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04/28/11
It’s only been a week since we reported on the opening of Barque Smokehouse, and already we’ve caught wind of a new barbecue-oriented spot set to open this June on St. Clair West. Hardys: a Hogtown Brasserie seeks to make sure that Toronto’s longstanding nickname is well deserved.
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04/28/11
Remember when everyone was going crazy at the prospect of David Chang opening a restaurant in Toronto? Surely, the one thought lurking in the back of everyone's mind was: “How can I eat my pork bun without pissing off David Chang?” After all, not making the kitchen staff mad should be the top priority for any restaurant-goer. Well, Chang has made it a lot easier for everyone by providing a “top five most annoying things customers do” list to Details magazine. The full list is below.
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04/27/11
Since the inception of Top Chef in 2006, there has been a gross multiplication in the number of individuals who proudly proclaim themselves “foodies.” As for me, I don’t have cable and for an embarrassingly long duration of time believed that Top Chef was a prestigious culinary school, where all students were crowned with the distinction of “Top Chef” upon graduating. I was convinced of this until a trip to New York, where I visited Perilla restaurant and asked its chef, Harold Dieterle, what it was like graduating from the Top Chef Academy.
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04/21/11
Duggan’s Brewery near Victoria and Richmond is closed for good, Canadian Beer News reports. Apparently, a disagreement with the landlord resulted in an eviction notice, and despite initial hopes that the brewpub would eventually reopen, the closure looks to be permanent.
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04/21/11
Denizens of Little Italy may be surprised and a bit saddened to learn that Langolino, one of the only convenient (and some would say better) alternatives to Cafe Diplomatico’s sprawling, ever-packed patio, has closed. A “business for sale” sign currently hangs out front the restaurant, but a representative for ReMax has confirmed that Langolino isn’t just seeking new ownership, it’s closed.
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04/20/11
Dave Neinstein has been spending much of his waking hours thinking about brines, marinades, rubs and barbecue. Standing next to his new restaurant’s piece-de-resistance — a rotisserie-style, 500-pound capacity, wood-burning behemoth of a barbecue smoker from Tenessee — he points out that he’s also been thinking a lot about wood.
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04/19/11
While there’s certainly no shortage of great dining options at Av and Dav, finding good coffee in the area – or anywhere north of Bloor for that matter – can be a bit of a chore. Seven Grams Espresso Bar, opened this week, seeks to change that. Owners Heran Choi and Sunmi Park, both Korean ex-pats, spent five months renovating a 1,700 square-foot space into an indie-coffee experience.
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04/18/11
It’s been just over a year since The Mad Italian Gelato Bar opened up in Leaside, and now the gelato purveyor has set up shop in Little Italy. Owner Alessandro Settimi has been working with gelato nearly all his life – his family has been making it in Rome for over 36 years – and he felt that Little Italy’s gelato places were lacking a bit of one thing: authenticity.
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04/18/11
TOCA, the headlining restaurant in the Ritz Carlton, is redefining luxury dining in the city and setting a new standard for restaurants to come. We're looking at you, David Chang! The name is a whimsical take on Toronto, Canada, and there’s nothing fussy about that. The chef, Tom Brodi, formerly of Canoe, could write a thesis on Canadian fare.
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04/15/11
If any chef in the city epitomizes the five-star dining experience, it is Susur Lee. The dilemma is that his latest venture, Lee Lounge, focuses less on the food than any of his previous ventures. Now that he’s returning home, he’s going through a reinvention of sorts. The highly anticipated opening of Lee Lounge is actually the addition of a lounge area within Lee.
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04/15/11
‘Tis the season for Wagyu, which means Nota Bene’s Wagyu burger – as popular as it is expensive – is back on the menu. To promote it, the restaurant is offering a $10 donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society for every $45 purchase of a burger and pint of Sapporo combo. Debauchery never seemed so virtuous.
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04/14/11
Dundas West's Porchetta and Co. has built up a reputation not only for its solid sandwiches, but also for its adherence to the basics (the menu consists of porchetta, porchetta sandwiches, soup and that’s about it). But times change, people change and even Porchetta and Co. changes, even if it’s just a little bit: last weekend, owner Nick auf der Mauer served up a pop-up item of soft-shell crab sandwiches and also introduced a new breakfast sandwich, to be served every Sunday.
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04/14/11
With its concentration of high-end restaurants like Centro, North 44 and Blue Zen, the Yonge Street strip just north of Eglinton isn’t exactly known as a haven for casual dining. Which is exactly why husband and wife entrepreneurs Robert Lewocz and Samara Melanson set up Uncle Betty’s diner, where enjoying food doesn’t mean having to get dressed up.
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04/13/11
If you’d been texting with a friend or fretting about pending disasters just before stepping through the doors at 1 Balmoral Ave., you might not have realized that Terroni was gone and that Divino, a new Italian trattoria, had set up shop in its place. (Big shoes to fill. Big shoes.)
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04/12/11
Toronto’s hotel restaurant scene is on the upswing these days with the likes of Scarpetta and TOCA, and Hotel Le Germain is hoping its restaurant, Victor, can keep up. The restaurant recently underwent a major redesign, and a new tasting menu features a rotating selection of seven dishes ($14 each) that each represent a different part of Toronto. Executive Chef David Chystian picked out four items and broke them down for us.
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04/11/11
Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank got some much-needed help on Friday from Bruce Woods of Brassaii and Tom Brodi of TOCA, who competed against each other in a friendly cook-off to raise awareness about Toronto's need for donations of nutritious food. The chefs had just 30 minutes to improvise a recipe using food bank-type ingredients (like canned food) that were revealed to them moments before they began cooking.
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04/08/11
Chef Dan Donovan, formerly of Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, opened Hooked, “the knowledgeable fish store,” around four weeks ago, and the hook is sustainability. The sign is merely a banner in the window; its website is a one-page, text-only intro with a link to its Facebook page. Donovan says Hooked has such a strong community connection that it doesn’t need anything fancier than that. It doesn’t simply sell fish, he explains. “We’re solving a dinner problem.”
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04/07/11
It may be hard to get our party leaders to tear into the meat of an issue, but a few key restaurants across our home and native land (including an Ethiopian restaurant at Bloor and Christie) are giving us the dish on our political leaders. Below, our roundup of a few places that offer election-inspired dishes, making it easier than ever to finally chew out our politicians.
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04/07/11
It’s a predicament that’s bound to hit any burgeoning alcohol aficionado sooner or later: “Where I can score a funky absinthe dispenser complete with ice-blue vintage cordial glasses?” Well, look no further, because BYOB Bar and Cocktail Emporium, Toronto’s only one-stop shop for booze enthusiasts, has arrived, selling anything and everything you need to drink in style.
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04/06/11
Kensington is about to go to the market. The farmers' market, that is. According to the most recent plans by the Kensington Market BIA, if all goes well, the legendary neighbourhood known for its shades of eclectic shops, artsy effervescence and bicycle-clad hipsters will hold a farmers' market at Bellevue Square, the park at the centre of the Spadina/ College area enclave.
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04/06/11
“We did our quiet opening on Saturday,” says Peter Styrsky, the jovial, grey-bearded owner of Wunderland Gallery and Espresso Bar. So quiet that this reporter, who walks by it every day, didn’t know it was there. The east-end house in which Styrsky and his family have lived for 14 years now sports the name “Wunderland,” and it’s becoming more noticeable with customers meandering in to see some art and savour some organic espresso. But this is a house with a bit of history.
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04/05/11
For four years, Toronto's Brewer’s Plate has been bringing together the city’s best chefs and local craft beers in a celebration of local food. Funds raised with this year’s locavore spring feast will go to Not Far From The Tree (NFFTT), a charity started by local green hero Laura Reinsborough in 2008.
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04/05/11
The food Gods giveth, and the food Gods taketh away. Last month, they gave the Annex a shiny new Guu. Now, the Annex has lost Yummy Bar-B-Q, a cheaply priced but gratifying Korean eatery right between Insomnia and Guu SakaBar.
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04/04/11
After 20 years of Bay Street banking, gregarious renaissance man Kevin Bonnici turned to a more fragrant end of the service industry. In mid-March, he opened a modern Italian café and art space in the Distillery District and called it Caffe Furbo. Although opened only a couple of weeks ago, Bonnici had a steady stream of customers on Saturday, and served them with a balance of passion, nonchalance and efficiency.
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