In The Toronto Star this week, Amy Pataki may not like everything about Globe Bistro, but she sure does like the lobster:
The Yarmouth lobster ($38) is much better now that it is no longer cooked sous-vide. The tender claw and tail meat instead is poached in butter, the sauce is based on clarified butter, and the "yukon potato cloud" served alongside is a dollop of vastly buttery mashed potatoes. It's all about the butter.
Also in The Star:
- Linda Barnard attends the retirement party for Rita and Ernesto Fuda who recently sold their Italian deli, La Salumeria, after faithfully serving the Yonge-Davisville community for 20 years.
- Peter Calamai interviews Max Nelson, a University of Windsor professor who earned his PhD in classical studies by researching - and brewing - ancient beer.
- Marion Kane makes us miss Marks & Spencer by writing about their Fair Trade Extra Strong Tea.
- Sarah Sampson claims that "a kitchen without a food processor is like a farm without a tractor".
- In the Business section, Sharda Prashad profiles Ace Bakery, the charity-minded folks who kick-started Toronto's love of artisan bread in 1993 with a small King Street West storefront, and have managed to grow to become one of the country's largest speciality food producers without compromising their quality or their vision.
Over in The Globe & Mail, Joanne Kates is unimpressed by current Queen West hot-spot Coca:
[T]he lowest low is almond oil confit salt cod with spinach and olive oil velouté and bric nests. I like salt cod a lot, but salt cod must be soaked overnight in cold water to pull out the salt with which it's preserved. Otherwise, it tastes like the salt cod at Coca: so salty as to be inedible. Under and around the inedible cod, they've pooled spinach emulsified with olive oil, another bad call because when you intensify the flavour of spinach (which this technique has done), it's too strong. On the side are bric nests. Bric is a phyllo-like dough. In this instance, the nest of naked bric has the approximate texture and flavour of uncooked rice noodles. Not exactly a culinary hit.
Also in The Globe:
- Lucy Waverman shows that Korean food doesn't have to be all about kimchee.
- Beppi Crosariol uncorks some Argentine reds.
- Domini Clark reviews interesting winter-themed beers from five local craft breweries.
- Peter Cheney chats with some local restaurateurs who aren't too happy about the LCBO's new bottle deposit & return program.
- Sarah Elton looks into the seemingly endless renovations at Lahore Tikka House.
And in the National Post:
- Amy Rosen explores the international flavours of the city's bar scene by visiting Sutra Tiki Bar, Bar Italia, Pravda and a few other spots.
- Jacob Richler looks for the perfect bowl of chili (although he prefers to spell it "chile").
- Michael Vaughan vents about an over-attended Napa Valley Vintners trade tasting, and chooses Rustenberg 2004 Chardonnay as his pick of the week.
