Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on January 12, 2008 at 4:48 pm

In what they promise to be an annual feature, the National Post presents a round-up of some of Toronto's best food delivery in today's Toronto section. Unfortunately, the only portions of the multi-page feature that seem to have made it to the website are Gina Mallet's introduction and Vanessa Farquharson's addendum on ecologically-friendly delivery options. So you'll have to find a paper copy to find out which places made the cut.

Mallet also checks in with her weekly review, and she's quite enthusiastic about the Middle Eastern fare at 93 Harbord:

I don't know how many spices chef Isam Kaisi has roasted, ground and mixed to achieve the delicate, subtle flavours in the seductively sweet braised lamb shank that comes with steamed couscous, apricot-ginger sauce and a side of date-honey sabzi yogourt. The art of spicing is that no one spice predominates so I can only guess that cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, cumin and chili are included. What I do know is that this tajine (stew) is sublime and the like of which I haven't tasted in this town. The lamb is assertively flavourful; it falls away from the bone in soft rosy shards, the winey jus sparked by mellowed ginger, the date honey cut by sour yogourt.

Also in the Post:

• Michael Vaughan recommends some Spanish wines.
• Jason Chow discovers the next big ancient grain: amaranth.
• Vanessa Farquharson visits Toronto's Little Malta neighbourhood (we have a Little Malta in Toronto???) and tries pastizzi, a Maltese speciality described as "samosas in phyllo pastry".
• Adam McDowell oversees a blind taste test that compares Gardein chicken substitute (made with soy and wheat gluten) to the real clucking thing - and you can probably guess which one wins.
• Bonnie Stern gives some tips on table manners, and then offers recipes for three dishes that make it hard to stick with them.
• Gina Mallet pops up for the third time today, with a two-fer book review of Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food (which she hates) and Joe Schwarcz's An Apple A Day (which she likes).

Over in the Globe & Mail, Joanne Kates visits "nouvelle Greek" spot Lambros, and like Amy Pataki in the Star last week, she's glad to see legendary chef Aristedes back in action:

Everything from Lambros's kitchen is lighter and more interesting than other Greek food in Toronto. Take, for example, octopus, a great classic of Mediterranean food. The pickled octopus at Lambros is tender and piquant thanks to perfect cooking and a light vinaigrette. Grilled octopus is superbly tender atop nicely seasoned yellow split pea purée.

Kebab of pork, beef and lamb is ungreasy and splendidly garnished with feta-stuffed hot banana pepper, minted yogurt and hot chili sauce sweetened with green apple. Mussels are stuffed into mussel shells with a complex pilaf of rice seasoned with raisins, pine nuts and dill. Adding eggplant to one chili dipping sauce and sweet pepper to another is so Aristedes, two throwaway lines that take the mussels from pleasant to interesting.

Also in the Globe:

• Beppi Crosariol satisfies his craving for B.C. whites and southern Rhônes.
• Lucy Waverman proposes a dinner of chili, salad and cornbread.
• Amy Verner looks at the well-managed growth of the Terroni chain.
• Sasha Chapman's "To Market" column has been renamed "Insatiable", and focuses this week on prosciutto - with the online version being available only to Globe Insider subscribers.
• Also subscriber-only is John Allemang's interview with Michael Pollan in the Globe Focus section, although the accompanying article by Alex Hutchinson on some fancy new food science called metabolomics is free for all.
• Joshua Kurlantzick's article on the street food of Bangkok from the Travel section of the paper isn't on the Globe website at all, but thanks to the magic of the Intarwebs, you can read it at the New York Times where it originally ran on January 6th.

Amy Pataki has one of her occasional "Word of Mouth" columns in today's Toronto Star in place of a full review, featuring short write-ups on the recently reopened Sassafraz, tiny take-out joint Sushi 930, and homey Korean spots Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu and Ka-Chi. There's also a news round-up featuring a couple of blurbs that look a bit familiar. Hmmmm...

Also in the Star:

• Gord Stimmell reviews a few well-priced bottles from the latest Vintages release.
• Mark Bittman cooks up a classic Puerto Rican pork roast called pernil in a NYT wire service article.