Since we’ve been running TasteTO, we’ve noticed that more and more restaurants are hiring PR firms for their openings. Now media tasting events and fancy press packages are the norm to ensure coverage of a restaurant’s opening, but some places prefer the old-skool soft touch, opening with little fanfare and letting both customers and the media find their way there without a lot of hoopla. One such recent opening is Jamie Kennedy’s Gilead Cafe. We all knew it was coming, but we didn’t quite know exactly when, and it turns out Kennedy’s latest venture has actually been open a few weeks, with little word of it anywhere, even on Chowhound. Which is likely why it was so quiet when Steven Davey of NOW arrived to do his review. Focusing on breakfast and lunch (no dinner), the menu serves up some JK favourites, including the famous poutine.

Also at NOW, Graham Duncan has better luck cooking his own food at Korean restaurant Mul Rae Bang-a than ordering from the menu, where they give him the white guy special, and carries a Scarborough Suitcase of Lakeport in his Drink Up column.

At Eye, Alan Vernon and Sean Kelly Keenan review Alice’s Restaurant. Their description of the place, and but one star, reveals it to be a bit closer in quality to the restaurant in the TV show Alice.

Metro’s got a couple of wire pieces this week; the first on how supertasters help to blend herbal remedies through their excellent palates, and some tips on “adventurous barbecuing” that mostly recommends various prepared sauces. There’s also a recipe for maple roasted stone fruit and vanilla ice cream that calls for brand name ice cream. Maybe by the time the stone fruit is actually in season they’ll manage to get a homemade ice cream recipe to go with. And from Metro News Service, a wee piece on getting Vitamin D - it offers a couple of food suggestions, but getting outside works too.