Posted by Sheryl Kirby in news and media, rag round-up on November 15, 2007 at 5:25 pm

Sometimes I think local restaurant critics disagree with one another just for the sake of being disagreeable. After a litany of reviews, all of which indicated that Sassafraz, despite the post-fire facelift, was still serving up pretty terrible food, Alan Vernon and Sean Kelly Keenan of Eye can't stop gushing about the place. Taste, of course, is subjective, and maybe they really are better at assessing the food than Joanne Kates with her culinary arts background. Or maybe they just want to stand out from the herd.

Over at NOW, the Friendly Thai on Queen Street stands out from the herd as well - by serving really nasty buffet food that earns them 1 N. Steven Davey has better luck at Ivory Thailand located in the old Young Thailand location at Church and Adelaide. And Graham Duncan is all over the board in his Drink Up column where he samples a California Brut, a Niagara Reisling and a Chilean sparkler "that's been pinkified with strawberries."

Thanks to Billy Munnelly of Metro for reminding us that the Beajolais Nouveau release begins today, and Laurie Wilson previews the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, which starts tomorrow. Aonghus Kealy offers part 2 of his piece on Moosehead brewery, and Rick McGinnis visits Bonjour Brioche.

Also in Metro, there's a recipe for chocolate haystack cookies,  and Laurie Wilson searches for holiday shortcuts at M&M Meatshop.