 |
05/31/12
Canadian food is disgusting. As a nation, we are stoically proud of this fact. Few countries are as talented at taking gross food and making it even more gross than it was previously. We think tomato juice should have clam juice mixed into it. Our French fries come drenched in gravy, with cheese curds that squeak. And when a pita wrap is put into the hands of a Nova Scotian, it ends up drowned in a sauce that’s so sweet it simply defies common sense.
|
 |
05/31/12
One good thing about globalization is that the sake available in Toronto these days is no longer solely limited to the poorest examples of Japan’s national liquor. If the only sake you’ve ever tried has been the “house sake” at the nearest all-you-can-eat sushi joint, then you haven’t had sake. In honour of Kampai Toronto’s Festival of Sake, this evening at The Distillery District, we offer you seven reasons to make sake your drink of choice.
|
 |
05/31/12
No one drinks rosé between October and April, but wine is otherwise less weather-dependent than beer. Already, two of my five First Draught posts have profiled seasonals — beers that breweries only make and sell at a certain time of year.
|
 |
05/30/12
The monolithic Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking — a 50-pound, six-volume encyclopedia featuring 2,400 pages of elaborate cooking lore — will soon be adding another robust recipe-repository to its high-end cookbook family. Capitalizing on the surprising commercial success of its big brother, the upcoming Modernist Cuisine At Home moves away from the restaurant industry and towards the home kitchen, designed to “set a new standard for home cookbooks.”
|
 |
05/30/12
We’ve been eagerly awaiting the opening of Grand Electric’s patio for weeks now, and Corey Mintz reports that it finally happened over the past weekend. The restaurant’s 40-seat capacity — combined with sweet tacos — meant that wait times to get into the place often exceeded two hours. With the new patio, the capacity hits 100, and wait times are apparently down to 45 minutes or less.
|
 |
05/29/12
Members of Toronto’s artsy elite are finally being offered a taste of international exclusivity. Come September, there’ll be no more need to slum it in public venues or to rub shoulders with the plebs. Why? Because Toronto is finally getting its very own Soho House, timed perfectly to coincide with this year’s TIFF festivities.
|
 |
05/29/12
These days, hip Toronto restaurants either temporarily pop up at under-the-radar locations or serve copious amounts of off-cut animal bits. The Feasting Room does both. The project of chef/owner Noah Goldberg and general manager Mathieu Dutan, this new restaurant will see tables at Little Italy’s The Orbit Room decked out in butcher paper, wine glasses and pimped-out offal for the next six months or so.
|
 |
05/29/12
Queen West’s much-ballyhooed The County General serves up comfort fare fit for just about everyone — if you can snag a seat. Attracting an endless stream of noshers, the long ‘n’ lean eatery features a row of blonde wood tables decked out in homey blue-and-white gingham napkins. The space makes for a rather convivial dining experience, and by the end of it, you may have just buddied up with the kid to the left.
|
 |
05/28/12
Last February, TOCA opened its doors at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, riding on a tidal wave of high expectations. At its helm was acclaimed chef Tom Brodi, whose ten years at Canoe, the big daddy of Toronto fine dining, had left foodies salivating with anticipation over his newest venture.
|
 |
05/28/12
It wasn’t without a bit of sentimentality (okay, a lot of sentimentality) that Joanne Kates announced her retirement from The Globe and Mail after 38 years as the newspaper’s restaurant critic. Still, Kates never intended to remain silent, which is why we’re pleased to announce that she’ll be doing two restaurant reviews for us each month.
|
 |
05/28/12
It may not be news to you, but “pudding” means dessert in England. I didn’t find this out until a second visit to the U.K. for another meal at the rural gastropub The Sportsman, far away from the busy streets of London and the reaches of Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal.
|
 |
05/25/12
White rum is something I’ve barely touched since high school, when my rugged, juvenile iterations of the Cuba Libre — a generous helping of rum topped with a splash of Diet Coke and half a lime squished in for good measure — made it lose its lustre after one too many hellish hangovers. But trauma be damned, there’s one cocktail that inspires me to make an exception: the Papa Doble.
|
 |
05/25/12
From Eve’s biblical breakfast blunder to Isaac Newton’s gravitationally-induced epiphany — even down to that sleek device buzzing away in your pocket — the apple as a cultural symbol has persisted for thousands of years. But while apples may remain symbolically fresh, their physical resilience has traditionally been less reliable. Until now.
|
 |
05/25/12
Quinta Restaurant, soon to be the latest player in the Dundas West scene, is the vision and brainchild of chef Leor Zimerman, who made a name for himself at such as hotspots as Opus Restaurant, Brassaii and Czehoski. His first solo venture, opening next month, will both pay homage to and expand upon previous endeavors, showcasing a rich multicultural mélange of gastronomic traditions.
|
 |
05/25/12
Chardonnay Musqué is an aromatic clone of Chardonnay, a variety that does very well in Ontario. Because of its fragrance, it’s usually not given any oak treatment, which allows its apple blossom–like bouquet to be as pure as possible.
|
 |
05/24/12
Big news for fast-food fanatics: beloved American burger chain Five Guys Burgers and Fries is making inroads into downtown Toronto and other areas of the city. After taunting our taste buds with the opening of a Scarborough location last year, as well as a number of locations circling the outskirts of the GTA, it seems that Five Guys is finally making the big leap downtown.
|
 |
05/23/12
When it comes to ramen in Toronto, choices have been scant compared to the bounty of New York City, with its Ippudo and Totto Ramen, or even Vancouver, with its Kintaro Ramen Noodle or Motomachi Shokudo. But now Toronto has a new player in the ramen scene: Kinton Ramen, opened last week in Baldwin Village, which aims to do away with the misconception of ramen as instant food that hails from plastic packages.
|
 |
05/22/12
Buca is set to bring its acclaimed brand of reinvented Italian cuisine to Yorkville. An offshoot of the King West restaurant, which has been critically acclaimed and last year received the Jamie Oliver seal of approval, will open in a 3,500-square-foot space in the new Four Seasons Private Residences, probably in October.
|
 |
05/22/12
Those hoping to grab some pre-opera nosh at Little Anthony’s are in for a surprise. Gone is the 17-year old haunt; in its place sits LA’s Italian and Bar, a completely revamped version of the downtown eatery.
|
 |
05/22/12
Phillip Hwang may originally hail from South Korea, but there’s not a spot of kimchi to be found in The Fish Store, his College Street eatery. Housed in a hard-to-miss aquamarine storefront, the pint-sized resto focuses unsurprisingly on the fruits of the sea. Hwang grills up fresh fish and seafood to order, with a long list including the likes of catfish, tuna, snapper and scallops.
|
 |
05/18/12
Devin Connell, the much-buzzed about owner of Yonge and St. Clair’s trendy Delica Kitchen, couldn’t decide what kind of restaurant to open next. All she knew was that she wanted to serve either fried chicken or doughuts. Stuck between a rock and a sweet place, she decided to do both.
|
 |
05/18/12
This delicious wine is unlike any white Bordeaux I’ve tasted — it’s more like a cross between a Loire Valley Sancerre and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Pale straw, almost water white in colour, it has an upfront bouquet of gooseberry and grapefruit. These flavours expand on the palate to passion fruit and guava, ending with a crisp lemony finish.
|
 |
05/17/12
While on vacation in London last month, I was introduced to Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer. There, it’s available in every halfway-decent grocery store. That won’t be happening here any time soon, but by happy coincidence last month — soon after I left London — the LCBO started stocking Crabbie’s Original.
|
 |
05/17/12
Yorkdale Shopping Centre is getting a huge expansion this year that will see 145,000 square feet added to the already immense shopping giant. Yet while the addition of 40 new stores is sure to get our retail juices flowing, we’re more excited about the plans for a brand new food court — or rather, a “food collection,” as the mall’s media reps would have you call it — which will provide a much needed revamp of the mall’s dining options.
|
 |
05/16/12
Patio season is upon us: that glorious season when temperature spikes, awnings are lifted, and everyone gets free pizza. Well, maybe not everyone. Mostly, just those people who happen to make their way to Queen West’s Piola tomorrow.
|
 |
05/16/12
Jonathan Pong is holding in his right hand a piece of art worthy of samurai. It’s a Takeda blade, pretty much a sword, double-beveled, forged by hand out of Aogami Super Steel, tempered for two days and two nights, designed specifically for slicing fish. Which is what he’s doing with it: slicing some of the best fish available in the city and placing those slices on a wooden slab.
|
 |
05/16/12
Not too long ago, I ate one of the slipperiest, drippiest, messiest sandwiches I’ve ever had. It was at a Financial District nook known as The Gabardine, wherein a fat French baguette was stuffed with pulled pork, raw onions, julienned carrots and kimchi. It was, apparently, an Asian fusion submarine sandwich known as the banh mi. It cost $14, sides included. To anyone planning on taking the plunge: bring a bib. Possibly two.
|
 |
05/15/12
We first heard about Yorkville’s The Oxley back in March, and the newly-opened venue — from co-owners Andrew Carter and Jamieson Kerr, the duo behind The Queen and Beaver Public House — is easily one of the coziest spaces in Yorkville. Simply put: “we wanted to offer the neighbourhood a pub,” Carter says, “where you can come for a pint, for a bite, with your family, wife or kids.”
|
 |
05/15/12
Ushering in our new weekly look at Toronto’s best sandwiches is a pick from Jim’s Restaurant in Leslieville. Tucked away on a strip that’s perhaps best known for its Americanos, this divey diner is the kind of place most wouldn’t look at twice. Inside, regulars mow down on trusty favourites, served by waitresses who’ve likely been spilling coffee into the same mugs for a quarter century or so.
|
 |
05/14/12
Set in the space formerly occupied by The Bowery, the newly-opened Osteria 55 may not appear all that different, physically speaking, from its short-lived predecessor. But new managing partner John Chetti — who also owns the expanding network of Queen Margherita and FBI pizza joints — is hoping to help the restaurant find success with a fully-Italian menu cooked by an experienced kitchen team.
|
 |
05/14/12
Sure, they say that hot, spicy foods are best for warm summer days to help you sweat and cool down. But sometimes the last thing you want when the humidity has reached South East Asian proportions is a steaming-hot bowl of pho.
|
 |
05/11/12
Ask any Toronto bartender for their classic tipple of preference and there’s a good chance you’ll receive an answer that involves bitters and either whiskey or gin; Manhattans and Negronis, to be specific. If those two iconic cocktails spawned a love child, that nipper would be a beautiful thing, and chances are it would be very similar to a little-known drink called the Boulevardier.
|
 |
05/11/12
Taking over the former Niagara Street Café space is Edulis, a charming new bistro from Tobey Nemeth and Michael Caballo. After a veritable tour of the world saw the married duo working and living in Italy, Spain, Panama and Vancouver, it was time to find a place to call home. Last year, when they caught wind that Anton Potvin was selling the Niagara space, they figured it was just what life had in store.
|
 |
05/11/12
If you’re a fan of Cabernet Sauvignon, you won’t want to miss this wine from Argentina’s Mendoza Valley. Dense purple in colour, it has a nose of crushed blackcurrants. The fruit is sweet and the balance is perfect. As it retails for just under $15, you might want to cellar a few bottles because this wine will improve in a couple of years when the tannins soften.
|
 |
05/10/12
When Greg Argent and Hieu Nguyen opened The East Ender last month near Queen and Leslie, in the old Tomi Kro space, the only promotion they did was open the doors. No ads, no flyers and no social media. Within a few days, they had a full house and had to turn people away.
|
 |
05/10/12
Victoria Vaccher, owner and chief baker at Tori’s Bakeshop, knows a thing or two about pie crust. Part of a pie-centric clan (her family, that is), it’s no surprise that Vaccher chose to share a “flaky crust” recipe with us this week. Herewith, Vaccher’s recipe for a vegan pie crust — to be baked with a filling (sweet or savoury) of your choice.
|
 |
05/10/12
Himalayan Java is a café straight out of Nepal — literally. Fashioned as the Asian nation’s first gourmet coffeehouse (think a more exotic, better, less ubiquitous version of Starbucks), it’s meant to promote socially responsible brews around the globe.
|
 |
05/09/12
Guy Rawlings, formerly of the buzzy Brockton General on Dundas West and now the menu consultant for the newly opened brew-pub Bellwoods Brewery on Ossington, is one of the city’s most celebrated young chefs. And now he says he has found a new interest: beer. Or, at least, good beer.
|
 |
05/09/12
David Adjey has gone cuckoo for chicken. The well-recognized chef from the likes of Restaurant Makeover and Iron Chef America — along with business partner Danny Farbman — is branching out into fast food with The Chickery. Hoping to turn the industry on its head, Adjey’s latest venture will not, he stresses, be serving up genetically modified, unrecognizable chicken bits.
|
 |
05/08/12
We’ve known for a while now that something interesting was going down in the previously papered-up venue adjacent to The Black Hoof, and now the Toronto Star is reporting that the space appears on the cusp of opening as a new Hoof-related restaurant.
|
 |
05/07/12
Bringing together the Toronto Underground Market and Food Truck Eats for the very first time, Saturday’s Street Food Block Party was the foodie event of the spring. Hundreds of hungered Torontonians made their way to the Evergreen Brick Works to test fare from 21 vendors and 11 trucks, with a surprise appearance from Jamie Kennedy’s famous fries. With tickets selling out promptly, lines were snaking their way around the mammoth space, with lineups reaching hour-long waits (lobster poutine, we’re looking at you).
|
 |
05/07/12
Nearly two decades ago, Michael Stadtländer opened up Eigensinn Farm and set to work establishing his 100-acre Singhampton outpost as one of the premier dining spots in the country, all the while spearheading the local-food movement with his ready-made environmental ethic. At Eigensinn, Stadtländer shocked traditional foodies by growing his own food, making his own chairs and tables, crafting his own outdoor ovens and grills and featuring the bounty of local growers — call it fine-dining DIY.
|
 |
05/07/12
Opened on Ossington just a few weeks ago, Hawker Bar is already seeing lines out the door. After paying it a visit and seeing our bill — just over $50 for two (and more dishes than two people should eat) — we can see why it’s so popular. Focusing on the Singaporean street food found in hawker food courts, Hawker Bar is certainly a much more convenient option for downtowners than Restoran Malaysia at Major Mackenzie and Hwy 7.
|
 |
05/04/12
Chef Matt Blondin has announced that he is stepping down as chef at Little Italy’s celebrated Acadia restaurant. Blondin, who has headed up a kitchen serving a Canadian take on Cajun cuisine since the eatery opened last summer, will plate up his last dish on May 31.
|
 |
05/04/12
Bring on the May Beaujolais! This named village Beaujolais is really well priced. Deep purple in colour, it has a lifted nose of cherry and spices.
|
 |
05/03/12
After four years in business, the award-winning Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co. has closed up shop. Once thought to be one of Ontario’s most successful dairies, Fifth Town provided cheese for some of Toronto’s hottest eateries, such as Auberge Du Pommier, George and Jamie Kennedy Kitchens. Founder and former CEO Petra Kassun-Mutch made the announcement via Facebook yesterday.
|
 |
05/03/12
Queen Street’s boho clothing shop Lavish & Squalor revealed its most buzz-worthy addition since waxed cotton and dry denim last week: City Bar. It’s an espresso bar on the upper floor that boasts a selection of artisanal drinks that aren’t readily procured at other coffee shops.
|
 |
05/02/12
Canadians don’t usually make a big deal out of national icons, and the few we can agree on are not really about food or drink. Maple syrup is the glaring exception to that rule. We produce 85 per cent of the world’s supply and export millions of dollars worth of it to more than 40 countries every year.
|
 |
05/01/12
Restaurateur Hanif Harji and chef Stuart Cameron are hosting a three-day pop-up restaurant “to get people excited about Spanish food and wine,” Harji tells us. The pop-up is taking place at Storys, a four-storey entertainment venue that will soon house a restaurant and a cocktail bar.
|
