If you’re still looking for a good place to take Mom out on Sunday for Mother’s Day, how about a fancy afternoon tea? Many downtown hotels put on a nice spread every Sunday, and there are also a number of special teas happening, including soirées at Spadina Museum, Casa Loma, and Madeleines, Cherry Pie & Ice Cream.

Alternatively, if Mommy likes the vino, considering taking her out a day or two earlier to catch the end of the Santé Wine Festival. Friday night, chef Anthony Sedlak will be grilling up a storm at the Santé Down Under BBQ at Hart House, and then Sunday, the popular Sip, Savour and Shop and Sip, Savour and Learn events will take over Yorkville, leading up to a gala evening event at Hazelton Lanes.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for May 9th-15th »

In their pure and unadulterated form, Belgian lambics are not beers to be trifled with. Brewed in open air vats where they are inoculated with wild yeasts and other wee beasties, and aged for years in wooden casks, these mutant brews develop flavours that are aggressively sour and funky, making them an acquired taste amongst even the geekiest of beer geeks.

Perhaps in attempt to temper this sourness, someone or other at some point in the past thought it might be a good idea to add some fruit to the mix. This addition can be handled a number of ways, from adding fresh fruit during fermentation, to cutting the pure lambic with fruit juice before packaging, to adding a flavoured syrup at the time of serving. Whichever method is chosen, there is an obvious effect on the flavour and sweetness of the brew, and those who find unflavoured lambics to be too sour and acidic will generally find the fruit versions more palatable.

Continue reading Beer of the Week - Mort Subite Kriek »

It’s not often that a critic shows up at a particular address to review a restaurant, only to find a different restaurant in its place. But that’s exactly what happened to our own Amy Grigg recently, as she arrived at 11 Jarvis Street to dine on the dishes of chef Brad Moore at Eleven, only to find that it had suddenly become The Garden @ Eleven, with Moore replaced by chef Pat Riley (ex-Perigee). There’s no word on why Moore left so suddenly only a few months into his stint there (which followed an equally sudden exit from Xacutti), but at least the quality of the food seems to have remained high with Riley at the helm.

As for both chefs’ previous stomping grounds, Perigee has been getting renewed attention and positive reviews under former sous chef and now head chef Chris Brown. And over where Xacutti used to be, owner Leslie Gibson has returned from LA to relaunch the space this Tuesday, May 6th as Grace (503 College Street). To oversee a menu focused on “traditional flavours inspired by family gatherings and Sunday dinners”, she’s plucked 26 year-old chef Dustin Gallagher from Susur, where he’s been sous chef for 6 years.

Continue reading T.O. Tidbits - Monday May 5th »

Normally here on Taste T.O. we tend not to print press releases in full, preferring to use them as the basis for either a quick summary blurb or a more detailed original article.

But in the case of an upcoming James Beard Dinner at the Drake Hotel featuring top chefs from across the country, anything we would’ve written would’ve been pretty much a full rehash of the press release. So for once, we’re breaking our unwritten rule:

Toronto, ON ­ - Hosted by Toronto’s original foodie Bonnie Stern, the food lover’s event of the season featuring renowned chefs from across Canada, takes place at the Drake Hotel on Wednesday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m. Each of the five chefs will prepare an individual course allowing diners to explore regional cuisine from across the country as well as get a taste of what makes these chefs the best in the business, all in support of the James Beard Foundation (JBF).

Continue reading James Beard Dinner at The Drake »

As Joanne Kates notes in her review of Le Pain Quotidien in today’s Globe & Mail, the recent opening in Forest Hill of the first Canadian location of this Belgian bakery and café chain was treated as nothing less than the second coming by many in Toronto’s foodie community. As far back as July of last year, the rumours of LPQ coming to Toronto were reported in a thread on Chowhound which quickly grew with stories of near-orgasmic experiences that people had with their pastries and sandwiches when visiting locations in other cities.

Since it finally opened last month, however, the discussion has taken a negative turn, with complaints about the food far outnumbering the complements. And based on her particularly scathing assessment, it’s safe to say that Ms. Kates is in complete agreement with the nay-sayers:

The menu majors in salads and sandwiches. Some days the self-proclaimed fab farmhouse bread is good, some days it’s dry. The sandwiches are questionable at best: Chicken curry salad sandwich would be okay if one could locate the chicken in it. Same for the so-called “grilled chicken Cobb salad” wherein the chicken is AWOL, the bacon is mostly soggy, and there is way more lettuce than anything else - not exactly the Cobb salad of my dreams

Dressings are questionable: The honey-mustard vinaigrette on berry and snap pea salad (again almost all lettuce) is too-sweet pale yellow cream, and the salsa dressing on shrimp salad is cinnamon-spiked cranberry - way too sweet to put on a salad. The shrimp taste just slightly off, and they’ve been sliced in half lengthwise - a tacky trick to save money.

Continue reading In the Papers - Saturday May 3rd »

It’s definitely a week for wine lovers in Toronto, as Santé: Toronto International Wine Festival official kicks off next Monday with the Landmark Australia tasting at the Park Hyatt, and continues through the week with a different gala dinner or tasting event each night. Also running through the week is the Santé in the City wine dinner series that started this past Tuesday at restaurants such as Amuse Bouche, Pangaea and C5.

In case Santé isn’t enough for the oenophiles, there are a few other wine events happening in the next seven days & nights, including Germany: Wines With Jazz at Roy Thomson Hall, an iYellow Wine Club Social at Reds, and the annual Lifford Grand Tasting charity event at the Eglinton Grand Theatre.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for May 2nd-8th »

As with wine, its sibling in fermentation, there was a time when beer was commonly made, transported, stored and served in wooden casks and barrels. These containers were generally sealed with pitch or resin, making them impervious to leakage, and also preventing the beer from picking up any flavours from the wood.

Or that was the intention, at least. Well-sealed or not, it’s quite likely that beers stored for longer periods of time and/or in volatile conditions, such as the India Pale Ales that spent months travelling the rough seas from Britain to India, probably obtained flavours and other characteristics from the wooden container, even if the brewer didn’t intend it.

In more modern times, these wooden containers have been replaced with metal, making it easier for beer to be produced in large batches that are consistent, with no chance of the wood (or the bacteria that can live in it) imparting any flavours - good, bad, or otherwise - into the beer. This is great for mass producers like Molson and Labatt, and any other brewer big or small that wants consistency in their beer, which is generally most of them.

Continue reading Beer of the Week - Trafalgar Oak-Aged Rye »

Volo
587 Yonge Street
416-928-0008

The restaurant business, as we all know, isn’t easy. Statistics tell us that a large percentage of new restaurants fail within the first year (the exact percentage depending on which stats you choose to believe. Making it to five years is impressive. Ten years, really impressive. Twenty years? To many, that’s a minor miracle.

If so, then some higher power or other must be smiling onto the corner of Yonge and Dundonald, where Ralph Morana has just passed his twentieth anniversary as owner of Volo, an unexpected success story if ever there was one. And to be clear: The “unexpected” descriptor is not meant as a criticism of Morana or his restaurant, but rather commentary on how someone with absolutely no restaurant experience can take a struggling Italian restaurant, keep it going through times thick and thin, and eventually turn it into an indispensable destination for lovers of local beer, wine and cheese.

Continue reading Viva Volo! »

When it was launched in 1999, the Santé wine festival was a relatively small affair, with a handful of dinners and tasting events in the Yorkville area, and a subtitle (The Bloor-Yorkville Wine Festival) that reflected its localised nature. In subsequent years, the festival has grown by leaps and bounds, expanding to encompass events throughout the downtown core. And now, as this celebration of the greatness of the grape marks its tenth year, it does so with a new name - Santé: Toronto International Wine Festival - and a line-up of events extending well beyond the official festival dates.

The previews started earlier in April with the Deconstructing Dinner Series, unique events at restaurants including The Fifth Grill, Pangaea, Truffles, Holt’s Cafe and Sopra that featured pre-meal seminars with the chef, sommelier, and hosting wine expert. The festivities continue this coming week through to May 10th with Santé In The City: A Decade of Decadence, a second series of dinners at venues such as Amuse Bouche, Flow, Crush and many others, where the meal will be paired with vintages from partner wineries and import agents.

And then on May 5th through 10th, the main event hits with gala dinners, tutored tastings, seminars and much more. Highlights will include the International Wine Tasting at The Carlu featuring over 200 wines from 74 wineries; the popular Sip, Savour & Shop and Sip, Savour & Learn programs; events focussing on the wines of Australia and California; and dinners prepared by such celebrity chefs as Lynn Crawford, Mark McEwan, Anthony Sedlak, Cat Cora, Anna Olson and many more.

For a full schedule of Santé events, ticket information and more details, visit the Santé website or contact the information line at 416.928.3553 x27.

As much as I may enjoy reading the Globe & Mail, I’ve long recognized that I’m not a member of their prime demographic, at least from a financial standpoint. I don’t read the business section, ignore the jewellery and car ads, and can’t afford to eat at many of the restaurants reviewed by Joanne Kates.

That said, at least I can afford the trip to most of the restaurants she reviews (well, at least on days when the TTC isn’t on strike), since they’re usually in Toronto. Not so today, though, as Ms. Kates is on vacation in France, and checks in with reviews of three restaurants that I and many other Torontonians will never have the opportunity to visit. As such, I’m not even going to link to the article - those interested in reading it can take a poke around the Globe website, it should be there somewhere.

Continue reading In The Papers - Saturday April 26th »

Summer must be coming, ’cause this week there’s a sudden spike in the number of food and drink events happening in and around the city, ranging from beer dinners and wine tastings to charity events, lectures and book signings.

On the celebrity scale, the biggest event would have to be chef Gordon Ramsay’s appearance at Indigo Eaton Centre next Monday, where he’ll be signing copies of his latest cookbook, Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food - although serious foodies are probably more excited for the following night’s talk by Dr. Hervé This, the godfather of molecular gastronomy.

Tipplers have a wide variety of events to choose from, starting with a pair of events spotlighting the beers of the Southern Tier Brewery from Western New York: a 4-course pairing dinner tonight, and a more casual “meet & greet” tomorrow. There’s also a whisk(e)y and cheese pairing session at Coupe Space next Wednesday, and a variety of wine events, including a series of preview dinners for the upcoming Santé wine festival.

And that’s just the start of it. The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for April 25th-May 1st »

When discussing my beer obsession with less beer savvy folks, one thing that always seems to confuse them (assuming I don’t bore them to death first) is my disappointment over the lack of American microbrews at the LCBO. Years of urban myths about Canadian beer being stronger than the stuff available south of the border and jokes about American suds being like making love in a canoe have brainwashed most people into believing that the USA is a complete wasteland when it comes to decent beer.

On the contrary, our American friends are on the forefront of the craft beer revolution, with over 1000 breweries making every beer style under the sun, and even creating new ones on a regular basis. No less than world renowned beer and whisky expert Michael Jackson declared on numerous occasions before his death last year that the American craft brewing scene is second to none, and microbrewers around the world - including here in Canada - are constantly looking to them for inspiration. Yet here in Ontario, we have access to a larger selection of mediocre lagers from Eastern Europe than to the innumerable fantastic beers that are being created just over the border.

Continue reading Beer of the Week - Southern Tier IPA »

In the previous edition of T.O. Tidbits, we mentioned a few scarce details about a new restaurant from the owners of Splendido, Yannick Bigourdan and David Lee, that is set to open near Queen and University. Two weeks later, and a lot more information is now available.

Named Nota Bene, the new spot is being opened by Bigourdan and Lee in partnership with Franco Prevedello, the legendary local restaurateur who was once a co-owner of Splendido himself. The concept is being described as “no tapas, no bistro, no molecular… just back to the basics”, with most mains to be in the $25 to $35 range. A bit spendy for Queen West, perhaps, but perfectly reasonable for the patrons of the nearby Four Seasons Centre that will likely make up a good chunk of their clientèle. If all goes as planned, the 160 seat restaurant will be opening in late June.

Continue reading T.O. Tidbits - Monday, April 21st »

Those who keep up with foodie gossip have probably read plenty about the kerfuffle in the UK surrounding the recent publication of an updated version of Delia Smith’s How to Cheat at Cooking. Plenty of gourmet-minded critics have been slamming the book, which features recipes based around a multitude of canned and frozen ingredients. Smith, meanwhile, has targeting chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - known for their championing of local and organic ingredients - accusing them of being food snobs who are out of touch with what real people are eating.

Toronto’s very own culinary contrarian Gina Mallet entered the fray a month or so back with a blog post on the issue, and in today’s National Post, she writes what is ostensibly a review of the book, but it’s mainly an essay that extends and refines her own thoughts on the matter. Also included is a sidebar on the tough time she had trying to find many of the ingredients called for in the recipes in the book. Although honestly, I can’t say that I’m too upset about the fact that canned minced lamb or frozen char-grilled eggplant have yet to become common items on local grocery store shelves.

Continue reading In The Papers - Saturday April 19th »

Next Tuesday, April 22nd is Earth Day, and there are a few events happening between now and then that take an environmentally friendly approach to food and drink.

On Saturday, Daily Apple Wellness Services are presenting an Earth Day Farmers Market at 35 Lytton Blvd, a block west of Yonge Street about halfway between Eglinton and Lawrence. The area lacks a regular farmers market, so the organisers hope the one-off will be successful enough to make it a weekly event in the future.

Also on Saturday, Pax & Ange of iYellow Wine Club are hosting a sold out Green Wine Tour to some of the Niagara Region’s most environmentally friendly wineries. And for those who aren’t going on the tour, there’s an opportunity to try the wares of some of the province’s best wineries on Earth Day itself, as the 2nd annual instalment of the Somewhereness tasting event happens next Tuesday at Coupe Space.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for April 18th-24th »