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11/01/11
Less than a year into the pie-making business, Bigabaldi’s pizzeria has already closed its doors. Co-owner Bradley Davidson cites a lack of foot traffic in the area along with the plethora of cheaper chain pizza options nearby (there are four) as reasons leading to the closure. But New York-style pizza lovers fear not: Bigabaldi’s is preparing to return to the Toronto market in a few months.
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10/31/11
Cakes are delicious, but they can also be pretty funny. Just ask blogger Jen Yates, whose blog, Cake Wrecks, catalogues the most hilarious — and horrific — cakes you’ve ever feasted your eyes on. A prime example of how a successful blog can transform someone from obscurity into a pop culture phenomenon, Yates is making her first-ever stop in Toronto to promote her newest book, Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets "Festive", at Indigo Yorkdale tomorrow.
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10/31/11
Although things have changed at The Black Hoof with the departure of Grant van Gameren, owner Jen Agg and newly-crowned chef Brandon Olsen continue to uphold the restaurant’s high standard of cuisine paired with creative cocktails.
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10/28/11
Nigel Finley is a Nova Scotia man, so he grew up around some of the best, freshest seafood in the country. “It’s in my blood,” he says. That’s a good thing, because he’s heading up the kitchen at Catch, an upcoming seafood restaurant by The Rushton’s Frank Pronesti.
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10/27/11
In the midst of the ceaseless commotion that is Chinatown, there’s a new hidden nugget of zen where you can ensconce yourself in a plush beanbag chair, crack open a novel (or a laptop, if you must) and dig into a steaming bowl of noodle soup for under $7 (taxes included).
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10/26/11
City Council voted in favour of banning the posession, sale and consumption of shark fin in Toronto yesterday. Though it's served as a delicacy in many Chinese restaurants, environmentalists deem shark fishing unsustainable and cruel. Here, we take a look at Toronto’s shark fin journey.
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10/26/11
My head is still swimming from a pilgrimage I made to a magical land called Niagara recently: the sun was golden, the vineyards were cloaked in blankets of mist and the grapes were practically begging to be plucked, squished, fermented and imbibed (I dutifully obliged in the latter).
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10/25/11
Saturday evening we made the lengthy trek (via TTC) out to the Evergreen Brick Works in hot anticipation of the second Toronto Underground Market. Offering a venue for the city’s talented home chefs and caterers to peddle their wares, this foodie event has quickly become a sought-after experience, with the $5 tickets promptly selling out (limited door tickets were made available due to begging).
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10/25/11
Toronto has been all about combining food and drink with other fun activities as of late, and now it’s time for a bit of artistic inspiration. The Vancouver-based art and social lounge Raw Canvas is set to open its first Toronto location by summer 2012.
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10/24/11
Opened just a few weeks ago, L’Ouvrier Kitchen Bar certainly has a lot to prove on this strip of Dundas Street West, but so far, the response has been good.
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10/21/11
As has been widely reported, the Avenue and Lawrence location of Pusateri’s was shut down Thursday due to a pest infestation. The gourmet food store, a mainstay in the area, is expected to reopen pending a follow-up inspection. In the meantime, we have compiled a timeline of how the drama unfolded.
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10/21/11
You could pass this off as a white Burgundy any day of the week. Straw-coloured with a touch of barnyard on the nose, riding on minerally apple and toasty oak notes. Rich and full on the palate with a fine, long nutty finish. Food match: grilled salmon, ripe brie.
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10/20/11
Food. We can’t live without it, and the more delicious it is, the better. This weekend, hardcore foodies have reason to celebrate at the four-day food lovers’ extravaganza, the Delicious Food Show, happening in the Ex’s Better Living Centre.
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10/20/11
While you may not be able to escape the colder weather outside your front door, David Rocco’s latest cookbook, Made in Italy, will bring a taste of Italy to your kitchen. In his third book, he delves further into la dolce vita to bring together a new collection of traditional, regional and best of all, simple Italian recipes. We caught up with him to talk about, what else, Italy.
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10/19/11
When Grant van Gameren announced that he was leaving The Black Hoof back in August, the news was bittersweet. Sure, it sucked that he was leaving the Hoof, but what was he going to tackle next? The answer is Lucien, Toronto Life reports.
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10/18/11
When Number Two Restaurant appeared on Spadina a few weeks ago, we wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. Number Two is “with it,” we thought. By openly admitting its inferiority, it is indulging in that grand hipster ideal known as “irony.” Well, we were wrong. As Now Magazine reports, Number Two has already changed its name. It’s now known as Ivan’s Kitchen Dim Sum Fusion Cuisine.
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10/18/11
Nothing seemed to curb the hungry spirits of visitors to Foodstock on Sunday, as they braved spotty skies and fields of mud in a pay-what-you-can celebration of local produce, fresh water and culinary camaraderie.
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10/17/11
Barque: it’s“the caramelized outer layer of barbeque meat.” It’s also the name of a restaurant all the way west on Roncesvalles, owned by first-time restaurateurs David Neinstein and Jonathan Persofsky, that’s become one of the hottest spots in the city for barbeque.
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10/14/11
Five years ago, Kaiseki Sakura brought Japanese food that wasn’t based around sushi to Church Street. Then Guu Izakaya came along, and everyone went gaga. But critics have long admired Chef Daisuke Izutsu’s approach to Japanese cuisine, and unfortunately, his restaurant is now closed.
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10/14/11
This is old style German Riesling that swaggers with style. Very pale lime in colour, it exudes aromas of lime and honey with a mineral note. It’s light on the palate with good fruit and a fine balance between honey flavours and citrus acidity. Food match: Thai dishes, blue cheese.
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10/13/11
Who knew that what Queen West needed was a bar with a locally-focused menu, cocktails and, wait for it, kimchi? The team behind Splendido did, apparently. Splendido co-owners Carlo Catallo and Victor Barry’s new venture is The County General, which has taken over the old OddFellows spot. It has already become a popular nook on the Queen and Shaw strip.
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10/12/11
Bayview Village has a new jewel opening up in mid-November, and it’s a Pearl. Owner Kim Mak and his partners are bringing a new incarnation of the decades-old Pearl Harbourfront Chinese Cuisine, one of Toronto’s best Chinese restaurants, to the trendy Bayview neighborhood.
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10/11/11
As a pie fiend (my favourite pies, hands down, come from Forsythe Family Farms all the way up in Markham), there’s nothing more delicious to signal fall than pumpkin pie and butternut squash. So, just in time for fall colours (not so much fall weather, with this random heat wave), harvest celebrations, Thanksgiving and Halloween, The Wedding Cake Shoppe is making a delicious treat that’s just right for the season: a pumpkin pie cupcake.
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10/07/11
For Torontonians, the quaint city of Stratford, Ontario — 96 miles from downtown — is a theatre getaway as much as it is a culinary destination. For Chef, the scale leans heavy on the latter side. Stratford was the birthplace of his career in the kitchen and home to his alma mater, the Stratford Chefs School.
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10/07/11
Loads of flavour here for the price. Dense purple in colour with a bouquet of mint, cola and blackberries. The palate offers a full-bodied, fleshy and juicy taste of sweet blackberries backed by oak and a fine thread of acidity. Food match: pepper steak, mature cheddar.
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10/06/11
The Butchers is back. Well, almost. Despite rumours that meat monger Marlon Pather had skipped town to avoid flack for his now-notorious couponing debacle, he’s revamped and re-opened his north Toronto store. It’s now called Marlon’s Meat. And it has chandeliers.
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10/06/11
Here’s the question. Would you eat at a place whose logo is a hamburger on a cow’s body with a cow’s head on a platter? If not, you probably wouldn’t fit in at Holy Chuck Burgers, the new gourmet burger joint at Yonge and St. Clair, in the old Retro Burger space, anyway.
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10/05/11
For the record, ćevapi are ubiquitous in the Balkans. They are the stuff of poetry. It could very well be that ćevapi are the reason that McDonald’s will never catch on in some parts of Europe. Here in Toronto, they’re less revered, perhaps because they’ve been pretty much impossible to find downtown. That was until Hrvati Bar opened up last month.
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10/05/11
The seemingly impossible has occurred: Kensington Market just upped its edibility quotient. Easton’s is now serving an assortment of charcuterie and house-prepared foods in the space seasonally occupied by Mr. Cream at 61 Kensington Ave.
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10/04/11
While many restaurants on the Av and Dav strip sat half-empty last Friday, it was a packed house at Malena. Anyone expecting to indulge in seafood-heavy Ionian cuisine, though, may have been surprised to see that the menu is now a completely different beast. Chef Doug Neigel is gone, having taken the reins at Mercatto, and in his stead is Matthew Sullivan, formerly of Terroni and Missisauga’s Il Pescatore Ristorante.
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10/03/11
Visitors to The Counter at the Thompson Hotel may have noticed something different about the restaurant as of late. Namely, well, that it's no longer called The Counter. The popular King West diner has undergone a name change — it'll now be known as the Thompson Diner — but that’s about the only difference. That, and the addition of a new burger to the menu.
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10/03/11
Opened in February 2011, Khao San Road has been the talk of the town for those living or working around the Entertainment District. Here, owners Jeff and Nuit Regular — whose names have become synonymous with Thai cuisine in Toronto — are creating the Thai food they’re known for from their first venture, Sukhothai.
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