It's the "Best Of" round-up over at NOW this week, with the food section dedicated to The Best of Food and Drink in Toronto. The problem with "best of" lists is that they're entirely subjective, and what is the best for you might not be the best for me, and vice versa. Presumably compiled by Steven Davey (there's no byline in the online version), there are more than a few "best ofs" that I'd be willing to debate, both on the basis of personal preference and by opinions voiced on places like the Chow board for Ontario. Someone at NOW likes Le Bar a Soupe, but our writer Jeff Jermain didn't especially. Someone at NOW is swooning over the service at Cowbell, but they just got blasted for their bad service on Chow. "Best of" lists are best taken with a big grain of salt.
Someplace that isn't likely to win any Best Service awards any time soon is One in the Hazelton Hotel, where Alan A. Vernon and Sean Kelly Keenan of Eye drop by to check out the offerings. Earning three out of five stars, it seems Mark McEwan and his team have some work to do.
Exactly how many cooties are in the communal bowl of nuts on the bar at your local? David Singh of Metro explores the move to free snacks that are not shared. Metro's also got a CP article about a new cookbook by Chef Pino Posteraro of BC, a recipe for a three-cheese pasta bake that uses ground turkey (you'll gobble it up!), and Laurie Wilson reports on the new M&M Meat Shop in the heart of the downtown condo district featuring microwaveable dishes (tsk... all those gourmet kitchens buyers demanded, and no one's interested in using them. Or maybe they're all afraid of staining their over-priced granite countertops with - gasp - food).
The foodie interview this week is with the wife of Pinball Clemmons who admits to using a dull knife to cut just about everything. Because who *really* needs fingers? And finally, Billy Munnelly explains the science of how red wines mellow with age, and recommends some great reds from this week's LCBO release.
Re: overpriced granite counter tops
You nailed it on the head! They don't stain but they require a bit of polishing to clean up, it really is a PITA :) No easy wipe downs with them. .
I cook and bake a tonne, but have been looking forward to that M&M shop opening as I have a baby on the way and I imagine there'll be times I'll be thankful to quickly pick up some food I can easily warm up. Fake-home cooked. .
That said, I've never tried their food before and am really curious if it's any good. Could be good review material, perhaps.
The shared snacks in bars/lounges/clubs (whatever you kids are calling them these days) may be disgusting to most but something tells me that if you can't handle the germs in the communal snack dish you're not going to make it long anyway ... might as well enjoy a nut or mint before you go.