sparkleshinylove - A lifestyle blog for girls who love a little sparkle!

Roxymandy November 22, 2013

My Review of The Chase Fish and Oyster

The Chase is located at Yonge and Temperance in Toronto, and at first I was a little confused about the restaurant and where I was going! On the webpage there are two different restaurants – The Chase and The Chase Fish and Oyster. They don’t explain on the website the difference between the two. The Chase is located on the top floor of the building, and is the more upscale of the two. I decided based on the menu to try The Chase Fish and Oyster instead, which is located on the bottom floor of the building.

I was able to try the food out earlier in the year before the restaurant opened at the Lainey Gossip Smut Soiree this summer at Evergreen Brickworks. The Chase has a food truck that they were bringing to events across the city to get people interested in their upcoming restaurant.

Temperance has no parking so you either need to find a lot on another street, or use the valet parking at the restaurant. The valet parking is $20, and the most exotic cars are parked in front of the restaurant on display.

The Chase Fish and Oyster has an outdoor patio, but the restaurant itself was a lot smaller than I expected. As you walk in you can see the kitchen through large glass windows, and it was a flurry of activity. We were mesmerized by it while we were waiting for our table!

We started with the Yonge Platter which included raw oysters, clams, tuna and shrimp. There was an oyster checklist where you could choose where you wanted your oysters from.

After the platter we were pretty stuffed, but we still had more food coming! Next we tried their version of Lobster Claws, which were two claws butter poached with bacon-cashew stuffing and celery root slaw. The lobster was so good, but slaw and stuffing were a little rich.

We also ordered the Crab Toast, which were three mini heaps of bacon, tomato, chili aioli and crab. The toast that the slaw was on was so tough we could hardly cut through it or bit into it! The slaw tasted amazing, but we couldn’t get past the hard toast.

We finished the meal off with a bit of dessert (although we were very full!) and had a chocolate sundae. They didn’t have a dessert menu to read from, but the server gave us three options including a key lime pie and some sort of apple pie sort of dessert.

The restaurant was decorated with tables that had wood paneling that looked like they were out of a sail boat, and sails hanging from the ceiling. There was an elevator inside the restaurant to take patrons straight up to the top floor of the building to The Chase.

The final bill came in an accounts payable envelope which was really cute, but once I opened the envelope I realized I might need a payment plan to pay for my dinner – my glass of rum and coke alone was $14!

As always I’m scoping out for opportunities to see if a restaurant is suitable to bring small children, and in this case I would say The Chase Fish and Oyster would not be an ideal place for them! The restaurant had bass heavy music playing, and the clientele seemed like they were conducting late night business meetings.

The Chase and The Chase Fish and Oyster are both open for lunch and dinner.

10 Temperance Street, Toronto

647-648-7000

www.thechasetoronto.com

Photo #1 & 2 courtesy of www.thechasetoronto.com

Roxymandy November 19, 2013

What to Do – Meet John Varvatos, Olsen, Pink Tartan Sample Sale, Lowe’s Toronto Christmas Market

On Wednesday November 20th you can meet John Varvatos at his first public appearance in Canada at the new John Varvatos Toronto boutique. He will be signing his book Rock In Fashion for fans from 5:00pm-7:00pm at Yorkdale.

Olsen at the Shops at Don Mills will be having an in-store fashion presentation for their new arrivals at 1:00pm on Thursday November 21st. There will be refreshments and a free gift with purchase. To RSVP contact Oksana at 416-384-0876.

Pink Tartan is having a sample sale! Wednesday November 20th from 10am to 8pm you can shop the designer’s items at 170 Bedford Road, Floor 3 in Toronto.

The Lowes Toronto Christmas Market begins on November 29th and ends on Sunday December 15th in the Distillery District in Toronto. It’s open Monday to Friday from noon to 9pm, and then Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 9pm.

This street market includes seasonal décor, a huge Christmas tree, a main stage with musical performances (along with other musical performances around the market), beer gardens, and vendors throughout the market selling holiday gifts.

This year there is a Mill Street World Caroling Challenge at 5pm on December 15th, Pet Photos with Santa on Monday’s at 2pm and 7pm, and every Wednesday at 7pm there is a special musical concert performance on the main stage. The restaurants in the area are jam-packed this time of year so make sure to book your reservations early! It’s a great event for adults who want a fun night out at the beer gardens roasting marshmallows by campfire on restaurant patios, and during the day there are plenty of children running around the market. Parking is a bit of a nightmare, so make sure to arrive early or be prepared to walk!

www.yorkdale.com

www.olsenfashion.com

www.torontochristmasmarket.com

Roxymandy November 18, 2013

Bra Snobs Event at Coup de Foudre

This weekend fashionista’s gathered for the Bra Snobs event at Coup de Foudre, a luxury lingerie store. They were dressed in high heels and sipped on glamorous cocktails while socializing and shopping the boutique.

There were three stations for the ladies to visit at the event. The first was a beauty bar which had a hair stylist creating boudoir-inspired hairstyles, and a makeup artist was doing live demos and make up touch ups. I took advantage of the hair station and had my straight hair turned into tousled curls.

The second station was bra fitting with the owner of Coup de Foudre where you could find out what your exact bra size was, would receive help finding the perfect bra, and would learn about different brands offered at the store. I was most excited about this station since my only fittings previous to this were at Victoria’s Secret. I learned that the boutique actually had a sizing starting at 28 for petites which is not normally offered at stores other than boutiques like this. The bras were gorgeous and they had many different stylish options!

The final station was a chic photo booth where ladies would pose for a photographer for their first photo on their own, and then for the second photo the photographer gave tips on how to properly pose for photos in a more glamorous and flattering way. This was a fun way to have a keepsake of the night!

There were stylish cocktails and lots of opportunities to shop the boutique’s collection. A sweets table was filled with macaroons, cake pops and cookie pops that seemed too pretty to eat!

Everyone left with a gift bag with some boudoir essentials, and also with their carefully wrapped store purchases. Tania from eFashionista hosts events which pamper her guests with luxurious services, tasty treats, fancy cocktails, and spoils her attendees with a gift bag full of goodies to take home.

For more events from eFashionista visit

www.efashionista.ca

For more information on Coup de Foudre visit

www.coupdefoudrelingerie.ca

Roxymandy November 14, 2013

Where to Shop – H&M’s Isabel Marant Collection Hits Stores Today!

This morning at 8:00am the Isabel Marant Collection hits stores in Canada. Today will be the first day that a designer collaboration will be sold on H&M’s website, but unfortunately that is not available to Canadians.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a media pre-sale last night, and it was a great chance to see all of the pieces from the collection! We were a little spoiled with pink champagne, macaroons, and other drinks and desserts as we shopped the collection.

The photos do not do this line justice – the detail of each piece is amazing. The two items I ended up purchasing did not look like much when I saw photos of them, but once I saw them in person I realized they were gorgeous and I was willing to fight anyone there to have them! The fit was pretty amazing as well – the items I chose were such great quality that they seemed to be made for me.

The line does not have the regular 30 day return policy like H&M usually has, but instead there is a 7 day return policy so if you weren’t able to line up this morning, you can check stores in the next few days to see if anything has been returned. There is always eBay as well, but I’ve checked out the site and the prices are getting pretty outrageous.

Here are some pictures of the party, and the Isabel Marant line below!

Signature tote with purchase

Shopping the line

Being spoiled while shopping!

www.hm.com/ca/isabel-marant

Photo’s 1, 2 & 4 courtesy of H&M

Roxymandy November 13, 2013

West Elm’s Holiday 2013 Gift Preview

It’s November which means you should already be starting your holiday shopping! West Elm launched some cute holiday gifts for the season that are funky, fun, and they won’t break the bank.

West Elm has a store in the Shops at King Liberty in Toronto, but they also offer online shipping to Canada on their website. The store in Toronto is rather large and they carry everything from lighting, kitchenware, home décor, and market gifts.

Here are a few of my favourites below!