Yeah, we know that Facebook is sooooo last year, and that all the cool kids are Twittering now. But that hasn’t stopped us from setting up a new Taste T.O. Facebook Page (replacing our old and probably soon-to-disappear Taste T.O. Facebook Group).

So if you haven’t given up on the ol’ FB yet, please check it out and become a “fan”. We might have more fans than BlogTO, but we’ve got a lot less than Torontoist, so our egos could use the boost. KTHXBYE!

There’s cupcakes galore at Spotlight Toronto where the team travels around the city in search of a sugar fix. Also, Mehreen visits Giovanna Trattoria.

At Gremolata, Ivy Knight hobnobs with some of the country’s top chefs at the Savour the Spirit Dinner at the ACC, Eric Vellend checks out the food scene in Vancouver, and Lorette C. Luzajic chats with Cambodian chef Chandaramony Eang.

David Lawrason of Toronto Life looks at the greening of the wine world, starting in California.

At BlogTO, they’ve got more Best Of lists up their sleeves with best cafes; east side and west side; best oysters and best ice cream. Also at BlogTO, Chris has info on the Tap Water Project, the Flickr Forum theme is “food”, and Tanja reviews Java House.

Hibiscus
238 Augusta Avenue
416-364-6183
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $30

Despite what I consider reasonably solid skills of observation, it took me two-and-a-half years to notice Hibiscus. Thirty months while walking into Kensington Market – in the same direction, south down Augusta then back again – I was oblivious to the meatless, wheat-less dining spot that sat near my preferred fruit market.

But, sure enough, there it is nestled into a small, graffiti-laced enclave right on Augusta. Once inside, it becomes clear how I might have missed it all this time. It is a bright, serene setting that offers sanctuary from the often boisterous street outside. It doesn’t seem to seek customers; it waits for them to discover it. Once inside, it’s easy to give in to the relaxed, near-meditative atmosphere. No lunch will be freer of stress than one taken at Hibiscus, a true hidden gem.

Continue reading Killing Stress Softly »

Toronto’s artisanal bakeries are in for some competition.

Visitors to last fall’s Gourmet Wine and Cheese show might remember having samples of some tasty breads from a company from Montreal called Première Moisson. Run by company president Liliane Colpron and her three children, Première Moisson opened in 1992 and now sells over 350,000 loaves of bread each week through 15 of their own bakeshops as well as in supermarkets in Quebec.

Continue reading Bread Head »

By the Way Café
400 Bloor Street West
416-967-4295
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee and juice: $43

Over the past twenty years, I’ve eaten at By the Way innumerable times, but have never made it to this Annex landmark for brunch. We arrived early on Easter Sunday to a sparsely populated room that over the course of the next hour filled up fast.

The brunch menu offers a fairly massive selection of items for such a tiny little open kitchen, and all the typical brunch favourites are represented. Omelettes ($7 - $8) come in a variety of options from veggie to smoked salmon or western. Poached eggs ($6 - $7) are offered up as Benedict, Charlotte (smoked salmon) or Florentine (spinach).

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - By the Way Café »

If I were a foodie living elsewhere in Canada, I’d probably be a bit cranky about the fact that the regular restaurant review column in The Globe & Mail focuses almost exclusively on restaurants in Toronto. I know from experience that there are good restaurants in Montreal, Vancouver and Halifax, and I bet there are decent eateries in a few other Canadian cities and towns as well. But aside from the “Cheap Eats” series that ran while Joanne Kates was on vacation last summer, the country’s culinary scene outside of the GTA is all but ignored.

And just to rub it in a bit, the paper seems to send Kates off to review restaurants in New York City every few months. I know that a lot of Canadians live in Manhattan, but really, wouldn’t it be nice if “Canada’s National Newspaper” stuck to reviewing restaurants in Canada?

Continue reading In The Papers - Saturday March 29th »

Lots of Easter-related posts this past week as Toronto food bloggers cook up some Easter-themed treats. Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice has Easter egg nest cupcakes, and there’s hot cross buns at both Sugar and Ink and Mmm, Tasty! Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict has the most unique Easter item I’ve seen - bread bunnies. And as Greg reports at Beer, Beats and Bites, one place we won’t be seeing bunnies is on beer bottle labels at the LCBO.

Also…

• Tara at Seven Spoons has a great photo essay about making puris.
• Gina Mallet is ramping up her vendetta against locavores.
• Kevin at Closet Cooking makes dukka.
• And Ken Bereskin of The Toronto Wine Scene recaps the Wine Confidential documentary on CBC.

Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. - Otto von Bismarck

I can’t testify to the accuracy of the above quote, at least when it comes to laws. But Mario Fiorucci, co-owner of the Healthy Butcher (565 Queen Street West), may be able to as a former Bay Street lawyer. And despite his years in the muck that is lawyering he still decided to open a butcher shop and actually make sausages.

And of course there is always the old saying about sausages and hotdogs – It’s all tits, lips, and assholes. That may be true at the big meat production companies, I can’t say, however the sausages at the healthy butcher are in no way representative of the factory-produced versions. In fact, to find out the truth about sausage making, simply sign up for one of the Healthy Butcher’s sausage-making classes.

Continue reading Wurst Night in Toronto »

There are a number of food and drink events in the GTA over the next 7 days, but those with an inclination to travel may also find some out-of-town events to their liking.

Head west and you’ll find the Hamilton Food & Drink Festival, a three day celebration of the best restaurants, breweries & wineries from Hamilton and the Halton and Niagara Regions.

To the east, the friendly folks in Prince Edward County - including Kyle Baldwin (and friend), pictured, from Waupoos Estates Winery - will be welcoming one and all on Saturday and Sunday for Maple In The County, and from Friday through to Saturday, April 12 for the prix fixe restaurant promotion Countylicious.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for March 28th-April 3rd »

Is it that time of year already? Steven Davey has been the food critic at NOW for 11 years, and presents his 11th annual restaurant guide with a list of his favourite Top 20 signature dishes in Toronto. While they’re all definitely signature dishes for their respective restaurants, I don’t know if all of them would be in my own personal Top 20 - that Vietnamese Kraft Dinner at Manyata is pretty meh for me. Also at NOW, Graham Duncan picks some eco-friendly wines for Earth (aka. “sit in the dark and pat yourself on the back”) Hour on Saturday.

Over at Eye, Corey Mintz uses his noodle to come up with a great piece on the background of ramen and a review of iNoodle Ramen.

Continue reading Rag Round-Up - Thursday, March 27th »

Cantine Bistro
138 Avenue Road
416-923-4822
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and wine: $120

Cantine has all the makings of a successful mid-range bistro: the chic location just a few doors down from hot spot L’unita in upper Yorkville, the refurbished decor with exposed brick, low candlelight and modern art (for sale, of course), and even a live acoustic guitarist crooning everything from Neil Young to Jobim. With all this appeal, and with the number of hotels in the area, it’s no surprise the room was buzzing and full on a chilly Friday night. There were, however, some unpleasant surprises, which account for the lack of enthusiasm shown by Toronto’s foodie community for this two-year-old spot.

Continue reading Cantine - Half Empty or Half Full? »

They’re going bananas at the Toronto Star. Cynthia David interviews banana-man Joe Meschino about his family’s banana business. David also investigates the rising price of North America’s favourite fruit, including plans to market them as healthy treats at checkouts. There’s also a recipe for banana pancakes.

Also in the Star, ethical coffee from Thailand, a comparison of what and how the different sexes eat (which would be far more useful/interesting if it also explored gender stereotypes and the influence of advertising and mainstream media), and a piece about corn pudding by Amy Pataki. Tamsyn Burgmann reviews Parsi restaurant Copper Chimney, and a piece from the New York Times wire service confirms what we already knew - eat your breakfast.

Continue reading What’s Cooking - Wednesday, March 26th »

Bakery18
Atrium on Bay, 20 Dundas Street West, lower level
416-979-7168

In the land populated by doughnuts, coffee, or the ubiquitous bagel, a young player rises up to open minds and stomachs with new possibilities. Bakery18 is a two-year old business run by the granddaughter of the creator of Jin Cheng Bakery Ltd. (3636 Steeles Ave E Unit 138) that originated in Taiwan nearly 60 years ago. At its helm is the youthful and bubbly co-owner/store manager, Vivian Chen, who has helped to open three stores in the family business empire.

Continue reading The Smell of Sweet Success »

“Contract Brewing.” It’s a short phrase, but one that carries a lot of baggage in the beer-making world. In simple terms, it refers to situations where a person or company with no brewing facilities of their own pays an existing brewery to make beer for them, which they in turn sell under their own brand name.

Often, it’s a route used by marketing companies that have more interest in “building a brand” or making a buck than in selling decent beer. One particularly obvious (and obnoxious) example of this approach was Bootie Beer, a low-rent lager with the slogan “America’s Entertainment Beer” that claimed to be made in Florida, while it was actually brewed at City Brewery, a large plant in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. (I refer to Bootie in the past tense, by the way, because the brand was a colossal failure that went bust earlier this year.)

Beers like Bootie have given contract brews a bad name, but being brewed under contract isn’t necessarily an indicator of poor quality. South of the border, the popular and well-respected Boston Brewing Company (known for their Samuel Adams brands) and Brooklyn Brewery both started out with beers brewed on contract. And closer to home, the outstanding Denison’s Weissbier and Dunkel are both brewed at Black Oak.

All of which is a roundabout way of introducing my picks for this week’s column, a pair of contract brewed beers called Headstrong Pale Ale and Headstrong Munich Lager.

Continue reading Beers of the Week - Headstrong Pale Ale & Headstrong Munich Lager »

Last week we looked at the various consumer-oriented Toronto- and Ontario-based groups that advocate for local food. Today, in part 2, I’ve got info on regional groups in the GTA, Golden Horseshoe and beyond, as well as information on organic groups and organizations designed to serve the hospitality industry.

Regional Groups

Durham Farm Fresh - A guide to farmer’s markets, producers and growers as well as restaurants using local produce in Durham region.

Grown in Peel - Promotes local farms and produce in Peel region.

Hamilton Eat Local - A directory of local food information for folks in Hamilton. Includes info on community gardens, where to buy local produce and more.

Continue reading The Local Food Scene - Who Does What? Part 2 »