Bagel Shop love and other memories of food.

When I was growing up, I used to walk to a bagel shop and get bagels. The owner would give each child who came in a free bagel. How awesome is that? I'm still in love with those bagels, though I haven't lived in that neighbourhood for a long time. Actually, I don't even live in the same city anymore! And herein lies the problem: not only do I now have to pay for good bagels, but I have to go far away to get them. I have tried other kinds, but no one else seems to get the recipe quite right. (Side note: My friend in Germany tells me that Germans don't eat bagels. How sad for them.)

There are other differences too, methinks, between Ottawa and Toronto. Ottawa, for example, is awash in "chip wagons": van/truck things out of which emerge excellent, thick-cut, deep-fried french fries. And no one thinks you're odd if you order poutine. In Toronto, there really aren't such vehicular beasts. We have "street meat" here---sidewalk stands where you can order a hot dog---and trucks along the university's main street which sell Chinese take-away, but it's just not the same. Pizza in downtown Toronto is also lacking that Ottawa goodness. There's a lot of apparently-tasty thin pizzas with odd (to my capital-city palate) toppings... sometimes with pesto instead of tomato sauce! But the good thick, heavy-topping and cheese-ladden pizza is just not readily available around where I live. It's unfortunate. Last but not least is the lack of good Lebanese food. Ottawa and Montreal are well-served here, but Toronto just doesn't cut it. Falafels, donairs, and shawarmas are everywhere in Ottawa... and I do mean everywhere. In Toronto, instead, sushi places seem to grace every street corner. Don't get me wrong: sushi is good. But can a place ever really feel like home if bagels, pizza, chip wagon chips, and shawarmas are so hard to find? Toronto, I want to love you, but you make it hard sometimes.

Maybe I just need to let go of my O.dot upbringing, and learn to embrace big-city eats. I'm open to suggestions....