Battle Ready Baby 🗡

Punchy water cooler thing I did for @readthepeak ages ago and somehow never saw OR forgot I saw (I mean I clearly forgot to send them a proper pic) Probably mostly directly quoting my new book here…. how many ways are there to say anything? Thank you @taylorscollon !

I’ve been putting off posting this. It’s such a scary time to be an independent maker of things. And I fear we are going to be seeing huge losses. Places that we say we love, places where we are all shocked to learn the metrics aren’t quite working anymore. I know it’s hard times out there for everyone. Things feel bleak and everything feels impossible. For me, this was just part of my cultural life in the city, a place I knew I could always go and have a little lift and maybe walk away with a beautiful wearable thing. I’ll miss it so.

I know that two things can be true at the same time. I know that there are people who have experienced Redzepi’s shine or had a good time working at Noma, (or at least a worthwhile time) and had every door open for them when they left. I understand why they’re grateful for that. I even understand that you can learn a lot from someone who is hurting you. Things are nuanced and complicated! What I don’t understand is a lack of willingness for these powerful and power-adjacent people to do a little critical thinking here. Maybe instead of hearts, you could write something like: ‘ I had a different experience at Noma and it’s so hard to hear these depictions of abuse, because truly, some of them are heartbreaking. But I also want to believe people can change, so I’m taking this statement from my mentor with cautious optimism’. That’s literally just off the top of my head. I’m only focusing in on this particular angle because I think the way things never change is because ultimately too many people don’t really want them to. And blindly supporting Redzepi here just isn’t it!

Too short a season on Mount Washington, but we sure did have a nice time. Thrilled it’s above zero for our reentry! Love you LA, my very happy place.

I’m obsessed with Grey Gardens. I truly think it’s one of the best restaurants in North America. I believe I can be both subjective and objective about that…(And I’ve been to a lot of North America’s restaurants!) So, happy ninth birthday to this special space that somehow after all these years still feels special. The food and service are better than they have ever been and that’s because of the people in these pictures who show up every day with so much care and intention. Jake and I are so grateful to you all for that! And of course we are so grateful to all of our guests over the years, especially our wonderful regulars who truly appreciate what we are trying to do. I love you, GG HERE’S TO ANOTHER NINE!! 🩶🩶🩶 📸 @jmwakani and @annamac10

It’s so beautiful to see the universal love we all have for Catherine O’Hara, pouring out across the internet. So many write of her kindness. I once was a recipient of that kindness, long before anyone in Toronto knew who I was. I was in my 20s running Cobalt, my first bar, and had the honour of a wonderfully charismatic and charming regular, Mary Margaret O’Hara. She’d come in faithfully every Tuesday, a bit later, when it was quiet and we’d drink wine together and chat into the night. I treasured these visits. I was such a fan of hers and loved getting to know her. Obviously I also adored the work of her iconic sister Catherine. (This FAMILY!) One night we were talking about MM’s childhood and Catherine came up naturally in the conversation, and MM was like, ‘Let’s call her’! It was after midnight and I was pretty adamant we don’t, but MM insisted (it was 9 in LA…….’it’s fine!’) So she called her and handed me the phone and Catherine could not have been kinder. Imagine, your sister calls you up, into the wine and makes you talk to some random Toronto bartender??? But it IS fine because you’re part of a wonderfully warm family! We spoke for a few minutes. I told her how much her work meant to me and YEARS later she came into Grey Gardens and made sure to tell the staff that she said hi. Just incredibly thoughtful. My heart goes out to her family and friends, this is so sad. We have lost a giant. ❤️

Rhum Corner is now taking reservations! We’ve always been a walk-in place so this is something we’ve resisted, but we also hate disappointing people who come in from far away to see us and then can’t get a table for four for 2 hours on the weekend. So even though we’ve been doing this for 12 beautiful years as a walk-in spot, we’ve decided this could really be a good thing. We will still hold almost half the space for walk-ins! You’ll always be able to pull up to the bar. But let’s see how this goes. Show rhum some love. It’s a tough time out there for everyone. Reservations live on OpenTable! Link in @rhumcorner bio

I’m not such a big reflector… have to keep moving forward like a shark (a fun shark!) but I can’t deny there were some very beautiful (and validating) moments for me professionally in 2025 and this is a nice place to put them. ❤️

HOWS EVERYONE FEELING ABOUT 2026!

When @alisoneroman was in Toronto recently on tour for her new book Something From Nothing, she stopped in at @jen___agg ‘s restaurant @generalpublic201 for a foodie heart to heart. 🍽️✨ Over small plates and white Burgundy, these women who have shaped the way we think about food with equal parts confidence, candour and bite went deep. Nothing was off the table: success, criticism, standout recipes, tall poppy syndrome and the secret to caring a lot without apologizing for it. Head to the link in bio for their full conversation. 🍝 📸 @rlautens Toronto Star

Wednesday morning, I found myself five minutes away from Woburn collegiate (where I spent a few high school years, the ones I didn’t spend at A.S.E. 2). I had this overwhelming compulsion to do a walk-through, even though I haven’t stepped through those doors since I was a literal teenager. Maybe midlife nostalgia assuming I live to 100, maybe something about finishing my second book… I couldn’t say. The first thing that hit was that it smells exactly the same, I know smell is such a triggering sense for memory, but it was shocking. Not bad just particular. As I turned right down the music hall I remembered my grade 9 locker was here and the feeling of being new and young and not understanding how anything worked came flooding back. The backstage entrance to the auditorium is also down this hall, and I remembered the hours of Spotlight tag with my favorite crush, learning lines for plays, and the rush of performing them, swearing on stage during a singing thing, thinking I got away with something and then seeing the vice principal march toward me down the hall… all pushing through my brain too quickly. The school is a square around a quad so I did a walk-through of the main floor, poked my head out to the smoking lounge, the kids were in class, but that never stopped us! It might not be the smoking lounge anymore. The apartments in the distance where we’d chug durangos in the stairwell, yikes. I popped into the library, and wondered why nobody was really questioning what I was doing there although I did get asked if I could be directed somewhere by multiple people who had no follow ups — I guess a white woman in a long wool coat confidently walking through the halls of a high school doesn’t necessarily elicit worry. I thought it was interesting that the only displays of teacher pictures were from the years I attended. I stood outside for a second and remembered standing there in a a short orange crocheted skirt, tall shiny, black vinyl boots slicked against the skinniest legs, and a perfectly worn in jean jacket, Marlboro reds poking out of the pocket feeling like Queen shit. High school walk-through, highly recommend.

My favourite part of receiving this incredible award from @foodismca was pretending to be surprised in an extremely exaggerated way ‘WHO MEEEE???’ (Not caught on tape unfortunately as I brought my straight male friends with me!) I’m so honored by the care taken by both Krista and Katie in all the Icon picks — there’s nothing worse than sharing space with people you’d rather not and there was no one up on that stage that made me feel any type of way, other than happy to be there (congrats to all of them, too many to tag!) It feels very strange to be so feted as I enter my 50s, but better late than never Toronto! (listen objectively I know I’ve had a lot of love and attention for a long time now but anyone who’s been following along knows what a fight it’s been and how many large hurdles have been tossed up in my way, and how much that seems to have shifted this year in a real way, so all I’m saying is it’s nice to have my personal feelings reflected back to me!) THATS RIGHT BITCHES….LEGENDARY ICON 📸 @ryanemberley