 |
12/01/11
For the next 13 weeks, Toronto’s gourmands will have the opportunity to dine out at various Toronto restaurants sans the hefty bill. The catch? Dinner on a Tuesday night and a $60 down payment. But with a 30 per cent discount at places like Burger Bar and The Bowery, we'll skip the latest installments of Glee and Dancing With the Stars (don't judge!) and instead opt for a cheap-ish night out.
|
 |
11/29/11
Last week, Michael Schmidt incurred a hefty slap-on-the-wrist (to the tune of $9,150) for charges related to selling raw milk. Not only that, he racked up two separate probation sentences for offences dating back to 2006. The guy clearly loves his raw milk. The government clearly does not. So what exactly is the deal with raw milk anyway? What makes it special enough to die for (or at least to abstain from eating for over a month)? Below, five reasons why raw milk has a cult following.
|
 |
11/28/11
All is relatively calm when we arrive at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the Chef’s Challenge Saturday. Call it the lull after the crazy that comes before the next crazy.
If you haven’t heard, the Chef’s Challenge is a slightly wild fundraising adventure where top campaigners get a chance to participate in an amateur, Iron Chef-inspired competition. All money raised goes to breast and ovarian cancer research at Mount Sinai Hospital.
This year, celeb chef Bobby Flay hosted, with
|
 |
11/28/11
Winter is here to stay — even though it hasn’t quite arrived yet — and when guarding against the biting cold weather, there’s nothing as soothing as a steaming hot, hearty bowl of Japanese ramen.
|
 |
11/25/11
Imagine a miniature farmers’ market that sells leafy heads of lettuce, fresh cheese and packaged meats inside your office space downtown. How convenient would that be? Located inside the Annex's Centre for Social Innovation, the Food Innovation Constellation is testing out that concept.
|
 |
11/25/11
With all the hubbub surrounding Little Italy’s Acadia these days, one could be forgiven for not noticing that other stuff was taking place right across the street. Without so much as a whimper, Olivia’s at Fifty Three, the cozy nook just north of Café Diplomatico, closed, and a couple of young entrepreneurs have set up Fuel House in its stead.
|
 |
11/24/11
Earlier this month, rumours began to circulate that former Black Hoof employees were involved in an upcoming Parkdale restaurant. Over at Toronto.com, Sheryl Kirby predicted that it would be Geoff Hopgood, but it turns out that it's Colin Tooke, along with former Hoof manager Ian McGrenaghan. Grand Electric, their new project, opened quietly last night, and looks to be indulging the city in just about all of its recent culinary obsessions.
|
 |
11/24/11
It only seems natural that in a city where excellent cuisine and diverse flavours are a source of cultural pride, purveyors of fine cocktails are becoming much easier to find. These days, restaurant bars in Toronto are mirroring their kitchens’ offerings by taking a seasonal, artisanal and signature approach to cocktails. This season, dark spirits and autumnal flavours inspired by crisp citrus, wood fires and syrupy preserves are gracing the drink lists of some of Toronto’s best restaurants. Here are three perfect-for-autumn cocktails.
|
 |
11/23/11
It’s three days after the opening of Morgans, the new gastropub that’s taken over the old Taps and Tales spot at Danforth and Greenwood, and sleep-deprived chef Anne Sorrenti is glowing. She says she wants to watch us try the polenta appetizer ($9), which is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and sitting in a bed of rich tomato sauce, topped with taleggio cheese and triple a mushroom sauté (crimini, shitake and portobello.)
|
 |
11/23/11
While construction crews continue to chip away at the Ryerson athletic facility on the upper level of the former Maple Leaf Gardens arena, Loblaws is preparing for its grand opening next week. Sure, Maple Leaf Gardens has been sitting idly for nearly a decade, but really, a grocery store? That’s the best we could do? Still, we can’t help but wonder what the big box giant has planned. Below, a sneak peak into some weird and wonderful features of the new Loblaws.
|
 |
11/22/11
A late brunch out at a restaurant always feels like something of a special treat to me. With Chef at the restaurant early on Saturdays for prep, and me at the office during the week, Sunday is essentially the only day we’re able to enjoy anything but a bowl of granola and yogurt in the car while en route to work.
|
 |
11/21/11
For anyone who didn’t get a chance to check out The Globe this weekend, Chris Nuttall-Smith got the scoop on the latest in the Grant van Gameren saga. Just weeks after leaving The Black Hoof and jumping back on board with Lucien, along with Guy Rawlings, to help steer the restaurant in a new direction, van Gameren has been announced as the executive chef at Enoteca Sociale.
|
 |
11/21/11
Just opened this summer, it certainly didn’t take long for Toronto to fall head over heels for Acadia Restaurant & Bar. Tucked away — just the way its customers like it — on Clinton St. in Little Italy, across from the somehow-always-packed Café Diplomatico, there’s magic happening in the kitchen here.
|
 |
11/18/11
In light of the recent chef changeover at the ROM, one thing is certain: C5, as we once knew it, is gone, and it’s never coming back. For one, dinner service is kaput. C5 only does lunch now (and brunch on weekends). Also gone is the cutting-edge menu: C5’s former chef, Ted Corrado, is now in charge of food at tourist spots throughout the country. The new menu, which launched on Tuesday, aims to cater to everyone. Literally everyone.
|
 |
11/18/11
This is one of the under-the-radar super-Tuscans at a reasonable price. It’s a blend of Sangiovese, Colorino, Canaiolo and Merlot. Ruby in colour with a smoky, minerally, black cherry nose; savoury on the palate with flavours of dried cherry, orange peel and earthy tones; firmly structured with good length. Food match: tomato-based pasta dishes.
|
 |
11/17/11
A new idea is taking shape in one of Toronto’s trendiest ‘hoods. On Nov. 29, international chain Piola will be opening a new location near Queen and Dufferin, at the Bohemian Embassy condo. The new pizzeria will be serving up high-quality Italian cuisine and carefully selected wine, along with some local art, but owners insist Piola will be missing one ingredient: attitude.
|
 |
11/17/11
Around six years ago, before doing one thing really well was hip in Toronto’s food scene, The Fish Store opened in Little Italy as a closet-sized purveyor of fish sandwiches and fresh raw seafood. It’s now a neighbourhood fixture, and its original formula has changed little. So it was a bit odd to venture into the store this week to find that beef bulgogi, a Korean specialty dish — and clearly, a departure from tradition for the place — has been added to the menu.
|
 |
11/16/11
Sameer Mohamed had no intentions of giving up when Fahrenheit Coffee closed in September, just a few months after opening. The esteemed barista says there are multiple reasons why his coffee shop shut its doors, but now that he’s set to re-open in a new location, he’s confident that the change will be for the better. A new location of Fahrenheit Coffee has taken over the space at 120 Lombard Street, near Jarvis and Richmond.
|
 |
11/15/11
There’s a new construction site in town, and for once, residents of the area may be excited to hear about it. Opening up this month in the former Druxy’s location on Yonge, just south of Eglington, is The Construction Site, a grilled cheese sandwich shop.
|
 |
11/15/11
The Cake Boss may have fancy tools and some badass cooks under his employ, but the ladies at new cupcake boutique We Bake in Heels can whip up scrumptious confections —including a giant-sized cupcake — while wearing stilettos in the kitchen.
|
 |
11/14/11
Brown bagging it means something entirely different at the corner of Church and Granby these days. Brown Bag Sandwiches, a new sandwich joint by Matt Lai and Peter Lee, (both from, among other places, Pure Spirits Oyster House and Grill) opened up two weeks ago in the old Sandwiched spot.
|
 |
11/14/11
It used to be really hard to come by Mexican food — and I mean real Mexican food — in this city. When you had a nasty hankering for tacos, you had to make do.
|
 |
11/11/11
That The Burger’s Priest is expanding is not a huge surprise. Since it opened in 2010, the east-end hamburger joint has consistently impressed customers and critics alike: it’s number 20 on Joanne Kates’ 100 best restaurants list, while Toronto Life recently bestowed burger of the year to the Vatican City Burger. But where it is expanding to is somewhat unexpected.
|
 |
11/11/11
This is a really intense and flavourful wine for the price. Small wonder it won a gold medal at the Concours Mondial competition in Brussels. Dense ruby-purple colour; a nose of black raspberries and vanilla oak with a mineral-herbal note; on the palate, it offers a candied raspberry flavour. It’s full-bodied and well-structured with ripe tannins. Food match: pepper steak, osso bucco.
|
 |
11/10/11
Hush. Some places don’t like to make a grand entrance, and that’s the mantra behind King Street West’s latest addition, Hush Restaurant, Bar and Patio. Since it opened a few weeks ago, the food, atmosphere and word of mouth have been doing all the talking. As a new venture from the team behind Gabby’s and Hey Lucy, Hush provides guests with a completely different experience.
|
 |
11/09/11
The espresso market has traditionally been cornered by Starbucks and specialty shops, but coffee connoisseurs are now being courted by some unlikely competitors: McDonald’s and Tim Hortons. Is this venture into espresso-based coffee a sacrilege? Probably, but things could be worse. Here are five reasons why it’s not such a bad thing.
|
 |
11/09/11
A funny thing happened to me this weekend: I was ridiculed for ordering vodka.
My usually passive strains of Polish blood erupted in indignation.
“What fresh, elitist hell has this city become?” they screamed.
|
 |
11/08/11
Replicating an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in Toronto isn’t easy. The focus is always on quality above quantity. It requires a massive, wood-burning oven, imported from Naples, with a highly trained pizzaiolo at the reins. Servers need to be meticulously educated. Which is why John Chetti and his partners, the owners of Queen Margherita Pizza, aren’t quite prepared to expand that brand just yet. What they are ready for is an attempt to change the face of delivery pizza in Toronto.
|
 |
11/07/11
As far as Toronto’s burger joints go, it seems like slightly irreverent themes are all the rage. The Burger’s Priest, for example, is owned by a former seminary school student, and the burgers are named to suit: the Vatican City, the Priest, the High Priest, the Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel and so on. There’s even a message of gospel on the website.
|
 |
11/04/11
The last few weeks have been rough for restaurants across the city, and now Sierra Grill is joining the likes of Bigabaldi’s, Carpano and Tomi-Kro. After 33 years of business, Sierra Grill officially closed its doors last Thursday. One can’t help but wonder whether the closure had something to do with the aftermath of the Hepatitis A scare earlier this year, but owner Martin Dennis says that landlords wanted to bring a higher-end restaurant onto the property.
|
 |
11/04/11
A delicious stand-up sipper. I usually don’t look to Australia for Riesling, but this wine surprised me. Straw colour; developing petrol notes on the nose; lime and grapefruit with a honeyed note; slight spritz on the palate with a sweet and sour flavour; initially off-dry and then dries out on the finish with lively citrus acidity. Food match: pork chop, Thai dishes.
|
 |
11/03/11
This kind of came out of nowhere, but the ROM has a new executive chef: Corbin Tomaszeski. The announcement was made in a press release sent out this morning. In addition to his 20-plus years of experience as a chef (his latest gig was as executive chef at Holts Café), Tomaszeski is also known at a television personality from shows like Dinner Party Wars and Restaurant Makeover.
|
 |
11/02/11
For the past year and a half or so, Bill Sweete and his team held an interesting trifecta on College Street with Sidecar, Toronto Temperance Society and Negroni. This past summer, the latter of those venues had undergone a modest renovation and a menu change to become Carpano. But despite a positive reception in the area, Carpano has closed, Sweete tells us, and it’s been sold to a couple of “young restaurateurs.”
|
