I thought it would be really very fitting to have my inaugural blog post about my lunch with Stephanie Fusco, an old friend of mine (and a seasoned blogger / social media maven) from Queen’s. Steph and I had lots of close mutual friends, and we were both involved in student government and Model Parliament together.
- Steph @ Fresh
Steph is a social media guru. She has a degree in political science from Queen’s and a postgrad certificate in PR from Humber College. Aside from her day job as an assistant manager in PR for Maritz, a marketing agency, she also runs her own blog (favourite topics include public affairs, women’s issues, and - of course – social media), and is a leading member of Toronto’s Twitterati (at last check, she was tied for #40th in influence).
I had two questions for Steph via BBM: “What restaurant should we go to?” and “How do I make a blog?” I think this is a fairly apt (and meta) first blog post - a food blog post about food blogs (and other social media) in a sense.
beach bowl + mushroom veggieburger
Having discovered I’ve never tried veggieburgers, Steph decided that we should go for Saturday lunch at all-vegetarian Fresh (on Bloor).
I went with a mushroom and onion veggieburger (with gorgonzola cheese), while Steph opted for a beach bowl with goat cheese on a bed of brown basmati rice.
The burger tasted a lot better than I’d expected. The texture was grainy and the taste of almonds was fairly subtle. On that, the flavour from the gorgonzola and mushrooms really stood out. To anyone who’s never tried a veggieburger, I’d recommend trying one at Fresh.
Steph was a fan of the beach bowl, and I also really liked Fresh’s basmati. The peanut lime made for a really refreshing side salad.
The wait for a lunch sitting during the week can be a problem (25-30 minute waits at peak time), but the restaurant is pretty clear on weekend afternoons. Price is pretty reasonable, with a number of entrees available for takeout for under $10. The ambience and staff are pretty cool and cold water is served in glass jars.