move over taco bell!
I have just discovered the most delicious Mexican fast food ever: Chipotle! They’ve got a really simple menu, fast & efficient assembly line style service, huge servings at reasonable prices (not cheap, but not expensive either), simple modern decor, and the most important part: scrumptious food.
I kind of just stumbled upon it this evening as I was looking for someplace at Yonge & Dundas to eat after window-shopping a bit at the Eaton Centre. I happened to notice this new place I never saw before called Chipotle. Probably wouldn’t have gone in if the name hadn’t sounded so familiar for some reason. Took a second, but figured out that I heard about them from one of Wong Fu Production‘s video blogs. Noticed that inside wasn’t anything too special, just that it looked fairly new by the look of the furniture and decor, some tables and chairs and the counter where the food magic happens. Looks like it’s a decent chain in the States and this new Toronto location is the first one in Canada.
Menu is simple enough: pick your meat (chicken, steak, barbacoa, carnitas), pick your style (burrito, taco, fajita burrito, burrito bowl, salad), and finally pick your toppings (pinto or black beans, varying spicy levels of salsa, sour cream, chili-corn salsa, cheese, guacamole, & lettuce). Add a drink if you’d like, and that’s it! What you end up is an absolutely GINORMOUS serving of tasty Mexican food. Just take a look at the burrito I ordered! Ingredients were fresh and the servings were plentiful. I think this is the first burrito I’ve had where I couldn’t fit my mouth around the whole thing.
Small detail that I found nice is their pricing. It seems like they’ve priced everything so it comes out to an even dollar amount after taxes. My carnitas (pork cooked in some special way, I forget how) burrito & bottle of Corona came out to an even sixteen dollars. Another fun little detail was the instructions on how to eat the burritos on the back of the napkins.
So if you’re ever close by the Yonge & Dundas area and are looking for a fast & delicious meal, I highly recommend Chipotle!
oodles of talent
It’s past 4 in the morning right now and I’m not remotely tired at all. Gotta love how exams screw up your sleeping schedule. So, what should I do when I can’t fall asleep? Write on my blog of course!
If you read my last post, I left a quote hinting at what my this post would be about. Johnson was able to guess correctly (and amazingly quick too: he commented on my facebook note a mere 36 minutes after it had been imported from here. and just to be sure I saw his answer, he again posted a comment on my original post…oh Johnson, so keen). So, what’s this post about? Wong Fu Productions! bonus points to Johnson, just as I promised! 
If you know who and what Wong Fu Productions is, then you already know what I mean by “oodles of talent”. If not, allow me the privilege of being the first to introduce to them to you.
Wong Fu is made up of 3 guys from Cali, (Phil, Wes, & Ted) who went to school together at UCSD and now live together post-uni, and create some of the best videos I’ve ever seen. They started out creating these lip-sync music videos and soon expanded into creating shorts and even created a full-length feature film, all while finishing their post-secondary education. They’ve become a huge hit on the ‘net, with fans from all over the world (myself included) and are continuing with their media-making endeavours as their career now.
What makes their videos so good? Well, there are their comedic ones (like Yellow Fever) which just make you crack up like nothing else without being obscene or dirty. And then there are their more “serious” videos. These are the ones that fuelled my obsession for their work. Many of their videos are based on relationships, not just the romantic kind, but friendships as well. These are done so well, they’re just so real, something that most people can relate to, and something I definitely can relate to. My personal favourites are Just a Nice Guy and You’ve got a Friend. If you’ve got a half hour to spare, I definitely recommend you check these two series of videos out. Well worth your time. If you don’t have much time, check out this music video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPEm7oWHd0&rel=1]
Now, if writing, directing, producing, editing, and whatever else goes into making these videos wasn’t more than enough evidence to show you what creativity and talent these guys have (and it is), they’ve got more up their arsenal. They’re also amazing photographers, animators, dancers, and composers. Not all 3 of them do all these things, but each of them do a few and do it very well. Talk about creative talent. Check out all of their stuff at wongfuproductions.com and you can see why I’ve got a bit of man-crush on these guys.
PS to all of you who wished me a happy birthday yesterday whether in person, facebook or text message: THANK YOU! I’ll never cease to be amazed with how many great people I know. Thanks and if I don’t see/talk to you in the next week or so, have a very Merry Christmas and a super awesome Happy New Year!
