As much as I may enjoy reading the Globe & Mail, I’ve long recognized that I’m not a member of their prime demographic, at least from a financial standpoint. I don’t read the business section, ignore the jewellery and car ads, and can’t afford to eat at many of the restaurants reviewed by Joanne Kates.

That said, at least I can afford the trip to most of the restaurants she reviews (well, at least on days when the TTC isn’t on strike), since they’re usually in Toronto. Not so today, though, as Ms. Kates is on vacation in France, and checks in with reviews of three restaurants that I and many other Torontonians will never have the opportunity to visit. As such, I’m not even going to link to the article - those interested in reading it can take a poke around the Globe website, it should be there somewhere.

Also in the Globe:

• Lucy Waverman also reports from out of the country - NYC, to be precise - but she dines a places owned or staffed by a number of Canadian ex-pats, and shares a few of their recipes.
• Beppi Crosariol reviews a bunch of California wines from today’s Vintages release, as well as a pair of French wines that are very Californian in style.
• Sasha Chapman eats Tibetan food at two different Shangri-Las in Parkdale.
• In the Travel section, Cicely Ross isn’t invited to the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore, but she more than makes do with a never-ending feast of Singaporean street food.
• Lots of foodie tomes in the Books section this week, as Zsuzsi Gartner reviews Carnivore Chic and The Shameless Carnivore; Terry Glavin digs into Bottomfeeder: A Seafood Lover’s Journey to the End of the Food Chain; Lucy Waverman visits Anita Stewart’s Canada; Sasha Chapman explores the food culture of China via Beyond The Great Wall, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, and Serve the People; and Ingeborg Boyens critiques the less cheery Stuffed and Starved and Good Crop/Bad Crop.

In the Toronto Star, Amy Pataki does mini-reviews of a trio of restaurants. She likes the food but not the service at Tati Bistro, the service but not the food at Harbord Room, and as for Paradise Fine Chinese Dining…:

The high-end restaurant, opened in December by the folks behind Dynasty on Bloor, is expensive and tacky, with sparkling gold service plates and incongruous Muzak. A sorry Peking duck dinner for four came to $200.

Adding insult to injury was the waiter. When asked what kind of teas are served, he lists seven, from dark bo lai to lighter sau mei. I choose jasmine.

“That’s what you people always order,” he says.

I can’t imagine the hue and cry should a Caucasian waiter make a similarly sweeping remark to a non-Caucasian customer.

Also in the Star:

• Gord Stimmell picks his five best values from today’s Vintages release.
• The New York Times wire service is mined for Mark Bittman’s recipe for Hangtown Fry - a.k.a. a mushroom, bacon and oyster omelette - and a month-old article by Kim Severson on obesity amongst food writers and bloggers.

In the National Post, Gina Mallet is completely enthralled by Perigee, where it appears the quality hasn’t suffered from the recent departure of original head chef Pat Riley. Mallet and companions are impressed by all but one dish, with the generous platter of offal being a particular favourite:

On to the Offal Plate. My friends are still high from a frabjous gorge at Pied de Cochon in Montreal — “Oh, the stuffed pigs trotters!” Competitive juices are flowing. A long dish arrives bearing a sublime array of innards. Gizzard confit is an amuse-bouche. The star is a crisp-coated snow-white blob of calf ’s brain which would have melted in the mouth if it wasn’t swallowed first. Can we order a repeat of brains or perhaps a whole order?

The sweetbread is quite overshadowed because after years of eating duck foie gras, I’m bowled over by the earthy creaminess of the real thing, goose foie gras. The coup de grace is the arrival of three dear little piglet ears wrapped around duck confit. Follow that!

Also in the Post:

• Margaret Swaine recommends whites from Austria, Italy and Portugal, as well as a trio of Italian reds.
• Jon Bricker and Kate Swoger grab a quick, cheap and tasty bite at Jim Chai Kee Noodles in Richmond Hill.
• Sarah B. Hood previews the upcoming Festival of Chefs at Cheese Boutique.
• Tammy Thorne visits Knox Presbyterian Church, where their Out of the Cold program that serves meals to homeless and troubled youth from November to April is about to finish for another year.
• Sondra Gotlieb looks at the pros and cons of dining alone.
• Amy Rosen gives herself a Top Chef style challenge, and makes a three-course “gourmet” dinner for six using $99 worth of groceries (including wine!) from Honest Ed’s.
• Bonnie Stern makes the hippies and hikers happy with recipes for granola and power bars (the latter of which sadly contain no Chinese newspapers).