacon, topped with wild blueberry sauce and matchstick apple pieces.

The mountain breakfast ($12) was a hearty three eggs, double-smoked bacon, roasted tomatoes and potatoes and grilled toast. (Thanks to JJ for voluntarily burning his hands while holding the hot plate up for my photo.)

The bacon was a real hit, especially with three-year-old Sloane happily munching on a fistful of it.

Martin got a huge plate of wild mushroom tagliatelle with fresh goat cheese, leeks, herbs, peas and white truffle oil. It was so good that it prompted him to get a glass of red wine too. Now, that's a real brunch.

There's a general store on the ground floor, featuring gourmet baguettes, fine cheeses and specialty meats, if you don't have time to sit down for a meal. (The co-owner used to be a partner in Calgary's Janice Beaton Fine Cheese.)

We picked up a jar of the bistro's amazing smoked tomato ketchup ($8.95), which I've pretty much eaten for the past five days straight (not by itself!).

By the way, the bistro's patio on the second floor is no doubt the best place to take in the mountains and great food. And don't forget to check out those bathrooms.

Bison Mountain Bistro & General Store, 211 Bear St., Banff, Alberta, (403) 762-5550. Click for website here.

Nonetheless, this is going to be my first week where I try to eat foods.  Michael Pollan defined "food" roughly as mostly plant matter, unadulterated by other impulses.

Well, I'm going to try and eat food.  I've been thinking, and it seems to me that there are three main obstacles to eating mostly plants.

1. Breakfast
2. Lunch
3. Dinner

Namely, I have very little time; I hate cooking for myself; and how do you eat mostly plants for breakfast, anyway?  There's frittatas.  There's fruit.  And then there is a big blank space in the middle of my mind, where I can't really figure out what else to put in there.  No pancakes, I'm sure (and besides, those are too hard to make and I don't like them.)  No whole-wheat Trader Joe's waffles stuck in the toaster (I admit, those are what I usually do.)  No Go-gurt.  No sausage or bacon or scrapple (yuck), except as a condiment.  I guess you can make toast and load it up with lettuce and tomato.  Oh well.  No bright ideas there, but that's enough variety to last me a week, and I suppose I'm going to have to hope for a brain wave sometime in the middle.  So I now have the makings for several different breakfasts.  Let's hope this works.

Now, on to lunch.  There's a meal in the middle of the day where I usually sneak down to the cafeteria at work and grab a cup of soup or a sandwich, and I'm sure that both the soups and the sandwiches heartily flunk the "mostly food" test.  I think this means I'm going to have to start packing salads.  (How this will work when I no longer have a refrigerator is going to be another problem--but one I'll cope with at that time.)  So, I've now gotten spinach and butter lettuce and tomatoes and marinated artichoke hearts (less than five ingredients, all of which I recognized) and avocado and walnuts, all good things for salads.

Finally, dinner.  My biggest problem with dinner is that I'm just freaking lazy.  By the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is cut up a bunch of vegetables and wait for them to cook.  I eat so much absolute crap at dinner; honestly, if I could just make myself successfully eat good dinners, I would never have gained so much weight in the first place.  So this week, I bought a good selection of veggies that I know I like, and I cut them all up today.  Zucchini, leeks, corn off the cob, broccoli, a handful of shallots.  I have spinach to throw in to pastas (more vegetables than pasta, of course) and stir-fries by the handful.

Also, I bought some gorgeous artichokes, which are steaming on the stove as we speak, and can be easily reheated for a simple yet yummy dinner.  Mmmm.  Yummy.  Those will get a butter-olive oil-herbes de provence dipping sauce.

Truthfully, I am going to miss fast food in that I-can't-believe-I'm-still-cracking-my-knuckles way.  I know it's bad for me.  I don't even like the taste all that much.  I don't like the way it feels.  But, yeah, I'm kind of addicted in the worst possible way.  That's gonna have to change.

Alice's Restaurant is the latter. It's a bistro in Little Italy, more family-style than flash, and more hearty than trendy. It aims to please with a children's menu and a note that the kitchen is more than happy to work around any dietary limitations including vegan and macrobiotic needs (!) or allergies.

Cue Arlo Guthrie. You really can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant — and at reasonable prices.

Its signature brunch attraction are scones, sprinkled with a little sugar on top. A basket of three ($3) comes with butter and homemade strawberry jam.

Now, I hate scones. And so does Kevin (my soon-to-be brother-in-law) but we were gobbling them up. They were flaky and light and really tasty even though they're served cold.

The short brunch menu is not your eggs and bacon variety. In fact, there's no bacon on the menu at all. (Gasp!)

But my pan-seared trout ($12) was dead on. It's what I like to call "I win!" — when what I've ordered is the best dish at the table.

The trout was perfect with crispy skin and the fish moist and cooked just so, on top of some greens. I loved the warm potato salad that came with it, lightly dressed with capers and tiny pieces of pickles.

Kevin's huevos rancheros ($11) were solid, but nothing remarkable: two poached eggs on corn tortilla (made in-house) with salsa, guacamole, black beans and sour cream.

We had a bit of an issue with Gigi's steak and egg (yes, just one egg). She ordered it rare and it came out well done, so we had to send it back. However, the staff were extremely apologetic and came out three times to give us the progress on the second go-around. They also sent out a complimentary basket of scones.

The retry was much better, a small but quality New York strip done rare, with an egg sunny side up, greens, and potato hash.

They ended up taking the steak and egg ($14) off the bill, which I thought was a very gracious gesture, and left us feeling very well taken care of. This is a family-friendly, neighbourhood spot that obviously cares about making sure customers leave feeling satisfied.

Alice's Restaurant, 856 College St. Toronto, (416) 534-7500. Open for dinner Tues. to Sun. 5–9 p.m., brunch weekends 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Menu here.

Onigiri is basically a rice ball, wrapped in seaweed with a filling of some kind. It's an extremely popular snack in Japan. They can be homemade and taken for picnics, school lunches etc. but they're now available in all sorts of flavours in most convenience stores there.

Consider it the taquito of the 7-Eleven or the soggy sandwiches from your local gas station. Except onigiri isn't gross.

Onigiri literally means "taking hold of something with your hands."

There are handy instructions on how to put your onigiri together: open cellophane, move rice ball onto one edge of the seawood, roll it together and voilà!

It's perfect traveling food. I grabbed two onigiri for $3 before getting on a flight. The spicy tuna was canned tuna with that mayo-type dressing served on spicy tuna sushi.

The other one, pickled vegetable, was nice and crunchy with turnip, bracken, and bamboo shoots.

I've only seen onigiri in Japanese food stores in Toronto — Sanko carries salmon, okra and pickled plum (umeboshi) flavours as well — but I'm sure they're available elsewhere in Canada. Or you could try making them yourself.

Sanko Trading Co., 730 Queen St. West, Toronto, (416) 703-4550. Website here.

He was dying for ... Burger Baron. The closest one to Calgary is in Red Deer, but there are more than a dozen franchises in the Edmonton-area. It began in Lethbridge in 1957 as the first restaurant to adopt the drive-thru concept in Western Canada before the huge chains with clowns and kings moved in.

The Baron has persisted though, usually taking over abandoned locations of other fast-food chains and turning them into part of his small, but mighty, empire.

I'm very partial to the Mushroom Burger ($3.75) with mushrooms and mushroom sauce, while Jason's usual is the Bacon Cheeseburger ($4.35) with onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato and their special red sauce.

You can get single, double or triple patty variations of any burger at the Baron, and they're all made fresh to order, which is worth the wait.

The fries ($1.95 small) are thick-cut and the onion rings ($2.25 small) are hot and crisp. Everything is served in white paper bags.

Make sure you get a milkshake ($2.85 small); they're really good and thick. Jason likes that he can get one in root beer flavour.

Burger Baron, 7007-82nd Ave., Edmonton. Other locations in Alberta, Kelowna and Fort. St. John, B.C. and Regina.

The first thing you notice about JAROblue is how small it is. The second thing is the ginormous photographs of horses humping. No wait, they're playing.

Despite the name (taken from the first two letters of co-owners' names Jared and Robin), there's nothing blue in here. The soft silver seating and dark brown wood give off an unruffled '40s vibe, especially with the retro light fixtures.

Like many new restaurants, JAROblue serves tapas-style plates. Its menu is split into three by price points ($7, $12, $15) and then desserts. There's a short, but good, wine list and a handful of beers.

There's something here for everyone, but more for people who like to share and try things with a twist. A caveat: I've been here only for late-night nibbles, and not a full dinner.

The steak tartare — I can't resist this on any menu — was crazy fresh with just enough spices. Our only complaint is the full-flavour of rye bread is a tad overwhelming for the tartare.

The grilled lamb chops was a surprisingly large portion with three chops, on a nest of sweet potato fries and currant demi glaze. It was excellent. However, I must warn that the kitchen prefers to serve it rare, which I'm fine with. But one piece was rare to the point of raw, that I couldn't even cut it with my knife.

I sent it back for a few more minutes on the grill — and the server was super nice about it. The kitchen actually re-plated my little chop, and added au jus, so I really appreciated the attention to that kind of detail.

The duck confit and risotto croquettes did not look like what I expected: five little croquettes with bits of duck confit inside. They were quite yummy with the spicy pineapple chutney, and a lovely presentation too.

The tenderloin ravioli (three or four large pieces) was simple but homemade in a nice cream sauce.

Sadly, they were out of the assorted mini-burgers (beef, duck, pulled pork and foie gras) which we must return to try.

We've also tried the cheese plate which I'm sure is supplied by Janice Beaton Fine Cheese. I remember the distinctive orange Shropshire blue cheese, a gouda and maybe a hunk of cheddar (?). The crackers were meh but the accoutrements were fab. Marinated kale and fennel gave it a nice yowza punch, and the kale was just so pretty.

I didn't taste the chocolate dessert plate but the chocolate-lovers in the group said it was good.

Service here is excellent. And I don't mean in that way compared to the lower standards we all seem to be resigned to these days because service is just so terrible in Calgary. I mean, professional, smart, and courteous. It's about time Calgary got a place like this that does so many things right.

JAROblue doesn't take reservations but they give accurate estimates of how long the wait might be, and will call your cellphone when a table is ready.

JAROblue, 1314-17th Ave. SW, (403) 237-5276. Open Sun-Thurs. 5 p.m. to midnight, Fri.-Sat. 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Every time I see Shawna, we go out for a nice dinner and catch up. We usually end up at the Black Cat Cafe, but this time decided to try something new.

I pried myself away from her much-too-adorable offspring and we headed to Wellington Street West, a revitalized area of Ottawa that used to boast pawn shops and dusty storefronts, and is now home to condos, restaurants and the Irving Greenburg Theatre Centre, the new base for the stelllar Great Canadian Theatre Company.

Among this new life blooms the Wellington Gastropub, which opened in the fall of 2006 following the British gastropub trend of high-quality food in a relaxed pub atmosphere.

I instantly loved the exposed brick walls, warm lighting, and cozy welcome as we emerged from the stairs to the second-floor dining area. The beers are primarily from microbreweries and there's a well-chosen wine list. The menu changes daily.

I was having such a good time chatting, and looking over the menu, and chewing fresh bread from Art-Is-In Bakery, and picking wine that it's only now I noticed I can't really decipher what I scribbled down, so my apologies.

Shawna had an amazing potato swiss chard bacon soup with truffled sour cream and chives ($7), while I had the seared fish cake with spicy caper remoulade and pickled fennel ($10).

To me, fish cakes are either good or bad. And this one was definitely the former. But Shawna's soup really kicked, and I started to worry I would covet her side of the table all night.

Well, I was right. For her main, Shawna ordered the scallops and Israeli couscous ($24). In a lesser kitchen, these would be rubbery and scarce on top of gummy, flavourless mush. Here, the scallops (six, count 'em!) were meaty and perfectly seared.

But the couscous, oh my god, the couscous. Yes, the carnivore is raving about couscous. It was fluffy and light and moist and completely changed my thinking about the wee grains. Of course, I could tell you about the flavour if I could figure out what "bacon shiitake spinach s d tom basil sauce" means.

My crispy duck confit ($23) was nicely done, served with crushed potatoes with "botand," yellow beans and "whiskey chay jus." Damn notes.

This is one of those warm-up-your-belly dishes, and I like that they didn't screw around with it, leaving it to its true salty tenderness.

Wellington Gastropub has an in-house pastry chef (Pascale Berthiaume) so we had to try some of her concoctions. I got the chocolate-orange fondant with fruit, but really, the only thing we should focus on is Pascale's daily homemade ice cream.

In a bowl came three scoops of that day's special: raspberry-passionfruit, milk chocolate-hazelnut, and banana caramel brownie. Regardless of your favourite flavours, this was some kickass, creamy, delicious ice cream.

The restaurant has plans to turn their front patio into an ice cream stand this summer. A capital idea, I say!

And what of the service? Co-owner chef Chris Deraiche came out to chat to us for a few minutes. And our server Nick and Shawna were sharing pictures of their kids by the end of the night.

Wellington Gastropub, 1325 Wellington St., Ottawa, (613) 729-1315.
Open for lunch Monday to Friday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner Monday to Saturday 5:30-10 p.m. Closed Sundays. Website here.

Oh, to be going to university in Ottawa now where there is a gourmet burger chain called The Works (just three blocks from where I used to live!), as opposed to schlepping down to the McDonald's for a sad little cheeseburger...

The location we went to was packed on a Friday night, but perusing the menu made the half-hour wait more than speed by.

When Shawna warned me it would take a long time to decide what I would want off the menu, she wasn't kidding.

There are more than 60 burgers, and then you can choose a patty of ground beef, chicken breast, ground turkey, veggie burger or portobello mushroom cap, on either a whole wheat or white bun, with a side of fries, potato strings, spicy die-cut chips, mashed potatoes, salad or coleslaw.

We started with the Tower-O-Rings ($8.91) with our choice (of course) of their homemade dipping sauces. We got curry mayo, beechhouse and some red one I forget (Thai?). To put it simply: the onion rings rocked. Hot, crunchy, and so tasty.

The measuring cups for beverages I wasn't so thrilled about, but then again, I also get weirded out drinking from Mason jars. At least the drinks come with straws.

I did enjoy the choice of milkshakes in three different sizes (8, 16, 32 oz.) and 16 flavours.

The burgers range from Ho Hum #1 (cheddar cheese) to Crappy Tire (pineapple ring, sweet and spicy sauce and brie) to Sum Yung Guy (cream cheese, caramelized onions, gouda and strip bacon).

There's even the Triple Overtime ($36.50) : three of their "thunderbichin'" one-pound burgers with BBQ sauce and cheddar. If you can eat them in 20 minutes, you get them for free, plus a free dinner for two and a baseball cap on your next visit.

I think we could've had a legitimate shot if only for the fact I eat so damn slow and Shawna was in the mood for a portobello mushroom burger — which, in my and Aires' books, isn't a really burger. It's a fungus.

Shawna and Aires get takeout every Saturday from The Works, so they already knew what they wanted.

Shawna salvaged her fungus choice by choosing the Blues Burger ($10.54) with blue cheese and double-smoked bacon.

Aires got his standby beef Stockyard ($10.75) with crushed peppercorn crust, swiss cheese and dijon-haze sauce — except "when you think there shouldn't be this many peppercorns on it, add some more."

I finally settled on a similar beef Peppercorn Broiler ($12.03) which comes a crunchy black peppercorn crust, gouda and crispy bacon, with a side of coleslaw.

The menu promises "no filler" and that cooks do not "push, prod, or pinch them" on the grill. That's definitely what you get. The burgers are thick, juicy and quite delicious.

The Works' coleslaw, made with jalapeno pepper juice and white pepper, is pretty good, but I should've got the fries.

The Works is decorated like a factory, and definitely doesn't take itself too seriously (its chili is called the "Rear Ender"). The staff are great, which makes sense in light of this article that says they're handpicked and encouraged to show their personality.

Needless to say, we left there stuffed and happy.

The Works, 580 Bank St., Ottawa, Ontario, (613) 235-0406. Four other locations in the Ottawa area.

I thought it was an April Fool's joke, but alas Susur Lee, one of my favourite chefs, is leaving Toronto for New York. He'll be closing his self-titled Susur on May 31 but the more casual Lee next door will remain open.

Toronto Life reports that Susur will be opening a restaurant in a boutique hotel in Manhattan's Lower East Side this fall, but will cook at Lee during the times he's back in Toronto.

"A chef has to do new things, have new adventures," Susur told the magazine.

I have fond, fond memories of my meals at Susur. Best wishes to the chef.

Susur, 601 King St. West, Toronto, (416) 603-2205.
Lee, 603 King St. West, Toronto, (416) 504-7867.

I know you're not a real person, but the raccoon mascot for Porter Airlines. Nonetheless, I thought you would like to know about how much I love your company.

Thank you for having a simple yet stylish website that doesn't freeze up and offers reasonable domestic fares around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and now New York, Halifax and Quebec City.

Thanks for offering to hang up my coat when I boarded the plane, even as an economy-fare passenger. The smiling attendant was just lovely in a sharp suit, her hair in a neat bun, and makeup from this decade, unlike some of my other air travels.

Kudos for designing a little cup holder on the back of the tray at my seat so I didn't have to juggle a blazingly hot cup of coffee while trying to stash my (admittedly large) purse and laptop bag.

THANK YOU for the complimentary lunchbox with half a pastrami sandwich on marble rye with mayo, mustard, green leaf lettuce, and swiss cheese; a mini Babybel and crackers, and wetnap. Even the skinny model girl down the row ate her cheese. I’m glad you could provide her some protein.

And hey, thanks for serving my club soda in a real glass so I felt all classy, and not like I was at some six-year-old’s birthday party.

You have my gratitude for making air travel something I can enjoy rather than dread. I can't wait until you expand your top-notch service and thoughtful air details to western Canada.

Please hurry.

Click here for more info on Porter Airlines.