Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on December 22, 2007 at 12:47 pm

2007 has undeniably beer the Year That Local Broke in the food scene, so it's fitting that one of Joanne Kates' last reviews of the year for the Globe & Mail should be L'Unita, an Italian spot recently opened in the affluent Av & Dav neighbourhood that populates their menu with as many local and seasonal goods as possible. Plus, they serve up some pretty authentic Italian eats:

Mains are simple, straightforward and beautifully executed: Brick-pressed grilled chicken is moist, its flavour intensified by the pressing, its red onion relish a sweet/sour delight. But the red wine risotto Venetian style (for a mere 20 bucks!) says the most about L'Unita's kitchen. It's deceptively simple - risotto made with red wine, rosemary and onions. But careful technique has produced rice with al dente grains and sauce full of flavour. On the side is a marrow bone with a tiny spoon for scooping this unctuous forbidden fruit, and atop the marrow bone is pesto of garlic and parsley, to zing together the simple flavours. This is clean cooking and molto Italiano.

Also in the Globe:

• Beppi Crosariol devotes half of his column this week to a Michael Vaughan-style rant about price gouging at the LCBO, and also holds true to the cliché that wine writers have a hard time taking beers seriously on their own terms, as he refers to Great Lakes Winter Ale as a "beer that drinks like a wine". Hey, Beppi - maybe it's just a good beer, period.
• Lucy Waverman dishes up her ever popular "perfect roast turkey" recipe, and throws in a bonus roast beef recipe as well.
• Kate MacLennan chats with Chuck Williams, the founder of kitchenware chain Williams-Sonoma.
• Leah Rumack tries a Plata Martini, the specialty of the house at tequila bar Reposado.
• José Lourenço gets in touch with his inner five-year old at a gingerbread house workshop.
• Sasha Chapman eats some really expensive cheese.
• Bad news for chocolate lovers in the main section of the paper, as a CP wire piece reports on the closure of the Moirs factory - the home of Pot Of Gold chocolates - in Dartmouth, NS, and Paul Waldie takes a look at documents released yesterday that contain strong evidence of price fixing between Moirs parent company Hershey, Mars, Nestlé and Cadbury.

In the National Post, Gina Mallet is pleased to find the first entry for her new list of restaurants with under-$20 entrees at classic French bistro Batifole, where the low prices definitely don't mean low quality:

The menu is full of contrast in textures, tastes and colours. If I start with escargot fricassee, I should follow it with a simple steak, is my reasoning. Yet, I hanker for skate, here served with butter sauce, capers and lemon zest. On the other hand, I must start with a soup I can never resist, lobster and rockfish with garlic aioli, and when I inhale the intoxicating coral elixir, silkily substantial piqued with calcium, I forget everything else.

Also in the Post:

• Michael Vaughan gets into the Christmas spirits - aka some rum and whisky selections for holiday sipping.
• Jon Bricker and Kate Swoger eat at Ghareeb Nawaz - or rather, they eat in their car parked in front of Ghareeb Nawaz, as the tiny Scarborough take-away has no tables to sit and enjoy their remarkably cheap four-item menu.
• Zenya Sirant talks sweet treats with Yvonne Davis of Bruce County Nut & Fudge Co..
• Two byline-less articles (on the web version, at least) report on the unfortunate closures of Karl's Butcher & Grocery and The Laurentian Room.
• A. Brouwer & A. Wilson put several budget bubblies to the Shelf Life taste test.
• Rebecca Field Jager goes undercover as a supermarket sample lady.
• Bonnie Stern offers tips - and recipes - for a last minute holiday party.

Amy Pataki is off on holidays for a couple of weeks, so there's no restaurant review in the Toronto Star. Her usual space is filled this week by an interview with Padma Lakshmi, conducted by Jennifer Bain over lunch at Udupi Palace, as well as a tasty looking couscous recipe from Lakshmi's recent cookbook, Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet.

Also in the Star:

• Gordon Stimmell recommends five bottles of bubbly for NYE celebrations - although we must question his inclusion of Fresita, a sickly sweet strawberry-flavoured concoction that we dumped after a single sip at the Gourmet Food & Wine Show last month.
• Derick Chetty visits La Mercería, an Argentinean café and housewares shop newly opened on Adelaide.
• Susan Sampson preps some polenta.
• In the Travel section, Heather Greenwood Davis checks in with the strongest evidence yet that molecular gastronomy has jumped the shark: it's now being served on a cruise ship.