Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on October 4, 2008 at 5:14 pm

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

Toronto Star:

• Corey Mintz finds that the food is fine at The Kitchen, but the work of new chef Jefferson Alvarez is sadly overshadowed by the lackadaisical service and bar-room atmosphere.
• Gord Stimmell sends the new NHL Alumni wines from California's Ironstone Vineyards to the penalty box, and also reports on three speciality wine ordering services available to Ontarians.
• Roberta Avery asks chef and restaurateur Michael Bonacini about some of his favourite places to eat in Collingwood.
• Richard Ouzounian enjoys six meals in Victoria, BC.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on September 27, 2008 at 3:05 pm

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

Globe & Mail:

• Joanne Kates is delighted by the afternoon tea at C5 (although the headline writer for the review deserves a smack for calling it "high tea", because it's not).
• Beppi Crosariol thinks pink - Pink Floyd, that is - and reviews Dark Side Of The Moon Shiraz from Australia's Claymore Wines.
• Lucy Waverman offers some recipes that are free of common food allergens such as nuts, eggs, dairy and seafood.
• Sasha Chapman looks at how faith and food are coming together with a community shared agriculture project at First Narayever Synagogue.
• Tenille Bonoguore checks out the exclusive new Wine Room at the ACC's Platinum Club.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on September 20, 2008 at 2:35 pm

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

National Post:

• Adam McDowell profiles the new owners of The Lakeview Lunch, who are set to reopen next month as an upscale 24-hour diner. (For some reason, the article isn't up on the Post's website.) (EDIT: It is now.)
• Gina Mallet puts together her restaurant dream team, choosing her favourite designers, servers, chefs and more from across the city; and Ben Kaplan provides sidebar quotes and anecdotes from various chefs and restaurateurs. (Also not available on the Post site, although Mallet's portion appears without the photos on her own blog.)
• Malcolm Jolley seems to have taken over Jason Chow's "Ingredient" column, as he visits the Healthy Butcher and picks up some Tamworth pork chops, which he cooks up Peruvian style.
• Margaret Swaine suggests that people head down to Stratford this weekend for the Savour Stratford local food and wine event - and then reviews six wines that are as non-local as you can get.
• Rebecca Tucker reports on the newly launched rooftop garden at Covenant House, where street kids will be able to learn about agriculture and the environment with the help of grad students from Ryerson.
• Bonnie Stern borrows the recipes for one of her favourite meals at Sophisto Bistro in Stratford. (And - you guessed it - it's not online.)
• A non-bylined blurb lists the nominees for this year's Canadian Culinary Book Awards.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on September 13, 2008 at 5:28 pm

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

Toronto Star:

• Corey Mintz eats a whole lot of burritos.
• Gord Stimmell rates four Ontario wines and a Chilean red from today's Vintages release.
• Marion Kane has a touching tribute to legendary Kensington Market restaurateur Amadeu Goncalves who was killed in a car accident in July.
• Mark Bittman loves his chickpeas.
• Richard Ouzounian tries a few of the 19 restaurants at the massive Palazzo in Las Vegas.
• Megan Ogilvie reports on the end of raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt's trial for contempt of court charges.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on September 6, 2008 at 5:45 pm

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

Globe & Mail:

• Joanne Kates returns from her annual summer sabbatical, and perhaps it's because she's been surviving on camp food since June, but she goes head-over-heels for the food at Nota Bene - although she's not quite so complementary of the service.
• Beppi Crosariol is keen on the new single-serve bottles from Aussie winery Hardys that come with a screw-top that doubles as a drinking glass. Plus, the wine is actually pretty good.
• Lucy Waverman cooks up a couple of recipes inspired by the food and wine scene of the Okanagan Valley.
• Nadja Sayej tries the pies at Pizzeria Libretto, the newest hot spot on Ossington, where the food is so authentic that it's certified by the Real Neapolitan Pizza Association.
• Cinda Chavich gets a sugar rush at the Pudding Club, a weekly gathering at a quaint hotel in the English countryside where people stuff themselves full of traditional British desserts.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on August 30, 2008 at 3:00 pm

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

National Post:

• Gina Mallet loves Mengrai Thai on her first visit, but starts to reconsider on her second.
• Margaret Swaine has wines from Portugal, Bordeaux and Washington State amongst her picks from today's Vintages release.
• Sarah B. Hood has a hot time at a dosa eating contest at Udupi Palace in Little India.
• Jon Bricker and Kate Swoger don't care if the food at Afghan Village is 100% authentic, as long as it's good - which it is.
• A. Brouwer & A. Wilson put an assortment of non-dairy ice creams to the Shelf Life taste test.
• Bonnie Stern borrows some wild mushroom recipes from Quebec City's Panache restaurant.
• A non-bylined article gives the latest on the listeriosis outbreak, while Brett Bundale reports on another food scare: a salmonella outbreak in Quebec that has killed one person and left many others ill from infected cheese.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on August 23, 2008 at 4:11 pm

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

Toronto Star:

• Corey Mintz has had his fill of pho, and skips the ubiquitous beef soup to try a variety of other dishes at several Vietnamese restaurants including Pho Hung, Kim Bo and Hanoi 3 Seasons.
• Gord Stimmell spotlights several Chilean and Argentinian wines from the latest Vintages release.
• Stuart Laidlaw, the Star's Faith & Ethics reporter, explains the holy mystery of jellied salad.
• Mark Bittman grills up some quick and easy chapati.
• Lorrayne Anthony reports on a recent study revealing that fish are mislabelled 25 per cent of the time at shops, markets and restaurants.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on August 16, 2008 at 5:53 pm

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

Toronto Star:

• Corey Mintz probably would've enjoyed Madeline's much more if they hadn't been trying so hard to get rid of him.
• Gord Stimmell raves about three wines that most of us won't be able to afford, but makes up for it with recommendations for five more reasonably priced whites in today's Vintages release.
• Mark Bittman visits and shares some recipes from La Zucca Magica, a vegetarian restaurant in France (wait, isn't that an oxymoron?).
• Jeremy Ferguson travels to Terrace at B.C.'s Mission Hill Winery, recently named one of the six best winery restaurants in the world.
• Cameron Smith profiles Wendy Banks, a woman in the Thousand Islands area who was inspired by the environmental illness she developed from working in a pesticide-filled greenhouse to start a business delivering local and organic produce to local restaurants and individuals.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on August 9, 2008 at 3:25 pm

Here's a round-up of the food & drink articles in Toronto's major papers today...

National Post:

• Gina Mallet finds much to take notice of at Nota Bene.
• Margaret Swaine marks this weekend's Taste of the Danforth by tasting some Greek wines.
• Jason Chow makes some killer char siu (aka Chinese-style BBQ pork).
• Ben Kaplan checks out the chi-chi corn dogs created by chefs Andrea Nicholson (Thirty Five Elm) and Jason Rosso (The Boiler House) in honour of The Ex.
• Sarah B. Hood chats with Marilyn Dinetz, third-generation owner of Dinetz Restaurant Equipment.
• Rebecca Eckler is the only person in the world who doesn't like sweet potato fries.
• Bonnie Stern has an easy summer menu that's perfect for a casual dinner party.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on August 2, 2008 at 3:34 pm

As Sheryl mentioned in the first instalment of her new Food For Thought column yesterday, we're starting to phase in a few changes here at Taste T.O., and one of them will be a slight scaling back of our weekly In the Papers feature.

While it will still include links to all of the food and drink related articles in Toronto's four Saturday newspapers, we'll now be presenting the info in a briefer point-form format, with just an occasional bit of snarky editorializing where it seems appropriate.

Here's what they're all writing about this week...

Globe & Mail:

• Chris Nuttall-Smith finds there more hype than heart in the "fresh, local, organic" claims made by True in Yorkville.
• Beppi Crosariol confesses that sometimes he doesn't mind a lot of oak in his wine.
• Lucy Waverman skips the rib eye and tenderloin in favour of some lesser-known but equally tasty alternative steak cuts.
• David Hutton investigates the shady side of the restaurant grease disposal business.
• Sasha Chapman goes for some goat.
• Amy Verner holds a taste test showdown between two locally made brands of bite-sized brownies.
• Mitch Moxley eats silkworms, scorpions and other creepy-crawlies at a Beijing night market.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on July 26, 2008 at 3:13 pm

Amongst certain foodie factions, the "authenticity" of a meal trumps all other criteria when judging ethnic food. Sure, that stewed goat spleen with boiled roots might taste like crap, but as long as it's prepared exactly the same way as they make it in a remote mountain village in some country on the other side of the world, then it's automatically fantastic!

Others, however, are more concerned about how their food tastes, and are willing to accept some variations from tradition if it means a more delicious culinary experience. Based on his review of Bread Bar in today's Globe & Mail, it appears that Chris Nuttall-Smith falls firmly in this second camp, as he declares their Indian-with-influences cuisine to be amongst the best he's ever tasted:

[Y]ou'll find a vindaloo beef tenderloin, fork-tender and pink in the middle, served with roasted cherry tomatoes and soft, smoky pearl onions. And a watermelon and ginger shooter as an amuse bouche - a sip of summertime sublime that prods the palate and cools it all at once. And prawns rolled in lemon sole and served over a spinach sauce. And chocolate garam masala truffles.

Which is to say that Bread Bar is wildly, unapologetically inauthentic. It's also very nearly the best Indian food I've encountered in Canada, second only to Vij's, in Vancouver.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on July 19, 2008 at 5:54 pm

It's another weekend of scorching temperatures and crazy humidity in Toronto, so it's fitting that all of the food and drink coverage in today's Toronto Star is focused on cool and refreshing dishes and beverages that are perfect for this weather.

In his Dining Out feature, the intrepid Corey Mintz does a ceviche round-up, hitting ten different places ranging from traditional Central and South American restaurants (El Fogon, El Plebeyo, La Bella Managua) to higher end spots (Nyood, Foxley, Milagro) to sample marinated seafood delights. Very few of them let him down, although he's especially happy with the trio of ceviches he finds at Foxley:

Thin slices of sea bream cured in yuzu (an extra astringent Japanese citrus) are sprinkled with the foliage of shiso and mint. A julienne of green apple and ginger rest over bright orange, wild Arctic char. The sugar and bitterness of the little salad wake up the fish's flavour, finished with only a whiff of sesame oil.

Spanish mackerel arrives as more of a traditional chopped salad, animated by cucumber, mango and cilantro. The Scoville level (units used to measure capsaicin, the chemical element of spiciness) begins as a linger in the back of the throat with the sea bream and rises to a great tide of forehead-wiping with the mackerel.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on July 12, 2008 at 5:04 pm

One of the first editorial decisions we made when we started TasteTO last year was establishing a policy of not reviewing restaurants during Summerlicious or Winterlicious. While there are always exceptions, it's rare to find a place that can remain on top of their game during these periods of prix fixe madness, so it hardly seems fair to pass judgement on a restaurant - especially in terms of their service - based on a 'licious meal.

The same policy usually tends to be followed by the city's major food journalists, so we can only assume that it was deadline pressures that forced Gina Mallet to file a review of Provence for today's National Post even after she inadvertently dined there on the opening night of Summerlicious. Thankfully, she's happy with the apps and desserts, but perhaps if she'd shown up a couple of days earlier, she would've been more satisfied with her main:

Cassoulet needs to mature to taste good. The 19th-century writer Anatole France claimed that his favourite restaurant had kept the same cassoulet pot simmering on the stove, with new ingredients periodically added, for 20 years!

Can you imagine what a Toronto health inspector would say when confronted with such an ancient stew! Still, I'd have liked a cassoulet older than, say, a day. The white beans seem a little hard, the duck confit is dry -- roasted duck would have been juicier -- the spicy sausage is good, the pork OK, but there is no deep, dark, aged taste or crunchy bread crumb crust (broken or not) so essential to full enjoyment.

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on July 5, 2008 at 5:23 pm

Pop quiz: Who owns The Beer Store?

According to the majority of the population - 60% based on a recent survey - it's the government of Ontario. But if you went with the majority, you'd be wrong.

In fact, the Beer Store is owned by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, who are each in turn owned by a different foreign corporation. The implications of this foreign-owned virtual monopoly on Ontario's beer industry is the focus of "Big Brew", a three-day series of articles appearing in the Toronto Star today through Monday. Today's instalment features two articles by business reporter Dana Flavelle, one looking at the impact the ownership structure has on beer prices in Ontario, and the other comparing our system to Quebec, where big brand beer is not only cheaper, but can be purchased at grocery and corner stores. Pretty sobering stuff (no pun intended).

Posted by Greg Clow in in the papers, news and media on June 28, 2008 at 4:21 pm

We hope they're paying Corey Mintz the big bucks over at the Toronto Star, 'cause he's been writing his cute li'l ass off for them since came on board a few weeks ago. In today's paper alone, his byline appears on three articles, including a swooning review of the city's newest Mecca of meat, Atelier Thuet:

Dinner is zealously carnivorous. A two-foot butcher's platter ($30) is one of the best deals in town for $30. Every inch of it is covered in homemade sausages, at least a dozen - venison prosciutto, smoked pork neck, maple-cured pork loin - which our well-studied server rattles off like Rain Man at a spelling bee. A pair of thick terrines en croute, filled with rabbit, duck, pistachios and dates, sits at one end. The platoon of meat, with multi-grain bread and gherkins, aided by a pair of Blanche de Chamblis Belgian beers, is nearly a meal for two.

(Note: As Taste T.O.'s resident beer geek, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the beer is actually called Blanche de Chambly, and while it's a Belgian-style wheat beer, it's brewed in Quebec. Sorry, Corey!)