Here’s a round-up of the food & drink articles in Toronto’s papers today…
Globe & Mail:
- Joanne Kates says that Globe Bistro chef Kevin McKenna shines brightest when he keeps it simple.
- Beppi Crosariol explains that even mass-produced plonk can show vintage variation from year to year.
- Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl fame starts a new series of articles on DIY vegetable gardening.
- Lucy Waverman digs up some classic French-style recipes originally contributed to the Globe by her mother back in 1968.
- Sasha Chapman reports on the imminent arrival in Toronto restaurant kitchens of B.C. spot prawns, the latest and greatest in sustainable seafood.
Toronto Star:
- Corey Mintz is impressed by the food at Mogette Bistro, but suggests that the tableside manner of owner Gino Muia might need a bit of work.
- Gord Stimmell finds five great wines in the latest Vintages release.
- Mark Bittman makes Zuppa Arcidossana, a unique bread and sausage soup from Tuscany.
- Susan Sampson and Iain Marlow warn that any time you order red snapper in a sushi restaurant, you'll probably be served tilapia instead.
National Post:
- Gina Mallet has quick reviews of Manyata and Hanoi 3 Seasons - and manages to get in yet another jab at Slow Food, because it just wouldn't be a Gina Mallet column if she didn't insult something she doesn't like or understand.
- Margaret Swaine skips the wine this week and reviews three different bottlings of Glenfiddich in honour of May being whisky month in Scotland.
- Lisa Kadane explains how to peel a pineapple.
- A. Brouwer & A. Wilson put several Earl Grey teas to the test via their Shelf Life panel, although most of the article is missing from the Post website, so keep an eye on the Shelf Life site for it to appear there.
- Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon wrap up the series of articles tied in to their TV show The 100-Mile Challenge, which finishes its run on the Food Network this weekend.
- Alison Broverman's "Tournament of Vegetables" series has a starch showdown this week, with the potato taking on the sweet potato.
- Bonnie Stern shares some favourite family recipes from Ruth Reichl, in town this past week to promote her new memoir Not Becoming My Mother & Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way.
I'm starting to think that there should be a drinking game involving Gina Mallet (without drinking WITH her).
I can't figure out what the Do It Slow Banchetto event had to do with her review. It seems to be simply an irrelevant, bitchy dig that bites the hand that feeds her. It vaguely resembles a segue, but a bad, nonsensical one.
She's right about Hazelton Lanes, though. It's all high rent, no real class anymore. It's showing it's age. The Hazelton Lanes of my childhood (the 80s) is long gone.
Re. Hanoi, if it were anyone else writing the review I'd think that the phrase "*invader herbs*, lemongrass and cilantro" was an attempt at being cheeky. Alas, Mallet doesn't do cheeky, she does bitchy (and once again at Taste T.O. I want to make reference to another "C" word that I associate with Mallet).
Also, the National Post really needs to fix the article formatting (or template) on its website. It's an ongoing issue.