The Winner of the HALFPOPS Giveaway is...

@loribaz

Congratulations Lori! You have just won a jam-packed box full of 2oz & .75oz bags of Butter & Pure Ocean Sea Salt and Aged White Cheddar flavoured HALFPOPS! Please email me at foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com with your first and last name and your mailing address :)

I also want to say a big THANKS to the 85 contestants who participated in the contest. 

Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #fjchalfpops hashtag from day one of the contest. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first person to enter the contest. To enter, the person had to tweet "Hey @foodieyu I want to win a jam-packed box of partially popped & fully delicious @HALFPOPS! http://bit.ly/1t3KJ0T #fjchalfpops". Each person could tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Once the contest was over and everybody's entries were accounted for I checked to see if they follow me (@foodieyu) on Twitter. Below is the list of the 158 valid entries:

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I used "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to pick the a winner for me.

HALFPOPS Giveaway - CLOSED

I'm giving away a jam-packed box full of 2oz & .75oz bags of Butter & Pure Ocean Sea Salt and Aged White Cheddar flavoured HALFPOPS!

HALFPOPS (Twitter: @HALFPOPS, Facebook: Halfpops) are partially popped popcorn. Instead of the light and airy fluff you get from traditional popcorn, these compact little popcorn balls packs much more flavour and crunch. They are great for snacking or as a delicious crunchy addition to ice cream, soups and salads. I tried HALFPOPS for the first time yesterday and no joke, after my first bag I had to stop myself from opening another; these half-popped little orbs of kernels are very flavourful and highly addictive.

HALFPOPS are gluten-free, nut-free, non-GMO, and have no preservatives, no corn syrup, no artificial flavours, and no hydrogenated oils. They were featured in Food & Wine, The New York Times, Bon Appétite and Backpacker Magazine.

HALFPOPS are now available at Costco where they are sold in 18 packs of convenient 1.8oz individual bags. Or you can win a box full of HALFPOPS for FREE by entering my contest ;)

HOW TO ENTER

1) You MUST be following me (@foodieyu) on Twitter

AND

2) Tweet the following sentence, exactly as shown, nothing before or after it: 

Hey @foodieyu I want to win a jam-packed box of partially popped & fully delicious @HALFPOPS! http://bit.ly/1t3KJ0T #fjchalfpops

1. For your entry to be valid, you need to tweet the above sentence exactly as shown

2. You may tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Re-tweeting others do NOT count as a valid entry

3. Contest is tracked by the #fjchalfpops hashtag. If you don't see your tweet in the hashtag stream it means there is no entry from you. Read this to find out the possible reasons why your tweets are not showing up
4. Contest is valid in Canada only.

CONTEST DURATION

Contest starts on Tuesday, October 21 and ends on Tuesday, October 28 at 12PM. 

One lucky winner will be chosen randomly from www.random.org and I will announce the winner on Tuesday, October 28. 

GOOD LUCK!!! ^_^

The Whole Shebang + More at Patois

When "Caribbean meets Asian Soul Food" you get Toronto's newest Asian-Caribbean restaurant, Patois. Chef and owner Craig Wong's repertoire of casual dishes not only pays tribute to his Chinese-Jamaican heritage but also includes delightful mash-ups of different Asian flavours inspired by Korean, Japanese and Thai cuisine. Opened three months ago in July, Patois is one of the hottest restaurants in the city right now, and rightfully so.

Me and three friends visited Patois (Twitter: @patoistoronto, Facebook: Patois) last Thursday night. The place was packed at 6:30pm - thank goodness we made reservations.

Off-the-menu cocktail features, specials and desserts can be found on the message board hung one end of the bar.

My photos of the dining room didn't turn out so I didn't include them here (I'm sure you can find them online.) However, the photo of these kids' inflatable flotation devices hung on the ceiling turned out quite well.

The WORKS Gourmet Burger Bistro - Cooking With Beer

As if 50 gourmet burgers weren't enough, The WORKS has introduced three new limited time only burgers. From October 20 through January 4, 2015, the gourmet burger bistro will be featuring "Cooking With Beer" burgers. Think root-beer BBQ glazed pulled pork, beer barbecue sauce, and beer-battered beef patty. 

I was invited to The The WORKS' 
(Twitter: @WORKSBURGER, Facebook: The WORKS Gourmet Burger Bistro) for lunch last week for a sneak preview of their "Cooking with Beer" burgers. The WORKS opened its first restaurant in 2001 in Ottawa and has now expanded across Ontario and Newfoundland. It has won numerous awards including Ottawa's best Burger for the past 13 years in a row, Kingston's / London's / Milton's Best Burger, and MacLean's Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada. The WORKS now has 25 locations across Ontario.

The WORKS is a full-service gourmet burger restaurant offering over 50 hand-prepared gourmet burgers, hand-cut fries, milkshakes and beer, which are all 100 per cent Canadian. Guests can choose from seven different patty options (beef, elk, chicken, turkey, veggie, cheese stuffed beef and mushroom cap) as well as gluten-free and vegetarian combinations. 

It was an ideal day for the rooftop patio. We didn't even need to turn on the heat lamps.

Kintori Yakitori

Located on the second floor of Kinton Ramen on 668 Bloor St. W., Kintori Yakitori is the newest addition to the Kinka Family of restaurants. I've had countless meals at Guu, Kinton Ramen and JaBistro (all Kinka restaurants) and because they are some of my favourite restaurants in the city, it's somewhat surprising that it took me more than six months to get my ass to Kintori (they opened in March of this year.)

I guess the reason why it took me so long to visit Kintori Yakitori (Twitter: @kintoriyakitori, Facebook: Kintori Yakitori) is because I never have "skewer cravings". I often have "sushi cravings", specifically Jabistro's Kyukyoku 'cause it's so mind-blowingly good, and "ramen cravings" usually for Kinton's Spicy Garlic Ramen, I will also never say no to Guu's Kakimayo, Carbonara Udon and Salmon Natto Yukke either. But "yakitori craving"? Not so much.

As I mentioned earlier, Kintori Yakitori is on the second floor of Kinton Ramen on Bloor. It's a pretty narrow and cozy space. I noticed that all four Kinka restaurants have very similar finishings with contemporary and simple decor.

Kintori's counter seating.

The window looks out to Bloor Street.