Here’s a round-up of the food & drink articles in Toronto’s papers today…
National Post:
- Gina Mallet doesn't expect the prepared meals from gourmet food shop McEwan to be as good as what's served at chef Mark McEwan's restaurants, but she at least hopes for them to be a step up from frozen grocery store meals. Apparently, they're not.
- Margaret Swaine finds three worthy wines in the under-$20 range in today's Vintages release.
- Kate Swoger and Jon Bricker hit three of the many Caribbean take out joints in Scarborough to sample and compare their doubles.
- Bonnie Stern passes on several recipes shared with her by friend and fellow food writer Janna Gur during a recent visit to Israel.
Toronto Star:
- Amy Pataki makes it pretty clear what she thinks of Ame in her opening paragraph, where she wonders "What the hell happened to the Rubino brothers? They used to have such good taste." And it's downhill from there...
- Gord Stimmell picks a few budget-friendly bottles from today's Vintages release.
- Corey Mintz has his older brother Yohan over for dinner, and teaches him how to make a couple of recipes that will help him stay healthy as he deals with the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis that he received a year ago.
- Susan Sampson shares a very small sampling of the tips contained in her new book 12,167 Kitchen and Cooking Secrets, and also has a recipe for the French classic coq au vin.
- Jennifer Bain learns where her bulgogi and galbi comes from with a visit to Korean butcher shop Woori in Mississauga.
- Linda Barnard reminds us that Guinness isn't the only dark drink of note from Ireland - that wintertime favourite Irish coffee is pretty tasty as well.
- Claudia Capos also writes about coffee this week, although she goes straight to the source: the Big Island of Hawaii, where renowned Kona coffee is grown.
- Richard Ouzounian eats his way through six pre-theatre prix fixe meals at some of London's top restaurants.
Globe & Mail:
- Joanne Kates worries us a little bit with her opening paragraph comparing her "first dining experiences in Italy [to her] early sexual experiences", but thankfully, the rest of her review of Buca is sex-free. Unless you find it sexy when a restaurant reviewer writes about how much she really, really loves the food.
- Beppi Crosariol introduces a new format to his wine column, with the photo feature spotlight now being put on three wines each week - "the deal", "the splurge" and "the domestic" - rather than just one. Although oddly, "the domestic" costs almost twice as much as "the splurge" in this week's selections.
- Sebastien Centner may have made a big mistake this week, as he encourages people to try making cocktails that involve fire at home. We expect the percentage of Globe readers with singed eyebrows - or worse - to increase dramatically in coming days.
- Alexandra Gill stops by YEW Restaurant + Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver where they've crafted not just one Olympic-themed cocktail, but a trio representing Vancouver 2010, Calgary 1988 and Montreal 1976.
- Lucy Waverman takes a shortcut and uses store-bought curry paste for some Indian recipes, although at least she kicks them up a bit with the addition of some extra spices.
