In the Papers – Saturday, October 3rd

Here’s a round-up of the food & drink articles in Toronto’s papers today…

Toronto Star:

• Corey Mintz manages to cram mini-reviews of six restaurants - including Calico, Mitzi's on College and Local Kitchen & Wine Bar - into his penultimate review column.
• Gord Stimmell laments that despite a grape glut, most good California wines are still too expensive.
• Jennifer Bain profiles Pancho's, Toronto's first traditional Mexican bakery.
• Denise Balkissoon reports that even with the moratorium on new liquor licenses, the red hot strip of bars and restaurants on Ossington shows no sign of cooling off any time soon.
• Mark Bittman gives a Thai twist to crab cakes.
• Richard Ouzounian lists a half-dozen of his favourite BBQ joints in Manhattan, where hearty Southern grub has become so trendy that even Justin Timberlake has opened a place.
• Heather Greenwood Davis travels to Naples, where she eats, and eats, and eats, and eats...

Globe & Mail:

• Joanne Kates starts her column this week by noting that "Franco Agostino has never opened a restaurant (she) disliked", but her review of Agostino's that follows uses the word "overcooked" so many times that we have to think that she may want to reconsider that statement.
• Beppi Crosariol wonders if the cheap but tasty Argentinean malbecs that have kept budget-conscious wine drinkers happy through the recession will inspire some to move up to more expensive vintages as money becomes less tight.
• Lucy Waverman puts together a lovely fall menu that uses some of the best fruit of the season.
• Sarah MacWhirter takes a tour of some of the best places to eat and drink in Victoria.

National Post:

• Gina Mallet gives a failing grade to The Chefs' House, the restaurant staffed by George Brown culinary and hospitality students. And she also reviews The Pleasures of Cooking For One, the new cookbook by Judith Jones.
• Margaret Swaine picks three excellent and affordable wines from the Vintages Essentials line-up.
• Ron Nurwisah lists a few of Canada's best food and drink Twitterers.
• Mia Stainsby visits a bakery in Vancouver that almost got the much-coveted Oprah seal of approval.
• A. Brouwer and A. Wilson and their Shelf Life team put a selection of ciders to the taste test.
• Nathalie Atkinson travels to the land of chocolate, aka the Saxon Chocolates factory.
• Amy Rosen is the hero of turkeys everywhere as she makes a powerful argument that we should skip the bird and eat lobster this Thanksgiving (or any time, really).
• Bonnie Stern, however, sticks with the turkey - and all the fixin's - with her recipes for a perfect Thanksgiving feast.
• Dr. Josh Josephson, owner of The Cookbook Store, shares the story of his trip to Spain where he dined at Mugaritz and El Bulli.
• Uncredited food reports this week include: the poor reviews that Starbucks' instant coffee Via has been getting; the effect that the popular movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has been having on meatball sales in the UK; the threat of a boycott by European restaurants on Canadian seafood due to the continuing seal hunt controversy; and a Canadian Forces helicopter that made an unexpected stop for burgers at an A&W in Kenora.