At the risk of completely blowing my Toronto foodie cred, I have to confess that I’ve never eaten at Splendido. This is partly because I rarely have a spare few hundred bucks kicking around to drop on a single meal, and partly because I’m half-convinced that as wonderful as it may be, it will never be able to live up to my exceedingly high expectations. Based on Amy Pataki’s review in today’s Toronto Star, perhaps I’m right to feel that way:

(T)he so-called “Mediterranean-eclectic” dishes aren’t as accomplished as the restaurant’s reputation and prices lead me to believe. Only the consummate service balances out the kitchen’s many missteps, the evident eagerness to please a balm for disappointed palates.

All meals begin with a tiered stand of canapes before menus are presented. How civilized. There may be chilled shot glasses of gazpacho, toast with raisin chutney and Ontario ricotta, and a bland take on Mexican black beans.

Then it’s a first course of fat white asparagus with hollandaise that should know better, the stiff blob more akin to lemon mayonnaise. The asparagus isn’t much better, slimy and floppy from over-poaching. Later in the meal, the kitchen treats slender green asparagus properly, using crisp-tender spears to prop up an overcooked breaded halibut fillet so stringy it makes frozen fish patties seem a paragon.

Continue reading In The Papers - Saturday June 30th »

Bocca on Baldwin
26 Baldwin Street
416-348-0731
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and wine/beer (no dessert): $65

The great thing about Baldwin Village is that you have your pick of cuisines. It’s a fun treat to stand on the corner and pick a country, and by extension, a restaurant, or vice versa. Recently we wandered into the neighbourhood with some friends we were treating to dinner and stood in front of each place trying to decide. We opted for Bocca on Baldwin, mostly because none of us had been there before.

I was familiar with the space in its previous life, the fun but somewhat rundown Dessert Sensations Café. The building has since been completely gutted and renovated and is now an airy space full of gleaming wood and light.

Continue reading Bewildered by Bocca on Baldwin »

Canada Day is almost upon us and it is time to talk about Canada’s unique contribution to the world wine picture.

I mean icewine of course, and especially Vidal icewine, to be precise. Icewine is basically an aromatic rich sweet wine, pressed from hand-picked grapes frozen on the vine at no less than -8 degrees C (this allows the supreme concentration of grape juice as the water freezes out and only flavourful liquid grape sugar remains). Although icewine was first created in Germany, it is in Canadian wine-making (mostly in Ontario) that icewine has become a regular mainstay and not an occasional lucky fluke as in Europe. There is more on icewine history and techniques here.

Continue reading Saturday Wine Ruminations - Vidal Icewine »

In this week’s edition of Gremolata…

• Zoltan Szabo marks Canada Day with tasting notes for 35 Canadian wines, paired with food suggestions from Chef Michael Pataran.
• Deborah Aarts loves Ontario cherries.

Fresh By Juice For Life

326 Bloor Street West
416-531-2635

894 Queen Street West
416-913-2720

147 Spadina Avenue
416-599-4442

Cost of regular juice: $5 to $7

It can take a while to comb through the menu at Fresh By Juice For Life. It’s easy to lose yourself in the flurry of ingredients assembled before your eyes.

Fresh is an extremely popular vegetarian restaurant with three locations. One reason for that demand is the selection of juices. Many stray into atypical territory. The menu details 41 juices, shakes, smoothies, and “elixirs.” Anyone feeling creative can head off-menu and throw together whatever mix they want, leaving hundreds of possibilities.

Continue reading A Peek at Fresh’s Supplemental Ingredients »

If you read any US-based food blogs, websites or magazines, you’ll know that Americans tend to go a little coo-coo about what they eat for the Fourth of July. Whether it’s a frighteningly patriotic and sickly sweet Flag Cake, or a meticulously planned backyard BBQ that goes to hell when Uncle Bill drinks one too many cans of Coors Light, it seems that you’re just not a real American if you don’t spend the holiday stuffing your face with something red, white and/or blue.

Up here in Canada, we take a somewhat less nationalist tone when it comes to what we eat on Canada Day. If you head out to a celebration in or around Toronto this weekend, you may find yourself sampling African-style seafood or Jamaican Jerk Chicken at Harbourfront, Mexican specialities or variety of delicacies from around the world at Yonge-Dundas Square, or - somewhat ironically - good ol’ American style BBQ at Centennial Park in Etobicoke.

Continue reading Celebrating Canada at Splendido & Sustainability at Scaramouche »

Here’s a summary of the food & drink events taking place around town (and a few things happening out-of-town) in the next seven days. For full details on these and many future happenings, visit our Events page.

Friday June 29th

• Canada Day: Generations (runs until Monday July 2nd) - Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
• Toronto Ribfest (runs until Monday July 2nd) - Centennial Park, 256 Centennial Park Road, Etobicoke

Saturday June 30th

• CHIN International Picnic (runs until Monday July 2nd) - Exhibition Place
• Fiesta Mexicana - Yonge-Dundas Square, corner of Yonge & Dundas Streets
• In The Market Kitchen: Bread - The Kitchen at St. Lawrence Market (West Mezzanine of the South Market), 95 Front Street East

Sunday July 1st

• Multicultural Canada Day Festival - Yonge-Dundas Square, corner of Yonge & Dundas Streets

The reviews of Tom Thai’s Foxley seem to be coming hard and fast and are also as varied as can be. Some people hate it, some, like Alan A. Vernon and Denise Balkissoon of Eye, love it. The one thing that everyone seems to remark on is that most of the staff used to work at Tempo, as if that’s some kind of marker of the service. I haven’t been to Foxley yet, but I always found the service at Tempo to be somewhat cold, and I know of a few different people who were treated so rudely (as in - were ignored and left standing at the entrance without being acknowledged - even when they had a reservation) that they refused to eat there.

Continue reading Rag Round-Up - Thursday, June 28th »

The last I time I found myself walking east on Mill Street towards the historical buildings of The Distillery District, I noticed that they are almost hidden by new condo construction. Only the tops of its tallest buildings provided reassurance that I was indeed walking the correct way. By the time I arrived at the main entrance, Trinity Street, the modernity of the half-finished condo receded from view, replaced with historic buildings and wonderfully Victorian pedestrian-only lanes that look and feel very different from the rest of Toronto.

Originally the Gooderham and Worts Distillery, one of the largest distilleries in the world during the 19th century, the old Victorian Industrial buildings are now filled with galleries, boutiques and restaurants. Thanks to the new owners’ refusal to lease any space to chains or franchises, it’s an excellent chance to get away from the usual garish Starbucks, McDonald’s and Quiznos signage that increasingly dominates most Toronto neighbourhoods. The restaurants and eateries that have established themselves in The Distillery have great food, atmosphere and dynamic variety.

Continue reading Eating My Way Through The Distillery District »

Everything, I should say. Especially if it is gorgeous artisan cheese found less than a 5 minute walk away from one’s doorstep. In the beginning of my Toronto life I was bemoaning the sad lack of decent cheeses in the neighbourhood. Little did I know that with my unerring foodie’s instinct I would very soon succeed in renting an apartment right beside a new-born local cheese heaven! Nancy Peppler opened her cheese stall at Harbord Bakery only this February. She is there in person four days a week and she also provides cheese-trays and catering service on request. So every time I come for the cheese I notice plenty of regulars queuing up and trying Nancy’s cheeses - usually more than a dozen of them, both local artisanal ones and great international varieties.

Continue reading What’s in a Cheese? »

Jim Chai Kee Noodle
270 West Beaver Creek, Unit 18, Richmond Hill
905-881-8778
Meal for two with all taxes and tip: $16

The plain walls, minimal décor, and simple tables may not be the typical way to attract customers into a restaurant. But it is because of these reasons, along with the delicious wonton noodles at Jim Chai Kee Noodle that keeps me returning to this uncomplicated little noodle house.

Looking at the short menu hanging on all four walls, I only need one hand to count all the items on it. There are noodles served with either wontons, beef, or fresh fish balls. By adding another fifty cents, we can also choose to have two of the three items in our noodles. To be “fancier”, there is an option of adding a plate of vegetables with hoisin sauce on the side. There is “serve yourself” tea available or customers can purchase a pop from the counter. This is what it is like eating at side street noodle houses in my hometown, Hong Kong.

Continue reading HK Wontons in TO »

There’s some screaming going on over at The Toronto Star with this week’s feature article on ice cream. Specifically, locally made stuff.

Local is also the message of Jennifer Bain’s article in which she investigates Foodland Ontario’s decision to promote local food with a older slogan (used originally from 1978 to 1986) - “Good things grow in Ontario.” It seems that, whatever the slogan, the message is getting out there:

There was talk of eating local to reduce our environmental footprints and help build urban-rural bridges. We were advised to watch for “signs and symbols” at supermarkets that will better identify lamb, veal and pork. We learned that the province’s Foodland Ontario is turning 30 and will now promote deli and fresh meats, dairy and baked goods on top of fruits and vegetables.

(Last year, 95 per cent of “principal grocery shoppers” recognized the Foodland Ontario symbol and 87 per cent showed “a propensity to purchase Ontario produce” – up from 86 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively, in 2005.)

Continue reading What’s Cooking - Wednesday, June 27th »

EPIC Restaurant, Fairmont Royal York Hotel
100 Front Street West
416-860-6949
Afternoon tea service for two with all taxes and tip: $50

While I generally have a reputation with almost everyone who knows me as being a loudmouth tchoula (Spanish slang for “ballsy broad”), I’ve also got a bit of a fussy girlie side that occasionally requires doses of pink, bouquets of flowers and formal dainty things like afternoon tea.

I hadn’t been to tea at the Fairmont Royal York in almost a decade, back when it was in a little open tearoom in the west end of the hotel just outside the magnificent ballroom. The space was light and pretty, designed to evoke a Victorian garden, with trellises of flowers, a high ceiling and a little railing around the space that I always wished was a picket fence.

Continue reading Tea for Three X Three at the Fairmont Royal York »

Much like Canadians, Australians consider beer to be a big part of their national heritage. And as in Canada, the beer that most Aussies raise in honour of their country and culture is, quite frankly, crap.

Oh, sure, they’ve got a good number of small craft breweries making decent stuff, and the family-owned Coopers Brewery has been producing quality ales since 1862. But as in most countries, the beer that is most popular with the patriotic masses is bland, fizzy, pale yellow lager.

(As an aside - despite the fact that it was once heavily touted around the world as the quintessential Australian beer, Foster’s Lager has long been considered a second-string brand in its home country, although it remains popular in the UK and a few other places.)

Continue reading Beer of the Week - Castlemaine XXXX Export Gold »

The Fish Store
657 College Street
416-533-2822
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip, and soda/juice: $20-$30, depending on the type of fish

I’m not the deep-frying type. I have the occasional craving for fries or onion rings, though generally I limit their consumption to equally greasy pubs. But for a short period of time every spring, there is an item that warrants, nay demands, its fling with oil. I’m talking about soft-shell crabs. Like a summer love, they glide into town with the breeze and stay a mere week or two, taking with them a piece of your heart. Of course, there is nothing to do but wait the long wait until next spring for the familiar lover, er, crustacean, to make its reappearance.

Continue reading Feeling Crabby? »