Thought for the day: Do restaurant reviewers get together to compare notes, conspiring to gang up on unsuspecting restaurateurs with back-to-back reviews of their places?

Probably not, but if they did, it would help explain why Queen West hot spot Coca has suddenly been noticed by the local food scribes even though it’s already been open for a few months. Amy Pataki gave the place quite a spanking last week, but in this weekend’s National Post, Gina Mallet is kinder in her two-fer review of Coca and chef Nathan Isberg’s other resto-lounge, Czehoski. Although she does suggest that chef should stick with the small plates:

Mr. Isberg’s way with a large plate is not so pleasing. Handmade perogies stuffed with salsify and potato creme fraiche, braised cabbage and apples, chevre noir and bacon — a tasty mouthful but the dumplings are dry and need more sour cream. I can’t resist the idea of lamb schnitzel but realize I should have when I see large pieces of lamb slipping out of their batter. I guess lamb is too coarse for the schnitzel aesthetic, which requires a tight textured meat like veal beaten to a fare-thee-well, then dipped in egg and bread crumbs and fried so it blows up like a balloon. Too late, I wish I had ordered the “ubiquitous (and sublime) steak-frites.”

Also in the Post:

• Sarah Treleaven writes about the big choice that downtown office drones face every day: What should I have for lunch?
• Michael Vaughan suggests some selections from today’s France-themed Vintages release that you should set aside to share with mom on Mother’s Day.
• Jon Bricker and Kate Swoger truck out to Richmond Hill to visit J-Grill, a spot specialising in one of the latest Japanese food trend exports, rice burgers.
• Jason Chow also heads out of town to enjoy afternoon tea at The White House in Watertown and Princely Pear Tea Room in Cookstown.
• Bonnie Stern previews the upcoming Toronto Jewish Film Festival - or rather, the tasty treats that they give you while you’re waiting in line.
• A. Brouwer & A. Wilson bring together a panel of food experts to rate a quartet of pre-cooked pot roasts.
• Amy Rosen treks to Dymond Lake Lodge near Churchill, Manitoba, a remote spot popular with hunters and eco-tourists that specialises in dishes featuring local fish and game.
• Brad Frenette gives a quick blurb about The Acorn House, a new eco-friendly eatery in London, UK that critic Giles Coren has proclaimed to be “the most important restaurant to open in London in the past 200 years”.

Over at the Globe & Mail, today’s edition is the first Saturday issue to feature their much-hyped new design, although not a lot has changed on the food coverage front. Particularly when it comes to Joanne Kates and her attitude towards the tastes of the hoi polloi who can’t afford to regularly dine at the sort of places that she reviews, as proven by the opening salvo in her review of Relish:

Ask me how I feel about that bright green relish that you put on burgers. It comes in a jar, and is kind of sweet, kind of tart, in a sickly way. Gag. Goes good with that neon yellow ballpark mustard beloved of people not yet ready for Dijon. Which makes me wonder why anyone who knows anything about food would name their restaurant Relish. The fact that Relish is at Danforth and Woodbine (not exactly a hotbed of fun food) and that it serves tapas (another one) made me not exactly excited to go there.

Call it negative journalistic bias. Call it fear of tapas. Either way, after walking into the long and narrow restaurant and smelling the patchouli perfume, I grew even more worried. Is this gonna be one of those counterculture places with high principles and low standards?

At least she actually liked the food once she was able to set aside her fear of lowbrow condiments and dirty “counterculture” types. But next time, I’d suggest that she should call ahead to see if the restaurant has any Grey Poupon.

Also in the Globe:

• Beppi Crosariol tastes a bunch of bottles from today’s Vintages release, with his top pick being the sweet sounding Château Suduiraut Castelnau de Suduiraut Sauternes 2003.
• Lucy Waverman dishes up the results of a recent cook-off featuring chowders prepared by a bunch of local food writers and media types.
• In the Toronto section, Sasha Chapman debuts her new column To Market with info on where you can buy and eat soft-shell crab.
• In the Travel section, Eric Reguly visits Testaccio, a food-friendly neighbourhood in Rome that is generally ignored by tourists, leaving the fantastic covered market and restaurants to the locals.

In the Toronto Star, Amy Pataki wonders why Karuchie isn’t busier - although after her fantastic review, as well as Steven Davey’s similarly positive write-up in this week’s Now, that won’t be the case for long:

Cornish hen ($20) is roasted to a turn. The meat is startlingly moist and simply seasoned. It drips its juices onto the accompanying barley stuffing, the al dente grains sparked with raisins, pistachios and double-smoked bacon. The dish shows restraint and polish.

“What I do isn’t completely new, but a little bit different than those before,” says [chef/owner Chris] Thorn.

Braised beef short ribs ($17) prove the point further. The ribs have more resistance than expected, closer in texture to roast beef. Red wine and cloves faintly flavour the meat. The real surprise is in the sides. Thorn subdues the bitterness of blanched rapini with slow-sweated onion, fennel and garlic. Mashing roast chestnuts into potatoes turns them brown and slightly gritty, but the payoff is in the subtle, complex, earthy flavour. Why shout, when you can whisper?

Also in the Star:

• Gordon Stimmell writes up today’s Vintages release as expected, but he thinks that most of the French offerings “where terribly overpriced for what was in the bottle”, and instead recommends the wares of Niagara College Teaching Winery which are hitting LCBO shelves for the first time.
• Marion Kane goes shopping with Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, the authors of The 100-Mile Diet.
• Susan Sampson serves up miso soup.