Hello Reader!

April was an absolute whirlwind!

Between filing two different taxes, traveling, hosting my sister, and transferring accounts to Wealthsimple, it has been a beautifully chaotic month.

Exploring the culinary scene in Wyoming

Earlier this month, I took a whirlwind trip to Laramie for the Laramie International Flavor Festival. This was my second time visiting Wyoming. Fun fact: during my first Wyoming trip in 2014, my Grand Teton National Park photo was featured by Travel + Leisure.

I went on a delicious Laramie food tour with one of the festival chairs taking me around the entire time. The main purpose was to visit participating restaurants to meet the people behind them, and I even got to meet the mayor.

I was so amazed by this small college town. They have a unique concept where they pair restaurants with flavor ambassadors who share their culinary heritage, and the restaurants then create those exact dishes.

A massive Toronto food tour

During this time, my sister came to visit Toronto. We went on an absolute tear around the city for her visit and also to celebrate my recent Confluence Award win.

We did a huge dim sum run at The Queen Seafood Cuisine. We got a little excited and overordered eleven items just for the two of us. The server found it highly amusing as he tried to find space on our table. My sister loved it so much that she went back four times during her trip.

For my award celebrations, I took her to Quetzal where I got to see Chef Steven Molner again since seeing him last in Milan. It is a one-Michelin-star Mexican restaurant focusing on live wood-fire cooking. We did the curated menu, which included off-menu beef tartare and sweetbreads. We also went to Curryish Tavern for their maple tasting menu by Chef Miheer. It is under $100, and it is highly underrated. We also visited Mineral for their Chef's Table. Chef Danny is doing amazing things elevating Filipino cuisine, and the tasting menu is very reasonable for a Michelin-recommended spot.

We also did a media tasting at Savor Thai in Midtown. The chef is from Iron Chef Thailand, and they have a great budget-friendly prix fixe menu right now, replacing the tasting menu. The dishes are creative, and they even use Thai tea for their tres leches cake.

When we were not doing tasting menus, we kept it casual. We had crossing the bridge noodles at Shi Miao Dao, skewers at Street Grill, and the best triple matcha drink at Hey Tea. We also grabbed a massive seafood feast at Fishman Lobster Clubhouse. Their steak dish has changed from a Chinese-style steak to a dry-aged steak served on a sizzling plate with melted clarified butter, which reminds me of Peter Luger in New York.

We spent a lot of time in Markham, too. We celebrated Easter with my cousin's family at Keung's Restaurant and Hanah's Roulettea. We also did dim sum in the private rooms at Luna Private Banquets, grabbed coffee and brunch at A Corner Cafe, and tried some amazing matcha cake from Bake Tu Cakery.

Catch them on Instagram Stories here.

Industry events and a secret kamayan

Between all the eating, I attended a few great industry events in Toronto.

I went to a Visit San Antonio event at Estelle inside Harbour 60 to celebrate the new direct Air Canada flights with 3 flights per week. The food was great, but I completely missed out on the sliders everyone was raving about because they ran out.

I also attended a Visit Florida event at the newly renovated Real Sports Bar. There were six destinations there for us to meet and learn, and they set up a soccer simulator contest. I won with 275 points, taking home a Tile Tracker. The event swag was unique with a custom soccer jersey.

Since I missed the press launch for Filipino Restaurant Month, the Philippine Consulate General team invited me to a special kamayan dinner at Mineral. It was a collaboration between Mineral and BB's using mango as the theme. We had Iberico truffle mango siopao and coconut mango shrimp.

My last Toronto event was a Cavino Winery Dinner at the University Club of Toronto hosted by Super Wine Girl Angela Aiello. We had a four-course Greek tasting menu, and I discovered my new favorite Greek red wine, which is the Cavino Historoots Xinomavro. It paired perfectly with the charred octopus.

A full-circle media win

Riding high from the Confluence Award win, I was also featured by GMA for winning Best Food Creator in Canada at the Confluence Awards. GMA is the leading news outlet in the Philippines. I grew up watching their shows, so being featured by them is a true full-circle moment.

Hello from Mexico

By the time you read this, I am actually in Acapulco, attending Tianguis Turistico, which is Mexico's largest travel conference bringing in trade and media from all over the world. It is my first time in this city, and I am so excited to explore.

I will also get to test how Freedom Mobile's MEX roaming is like as part of my plan.

My April Watchlist

While I was home filing taxes and recovering from food comas, I caught up on some television. Here is what I watched this month.

Comedies and sitcoms

• Shrinking season 3
• Ghosts season 5
• St. Denis Medical season 2
• Abbott Elementary season 5
• Hacks season 5

Dramas and mysteries

• The Boys season 5
• Matlock season 2
• High Potential season 2
• Your Friends and Neighbors season 2

Animation and reality

• Invincible season 4

How has your April been? Hit reply and let me know. I read every email!

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As always, happy travels and eating!​

Cheers,

Raymond Cua​
​Travelling Foodie & Journey Traveler​

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