Tag Archives: Experience

Diamonds And Customer Service Are Forever

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This story starts approximately 17 years when I first proposed to my wife. At the time, I decided it might be best to have her involved in picking out a ring, so I could be sure everything was to her liking. When I had proposed, I used a stand-in ring and the plan was to go ring shopping together.

When our friends first learned we were engaged, aside from congratulating us, everyone recommended friends or acquaintances of theirs from which we could buy a ring.

My first interaction with Ron Pollock, owner of Ron Pollock Importers, almost ended with us not doing business. I had given him a call, only to find out I could see him by appointment only. Given my busy schedule, I had to move him to the bottom of my priority list as I had preferred a place where I could walk in at my leisure.

Over the next couple of weeks, I went to a couple of people but wasn’t impressed at all. Almost on cue, I received a phone call from Ron, who asked when I was going to come in. Given that I’m always impressed when a salesperson dedicates the time and energy to follow up with a potential customer, I decided I would give Ron a try.

Ron was very pleasant, knowledgeable, professional, and his high-quality jewelry (and diamonds) was very reasonably priced. As a result, we ended up buying “The Ring” from him, and since that time we’ve bought other items as well.  We’ve also recommended him to many other friends and family members, who have also been extremely happy with his service and his jewelry.

In more recent times, he’s also been accommodating and willing to help out my dad and my aunt when they need one of their old watches cleaned or repaired. Even though it’s not necessarily high-end jewelry, Ron is always willing to help out or pitch in whenever he can, to keep his customers happy. 

Whether you’re looking for a traditional engagement ring, customized pieces, repairs, or even appraisals, I definitely recommend Ron and his team for all things jewelry.

Ron Pollack Diamond Importers
27 Queen Street East, Suite 905
(416) 362-4822

 

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A Taste of Pittsburgh

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Since my wife is in charge of meal planning for all of our trips, I wasn’t sure what to expect food-wise but I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of amazing restaurants in Pittsburgh. Highlights included:

Primanti Bros: Whenever I asked about Pittsburgh, people have told me that I have to visit Primanti Bros. The place has been around for about 80 years. It started out as a small sandwich shop in the Strip District and because most of the clientele were truckers, they started designing their sandwiches with french fries and coleslaw right on the sandwich itself….for ease of eating while driving. The four elements that make up most of the sandwiches….. the bread, meat, french fries, and coleslaw…were all delicious. The sandwiches were all big, solid, excellent sandwiches. Whether it’s for breakfast, lunch, or a late-night bite, I definitely agree that Primanti Bros. is worth a stop. Or maybe more than one….

Gaucho Parrilla Argentina: This unique hotspot is open for lunch and dinner, and they cook right on open wood! Whether you’re looking for chicken, lamb, steak, or sausages, this place has it all. The restaurant works a little differently than many other restaurants, as you line up, almost like a fast-food joint, if you will, and they only take your order once there’s a table available. After you place your order, you then sit down, and they deliver your food right to you, like regular table service. When it gets later in the dinner period and they won’t be able to seat anyone else, they give the last person a t-shirt that says “end of the line” and that person’s responsibility is to inform anyone else who shows up that they will have to come back another time. The service is amazing, and the staff are extremely friendly…in fact, once they learned we were from out of town, they accommodated us even though the person in front of us had the “end of the line” t-shirt. On top of that, they were kind enough to gift us with our own t-shirt after I was joking around with them. It’s a terrific place with great décor and service, topped with delicious food. If you’re ever in the area, it’s well worth standing in line for. Also, this local joint is BYOB!

Kaya Island Cuisine: This restaurant is in the Strip District and serves up some hot and tasty Caribbean food. Near the end of my trip, I was a little fooded out, and wanted something a little different. Although we hadn’t planned on going to this restaurant, we changed our plans given that the menu had so many unique dishes. We actually ended up sharing the food, as they had a lot of appetizers that all looked amazing, including conch fritters, baby back ribs, Jamaican jerk wings, a spectacular salad known as the Caribbean rainbow salad, crispy fish tacos, and pulled pork quesadillas. All of the food came out very hot and fresh, very nicely presented, and we were pleasantly surprised to learn that it was big portion sizes, big enough to share among three people. The service was very good, and the atmosphere was fun, lively, and vibrant. It was the perfect meal to end our trip. It seems that, despite the popularity of the Strip District, most of the area closes down earlier on Sunday nights and Kaya was one of the few restaurants that stayed open. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Peace, Love, & Little Donuts: This is a small donut shop found in the Strip District, and I guess appropriately, they serve small donuts…about half the size of a regular donut. They actually take a plain donut and jazz it up with different toppings, which you choose off of their extensive menu. We tried the apple pie, banana split, s’mores, and the strawberry french toast, but you can choose from almost one hundred more. We stopped by after brunch one day and it was the perfect ending to our meal, with the four of us sharing six donuts. Although there is a little bit of a wait while they prepare each donut, it’s well worth the extra time, and they ended up being an awesome sweet treat.

The Church Brew Works: This is a microbrewery located in a very large, old church. The food is good pub food, all designed to go with beer. The atmosphere was truly amazing and certainly worth visiting. They also conduct tours of the brewery two or three times a day.

Whether it’s sandwich shops, pizza joints, or even some chain restaurants, there is certainly no shortage of great food in the Pittsburgh area. Happy eating!

 

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A Party Down in Pittsburgh

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As often as I can, I try to get out of town on long weekends and the recent Victoria Day long weekend was no exception. In fact, this time I turned the three day weekend into a five-day road trip and took my wife and daughter to Pittsburgh.

I haven’t been to Pittsburgh in about 25 years, but remember enjoying my last visit. Initially, we were only going to stay a day or two, go to visit Fallingwater and the Hershey factory, when I realized that Hershey was about three and a half hours in the opposite direction. So we changed our itinerary. It turns out that we had no problem finding tons of things to see and do in Pittsburgh! The city is very vibrant, home to many innovative companies, products and services, has truly fantastic restaurants and plenty of sporting events for the athletic enthusiast. I can honestly say that one out of every four people in Pittsburgh were decked out in black and yellow in an ode to the Pirates, Penguins or their beloved Steelers. This is a city that wears their love of the game on their sleeve…where everyone can see it!

Pittsburgh is a tourist-friendly city! When we were trying to find a specific area of a large cemetery, to avoid having us get lost, the groundskeeper gave us an escort over to the exact location… in his cart. The next day, we stopped to ask a police officer how to find the Duquesne Brewery Clock (the largest single face clock in the world – two times the size of Big Ben!). Moments later, we found ourselves with a police escort right to its location!

Over our four day visit, some of our favourite sites included the Heinz Center, the Strip District, Randyland, and Fallingwater.

Of course, during our days of sightseeing, we needed energy and found no shortage of great restaurants. For lunch and dinner, whether it was Primanti Bros., an Argentinian steakhouse, or some fun and whimsical donuts at Peace, Love and Little Donuts, you could simply eat your way through the city and walk away from a happy camper.

Sports fans, don’t look any further than Pittsburgh, which has an NFL, NHL, and a major league baseball team. During my trip, the Pittsburgh Pirates were in town, and while they weren’t successful on the field, the ballpark was beautiful to see and it was a beautiful spring night for baseball.

Lastly, I have to mention a one-day excursion down to Fallingwater. Built by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this beautiful country home is about 1.5 hours away from Pittsburgh. It is a gorgeous drive and should not be missed.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll highlight a few of the places on my trip, but needless to say, if you’re up for a fun and adventurous road trip, Pittsburgh should be next on your list!

 

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A Valued Shopper at Shoppers

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Before I actually moved to my neighbourhood, I had the opportunity to deal with a particular pharmacist, in the area. His name is Jatinderjit Dhaliwal, and he is the owner of the Shoppers Drug Mart which is located at 3874 Bathurst Street at Invermay. When I first met Jatinder, many years ago, he owned a smaller Shoppers Drug Mart, located a few blocks away. This original store, focused mainly on filling prescriptions, as it had very little retail space. It was truly a hole in the wall.

One day, I went into the original store, needing something quickly, and got the prescription filled in a matter of minutes. Given how amazing Jatinder and his colleagues were. I always remembered the great job that they did. Years later, I moved into my current neighbourhood, around the same time that Jatinder took over an old gas station and built a much larger Shoppers Drug Mart. Since that time, Jatinder and his team have taken care of me, my family, and even my extended family.

Whether it’s for prescriptions, health and beauty items, or their grocery section, the store always seems to have what we need. That said, perhaps even more important than the food, toothpaste, or shampoo is the amazing pharmacy team! The pharmacy team is always willing to review medication instructions with me, and in fact, go a step further…..if they think there’s a concern with the medication, they will bring it to your attention and recommend alternatives; however, they always do suggest you speak with your doctor.

The team fills prescriptions as quickly as they can and they always seem to accommodate special requests.

When I’m dealing with the needs of my family members, some of the stress is taken off of my shoulders because of the quick and precise work they do. For seniors, they even put the medication in blister packs and deliver them on a weekly basis. They truly have been an integral part of my healthcare team.

In more recent times I’ve learned that Jatinder not only owns the store on Bathurst but also owns locations at Dufferin and Lawrence and Dufferin and Eglinton.

I realize most people aren’t going to come across towns to get prescriptions from one particular pharmacy, and this will only apply to people in the immediate area, but I highly suggest Jatinder and his team for your prescriptions and other healthcare products. If you do come from further away – you will find it worth the trip!

Shoppers Drug Mart – Bathurst and Invermay
416-635-5601

 

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Leela will show you a great night on the town!

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Recently, when my wife was out with a friend, they went to an Indian restaurant in The Junction area. When my wife returned home, she said she had a great meal and that it was a little different from most Indian restaurants she’d been to.

The place is called Leela Indian Food Bar and they describe their restaurant as “a journey of old Indian streets, with dhaba-style food”. The menu covers all regions of India but has some different and authentic Indian dishes.

My wife has been wanting to go back for a repeat visit, so this past weekend, we made a reservation and headed there for dinner.

The restaurant is a small, rustic, but modern place, with approximately 30 seats. It has an open kitchen so you’re able to see the entire cooking process. When we arrived, we were greeted right away warmly and seated at a table that was already set for us. We were quickly approached by the server, who was very pleasant and knowledgeable about the menu items. Unlike most servers who don’t make recommendations until you ask, he told us all of his favourites and recommended items according to our tastes.

Even though they prepare all of the dishes as they are ordered, the food arrived quickly. All of the dishes were hot, fresh and everything was really beautifully presented.

During the course of the meal, the server was extremely attentive and made sure our water glasses were always filled. We received the bill soon after we had asked for it, and the payment was taken promptly. As we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, we were thanked for coming, given multiple coupons for a return visit (good for any night of the week….no restrictions!) and headed out for a walk in the neighbourhood.

Whether it’s just a night on the town, a first date, or a family function, Leela has great food, a great atmosphere and is something a little different.

Leela
416-769-7777
http://www.leelaindian.ca

 

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Picturing the Perfect Customer Service

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I discovered Picture Picture about three years ago when I needed to have several pictures framed. I went in on a weekend and I met a very pleasant, friendly gentleman by the name of Benny. The operation is actually quite a big facility, including hundreds of different frames to choose from. They also have different types of glass and material to use, and on top of that, they can do dry-mounting. Additionally, they also sell ready-to-choose framed items, including anything from landscapes to sports posters, to cityscapes, (including lots of photos and paintings of Toronto), to objects like food or flowers.

While I’ve been in numerous times to have different items framed, a couple of weeks ago I gave Benny and Co. a bit of a challenge. I had a poster that I had purchased from the Grand Ole Opry, and I had a vision on how I wanted it framed, so I brought him a couple of pieces of barn board (thick wood from the side of a barn) and wanted to somehow affix the poster to the wood.

First, Benny had to figure out a way of attaching the two pieces of wood together…neither of which was smooth. After he solved this challenge, he needed to figure out how to attach the poster to the wood. Lo and behold, he came up with a solution that was inexpensive and relatively simple. When my wife and I saw the end result, it was exactly as we pictured and better than we could have hoped for!

Benny and his colleagues did such a great project with this one, we decided to throw another curveball at him with some other unique and challenging framing projects. Again and again, Benny came through with flying colours.

Whether it’s as simple as a diploma, a treasured family photograph, or a piece of expensive art…where the frame has to be just perfect, Benny and his colleagues have your back. I highly suggest him for all of your framing needs.

Picture Picture
(416) 787-9827
http://www.picturepictureco.com/

 

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The Olympics are over…but the newfound appreciation for Korean Cuisine goes on!

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A few weeks ago I was getting together with a former SQM employee and for a bit of fun, I gave her the challenge of picking the restaurant. She asked me if I preferred better food or a fancier place and I responded that I’d like better food. I don’t care how fancy it is as long as the place has good food and a good atmosphere. Since her background is Korean, she picked a popular Korean restaurant near Yonge and Finch in Toronto.

Huh Ga Ne is a traditional BBQ restaurant that is open 24/7. They have your regular tables and the more traditional ones where you sit on the floor. I’ve been there three times now and it has always been insanely busy! The restaurant offers authentic, ethnic, and delicious cuisine!

The staff are very friendly, helpful, and are happy to make recommendations. I’ve tried both hot pots and barbecue…both options are excellent and filling. They have a nice selection of beers and drinks to choose from. Other than one small television that is usually tuned to CP24 and the news, all of the other, large screens are constantly playing kpop, which I personally find adds to the fun atmosphere. It truly is a relaxing, casual place, with a great Korean atmosphere.

Given the amount of business, the products are certainly fresh, and even though I’m cooking some of it myself, it has always turned out to be tasty and flavourful. Even better, it’s reasonably priced….two to three people could eat for $40.00 -$50.00 depending on what you order. If you want something not too far from midtown Toronto, and a fun, authentic experience, I suggest this cozy Korean spot.

416-901-1288
http://www.huhgane.com/

 

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