It’s the April issue of Toronto Life, and as any self-respecting Toronto foodie knows, that means it’s time for James Chatto’s list of the city’s Best New Restaurants for the last year.

Anyone who has paid attention to the in-and-outs of our local dining scene for the past 12 months probably won’t be surprised by Chatto’s choices: from number one (Lucien) to number ten (Cowbell), the list includes pretty much every heavily buzzed restaurant that opened in 2007. And the few that didn’t quite make the top ten cut - Foxley, Cluck Grunt & Low, Jacobs & Co., and Prime - are given a nice Honourable Mentions feature on the TL website.

There are also a few sidebars sitting amongst Chatto’s feature in the magazine, including: a wagyu beef taste test by Sasha Chapman; a look at the signature cocktails of some of the chosen restaurants by Stéphanie Verge; some dining room decibel level measurements by Courtney Shea; profiles of four multi-location restaurateurs by Chris Nuttall-Smith; and a look at a few currently trendy dishes, also by Nuttall-Smith.

Also in this issue:

• Sasha Chapman looks at Toronto’s increasingly sophisticated - and expensive - coffee scene.
• Signe Langford’s “Flavours of the Month” include Proscuitto di San Danielle from The Cheese Boutique, hot cross buns from Brick Street Breads, and funky egg cups from William Ashley (not yet online).
• David Lawrason tastes some of the first 2006 and 2007 vintages from Niagara to be released under the newly defined sub-appellations.
• Sasha Chapman gives a short profile to the recently opened restaurant-bar extension at Atelier Thuet.
• Signe Langford asks three chefs - Michael Potters, Tobey Nemeth & Anthony Rose - how they stick to their local food roots during the depths of winter.
• Denise Balkissoon draws up a cheat sheet for dining out Latin style, with both restaurant and dish recommendations to best enjoy Mexican, Salvadoran, Chilean, Nicaraguan and Argentine cuisine in Toronto (not yet online).

And if that’s not enough food coverage for you, subscription copies of this month’s issue also include the Restaurant edition of TL’s CityGuides 2008 series. This digest-sized addendum features 400 reviews of restaurants in pretty much every cuisine and price point imaginable, as well as a bunch of sidebar blurbs including:

• A quick guide to where six of Toronto’s top chefs eat cheap.
• A look at four radically different takes on the classic crème brûlée.
• Suggestions on the best places to take a date.
• A Q&A with chef Brad Moore (ex-Xacutti, now at Eleven).
• A half-dozen of the city’s best wine lists.
• For those with deep pockets, a round-up of some of the most expensive dishes in Toronto, from a $108 pizza to a $450 steak (not yet online).
• A profile of Sara D’Amato, sommelier at Truffles.
• Tasting notes for a quintet of tartares that are a little out of the ordinary (not yet online).
• A quick look at four of the most popular farmers and food artisans in Toronto’s top kitchens.
• Five picks for Toronto’s best brunch.
• Four choices for tasty dim sum (not yet online).
• A mini-guide to guilt-free (or at least, slightly-lower-guilt) meat eating (not yet online).
• A few places to go for a nice quiet meal.
• A guide to the mysterious hand signals used by the staff at Splendido.

Finally, there are a couple of other articles that seem to be online exclusives, including a Best Of The Burbs round-up, and Rob Mifsud’s guide to Toronto’s Best and Worst Restaurant Trends - and in the style of a truly indecisive Torontonian, “eating local” and “molecular gastronomy” make appearance on both lists.

And that should keep you plenty busy until next month’s issue…