Canstruction 2013 Hits New York City

The 21th Annual Canstruction NYC Competition was held in New York City October 21 to November 8, 2013 boasted very creative art pieces made entirely from unopened cans of food. These creative exhibitions were on display in the heart of the downtown New York City district at 285 Park Ave Lobby, Grace Building Lobby and One Liberty Plaza Lobby and were quite an eye-full of ingenuity and a creative expression of art for a worthy cause. At the end of the exhibition the pieces will be dismantled and donated to City Harvest for distribution to those in need. Canstruction admission is free but the public are encouraged to donate a can of food on their visit and the organizers had their eyes set on beating last years record of 91,000 pounds of food.

I had the opportunity of viewing this year's exhibitions as well as the winner of last years competition while on a visit to Manhattan. Even though I didn't have my professional Nikon camera with me I still managed to get a few decent photos of the amazing pieces on show with my Nexus 4 mobile phone. Here are the photos I took of this year Canstruction pieces, enjoy!

Below are photos of last year winning piece.

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Dining At The Gap Café

The entrance of The Gap Café

Tucked away deep in the Jamaica Blue Mountains is a small cafe called The Gap Café. This quaint rustic restaurant is located in Portland Gap, twenty one miles away from Kingston. However, the journey certainly feels longer as the mountain road to this well elevated restaurant in narrow, windy and is a very rough ride, so you may want to prepare your self mentally for this long drive. Nevertheless, if you are longing for rustic dining in the clean mountain air away from the noises, the hustle and bustle of city life then this journey will worth the trip.

Directions along the winding road.

Milestone at The Gap Café

Driveway to the café from the road

The rustic charm and board structure of this restaurant and cafe definitely blends in with the natural look and feel of it's rural location and is reminiscent of a old country house. It is perched on the side of the mountain overlooking the lush green forrest that carpets the Blue Mountain Range, perfect for that rural dining.

The back balcony or The Gap Café

One of the many plants outside the café

View of Holywell from The Gap Café

Once you enter the cafe you cannot help noticing the blue and white inside of the main inner dining area and lobby is decorated with white and cream furniture with framed pieces of Jamaican history mounted on the blue board walls. If you are looking for even more of a natural rustic dining experience the balcony overlooking the blue mountains will definitely fulfill that desire.

Interior of the café

Interior of the café

The food was pretty good, and I especially enjoyed the oxtail which was season to the bone, full of flavour and the meat fell right off the bone with stroke of a knife. My dinner date had a variation of Chicken Cordon Bleu, chicken breast stuffed with callaloo and cheese.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Rice and Peas

Oxtail with Rice and Peas

My highlight of the evening though was the French Pressed Blue Mountain Coffee which was absolutely delicious with that wonderful freshly brewed coffee aroma. We had it with a slice of chocolate cake which was not as wonderful as I had hoped but definitely the coffee made my day.

French Press Blue Mountain Coffee

French Press Blue Mountain Coffe and chocolate cake

If you are looking for a good drive out in the hills on a Sunday evening and want to dine in a rustic country atmosphere then The Gap Café is worth a try. And be sure to end your evening with some French Pressed Blue Mountain Coffee!

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Toscanini - Italian Dining Experience in Jamaica

Toscanini Resturant at night

When you think of Jamaica you think of jerk chicken, jerk pork, oxtail, rice and peas and the many colourful and delicious Jamaican meals guaranteed to tantalize the palate. Fine dining to delicious Italian and Mediterranean meals prepared with fresh local produce would most likely not be the first thing to come to mind. But as the motto of the island of Jamaica states, "Out of Many One People", the same goes for the diverse mixture of cuisines that can be found here in Jamaica. Italian food is one that has found it's niche in the Jamaica culinary landscape. One of the leading pioneers charting their way in local Italian and Mediterranean dining is Toscanini.

Interior Dining Room

Veranda dining area

Toscanini is a quaint restaurant located at Harmony Hall, just a few miles outside of the resort town of Ocho Rios. The restaurant charms it's diners with it's rustic indoors and varanda dining area and provides a relaxing setting to enjoy the tastes of Italy and the Mediterranean. As we entered the restaurant we were warmly greeted by the owner Lella, who escorted us to our table and easily made us feel welcomed and set the tone for a wonderful dining experience. We also met the man behind the meals chef Pierluigi, called PG, who introduced himself to us as well as his Canon film SLR as he had noticed my Nikon D7000 resting on the table. He related his experiences as an avid sports photographer, his other passion.

Chalk board menu

The first thing that we notice that was different was that the traditional menu books that are handed to us by our servers. Once seated we were presented with two large chalk boards with the restaurants menu hand written with chalk, definitely not the type of menus I have seen. Lella then explained each item on the menu which consisted of appetisers, entreé and desserts. I greatly appreciated this as with most restaurants I have been to I have had to ask what is in the meals they are serving. So this was very helpful in deciding what I wanted to eat instead of the awkward fifteen minutes of trying to figure out what my meal should be.

Garlic Herb Butter

Focaccia

Olive Oil with Scotch Bonnet pepper

Cream of Pumpkin Soup

Zucchini Gratinate

To start off the dining experience we ordered the Cream of Pumpkin soup and the Zucchini Gratinate which went well with the warm Focaccia which came with Garlic Herb Butter and Olive Oil mixed with Scotch Bonnet pepper.

Fettuccine Florentina

Pappardelle Boscaiola

One of our servers, Julie adding freshly ground pepper

Up next was Entreé, so we decided to go all Italian and selected the Fettuccini Florentina made with  Breast of Chicken and Callaloo Alfredo Sauce and Papperdelle Boscaiola made with Prosciutto Ham and Portobello Mushrooms in a creamy Tomato Basil Sauce. This was finished with Parmesain cheese and a sprinkle of pepper done at our table by our servers. To make the food go down well a glass of fine Merlot and lime squash were great choices. The meals were delicious and combined with appetizers and continuous servings of warm homemade Focaccia quite filling as we barely had space for desserts!

Chocolate Profiteroles

However, dessert was a must for this rare dining occasion so we ordered up a serving of the delicious Chocolate Profiteroles, cream filled buns with a warm chocolate sauce. This was perfect way to end this dining experience as it was not too sweet but had that right amount of sweetness to satisfy the palate.

Chef Pierluigi PG

Lella Ricci

Our servers: L-R: Julie and Omar

We then had a wonderful conversation with Lella, who told us about the history of the restaurants and showed us here guestbook with kind words from her many international celebrity diners who have stopped by to sample her culinary dishes. This book of celebrity testimonials reaffirmed the many food awards plaques that decorated the interior dining area.

Lella's celebrity guestbook

One of the many testimonials in the Toscanini guestbook

Observer Food Awards

The three course meal for two came up to under $JM8000 which is about the average rate for such dining in Jamaica. Toscanini is definitely worth trying if you are in the mood for some italian or Mediterranean dishes with a relaxing, rustic ambiance.

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