While there have been a couple of flashy, upscale restaurants opening in town this summer, most of our recent arrivals have been laidback bistros and other friendly neighbourhood spots. Gina Mallet visits a few of them - including Cluck, Grunt & Low, Citizen, Foxley Bistro, and Crepes a GoGo - for her National Post review this week, and of course, her own neighbourhood spot comes out on top:

Veronique Perez has made [Crepes a GoGo] into a little bit of Paris on Yorkville between Bay and Yonge. Seats about 20, sound by boulevardiers such as Maurice Chevalier, umbrellas over the outside tables, crepe-makers swirling the batter expertly over 18-inch hot rings to produce crinkly, crunchy gluten-free crepes, which are folded into envelopes of toothsome fillings — my favourites are Dinamique (Brie, basil and tomato) and Rive Droite (smoked salmon, dilled scrambled egg and spinach). The house-made limonana spiked with mint is so good I now stock my fridge with it, and Perez makes one the best cafe au laits in town. Because I go there all the time, I cannot say a word against it, which is how all locals feel, or should feel, about their own local.

Also in the Post:

• Michael Vaughan takes another run at the LCBO and the rising prices of their Vintage releases, although he does find a couple of good quality bargains on the general list.
• Jason Chow preps for Caribana with some jerk seasoning.
• Brianna Goldberg says goodbye to Mildred Pierce.
• Zosia Bielski checks out the self-depreciating signage posted on the hoarding outside of the burnt down but being rebuilt Sassafraz.
• Adam McDowell visits Wally’s, Seaport Merchants and Freezerland Foods, apparently the only three shops in the GTA that carry Newfoundland delicacies ranging from cod tongues and salt beef to Lay’s Fries & Gravy Chips and Pineapple Crush.
• A wire service story by Natalie Haughton looks at the increasing popularity of retro-style milkshakes.
• Bonnie Stern presents the seven millionth barbecue-themed menu of the summer, with recipes for BBQ chicken and cornbread muffins.

Over in the Toronto Star, Amy Pataki is on top of another of Toronto’s recent food trends with her review of upscale Indian restaurant Amaya. There has been a lot of praise for this place since it opened a few weeks back, and Pataki joins the chorus:

Let Jamie Kennedy have his frites. Butola’s gorgeous cassava fries ($6) are a revelation, the thick wedges wondrously crisp yet starchy. Marathi-style short ribs ($19) are perfumed with star anise and sesame seeds, while the coconut sauce coating fork-tender lamb shank xacutti ($18) is rich and subtle.

Butola purees baby spinach with garlic in palak paneer ($10). His blistered naan ($3) is a paragon, fluffy and crusty. Plain basmati won’t seem the same now that I’ve had it combined with brown and wild rices in a nutty pilaf ($5) garnished with crisp fried onions.

Also in the Star:

• Gordon Stimmell reviews five summery whites from the latest Vintages release.
• Marion Kane profiles Russell and Charlotte Hands, the owners and chefs of Stratford bed-and-breakfast, Hamlet & Eggs.
• Susan Sampson cooks up some yuca with mojo.

In the Globe & Mail, the rotating summer review series Cheap Eats is back on the west coast this week, with Alexandra Gill’s review of cheap & cheerful fish shack Go Fish. Torontonians may be more interested in the third and final part in Sasha Chapman’s series on the 100-Mile Diet, where she comes to the fairly obvious conclusion that while it’s damn near impossible to stick with locally grown and raised food exclusively, it’s still a good idea to stick with the local stuff when and where you can.

Also in the Globe:

• Beppi Crosariol reminds us that Chianti isn’t a grape, it’s a place, while the grape (and wine) the area is known for is actually called sangiovese.
• John Downs reports on the legal battle that’s brewing between Toronto’s veggie restaurant chain Fresh, and a small Croatian chain called Fresh*, which has a very similar logo and menu to match the identical name (save for the extraneous asterisk).
• Dave McGinn writes a fluffy little puff piece on Dine, a new annual publication from food writer Sara Waxman which will apparently be placing ad sales before journalistic ethics. Or at least that’s what appears to be the case based on the boast from publisher Jay Mandarino that “having ads for restaurants that are accompanied by review by Ms. Waxman will give the magazine an edge” when approaching prospective advertisers. Sure, most of us know that these tourist-oriented dining and entertainment mags are generally little more than paid advertisements masquerading as non-biased reviews, but to see a publisher basically admitting to the practice is still a bit of a shock.