Cubed Celebs

I <3 Cava

As per usual, it’s been a rough few weeks, so Denise and I decided that we’d treat ourselves to a nice meal at Cava this past Wednesday. For the food nerds out there, Cava is the newest venture from former Avalon chef, Chris McDonald.

To set the scene a bit, Cava is billed as a “casual tapas place.” Nevertheless when I made the reservation on OpenTable.com, the dress code said “business casual.” I suppose tapas tastes better when one is adorned in sensible separates from Banana Republic.

Denise and I haul our assess to Yonge and St. Clair (a hop, skip and an annoying bus ride through the never-ending St. Clair streetcar lane debacle, away from chez moi.) The dining room was not big and the lighting was only okay. However our waiter was a cutie and he had a sexy Spanish accent.

Denise started off with a nice Cava Cocktail (the girl can’t stay away from bitters) and I had a nice Cava Daiquiri. My drink came with the mix on the side. There was a piece of pineapple in the glass with the booze. Those of you who know me well, know that I like a stiffer drink that most. However this piece of pineapple was so boozy, that I could not finish chewing it. I actually had to spit it out, it was that boozy.

Here is what we had:

PINCHOS OF RAPINI, WHITE BEAN & MANCHEGO
This was essentially good bread, topped with a white bean purée, a piece of rapini and shavings of Manchego (last year’s hip cheese.) This is one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. I am soooo making this at home.

CHARCUTERIA
A meat platter composed of pâté, salami, chrizo and buffalo bresaola. The pâté and salami melted in your mouth, while the chorizo and the bresaola was a nice shock to the taste buds.

GRILLED OCTOPUS WITH GREEN ONIONS, FINGERLING POTATOES & HAZELNUT ROMESCO
I am normally pretty nervous to order octopus as it is almost always rubbery. Nevertheless, we took the risk. I am so glad we did because it was fanfuckingtastic. You will not taste octopus that is this tender.

WILD MUSHROOM & FRESH CORN TAMAL WITH AN ANCHO CHILE SAUCE
Don’t order this. It was only so-so. The tamale was a bit stiff and the flavours not as bold. Had the other dishes not been so outstanding, this wouldn’t have seemed so mediocre.

FORTY-EIGHT HOUR BEEF CHEEKS
This was the star of the show. I have never had beef cheeks in a non-French restaurant. These were outstanding. Soft, moist and full of good flavour. More beef cheeks!

Accompanying our meal was a nice half litre of sangria. There was so much on the menu that we didn’t order, that practically guaranteed a return visit. Next time I’m going whole hog and ordering the PORKY BEANS WITH CRISPY BRAISED PORK BELLY.

Read a proper review of Cava over here.

Gotta try this!

Which celebs do you look like??? Check it out on MyHeritage.

Apparently I look like an Italian lady.

Bo'Selecta

Avid Merrion is the new Borat Sagdiyev. This guy is awesome.

I never want to use Vaseline again

Tyra done gone insane.

Ben Affleck is grody

Making fun of cerebal palsy and groping a journalist? It's Sunday morning with Ben Affleck.

Some photos from night number one in Montreal

Tonight I got together with my dear friend Ana and she cooked up a feast. Her beau Karim makes a mean apple martini and the night was good fun all around. Here are some shots from tonight.

Ana is a teetotaller, but she sure loves her some booze.

The aftermath of our boozing.

Ana recreates a Picasso

Happy couple number one: Lewis and Cloelle

Happy couple number two: Karim and Ana (I miss Chris!)

My bed at the Hôtel Godin. This is where I am headed right now.

Montreal bound

After much debate, I finally convinced my place of work that despite the fact that it may not be as popular as New York or Paris, it is our duty as a Canadian media outlet to cover both Montreal and Toronto Fashion Weeks. Their response? “You’re absolutely right. So go do it.” Lousy bastards would not shell out for an actual writer.

So to compensate for me essentially having to do it all myself and still do my day to day job, I booked myself into the Hôtel Godin. If I’ve got to bust my ass, I may as well do it in style.

I'm actually fairly excited for Montreal Fashion Week as well. It's really a shame that for the most part, Canadians who can really afford high-end designer clothing would rather spend their money on Louis Vuitton or Armani rather than someone homegrown.

I do realize there are some whack Canadian designers out there, but I've also seen some amazing ones that still don't get a lot of attention. Hopefully I can just force them down the throats of the Canadian public. :)

Now back to the Godin. Check out the heritage staircase. Soooo purdy.

I've been quoted!

I do realize that it is just the York University newspaper, however I have never been quoted before! Click to image to enlarge it.

Harry Potter is all growed up

Out of action

I've been insanely busy at work and have now been maintaining a blog for our TIFF feature. This is where I'll be doing most my blogging for the next few weeks, so check it out: http://sandraandluluattiff.spaces.live.com/

Will be posting regularly once it's all over.

Koreans go on with the show

Call me a sadistic bitch, but I could not stop laughing at this.

And the hate goes on

"I do not know how single mothers have more than one child with no help," she tells [Harper's Bazaar] magazine. "It requires so much of my life, and I don't have to change sheets and clean toilets, you know."

Bitch needs to SHUT UP.

Best Boyfriend Ever

Since I'm going to be in Vancouver for my actual 30th birthday, my darling Chris is planning a little Toronto to-do for moi. He designed the cutest birthday invite and I really need to share it with everyone who reads my blog.

My baby is the best!

If you're not busy this weekend, please come over to Spirits for a little birthday karaoke and overall debauchery.

This makes me hate her guts even more

I sure do hate me some Gwyneth. And just when I thought the hate couldn't burn any brighter, she goes and does this:


I'm sure a rich, white girl from Manhattan's Upper East Side can really truly feel the plight of Africans dying of AIDS. I guess once all the idea is that all the other rich, white princesses of the world will see Gwynnie in this ad and open up their wallets generously.

My sister got engaged!

Will finally bit the bullet and got her the ring she always wanted. He busted his ass, but it's 1.4 carats and he used an photo of her dream ring as his guide. It's custom-made and here it is:



To quote Tuc: "It's pretty bling"

(My dad's only comment to Will when he called him to tell him that he was going to propose: "Are you sure you're ready for this?")

Here is the happy couple:

Remember Towlie?

One of the best South Park periphery characters.

Here he is trying to remember a security code:



And here is trying to see if the kids want to party:

Victoria Beckham should never speak out loud

Now, I am as fascinated with Victoria Beckham as the next person and cannot get enough of her bony ass in trashy tabloid photos. However, what I cannot seem to fathom is despite the fact that she is unabashedly ridiculed for her stupidity as she is praised for her style, if not more, she still has the audacity to tell Jon Stewart that he isn't funny. Does she even know how to spell sarcasm?

Plus we all know that David is too hot for her. She is essentially the Jennifer Aniston of Britain and we're all just waiting for the day that Angelina goes over there to steal David away from her.

OMG. So hot.

Diego Luna rocks the house with his hotness.

Ivana Young Man

It's better to be a babysitter than a nurse.

The above is the tagline for Ivana Trump’s new reality television show, Ivana Young Man.

Hold up.

How did I not hear about this sooner?

First of all. I effing LOVE Ivana. She is stitched up tighter than a corset and so pumped full of collagen that her lips don’t actually move when she speaks. Plus she beat the Donald at his own game and she found a hairstyle in 1989 and stuck with it.

Ivana like me, dates a younger man. While the age difference between me and my toyboy is only five years, Ivana is a whopping 20+ years older than her man Rossano Rubicondi. FYI. Rossano is hot and Italian.

Back to the show. I just happened to flip to the W network and saw Ivana’s face pop by. The essential premise is that six younger guys vie for the attention of an older lady. Said older lady begins with a makeover from Ivana’s gang of gays. The show is two hours long and ends with a winner. It’s like Jerry Hall’s Kept (which I also love), only wrapped up in one episode and set in New York.

From the first episode here are the highlights from the show:

• Ivana shows up at the end of each segment in these outrageous costumes. For example, at the end of the rock climbing segment, she shows up in a chiffon top, patent leather pants and a blonde fall in her hair. Fan-fucking-tastic.
• Ivana’s accent is amazing. Especially when she is telling one of the guys to “get some balls.”
• Almost immediately the guys are topless and climbing a wall and then afterward they are topless and playing basketball.
• Ivana uses her real-life boyfriend Rossano as a spy. He’s super Italian and just as over the top as Ivana.
• All Kathy (the older lady) keeps talking about is how hot the guys are without their shirts on.
• Ivana dismisses Rossano and relieves him of his services by saying “Take the limo and I’ll see you at home.” Go home bitch!
• Kathy doesn't decided on who leaves, Ivana does it. She gets up and says, "I have made my decision." Then she tells the boys whether or not they are "desired" or "not desired." Kathy bursts into tears after her dismissals. Ivana's response? "It was for your own good." Fierce!
• She gives the guys $2500 to spend on a gift for Kathy. How do I get on this show?
  

Between Ivana and Jerry, I suppose that the younger man/older woman situation is definitely going mainstream.