Just like a person with low self-esteem, Toronto occasionally has to be reminded that yes, it is a cool city with lots of reasons to love it. This month, Toronto Life lists off 50 of those reasons, and of course, several of them are food related:
- 13. Our street meat menu now includes kebabs and bulgogi.
- 29. There's an apiary on the roof of the Royal York...
- 30. ...and an organic urban farm in the shadow of the 401.
- 31. The owner of Toronto's only Cambodian restaurant is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge.
- 36. Our nomadic cookbook writers (Jeffery Alford & Naomi Duguid) bring the world home.
- 39. The city is an orchard.
- 49. Our crusading farmer (Michael Schmidt) made a cause célèbre of raw milk.
You'll have to grab a paper copy or wait a bit to see the full list, as it's not yet on the TL website, and neither are the rest of this month's food articles including:
- James Chatto wonders why, in a city with over 100 Thai restaurants, it's so hard to find authentic Thai cuisine.
- David Lawrason recommends some summery Italian reds, with all but a couple coming in at less than 10 bucks a bottle.
- Eric Vellend finds veggie dishes at Grace, Victor and Ultra that will even satisfy those of the carnivorous persuasion, and then has some churros and chocolate at Cava for dessert.
Also soon to hit the streets is the annual wine issue of City Bites. Our usual reaction to this is "wait, isn't every issue of City Bites a wine issue?", as Mr. Snyder and co. give the juice lots of love in every edition. But there's even more than usual in the May/June ish, including:
- Angela Aiello and Paxton Allewell's tips on how to best tour Ontario's wine country.
- Lindsay Groves with profiles of some of Ontario's top female winemakers.
- Michael Pinkus on Ontario's best pinot noirs.
- Q&As with wine and food consultant Mark Moffatt and sommelier Taylor Thompson.
- Dick Snyder on sparkling wines that won't break the bank.
- Konrad Ejbich on the importance drinking local.
- John Szabo's picks for some of the best wines currently available on Ontario.
And for those who don't care so much for the wine, there's also:
- The debut of "Quick Bites", a page of mini-reviews of restaurants and various food and drink products.
- Tracy Edelist on artisan chocolate.
- Stephen Temkin on the return of white asparagus.
- Stephen Beaumont on the best and worst in wheat beer.
Watch for the new City Bites to appear at restaurants and food shops around town soon, and in PDF form on the CB website.
