This week, we start our round-up with Posted Toronto, where Rob Roberts features one of Parkdale’s favourite spots, the Good Catch General Store.

Eric Vellend of Menumental offers suggestions on where to get good vegetarian food for meat-free day, part of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge.

At Torontoist, David reports on how the Queen West Ben & Jerry’s was the only location to not take part in free ice cream day, with the shop closed tight and bailiff notices posted in the window. Wasn’t this also the location that closed down one day last summer because it was “too hot” to open? Seeking chilly solace elsewhere, Julie compares slushies. Earning her, yet again, the award for most devoted (brave/foolish) food writer in Toronto.

Continue reading The Wide, Wide World of Web - Monday, May 5th »

It seems Toronto food bloggers have a collective sweet tooth this week, as the majority of the posts we’ve selected to feature are about sweet stuff.

Starting us off, Elizabeth at Blog From Our Kitchen makes some granola, using groats, not oats! Then Ferdzy at Seasonal Ontario Food makes a croissant pudding (like bread pudding) with streusel.

Tara at Seven Spoons reviews Martha Stewart’s Cookies, and makes the peanut butter and jelly bars, while Eric at Do You Know the Muffin Man? whips up a flourless chocolate orange almond cake, and at Closet Cooking, Kevin tries his hand at maple creme brulee.

At Porkosity, Corey sings the praises of mangoes and demonstrates how to cut one. (Pssst! Corey - the Alphansos have arrived in Little India!!) And Candice of Mmm, Tasty! reviews Dolce Gelato.

Also, Dean reviews 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life at Gothic Epicures VinCuisine, and Michael recaps the Somewhereness wine event at On the Road with the Grape Guy.

Yesterday I watched Heston Blumenthal on the Food Network figure out a way to make ice cream hot on the outside but still cold in the centre. After much experimentation and chemical intervention, he found a way to do it, and I congratulated him through the screen, pointing out that he was now qualified to run the deep-fried ice cream station at ChiChi’s.

Which is to say that I’m not a fan of molecular gastronomy, mostly because it seeks to waste time finding solutions to problems that don’t need solving. Blumenthal’s quest for the “perfect” Baked Alaska was moot. His experiments comparing the insulating properties of various types of cake against roofing insulation were amusing but unnecessary. Hundreds, even thousands of chefs before him had already done the work. So despite the write up at Torontoist, I won’t be one of the folks lining up to see Dr. Herve This discuss the wonders of foam and meat glue. However, Torontoist has a post about a more down to earth food item with some vintage ads for bread.

Continue reading The Wide, Wide World of Web - Monday, April 28th »

In honour of Earth Day this week, Catherine of Sugar and Ink offers tips at reducing food waste. It’s good advice, especially when we’re trying to make the most out of local produce. Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food explains why imported produce like berries can be cheaper than local, and it ain’t pretty.

Also not pretty is what gets fed to school kids, and the resulting backlash against fat in children’s diets. Tracy at Fear and Loathing in the Kitchen points the finger away from fat and in the direction of carbohydrates. Me. I’m more of the mind that it’s all about balance, and unless you have specific health concerns, elimination of any one food group is probably not wise, but her point that fat in food has become the scapegoat for fat on our bodies is a valid one that demonstrates society’s need for both something to blame and the desire for a quick-fix.

Continue reading Blog-A-Log - Saturday, April 25th »

They love us over at Spotlight Toronto, where Suresh is doing spotlights on various sites including TasteTO and Chowhound. Thanks for the props guys, it’s great to know people appreciate what we’re doing.

At Torontoist, Julie does another Great Torontoist Challenge; this time it’s water, with my all time most hated bottled water, Dasani, coming up a winner. That stuff tastes like chemicals, yo. Also at Torontoist, Patrick looks at the new marketing scheme at Loblaw (no S) with upscale markets, and a savings on signage; Sarah’s Snappy Answers column is all about food; and there’s a Streeter about selecting eggs.

Continue reading The Wide, Wide World of Web - Monday, April 21st »

Another great crop of posts this week from Toronto-area food bloggers. Here they are, alphabetically…

• Beer, Beats and Bites - Greg reviews the Brewer’s Plate dinner
• Blog From Our Kitchen - Elizabeth cooks preserved lemon & couscous
• Closet Cooking - Kevin bakes - OH MY GOD - Green Tea White Chocolate Marscapone Brownies - gimme, gimme, gimme!!
• Do You Know the Muffin Man - Eric offers Pear Ganache Chocolates - you guys are killing me!
• The Galumphing Gourmand - Ian gets saucy with pesto
• Garlicster - Maria steps away from the garlic clove to review He Said Beer, She Said Wine

Continue reading Blog-A-Log - Saturday, April 19th »

Funny how people get different impressions of certain places. Last week we ran a review of Indian restaurant Chakra that wasn’t very favourable. But at Spotlight Toronto, Suresh attended the official opening and really loved the place. He also headed up to the opening of Le Pain Quotidien for some tasty bread.

Posted Toronto looks at the renovations that will change the face of the Five Thieves at Yonge and Summerhill, and the poor beleaguered plastic bag and the considerations to ban them from LCBO stores. And at Menumental, Eric Vellend looks at what customers can do to make sustainable seafood choices.

Continue reading The Wide, Wide World of Web - Monday, April 14th »

Wow - there are way too many great posts this week from Toronto food bloggers. I usually try to narrow it down to 5 or 6 but this week’s round-up has to be done in point form.

• Closet Cooking - Kevin makes peanut butter, honey and banana crepes
• Confessions of a Cardamom Addict - Jasmine attends the Elmira Maple Syrup festival
• Dana McCauley - Dana shares the truth about pro-biotics
• Do You Know the Muffin Man - Eric bakes up honey-bacon-apricot cornbread
• Fear and Loathing in the Kitchen - Tracy looks at how many eggs we should be consuming
• Gothic Epicures VinCuisine - Dean reviews the new book The Apple
• Jumbo Empanandas - Brilynn fights bananas with bananas
• Mmm, Tasty! - Candice reviews By the Way Cafe
• The Nutritionista - Cathy cooks up the best darned lentils
  
• Porkosity - Corey makes too many pickles and an unfortunately salty kimchi
• Recipes For Trouble - Marusya discovers the flavours of green
• Seven Spoons - Tara practices the rites of spring with peas and asparagus
• Sugar and Ink - Catherine savours some tripe

I know they’re not doing it to annoy me personally, but sweet sassy molassy I’m done with the “Best Of” lists over at BlogTO. There’s yet more of the things, but y’all can go find them yourself. Eesh!! In real food posts, Joshua visits the Sweet Potato organic grocery in the Junction, Kelvin eats brunch at Eleven, and Nicole visits Ding Dong Pastries and Cafe. Also at BlogTO, Steve writes about an alleged discrimination issue at Everest on Queen, and learns the palate/palette/pallet lesson so dear to most food writers.

Posted Toronto reports that Susur Lee’s departure puts the kibosh on a new restaurant that was slated for Summerhill station. They also drop by O Nosso Tahlo where lotto-winning butcher Jose Lima was handing out free chicken to his customers.

Continue reading The Wide, Wide World of Web - Monday, April 7th »

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink… Water, and wine, seems to be a topic of interest this week. Dana McCauley looks at the choice of tap water over the bottled stuff, while Gina Mallet takes a curmudgeon’s view of the recent news reports that we actually don’t need 8 glasses of water a day, to recommend we stop drinking the stuff. Of course, Mallet looks at the extreme cases of elite athletes who drink too much water and throw off their electrolyte balance, not us regular couch potatoes. Personally, if I don’t get at least 8-8oz glasses of water a day, by the end of the day I feel dry and crunchy - my eyes feel dry, my skin feels dry and I can feel the beginnings of really not fun things like UTIs coming on. I may not need it, but the more water I drink, the better I feel.

In other liquid news, Michael Pinkus of On the Road With the Grape Guy attends a tasting dinner featuring the wines from Tawse Winery, and Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures VinCuisine announces a new wine contest - Great Expectations of Grand Expectorations Challenge, or GEGEC for short.

Continue reading Blog-A-Log - Saturday, April 5th »

Yeah, we know that Facebook is sooooo last year, and that all the cool kids are Twittering now. But that hasn’t stopped us from setting up a new Taste T.O. Facebook Page (replacing our old and probably soon-to-disappear Taste T.O. Facebook Group).

So if you haven’t given up on the ol’ FB yet, please check it out and become a “fan”. We might have more fans than BlogTO, but we’ve got a lot less than Torontoist, so our egos could use the boost. KTHXBYE!

There’s cupcakes galore at Spotlight Toronto where the team travels around the city in search of a sugar fix. Also, Mehreen visits Giovanna Trattoria.

At Gremolata, Ivy Knight hobnobs with some of the country’s top chefs at the Savour the Spirit Dinner at the ACC, Eric Vellend checks out the food scene in Vancouver, and Lorette C. Luzajic chats with Cambodian chef Chandaramony Eang.

David Lawrason of Toronto Life looks at the greening of the wine world, starting in California.

At BlogTO, they’ve got more Best Of lists up their sleeves with best cafes; east side and west side; best oysters and best ice cream. Also at BlogTO, Chris has info on the Tap Water Project, the Flickr Forum theme is “food”, and Tanja reviews Java House.

Lots of Easter-related posts this past week as Toronto food bloggers cook up some Easter-themed treats. Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice has Easter egg nest cupcakes, and there’s hot cross buns at both Sugar and Ink and Mmm, Tasty! Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict has the most unique Easter item I’ve seen - bread bunnies. And as Greg reports at Beer, Beats and Bites, one place we won’t be seeing bunnies is on beer bottle labels at the LCBO.

Also…

• Tara at Seven Spoons has a great photo essay about making puris.
• Gina Mallet is ramping up her vendetta against locavores.
• Kevin at Closet Cooking makes dukka.
• And Ken Bereskin of The Toronto Wine Scene recaps the Wine Confidential documentary on CBC.

BlogUT reports that it’s Nutrition Week at U of T with nutritious $5 meals offered all week long. And, crap, we missed the Persian New Year celebration with the $5 lunch celebrating Nowruz. At Menumental, Eric Vellend makes lamb tagine as a tasty twist on traditional Easter fare.

Over at Torontoist, Julie Reitsma compares red bean buns. And they’re still on that “best of” kick at BlogTO, with best of posts for Fish and Chips, Pho, Burritos and Latin American restaurants. Also at BlogTO, Tanja has reviews of House of Gourmet and the Purple Onion.

Gremolata still has a Montreal vibe going on, with Nathalie Spielmann’s article about the Atwater Market. Meanwhile Zoltan Szabo gathers a group of wine lovers to pair red wine and oysters. And Malcolm Jolley samples 2000 Château Lagrange-Monbadon Côtes de Castillon.

I’ve got links to two posts by Toronto Life’s James Chatto this week. There’s last week’s lovely piece on a braised onion dish and a stroll down memory lane via his spice cupboard, and today’s post (posted early; I usually miss Chatto’s Monday blog post in time for this round-up) is about a visit to Sushi Kaji and news of plans by the Rubino brothers to transform part of Rain into a sushi restaurant. Also at Toronto Life, David Lawrason writes about the wines of Malavoire Vineyard and and the foods that go with them.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So says Catherine of Sugar and Ink, where she explains what happens when she misses her coffee and oatmeal. However, Gina Mallet reports that if you’re having pork products with breakfast, or any other meal, to watch out for the superbugs.

Dana McCauley’s got a piece on the similarities between scotch and butterscotch candy, and over at Save Your Fork, I’m all about the hot chocolate from Green & Black’s.

Rabbit Reporting dines at Midi Bistro and offers a review.

In recipe posts, Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food makes lemon sponge pudding, Megan the Vegan has corn chips, there’s chipotle black bean soup at What’s On My Plate, and Japanese curry by Kevin at Closet Cooking.