Posted by Sheryl Kirby in news and media, rag round-up on February 8, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Kathryn Borel of Eye Magazine deems it too cold out to be wandering the city in search of a restaurant to review, so her column this week is a collection of recipes to make at home from three of Toronto's top chefs. Given that this is the tedious Love & Sex (or sex and love, or "teeheehee, look nekkid people," issue - for both rags, actually), you'd sort of figure that the recipes would reflect the theme. Instead, all three are hearty, meaty dishes better suited to Sunday dinner with the in-laws. With most of the farmyard covered (Pork Savoyard, Braised Lamb Shanks and Beef Short Ribs), vegetarians should refrain from Borel's example of coccooning (which appears to involve filling the bathtub with rendered bacon fat) and head out into the cold to track down some frozen lettuce.
At NOW, Steven Davey checks out Fuzion at Church and Wellesley, where the chef's claim to fame is that he used to cook for Oprah. We won't hold that against him, and Davey gives the place 4 Ns, so the grub must be good, despite the hype.
Most carnivorous kitchens disdain vegetarian entrees, resorting to a half-assed assemblage of side dishes. Fuzion bucks the trend by offering a bistro-centric white bean cassoulet ($18) teeming with roasted veggies – zucchini, carrot, tomato, mushroom, whole cloves of garlic in a hearty vegetable broth, all blanketed with mashed turnip 'n' taters, that's not only delish but extremely filling. So much so that we have to pass on a three-way of crème brûlée – dark chocolate espresso, pumpkin and chai ($10). Our loss.
Sounds like it might be worth checking out.
Davey also heads north in search of croissants and finds what he wants at Patisserie La Cigogne on Bayview Avenue. He finds the sandwiches tasty and the croissants passable but not as good as those from Patachou.
Also in NOW, Graham Duncan offers his wine picks for the week; a Sogrape Vila Regia 2004 in the under $15 category, Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 in the above $15 category, and Cruzan Estate Dark Rum, a nice choice for sipping on the rocks, in the Sips and Nips category.
