| And now for something completely different! Big Boss and I have been talking about adding Ty to the ICYT universe for a long time now. He is the culinary personality we so desperately needed to add into the fray. He's an all around, highly likable guy! This is the man you go to when you need a food spot. He searches high and low for the best grub in any city he's in. You might say Ty is the Delany of our universe (RIP Bon Appetit). You want to know where the best fried chicken is? The best noodle spot? Best value meals? You want to see what the ICYT crew looks like while we mainline food into our gullets? TUNE IN AND DON'T CHANGE THE CHANNEL. Without further ado, take it away Ty! - ianternetmaster PS. DO NOT READ ON AN EMPTY STOMACH! You've been warned. amuse-bouche "a little bite of delight" What’s up friends! For those that don’t know me, my name’s Tyler - longtime friend/reader, first time contributor to the ICYT extended universe. Once a month, I’ll be high jacking the weekly newsletter from @ianternetmaster with the intention to put his refined and highly sophisticated readership onto some of the better things I’ve eaten around the city in the past 30 days. My purpose is to spread positivity and support local businesses that are making delicious food the right way. I’ll also be using this platform to speak on some of my personal experiences of what food means to me, as well as speaking to relevant topics/current events like supporting our local communities in times of need. I can’t lie, since day one I’ve been a certified thick boy who’s always had an obsession for eating good food. Often times I find food to be the highlight of my week, it’s one of the best parts of vacation, and it even has me thinking before the dishes are cleared: “I can’t wait to have this exact same thing again”. Honestly I just love to eat. I’ve never had any serious culinary experience, but my appreciation for food goes beyond just enjoying something that tastes delicious. Food is so much more than nutritional sustenance. It’s an expression of creativity, culture and experiences. Every chef brings a perspective unique to them, while at the same time every consumer interprets a dish in their own one of a kind way based on the life that they’ve lived. Food is one of those things that everybody has their own perspective on – it depends on factors like: how you were raised, what your family life was like, where were you born, etc. There are so many different factors to determine how food is seen by each unique individual. This makes the possibilities for food is endless, and that’s what I love about it. Nothing beats that indescribable feeling food gives you when it hits you with nostalgic flavour, bringing you back to a specific moment in time that brought you joy (*cue the scene from Ratatouille *). Food has always been a major part of my life. As a second generation Chinese-Canadian, food has always been the universal language for my family, especially when my brother and I don’t speak our mother language of Toisan (Cantonese dialect). Growing up, my grandma would always be around. She would make sure that we were always taken care of, and more importantly, well fed. She was regularly cooking up an incredible feast, constantly making us a spread of our favourite foods (freshly steamed BBQ pork buns, sticky rice with lap cheong , braised pork plus all the other fixings hand wrapped in banana leafs, as well as stir fried noodles galore just to name a few) all from scratch and with love. Even though there was a language barrier, you could see it in her eyes that her heart was full of joy when she saw her grandchildren enjoy the food that she made. My grandma took pride in her cooking, always asking us whenever we did eat at a restaurant which one we preferred; her’s or the restaurant’s. And honestly, almost every time her cooking came out on top. It always made her smile widely to hear that she could always provide her grandchildren with delicious meals. Food is a form of love for a lot of people in my family – not a lot needs to be said, it’s just one of the ways that we show one another we care. It could be a simple gesture of bringing some egg tarts over to enjoy with some coffee or tea, or delivering relatives an extravagantly complex meal of homemade dishes during the holidays, but at the end of the day, it shows that we’re thinking of them. That’s all that needs to be said. Peep the spread. Immaculate. Exquisite. As the world starts to unhinge a little bit more every day, it makes me think back to a simpler time where we could spend time with friends and family without giving it a second thought. As much as I miss dining at local restaurants or traveling the world for new experiences, the most meaningful meals to me are the ones I find myself missing daily. Looking back those are the most meaningful meals in the past year - the meals we took for granted. It’s the meals with friends after not seeing each other for a while, or the weekly link up with the homies to shoot the shit about nothing. Back when seeing one another didn’t have to be a special occasion. Now it’s far and few between to mask up and enjoy a meal together, or even spend some socially distanced time outside. Though it seems bleak, I’m counting down the days when we can all enjoy the company of one another. For me, I’m looking forward to safely having dinner at my grandma’s again. Remembering how delighted she would be just to be in the same room as her children and grandchildren, no idea what they were talking about, just happy to be there. Of course after every meal at her place, no matter the size or scale, she would always be ready to end the night with a bowl of washed and peeled fruit with toothpicks in them to prevent everybody’s hands from getting sticky. The perfect way to end the night spent with family. One of my favourite things in the world is sharing a meal with friends/family where you can feel the love and care that went into it, everything from the quality of ingredients, the details in preparation, and the execution of flavours. Half of the enjoyment of amazing food comes from sharing it with other people - seeing that look of pure euphoria when somebody bites into something delicious they’ve never had before always makes me smile. Like I said before, more often than not, enjoying great food tends to be the thing I look most forward to on my day to day. This is why I am excited to share with you my passion for gastronomy in this monthly column. Am I the most qualified person to have a column on food? Probably not. But as long as you’ll have me, I’ll be here to put in the market research on some of the best food in the city and hopefully I can introduce you to a delectable meal or two. Every last Friday of the month will be the regularly scheduled programming of uMAHmi. I’ll be writing about some of my favourite things I ate that month, and where to find them, plus whatever other food content the braintrust at ICYT cooks up. We’ll be giving some well-deserved shine to some of the great local eateries, chefs, hospitality groups and individuals we have in the city. Hold tight and keep your eyes peeled for that coming out in a few weeks! Thanks for reading and stay safe out there :) - TM |
And now for something completely different!
Big Boss and I have been talking about adding Ty to the ICYT universe for a long time now. He is the culinary personality we so desperately needed to add into the fray. He's an all around, highly likable guy! This is the man you go to when you need a food spot. He searches high and low for the best grub in any city he's in. You might say Ty is the Delany of our universe (RIP Bon Appetit).
You want to know where the best fried chicken is? The best noodle spot? Best value meals? You want to see what the ICYT crew looks like while we mainline food into our gullets? TUNE IN AND DON'T CHANGE THE CHANNEL.
Without further ado, take it away Ty!
- ianternetmaster
PS. DO NOT READ ON AN EMPTY STOMACH! You've been warned.
| |
amuse-bouche
"a little bite of delight"
What’s up friends! For those that don’t know me, my name’s Tyler - longtime friend/reader, first time contributor to the ICYT extended universe. Once a month, I’ll be high jacking the weekly newsletter from @ianternetmaster with the intention to put his refined and highly sophisticated readership onto some of the better things I’ve eaten around the city in the past 30 days. My purpose is to spread positivity and support local businesses that are making delicious food the right way. I’ll also be using this platform to speak on some of my personal experiences of what food means to me, as well as speaking to relevant topics/current events like supporting our local communities in times of need.
I can’t lie, since day one I’ve been a certified thick boy who’s always had an obsession for eating good food. Often times I find food to be the highlight of my week, it’s one of the best parts of vacation, and it even has me thinking before the dishes are cleared: “I can’t wait to have this exact same thing again”. Honestly I just love to eat. I’ve never had any serious culinary experience, but my appreciation for food goes beyond just enjoying something that tastes delicious. Food is so much more than nutritional sustenance. It’s an expression of creativity, culture and experiences. Every chef brings a perspective unique to them, while at the same time every consumer interprets a dish in their own one of a kind way based on the life that they’ve lived. Food is one of those things that everybody has their own perspective on – it depends on factors like: how you were raised, what your family life was like, where were you born, etc. There are so many different factors to determine how food is seen by each unique individual. This makes the possibilities for food is endless, and that’s what I love about it. Nothing beats that indescribable feeling food gives you when it hits you with nostalgic flavour, bringing you back to a specific moment in time that brought you joy (*cue the scene from Ratatouille*).
Food has always been a major part of my life. As a second generation Chinese-Canadian, food has always been the universal language for my family, especially when my brother and I don’t speak our mother language of Toisan (Cantonese dialect). Growing up, my grandma would always be around. She would make sure that we were always taken care of, and more importantly, well fed. She was regularly cooking up an incredible feast, constantly making us a spread of our favourite foods (freshly steamed BBQ pork buns, sticky rice with lap cheong, braised pork plus all the other fixings hand wrapped in banana leafs, as well as stir fried noodles galore just to name a few) all from scratch and with love. Even though there was a language barrier, you could see it in her eyes that her heart was full of joy when she saw her grandchildren enjoy the food that she made. My grandma took pride in her cooking, always asking us whenever we did eat at a restaurant which one we preferred; her’s or the restaurant’s. And honestly, almost every time her cooking came out on top. It always made her smile widely to hear that she could always provide her grandchildren with delicious meals. Food is a form of love for a lot of people in my family – not a lot needs to be said, it’s just one of the ways that we show one another we care. It could be a simple gesture of bringing some egg tarts over to enjoy with some coffee or tea, or delivering relatives an extravagantly complex meal of homemade dishes during the holidays, but at the end of the day, it shows that we’re thinking of them. That’s all that needs to be said.
| |
Peep the spread. Immaculate. Exquisite. | | |
As the world starts to unhinge a little bit more every day, it makes me think back to a simpler time where we could spend time with friends and family without giving it a second thought. As much as I miss dining at local restaurants or traveling the world for new experiences, the most meaningful meals to me are the ones I find myself missing daily. Looking back those are the most meaningful meals in the past year - the meals we took for granted. It’s the meals with friends after not seeing each other for a while, or the weekly link up with the homies to shoot the shit about nothing. Back when seeing one another didn’t have to be a special occasion. Now it’s far and few between to mask up and enjoy a meal together, or even spend some socially distanced time outside. Though it seems bleak, I’m counting down the days when we can all enjoy the company of one another. For me, I’m looking forward to safely having dinner at my grandma’s again. Remembering how delighted she would be just to be in the same room as her children and grandchildren, no idea what they were talking about, just happy to be there. Of course after every meal at her place, no matter the size or scale, she would always be ready to end the night with a bowl of washed and peeled fruit with toothpicks in them to prevent everybody’s hands from getting sticky. The perfect way to end the night spent with family.
One of my favourite things in the world is sharing a meal with friends/family where you can feel the love and care that went into it, everything from the quality of ingredients, the details in preparation, and the execution of flavours. Half of the enjoyment of amazing food comes from sharing it with other people - seeing that look of pure euphoria when somebody bites into something delicious they’ve never had before always makes me smile. Like I said before, more often than not, enjoying great food tends to be the thing I look most forward to on my day to day. This is why I am excited to share with you my passion for gastronomy in this monthly column. Am I the most qualified person to have a column on food? Probably not. But as long as you’ll have me, I’ll be here to put in the market research on some of the best food in the city and hopefully I can introduce you to a delectable meal or two.
Every last Friday of the month will be the regularly scheduled programming of uMAHmi. I’ll be writing about some of my favourite things I ate that month, and where to find them, plus whatever other food content the braintrust at ICYT cooks up. We’ll be giving some well-deserved shine to some of the great local eateries, chefs, hospitality groups and individuals we have in the city. Hold tight and keep your eyes peeled for that coming out in a few weeks!
Thanks for reading and stay safe out there :)
- TM
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