#Instaweekend | From Yaletown to Hogtown

As you may or may not know, View the Vibe is making big waves on the West Coast. The wonderful Ms. Nicki was off working hard and eating well in Vancouver while some of us back home were making our own edible magic this #instaweekend…

Nicki’s Eats and Treats | Twitter: @ViewtheVibe | Instagram: ViewtheVibe
Nicki kicked off the tail end of her Vancouver tour with a new vibe video shoot at the stunning The Parlour Restaurant in Yaletown. Look out Van City, their awesome eats will soon be in HD!

While some may have a sweet tooth, Nicki is not shy about her seafood tooth – evident while indulging in some of Vancouver’s freshest seafood at Blue Water Café, with an exceptional lobster ceviche and an exceedingly fresh salmon hand roll both being huge hits for our globetrotting foodie.

A brunch by the water at Lift Bar and Grill is never a bad way to start a Saturday…

The heirloom tomato and burrata brulee was as much of a treat for the eyes as it was her hungry palate.

Never one to get sick of the seafaring delights, Nicki’s Dungeness crab benny made all of us back home mighty jealous of her most recent journey.

Upon her return to Toronto, Nicki brunched at one of her favourites, Gusto 101 – having ricotta with honey and a cool glass of prosecco… Yes, please!

By Sunday night it was back to work – sort of – with the media night for Lisa Marie, the fantastic new restaurant by popup master Fidel Gastro. It’s been a long time coming now, and the exceptionally priced menu of mouthwatering and avant-garde comfort food is going to be a sure hit with the Queen West crowd.

An Aperol Spritz to start things off…

Definitely the healthiest and lightest thing on the menu was this colourful tuna puttanesca roll.

She could have practically strapped these massive turkey wings to her hands and flown away with them! Though, just like turkeys, after this meal no one was flying anywhere…

One of the most inventive dishes of the evening was the comically named Pork Belly Cheese Thang, with a malleable melted Havarti cheese crisp that served as the sensational shell for smoked pork belly with a cilantro cherry tomato salsa, topped with chili basil aioli.

See more highlights from the Lisa Marie tasting here!

Jason’s Eats and Treats | Twitter: @j_finestone | Instagram: finest_one
From a high seas dinner to a high stakes hockey game, my #instaweekend was a medley of home cooked delights and late night noshings (which were eaten in too much haste to make it to the camera roll).

I started things off this weekend at The Captain’s Table, a Titanic replica dinner on Friday night, supporting the Golden Horseshoe Culinary Team. It was fun to get all classed-up and take in a few authentic preparations from a bygone era of eating. This Chicken Lyonnaise, was one example…

In between watching The Masters and prepping for the Leafs game, I managed to draw some inspiration from celebrity chef Curtis Stone, whom I met on Friday. Playing a bit with his recipe, I whipped up a dish of Louisiana Style Barbecue Shrimp with garlic, lemon zest, fresh herbs and a cayenne pepper kick. (No barbecue required.)

With two important points on the line as the 2013 NHL regular season winds down, I snapped this one while backup goalie Peter Budaj came in for Carey Price after letting up three goals on the Leafs first four shots.  #GoLeafsGo!

Catering to a vegan palate, but pleasing the rest of the guests, we had a sweet brunch spread on Sunday morning for visiting, Montreal friends.

Now that the barbecue season is finally looking like it’s here, our Sunday Dinner with the cousins, aunts and uncles had all the prerequisite grill marks.

After a lengthy conversation debating the virtues and vices of natural vs. Kraft peanut butter, we couldn’t resist adding a dollop of the good stuff (Kraft, of course) to our double chocolate cake. Talk about indulging!