I discovered this cone-shaped white veggie about a year ago while shopping the aisles of Wholefoods looking for a new salad ingredient to add to my spinach, radicchio and chard.  Who knew I’d eventually attend an event dedicated to the Endive? The I Heart Endive campaign supports eating local by promoting this tangy and bittersweet BC Belgian Endive grown in Abbotsford. With pins saying “I Heart Endive”, an online video series of cooking shows featuring Chef Ned Bell, and a Highway 1 sign with an 8-foot high endive, you’ll know about the curious Endive soon enough.

Held at the new Fairmont Pacific Rim, guests were served ice cream, martinis and mini burgers, to name a few, all made from Endive. Turns out it’s a versatile vegetable and not just for added crunch in your salads.

BC Belgian Endive is available at several retailers, including Save on Foods, Price Smart, Thrifty Foods, IGA Marketplace, Choices and Urban Fare. For more information, visit www.endive.ca.

You should follow me on Twitter @Christie_Lohr.

Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood is undergoing a major, and sometimes controversial, transformation. With an influx of artsy bars, gourmet restaurants, and trendy nightspots, all that was needed was the Mascot, my favourite new cafe. Sandwiched between Wrongbar and Stones Place, the Mascot opened this spring and is clearly a welcome addition to the heart of Parkdale. Owned and operated by best friends Eddie Chan, Mike Krupica and Rico Estoy, Mascot is part café, part gallery, and will feature rotating exhibitions of work curated by the owners. While I’ve heard that Vancouver takes its coffee pretty seriously, me, I just add a little milk. A coffee connoisseur I am not (I use a Tassimo at home). Luckily Mascot also serves specialty teas (try the Big Hibiscus over ice and sweetened with agave) and amazing baked goods alongside their espressos, cappuccinos, lattes, et cetera, et cetera. My favourite part? My favourite vice: magazines! The Mascot has a carefully selected magazine rack, featuring only the best in international fashion, art, and current affairs magazines. I couldn’t resist the Summer 2010 edition of V with ScarJo in YSL on the cover, or the pound cake.

The Mascot is located at 1267 Queen Street West in Toronto.

By: Caitlin Agnew, Toronto

It was a dark and stormy night, and what better place to spend it than at La Palette’s new Queen West location? After ten years of serving the most delicious French food in Kensington Market, they’ve expanded their empire south to the busy strip on Queen between Bathurst and Spadina.

Housed in a former stable built in the 1880s, the new location is simply beautiful, with exposed brick, high ceilings, an open kitchen and great big windows that open up onto the street. It’s the kind of place that manages to feel cozy and spacious at the same time, perfect for a romantic date or a tête-à-tête with your bestie.

The menu is très français, featuring such items as pâté, canard, fromage, and even cheval. I had the steak frites, of course, and sampled a delicious vanilla crême brulée for dessert. J’adore French cuisine and can’t wait for my next visit. Maybe I’ll be brave enough to try the horse.

La Palette opens May 18 at 492 Queen Street West, Toronto, 416-603-4900. Visit their original location at 256 Augusta Avenue, Toronto, 416-929-4900.

By: Caitlin Agnew, Toronto

Heads up fashion ninjas, I found a fun new way for you to spend your night—Sabering champagne at Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler. Head down with a group of friends or surprise your special love to a night you really won’t forget. Order any bottle of bubbly (our pick was Chamdeville) at the elegant restaurant, and you’ll be led downstairs to the chilled wine celler for a lesson and a bit of history on sabering. Wine Director Oli Bureau explained it well—slide the saber along the seam of the champagne bottle a few times and like tossing a frisbee, lightly flick your wrist as you hit the cork and pow…explosion. If you get good enough, you can use an excalibur or spartan sword and pretend you’re from the movie 300. Don’t worry the blades are dull, so even after a few glasses, it’s safe. Take the cork in a little black box as a good luck charm and souvenir, then head upstairs and finish the bottle at the lit-up ice bar.

Staying for dinner? Choose from a modern Canadian cuisine menu, created by 30-year-old executive chef Melissa Craig, that includes Vancouver Island black cod or Carmen Creek buffalo rib-eye in the dinning room or the mouth watering game burger at the chilled champagne bar.

As if this place hasn’t impressed you enough, they’ve just added a brand new Belvedere ice room, a -15 degree walk in vodka tasting room with it’s launch party happening tomorrow night. I might just have to make my way up there this weekend to give you the dish on that. Stay tuned!

So for those of you looking for something different to do, I found it, and it’s Bearfoot Bistro.

The always stylish and sexy Glowbal Grill Steaks and Satay recently renovated and celebrated with a re-launch party last Thursday. The packed house included some of Vancouver’s hottest tastemakers who mingled and indulged in Liberty School Chardonnay and yummy bite-size goodies. Having added steak to the menu, the much sleeker restaurant now features a meat cellar displaying aged cuts of beef. Just how much better could this city hotspot possibly be? Stop in for 50% off lunch entrees during the month of January to see what all the buzz is about. Bon appetit.

Yaletown’s newest hotspot Society has opened and was worth the wait. Inspired by Vegas, this dimly lit two-level dining lounge with cool pink chandeliers is my new stylish hangout. The Glowbal Collection has added it to it’s impressive list that includes Italian Kitchen, Coast, Trattoria, Sanafir, and Glowbal. Expect hot people, like these ones from the media opening last Thursday, and tasty food such as Spaghetti with Meatloaf Balls ($9) for lunch, Peppercorn Crust Halibut Steak ($22) for dinner and my absolute fave White Chocolate Creme Anglaise Doughnut Holes ($8) for dessert. Don’t forget to quench your thirst with a spiked Oreo Cookie Milkshake with frangelico and creme de cacao ($8). Delish.