Over easy at the East York Restaurant

When Drew first moved into Pape Village his kitchen was being renovated and for about a week he was without a stove. He's admit that he defaulted to McDonald's a few times just for convenience but then the property management's representative Lisa gave him a tip. "Try the East York Restaurant," she said. "It's cheap and the food's great, especially the feta cheese omelette." After a long day of unpacking Drew was famished and took Lisa's advice. The diner was packed - they also do a rocking bar business with karaoke nights and a seemingly endless series of celebrations for regulars - but he was squeezed in and served a bacon cheese burger that was twice the size of a quarter pounder, and with onion rings substituted for fries. And the bill was actually fifty cents less than his last burger combo at McDs.

His other dining dilemma was the search for a non-brunch location. On a Saturday and/or Sunday morning, he likes nothing better than to sit over breakfast and savour the weekend papers. He had avoided breakfasts at the East York Restaurant because of the raucousness and that there always seemed to a cliquish crowd out front packing the patio. It turned out to be far from a clique and more of a gathering place where everyone is welcome. And he was allowed to read in silence except for the occasional trading of sections that had already been read. By the second visit server Linda knew his order and he has never been able to drain his coffee cup before she appears with a piping hot refill. And if you are lucky enough to be in on a hot summer morning when she is working her gams in short shorts . . .

Part of a village is a sense of community. Drew was looking for a quiet place to read the paper and have an inexpensive but hearty breakfast, he found just a little bit more. Every morning now, when he and the dog wander down Pape, the regulars who he had avoided, look up from their morning coffee on the patio and say "Hi." And at least a few morning's a month, after the dog is back home asleep, he heads back for some eggs over easy with bacon and brown toast.

The East York Restaurant is at 1039 Pape Ave.

Burgers with Bean Salad and Radish Salad

At the same time that Raul created the very successful and delicious radish greens salad he also, the original intention, worked on a radish salad. The one he chose is from food.com and claims to have a Scandinavian twist to it. Hopefully the caraway seed is not the Scandinavian flair because there was, surprisingly, not any caraway seed in the spice cupboard and Raul just leaves it out.

Radish Salad

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons canola oil or 2 teaspoons corn oil
1 teaspoon caraway seed
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pinch sugar
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
15 -20 medium radishes (or shaved) or 15 -20 large radishes, trimmed and sliced thin (or shaved)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, oil, caraway, oregano, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.
2. In a large bowl, toss radishes with vinegar-oil mixture.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Raul leaves the salad to marinate overnight and the result is very subtle with an earthy taste. "Maybe the dressing takes out all the peppery taste," muses Raul. However paired with burgers and bean salad there are more than enough flavours on the plate to satisfy all. But the next time radishes are purchased - and they will be, Drew still craves just a simple bowl of radishes fried in butter - the greens will be the most crucial part of the purchase. "Usually you would have a burger and fries but this is much tastier," says Raul. "And healthier." Drew agrees and the dog pouts.

Burgers

"That bitch of a Gordon Ramsay is always bitching about everyone's burgers and praising his own so we'll just see," says Raul while up to his elbows in ground beef. "He claims his always hold together but we'll just see. Most people claim it's just meatloaf in a patty but we'll just see."

The recipe Raul chooses is gordonramsaysrecipes.com's "Lela's Famous Hamburgers,"that are memorable, not only for taste, but also from being the centrepiece of a Kitchen Nightmares segment. Drew has a complete aversion to reality TV of any sort so he isn't even sure who Gordon Ramsay is but apparently Lela, whoever she is, believes he is the devil incarnate. And Raul is feeling competitive which will only be good for dining. "There's a lot of stuff in there besides meat," notes Drew, "Do we even need toppings?"

"I think toppings would be a good idea," replies Raul. "I left out the sun-dried tomatoes because apparently you can't taste them anyway. And we don't have any in the cupboard." Five varieties of cinnamon but no sun-dried tomatoes, the heartbreak of having a small kitchen.

In order not to overwhelm the true taste of the burgers - and noting that Ramsay himself suggests using only fresh tomatoes and lettuce - Drew goes easy in his selection of toppings and opts for the basics: cheddar cheese, ketchup, corn relish, sweet pickle relish, Miracle Whip, Dijon mustard and a bit of horse radish.

One of the four burgers does crumble on the grill, much to Mickey's delight. Raul is unsure why, "Perhaps we used too lean meat? Perhaps Gordon Ramsay used a $10,000 grill." R&D's bbq did not cost a fraction of a fraction of that, the budget and the size of the balcony would not bear it. "Or maybe he actually does sneak in bread crumbs or uses even more expensive meat."

The burgers are meaty and juicy and utterly delicious. They are messy but Raul speculates that he is just not used to homemade burgers, the taste difference makes the minor disintegration a welcome trade-off. Mickey is in a frenzy of excitement and is exiled to his bed and admonished to semi-silence - whimpers of starvation instead of barks of desperation - until the dining is finished. Because of the garlic and onion he is only allowed a few scraps but he scarfs them down with even more enthusiasm than R&D. Score one for Gordon Ramsay, whoever he is.

Burgers and Key Lime Pie

The rainy and unseasonably cold weather finally breaks, and a busy Sunday is spent in the sun (Drew) and on the road (Raul). The sirloin tip steak (40% off at Food Basics because it was about to reach its best before date but instead went in the freezer to be preserved for when desired) is already thawed but a more summery, lighter and simpler meal is called for. Burgers. And the Key Lime Pie made yesterday that has been setting in the fridge. A perfect sunshine combo.

While Raul does the bbq'ing, Drew improvises the toppings (it is important to make him feel he contributes). Lots of rummaging in the fridge pulls forth a combo that works and has a bite: slices of marble cheddar, chopped heritage tomato, minced garlic, Miracle Whip, wasabi mustard and corn relish. Slapdash, a little pretentious, but utterly delicious. And the combo redeems the slightly disappointing Selection quarter pound beef burgers that were bought speculatively on sale instead of the favoured Schneiders Beef Steakettes. Mickey, the dog, gets a third burger all to himself and gives it an unqualified rave before faking starvation and begging for more. Drew not-so-secretly hopes that Raul will get another dose of ambition and once again create burgers from scratch. The last batch, though they did crumble a bit on the bbq, were spectacular, meaty and juicy. Maybe the next time ground beef is on sale.

The Key Lime pie is a masterpiece: especially considering it began as a lark when the mix came on sale at Sobeys for 99 cents a box. While stocking up on Shirriff Lemon Pie Filling and Dessert Mix - Raul's lemon meringue pie with blueberries (idea courtesy of Drew's Mom's garden creator, cat nail clipper and all-round saviour, Dale) is a melt in the mouth taste sensation - a sweet little old lady eyed the overflowing basket and admonished, "You're ambitious." Her husband immediately retorted, "You should be so ambitious," and pointedly placed a box in their basket. Next time Raul intends to add some lime juice and, well who knows what else but his mind is whirring, to give the key lime pie it a bit more pizazz and enough bite to match Drew's carefully constructed burger toppings.

Though a sophisticated pre-Tony Awards dinner was considered de rigueur, the casual bbq'ed burgers and light-as-air but twice-as-tasty pie prove perfect for rejoicing in Andrea Martin's win. Raul tears up during a performance of "My Own Little Corner" from Cinderella because it reminds him of his childhood in the Azores with an actual hearth, Drew just gets annoyed because Harvey Fierstein never gives a speech. Another piece of pie cures both.