Hospitality Guide

I am obsessed with eating competitions. I don’t know why but it fascinates me to see a grown man or woman stuffing their faces all in the name of competition. Hot dogs, hamburgers, wings, crab cakes, it’s all good!
My first introduction into the world of competitive eating took place last summer at Dunn Tire Park lin Buffalo NY during the annual Wing Festival- Yes there is a two day festival dedicated to the almighty wing and it is very popular with ‘meatatarians’ everywhere.
By the way check out our coverage of the Buffalo Wing Festival on this site. It was there that I met Sonya “the black widow” Thomas; She’s Korean, weighs slightly over 100 pounds and she is an eating machine! In fact she slayed the competition. It’s worth noting that the competition was on average 4 times her size. Anyway, if you haven’t seen Sonya in action- do so now, she is amazing!!!

I saw a Sean Penn’s ‘Into the Wild’ a few nights ago and it’s one of those films where I find myself still thinking about it days after the fact. For those who have yet to see it, here’s a quick synopsis….

“After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters who shape his life.”

This is based on a true story  so I don’t think I’m spoiling anything when I say that Christopher dies alone in the middle of nowhere, but it does make the ending all that more heart-breaking.  It’s amazing to me that someone felt so strongly about disconnecting himself from society that he decided to lose himself and live alone in the Alaskan wilderness.

Alaska has been on my list of ‘things to do’ for awhile now, seeing this film just reinforces that.

Here’s a question. If money was no object, where in the world would you want to travel to? While you’re all thinking about that, here is my top 5 list in no particular order:

1) Galapagos Island. I want to hang out with 200 year old turtles. How crazy is that?? Turtles that live twice as long as us! Actually that’s kind of weird, but I still want to check it out.

2) Dubai. I’ve seen some pictures and all I can is…WOW!

3) Iceland. Vikings, Volcanoes, Blue Lagoons and Bjork. I’m in.

4) Alaska. Two words…aurora borealis.

5) New Zealand. Geographically speaking it is as far away from where I am right now as humanly possible so if you’re going to escape, might as well do it right!

I was surfing the web and I came across some funny pictures from around the world so I thought I’d share. Speaking of which, if you have any hilarious photos from your travels, feel free to email them to us at info@thehospitalityguide.com.  Also, if you’ve missed any episodes of  The Hospitality Guide go to www.thehospitalityguide.com to catch up.

Peace and good vibes,

G.

It’s cold, windy and the winter jackets don’t seem to be going anywhere for a long while. Wouldn’t it be nice to just get away for a bit? With the economy heading into a downward spiral most of us are discouraging ourselves from spending money on a Timbit let alone a weeklong vacation. Surprisingly, vacation packages are also heading into that same downward spiral and good thing for us because that can only mean one thing, they’re a lot cheaper. For an average price of an airline ticket to New York and back you can get an all inclusive vacation package (all inclusive = free alcohol too).

Every winter, I spoil myself and head to a sunny destination and I was damned sure this year wasn’t going to be any different. So I checked the usual websites: itravel2000, Selloffvacations and Belairtravel. Cuba and Dominican being the more popular destinations you should expect to payless. But I wanted to go somewhere differentl this time around and I decided on Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. After all if it’s good enough for Heidi and Spencer it’s good enough for me. I finally decided on The Rui Palace Cabo in beautiful SUNNY Mexico courtesy of Sunquest Vacations. It’s a 5.5 star hotel right on the beach with an ocean front suite- what more can you ask for? Typically you would expect to pay more than $2000 but I got a deal, only $1400! But before you start planning your vacation, make sure you set a budget and stick to it! Also if your hotel is right on the beach it cuts traveling costs.

Me in T- Minus 3 weeks

Enough about me. If it’s not in your budget to go away you don’t have to - The Hospitality Guide will take you, especially to delicious eateries right here in Toronto and around the world. We will make your mouth water in San Francisco with crab legs at The Crab Shack, try some amazing coffee in Sweden and of course go to the best Hamburger joint in all of the U.S of A at Le Tub burgers. See, even the Hospitality Guide can make the winter blues disappear.

But to curve your appetites, enjoy cooking with George at the opening night gala for Toronto’s International Film Festival.

New year, new season, new adventures, new shows and a new promo for The Hospitality Guide. Two minutes. That’s all you need to know what The Hospitality Guide is all about. Find out where we’ve been and what we’ve seen as George Tsioutsioulas takes you on an adventure each and every week here on The HG. Sweden, Buffalo Wingfest, Ft. Lauderdale, Kelowna and much more. So make sure you watch and leave your thoughts, comments, suggestions and places you think we should check out!

Now on a different topic: If you like sushi, sashimi, tempura, dumplings, chicken teriyaki and let’s not forget the green tea ice cream look no further than Wasabi, a Japanese Buffet style Restaurant. For $16 (lunch buffet) you can have endless amount of delicious seafood, platters of freshly sliced fruit and rows of sushi rolls and sashimi. All you can eat.  So if you’re sitting at home craving Japanese food for a great price, I highly recommend Wasabi.

Wasabi is located at 270 West Beaver Creek in Richmondhill.

So far we’ve seen Niagara Falls from the sky, gambled our way through Las Vegas, been to Halifax to meet some of the nicest people and got acquainted with Mickey Mouse in Disney. After Disney we made our way to Quebec for a French version of the HG (don’t worry it’s not actually in French, it took a while for George Tsioutsioulas to pronounce the province name properly…don’t worry he got it by the end of the trip). If you’re hungry you have to tune into the Wing Festival episode when we crossed the border to Buffalo for a day dedicated to chicken wings. Are you obsessed with celebrities? We got a backstage pass at The Toronto International Film Festival. Two words: Brad Pitt. The HG crew’s next stop was San Francisco where we got to try some of the best crab legs in the world. Let’s not forget a weekend in Montreal and drum roll please…SWEDEN! From the ice hotel to mushroom picking the HG did it all – Swedish style of course. I can’t possibly forget The Wine Festival in the Okanagan Valley. I highly recommend starting everyday with a glass of wine – don’t forget to swirl, sniff, swoosh then swallow. And lucky George leaves the cold Toronto weather on Sunday for a week in Fort Lauderdale filled with beaches, palm trees and warm sunny weather of course. Not jealous AT ALL!

Now on a different topic. Ever since our office moved to 355 King street west I’ve realized how many different types of restaurants there are in Toronto. I’m the type of person where if I like something it’s my go to place but I think I’m turning a new leaf. Last Friday I went on a shoot with Chris, one of our camera man to a sushi bar called Blowsfish. The chef demonstrated how to make two of their most popular dishes: Black and White makimonos and tower of tuna served with crab crisps. The bartender Nishan made a Pomegranate saketini and a Mango Passion saketini. After our shoot was done, the people at Blowfish insisted Chris and I eat the dishes and drink the drinks. How can I say no? Plus it was the end of the day so a little treat wouldn’t be so bad. Everything was delicious. The sushi rolls? Never tasted ones that were that fresh. And The tower of tuna was a tower of yummy. Don’t even get me started on the drinks. I’ve already made plans to go back and I suggest anyone whose into Japanese cuisine to head over to Blowfish.

Blowfish is at 668 King Street West. Two can dine for as low as $60.

 Hej mitt namn är Lisa, och du läser den bästa bloggen i stan! 

Translate that.

Stockholm, where urban meets rural. As you walk through the heart of downtown Stockholm, full of stunning architecture, museums, cafes and shopping, you are also surrounded by the beautiful, crisp, clear waters of the Baltic Sea -water so clean that you can drink from it, swim in it, fish in it and bathe in it from no matter where it flows.  Much like everywhere in Europe, no matter where you snap a photograph, the shot always turns out to be award-winning.  This city is architecturally blessed with some of the oldest buildings in Europe and some of the most modern structures to date. Sweden known for their creativity -whether it’s in their designs; (IKEA is actually considered cheap rather than trendy for most Swedes) their delicious meals; (believe it or not meatballs are a very popular dish in Sweden!) and even in the laws of society; (’All Man’s Right’ - All non-military property that is not fenced in, or is not a farm or someone’s personal garden is open to anyone for hiking through or camping for one night.) On that note, I get vexed if the mailman walks across my lawn, let alone letting him crash in my backyard! 

That just proves the European mentality vs. a North American one.

One thing that Toronto really needs to invest in…an Ice Bar. Actually, the city absolutely needs an Absolut Ice Bar - sorry, had to do it.  This bar is the first permanent ice bar in the world, at minus 5 degrees all year ’round, could you say this is the ‘coolest’ bar on the planet…? - Hello, my name is Cheese.  Still, it is a pretty amazing concept - where everything is made out of ice; from the seats, to the actual bar, to the walls and with your disposible ice glass your drinks are sure to be chillin’ - just drink one Absolut Vodka Martini and it’s enough to help you defrost! The average person stays no longer than 20 minutes, well, I’m proud to report that the HG team (minus myself, I whimped out) lasted a whopping hour and a half! That’s 45 minutes longer than what Pierce Brosnan lasted when he was in Stockholm’s Ice bar! Go Team! - again, minus myself. Clearly, I did not have enough drinks to keep me from my frost bite. 

After all my experiences in Stockholm, I must admit that the image that stuck into my head the most  was simply my view from the plane upon landing. Within minutes of descent, the clouds parted, the smog dissipated and the sun beamed down onto the blue of the sea and the green of Sweden’s Archipelago, it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the vibrant colours.  Soon, I was going to be a part of this land, this culture. It was so picturesque. I felt as though we were flying right into the heart of a history lesson. 

Ah, Europe.