The Most Delicious Way to Spend Your Father’s Day!
Disclaimer: The team at Uncle Ray’s sent over a Ray’s Backyard Bud & BBQ Kit (minus the Bud) for the Palmers to review. But all thoughts and opinions remain my own, and when I eat meat down to the bone… you know it’s a good sign.
The night before everything went to hell, my friend Gabe and I were supposed to have dinner. With us living on opposite sides of the city, I usually try to find somewhere in the middle to meet up, and this time it was Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor.
Or rather… we would’ve, but bowed out as the world grew dicier and everyone sent home. But if you’d told me then that our city would shut itself down and we wouldn’t sit in a restaurant proper for months to come, we might’ve reconsidered.
So for a long time, it was a remnant of the world before, one of the things on a long list that we wouldn’t get our hands on for who knows how long.
But in June 2020, that need not be the case, since Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor has both takeout and delivery options that go perfect with this weather!
Sarah and I were invited out to Sherway Gardens in Etobicoke, out to Union Chicken to share mouthwatering sides and decadent desserts as their rotisserie chicken joint guests. This post tells you all about our experience in their open concept kitchen, where we got to watch the spitmaster expertly prepare our birds and show everything they have to offer!
Tell your wife, tell your kids, tell your husbands:
You can’t live your formative years in the boundless suburbs of a major city without feeling like you’re missing out. Growing up, I spent more time hanging in basements of my friends’ parents than I did painting the town any shade of red. We had to get creative and invent things to do for fun because you’d seldom find anything open past 9. And if you had a little money in your pocket and you wanted fine dining? Then you’d better hope you had wheels unless you wanted the same frozen food from the same family chains all over town.
There was little to write home about eating out in the ‘burbs… that is until places like Union Chicken started showing up!
Union Chicken—The Best Thing to Come Out of Etobicoke in a While!
Nestled in Cadillac Fairview Sherway Gardens’ south-west corner, Union Chicken‘s the brainchild of four owners—Yannick Bigourdan, Adam Teolis, Michael Angeloni and Dan Kennedy. Between the four of them, you get a huge range of insights and approaches to restaurant culture, with lessons learned from places like Splendido, Grand Electric, nationwide chains, and—most notably—The Carbon Bar coming together to build Union Chicken‘s mystique.
Though smaller in stature than some independents who try to be any- and everything to all people, Union Chicken uses its compact square footage, a focused menu and straightforward ambience to get you focusing on one thing and one thing alone—enjoying delicious food!
After conning my best friends into watching the boys, Sarah and I made the crosstown trip to Union, where Adam promptly greeted us, introduced us to Mike (and the Robs) in the kitchen, and Dan, a fellow Dad from the east side who joined us later in the night. (I assumed Yannick was busy doling out deliciousness at The Carbon Bar where the food’s well worth the price, but I digress.) Our seats were a food photographer’s dream: two very comfortable raised seats overlooking the front kitchen, where I took in the simmering rotisserie chicken and food prep with ease.
But the team made sure taking photos was the last thing on my mind—it was time to try the savoury treats Union Chicken had to offer!
