Dash Kitchen
236 Danforth Avenue
416-463-DASH

What’s sexier than a man who can cook? How about three men who can cook. Dan Thompson, Bernie MacMillan and André Wikkerink will heat up any kitchen, but it’s not just the eye candy that keeps me going back to Dash; the fresh and delicious gourmet food is also quite fetching.

Four years ago, these ex-execs were looking for a career change. “Maybe we were each having a mini mid-life crisis,” laughs Thompson. Coming from the corporate world, these guys know what it’s like to work all day, hit the gym and rush home to whip together a quick meal. “Dash is for people who appreciate what they eat, but don’t have the time or desire to prepare meals,” Thompson explains.

“We’re like your mother’s kitchen,” continues Thompson. “You walk in and wonder, ‘What’s for dinner?’” With the exception of a few fixed dishes the regulars insist on - like the extra velvety mac and cheese topped with toasted bread crumbs, the traditional mini-meatloaf with a slight kick or the always perfectly cooked maple glazed salmon - the menu changes with the seasons. “We have more slow-cooking in the winter and more salads in the summer and we try to use the best ingredients available at the time,” says Thompson.

Customers can drop into Dash to pick up their made-from-scratch appetizer, main, side, dessert or all of the above, for less than it costs to order-in or go out. The flakey cod cakes with a tangy dipping sauce or the hand-braided cilantro corn empanadas are an ideal starter. If there is chicken at home but no complement, the Santa Fe avocado salad in lime vinaigrette with a punch of rosemary goes well. Perhaps the aromatic five-spice sweet potatoes? Or maybe mango couscous salad with a touch of curry and sweet currants? For dessert, how about sweet cupcakes smothered in butter cream or tender Challah bread pudding with a creamy custard-like foundation?

The fridge is stocked with sandwiches made with Fred’s Breads and the shelves are dressed with Brickstone, Garlic Box, Stonewall and Rootham products, to name a few.

Rapid growth has led to the expansion of the Dash family. New manager Edi Chungandro, of Le Gourmand, plans to make it easier for people to order by creating catering menus and updating the website, which still reads “Full site coming in 2006.” As most men should know, this troika understands nothing runs smoothly without a woman on hand, which is, I’m sure, why the lovely and inspired Sue Ellen Metcalfe has joined their kitchen.

One of the kitchen’s most popular desserts, the Hello Linda square, is named after Dash’s first regular customer - maybe now they’ll name something after me!

The question, then, is how to celebrate the birthday of a long-dead monarch from a country that no longer rules us, and who never actually set foot in Canada herself. How about getting drunk? (Like most of us need an excuse to do that…) Helpfully, you can find two of the three alcoholic food groups at the Beer & Cocktail Show, taking place all weekend up at Downsview Park.

Traditionalists, meanwhile, will probably want to take a more civilized approach and mark the occasion with a Victorian afternoon tea. There are a number of special teas happening at places like Montgomery’s Inn, Toronto’s First Post Office and the Scarborough Historical Museum, and many hotels will offer their usual weekend tea service.

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.

Friday, May 16th

• The Beer & Cocktail Show 2008 [runs until May 18] - Downsview Park, 35 Carl Hall Road
• Italian Seasons Festival [runs until May 31] - various restaurants

Saturday, May 17th

• Farmer Meet & Greet - Fiesta Farms, 200 Christie Street
• May Festival of Chefs [also on May 18 and other weekends in May] - Cheese Boutique, 45 Ripley Avenue
• Meet the Maker: The Great Canadian Salsa Company - Culinarium, 705 Mount Pleasant Road
• Terroir: Prince Edward County’s Wine Celebration - Crystal Palace, Picton Fairgrounds, Picton
• The Soil Food Web - High Park Children’s Garden

Sunday, May 18th

• Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay & Festival - Nathan Philips Square, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West
• Victorian Cream Tea - Scarborough Historical Museum, 1007 Brimley Road

Monday, May 19th

• Victoria Day Afternoon Tea - Toronto’s First Post Office, 260 Adelaide Street East
• Victoria Day Tea - Montgomery’s Inn, 4709 Dundas Street West

Tuesday, May 20th

• Barrel Select Wine Tasting - Rosewater Supper Club, 19 Toronto Street
• Food in the City: Farming for Profit and Urban Agriculture - Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen Street East
• Raw Milk Rally - Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, 9 Church Street

Wednesday, May 21st

• One Spectacular Tasting - One Restaurant, Hazelton Hotel, 118 Yorkville Avenue
• James Beard Foundation Fundraising Dinner - Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West

Thursday, May 22nd

• 2008 d’Arenberg Tasting - Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, 44 Price Street
• Martin Picard: “Au Pied De Cochon - The Album” - The Cookbook Store, 850 Yonge Street

Eye’s also got a piece about sustainable seafood by Pasha Malla that looks at the book Bottomfeeder by Taras Grescoe. However, I’m a tad confused by Malla’s idea that Canada is not a country that eats or cooks a lot of fish…

While organic meat and produce are regulars on many conscious shoppers’ grocery lists, when it comes to seafood, in Canada we remain somewhat in the dark. Ours isn’t a culture, like many European, Asian and African societies, that prizes fish cookery. While we’re quick to scarf back popcorn shrimp at Red Lobster or sashimi platters on the Bloor sushi strip, home preparation remains an especially alien — perhaps even daunting — prospect. The average Canadian might have vague notions that farmed salmon are “bad,” that Chilean sea bass are endangered and that dolphin-friendly canned tuna is the most ecologically sound choice, but beyond these popular taboos, we’re generally clueless.

Sweeping generalizations are never a good idea, and it’s pretty safe to say that Malla’s comments might reasonably apply to Torontonians, but not necessarily the entire population of a country with the longest coastline in the world. Go ahead - tell someone in Newfoundland or Nova Scotia that they don’t know anything about fish or how to cook it.

Also in NOW, Davey’s got a Fresh Dish column just about patios; Graham Duncan looks at stuff people drink on patios; Wayne Roberts explores the regional cuisines of Japan; and Paul Terfenko offers a primer on sushi.

At Metro, Rick McGinnis profiles newly-opened Grace on College Street, and looks at the reaction at Carlsberg to the boom in imported beer. Marcy Cornblum interviews Natalie McMaster about her favourite foods, and Billy Munnelly finds that despite their fluffy reputation, there are decent California wines available in the recent LCBO promotion.

Elsewhere in the Star, Paul Moloney reports in the City Hall Notebook that city-run institutions are being urged to buy local food.

The food bill runs about $11 million annually, and it’s proposed that $100,000 of that will be set aside for local purchases this year – an idea supported by environmentalists and food producers.

Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, chair of a council committee that tackles the issue tomorrow, says she’s not sure a buy-local policy would work in the 10 homes for the aged, which require items such as bananas and orange juice that can’t be grown locally, and must provide three meals a day to 2,600 residents for just $7 per person.

Uhh… councillor? There’s another $10,900,000 dollars there with which to buy bananas.

Also in the Star, Josh Rubin heads south and discovers that American beer is actually pretty good. Amy Pataki looks at the communal restaurant table, and Gord Stimmell finds some blended wines that don’t suck. There’s also recipes for a potato omelette and stuffed mushrooms.

At the Toronto Sun, they’re celebrating the 50s (right down to the Betty Crocker meatloaf), and Rita DeMontis looks at the anniversary of the Corningware casserole dish. Elizabeth Baird has a round-up of food news including a preview of next weekend’s Doors Open Toronto event.

The National Post is also reporting on the proposal to include local food on the menu at city-run facilities, where Allison Hanes goes into even more detail on the objections from the cranks conservative councillors at City Hall. Amy Rosen discovers that vegan food isn’t all that bad, while Stephen Hunt looks at the lure of meat for white guys. It’s an excerpt from his book, The White Guy: A Field Guide, which may or may not be tongue-in-cheek, but proves that books about white folks and the things they like seem to be all the rage. The Appetizer blog includes an interview with Chef Andrew Milne-Allan of Zucca Trattoria.

At the Globe and Mail, they’re gearing up for the May 2-4 weekend by grilling everything in sight - Adele Hagan offers tips. Chef Rob Feenie remembers Alsatian pizza; Cinda Chavich reports on David Wong’s journey to the Bocuse D’Or; and Leslie Beck offers the same old - same old on how to use the BMI and other measurements to determine if you’re too chubby (except of course, BMI doesn’t measure age, muscle tone, frame size or other illnesses that might affect a person’s weight).

Lauren LaRose looks at how Toronto shoppers are hoarding rice due to the global food shortage, and are exacerbating the problem. Alexandra Gill reports on the not-just Toronto-related problem of “lounges” where it’s more about the booze than the food, and there’s a Reuters piece on how the US may block some Italian wines because of the type of grapes.

La Tortillaria
68 Wales Avenue
416-546-5516
Dinner for two with all taxes tip and soda: $20

La Tortillaria, is a recently opened take-out place on the edge of Kensington Market that has received a lot of buzz. What’s so special about it? Freshly made corn tortillas.

The closest I’ve ever gotten to fresh corn tortillas was years ago, watching David Rosengarten’s show Taste on the Food Network during which his subject, the mysterious sounding masa (corn dough) and masa harina (the dried version), intrigued me. Watching him knead that dough and take perfect steaming circles out of a hefty silver tortilla press, I marvelled that corn could be flat bread.

I was once told by a friend of mine, a Texan, that enchiladas are supposed to be made from corn tortillas. I figured he knew what he was talking about, as from my recollection, Mexican food was so much better in the States. In our small office cubicle in downtown Taipei, he would go on about it so much so, that even though I’d never tried an enchilada before, in my mind it became one of my favourite foods. The buzz that had surrounded La Tortillaria seemed to be a sort of similar reverie. Were people excited not because they wanted a taco really badly, but because it reminded them of partying in Tijuana, or a honeymoon in Cancun, or touring Mexico City?

Approaching the sunny yellow facade of La Tortillaria, reminded me of travelling. Maybe it was the satisfaction of finally stumbling upon a hard to find spot in a seldom encountered area of Bathurst and Dundas. Maybe it was the soft spoken, dark-haired girl behind the counter, who lifted each lid of the warming trays to show us all their selections.

To a non-Spanish ear, the choice of fillings sounded exotic - alambre, tinga, calabacitas - and as tacos were cheap ($2.50 for one, 3 for $6.50, and 4 for $8.50), we got them all except for the chicharron (aka pork in green sauce) which they were out of. We were offered rice with each one. as the server said that’s how they usually made them, but I regret we had forgotten the beans. At the last minute I noticed a couple few trays of cheese, sour cream, and a dark sauce that looked like what came out of the bottled chipotle sauce I had at home, so I hurriedly scooped some into the carry-out boxes. My partner-in-eating also ordered a cup of pretty sounding Jamaica flower juice.

These tacos tasted very homey; like blander home cooking versus flashier resto fair. Maybe we were too used to Tex Mex, with its mounds of salsa, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and pickled jalapenos. Perhaps sitting on a buffet tray for an entire day had something to do with it as well. The stewed chicken (tinga), was stringy and any chicken, tomato, or onion flavour was imperceptible. Then again, I’m not impressed by the stewed chicken in the empanada (which tastes about the same to me) from Jumbo Empanadas, even though it’s got die-hard fans. The chorizo and potato taco seemed to have had all the fat and spice boiled out of the sausage, yet none of hte flavour had transferred to the spuds.

The beef in the steak and peppers (alambre) was dry and tough, but did well with a dash of Thai hot sauce (which was in our friend’s fridge). My sister, who’d gotten the veggie one (calabacitas) shrugged and said it was just corn and zucchini, but the rice was nice and fluffy. I had saved the sampling of the chicken mole for last. I’d been excited to have my first taste of mole sauce - that complicated, romantic-sounding concoction made with chocolate, - and it was just okay. This chicken mole reminded me of Chinese beef jerky; stringy, chewy, sweetish, with a bit of caramel, a bit of cumin - just a hint of heat. I added hot sauce.

But I could easily overlook the failings of the fillings for the tortillas.

One bite and I simply understood what corn tortillas are supposed to taste like and just why people might get so excited about them. Pliant, with a touch of corn fragrance, and a pleasant grittiness to its texture, they make packaged store-bought ones taste like cardboard. These fresh ones were so tender and very good just on their own. Made on site at La Tortillaria, they are available in 1/2 pound ($1.75) and one pound ($3.00) bags. Just as I’d now go to the bakery for fresh baguette, when I want corn tortillas, this is where I’ll go.

While many beer aficionados today are always on the lookout for something new and exciting, and can often be heard heaping praise the craft brewers of the United States as being the most adventurous and forward-thinking brewers on the planet, there is still a great respect for the classic brewing traditions amongst serious lovers of the grain and hop. And of all the countries in the Old World of brewing, the one that garners the most respect is Belgium.

With over 100 breweries producing over 1000 brands of beer in styles ranging from the straight-forward to the completely out-there, Belgium is like Mecca to many beer drinkers. And sitting at the pinnacle of the Belgian brewing scene are the renowned Trappist breweries: six breweries (plus one just over the border in The Netherlands) that are located on the grounds of Trappist monasteries and at least partially brewed by the monks themselves.

Five of these breweries - Achel, Chimay, Rochefort, Westmalle and Westvleteren - produce the beers that most people think of as typically Trappist. Each brewery produces two or three styles of ale that are sweet and malty, with alcohol levels ranging from moderate to high. The Dutch member of the group, Koningshoeven, takes a slightly broader approach, brewing the traditional ale styles alongside a witbier, a bock, and a number of other brands.

The most unique Trappist brewery, however, is undoubtedly the one located within the walls of the Abbaye Notre-Dame d’Orval monastery in the Gaume region to the south of the country. Unlike the multiple brands of their brethren, the monks of Orval brew only a single eponymous beer for sale to the public (the lighter Petit Orval being reserved for the monks and visitors to a neighbouring café). And while the other Trappist beers tend to have big, malty flavour profiles with notes of fruit and spice, Orval tastes like… well, something else. Something unique not just amongst the Trappist beers, but in the world of beer as a whole.

As with any hand-crafted product, there are any number of factors that contribute to the distinctness of Orval versus other beers, but there are a couple of especially unique aspects in the brewing process. The first is the use of dry-hopping (adding hops during the ageing process) which is often done during the production of British-style ales, but rarely for Belgians. The second is the addition of the wild yeast Brettanomyces which gives the beer a character that is often described as funky or “barnyardy”.

It may seem a bit hyperbolic, but trying to describe the aroma and flavour of Orval is like trying to define the best characteristics of a great painting or a timeless piece of music. Not necessarily because it’s so good (although it is, oh yes, it is!), but because everyone seems to get something different from it. And speaking from experience, I can say that it never seems to be the same beer twice. So rather than trying to describe it myself, I’ll first recommend perusing the reviews at RateBeer and Beer Advocate to get an idea of the variety of reactions this beer elicits.

Secondly, I’ll share the following excerpt from The Great Beers of Belgium by the late, great beer writer Michael Jackson, which I think sums up the allure of Orval quite nicely:

The name - deriving from “Valley of Gold” - suggests a magical, precious phenomenon. It is. Orval tempted me to break my Golden Rule.

More of a mantra, really. It goes something like this: to appreciate beer fully, it is necessary to choose the right brew for the mood and moment. That in turn requires a diversity of beers. There can be no single “best”, and I have never named a favourite.

I came close, though. The magazine Zymurgy asked me to name “The Quintessential Beer” and my answer was Orval. The key word was “Quintessential”. Literally, the heavenly fifth element. I took the criterion metaphorically, and thought of the complex flavours of Orval, opening like an onion being peeled. No beer can be copied to perfection, but Orval is a masterpiece.

Finally, and most importantly, I’ll recommend that you drink it. A limited number of bottles were released as part of the LCBO Spring beer promotion in March, and a few are still available at select outlets (LCBO 439992 - $3.45/330 mL). Failing that, you can find it at a number of the city’s better beer bars including Rhino, Volo and beerbistro, with the added advantage being that many places will serve it in the distinctive branded goblet. You may not love it - hell, you may not even like it - but you won’t be able to deny that it’s one of the most unique and unusual beers you’ve ever tried.

The Spice Trader
805 Queen Street West
647-430-7085

To walk into The Spice Trader is an anomaly in the nicest of ways. Part Parisian emporium, part Moroccan bazaar, it is all earthy wooden shelves, warm shades of green and a black & white art deco floor wrapped up in the scents of far off places. Its contrasts work well though, this balance of exotic yet charming, creating the kind of scene where cell-wielding power suits can shop in blessed harmony beside hemp-clad hippies.

The Spice Trader is the inception of Neil Bougourd and his life partner, Allison Johnston, a former offshore banker and assistant film director, respectively. One day the jobs became too heavy, as jobs often can, and the sparkle of salaries and industry prestige wore down to make way for a simpler existence, and greater peace of mind. After coming back to Canada following a work stint in Guernsey for Bougourd, the pair decided to leave the rat race and open a shop.

They both loved food, so that became the focus, and looked into organic after Johnston was diagnosed with, and survived, breast cancer. “We basically chipped away at it and said, ‘No one’s really doing organic spices.’”

The Spice Trader is inspired by the concept and boutiques of Europe, where everyday food is purchased fresh, and most items have their own storefronts. If you want bread, you go to the baker, and if you want cheese, you go to the cheese monger. “If you want spices, you go to a little spice shop.”

The shop is indeed little, but the stock is most impressive at 120 spices and counting, including salts and custom blends. All the basics live here, like basil and thyme, but so do Egyptian barberries, Indonesian ginger, Guatemalan cardamom, French chicory, cocoa powder from Hispaniola, and African grains of paradise. There are also distinctions, like Iranian dried limes, Turkish sumac, a spice almost impossible to find on Canadian shores, and Indian Asafetida, which is the resin of the giant fennel plant.

There is an otherworldly feeling to the Spice Trader, standing in the centre of this culinary atlas. It makes something as ordinary as spice shopping, more like being in a Choose your own Adventure novel.

The packaging, too, tells its own story; light is one of the worst things you can do to spice. Purchasing spices in glass jars and plastic packets greatly reduces not just the potency and quality, but the shelf life. Bougourd says that the rule of thumb regarding spices is, if ground, a year to 18 months, and if whole, anywhere from three to five years, depending on what it is. When in tins, these numbers are much higher.

And, as it turns out, there are reasons why we should buy and use organic spices. To begin with, months of not sitting on warehouse shelves guarantees the spices are much, much fresher. “You can taste the difference, and the smell, too. It’s more in cooking that you notice it; the volatile oils come out.”

Bougourd compares the experience to a good perfume where, if you leave the top off the bottle for awhile, the top notes of the scent dissipate. You can still smell the perfume, but the quality just isn’t there.

Also, little known to many, spices are some of the most pesticide-laden foods on the market, as they are irradiated and chemically treated for toxins. These toxins stick to the oils of the spices. At the Spice Trader, these concerns are nil. “The majority of our spices are organic. We buy in very small batches so that they’re always very fresh. We have no additives, preservatives, fillers, colourants, nothing. Pure spices.”

Moreover, spices are good for us, as they are loaded with medicinal properties. Bougourd mentions that in India, a brand of bandage with turmeric is being manufactured, as the spice is anti-inflammatory and halts infection.

Once a banker and film director; now vendors and purveyors of spice. Bougourd tells me that since the opening of the Spice Trader things have changed, and for the better. “It’s changed our outlook on how we eat. It’s changed our lifestyle. It feels like we’re giving something back by being organic.”

Truly, we are the lucky ones. If spice has a home, they have made a lovely one.

Rustic Cosmo
1278 Queen Street West
416-531-4924
brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $30

I am, admittedly, one of those people who go out for brunch specifically because I hate making eggs benedict at home. It’s not that I can’t, but the endeavour inevitably leaves me cranky, covered in hollandaise and left with piles of pots and pans to wash.

But the dish is a favourite of mine, especially from places like Rustic Cosmo where an order of eggs benny comes with options. For out of this tiny open kitchen, customers are offered eggs benny ($9.95) with 6 different toppings, and are allowed to mix and match. Along with the traditional peameal bacon, spinach or smoked salmon, café owner Nicole Crowe also offers mixed grilled vegetables with brie, portobello mushrooms or grilled asparagus. On our most recent visit, I opted for oozing brie atop grilled peppers, eggplant and broccoli, along with lovely green asparagus, grilled al dente.

Eggs are poached to a perfect liquid gold and the smooth, buttery hollandaise gets a kick in the pants with a titch of cayenne pepper. The accompanying homefries are soft and spicy, almost like a potato masala, with bits of spices and garlic. Some people might find them odd, not being crisp as they are at other brunch joints, but their uniqueness is part of the draw.

Across the table, the hungry husband mulls over the options, settling on a breakfast burrito ($6.95) stuffed with beans, avocado, garlic aioli, vegetables, cheddar and sausage. We disagree on whether the sausage really goes, but he likes the spiciness paired with the more typical fixings. And the hearty size doesn’t hurt either.

Although I almost always opt for the benedict, Rustic Cosmo also offers a range of breakfast bagels ($3.95 - $5.95), pancakes or French toast ($6.95 each), a selection of omlettes ($6.75 - $8.95) and a plate o’ stuff known as the cowboy’s breakfast ($9.95) with eggs, toast, homefries, pancake and beans. A tofu scramble ($7.95) is available for vegan customers.

Most weekday traffic centres around the coffee and baked goods to go, of which there’s always a great selection, but we opt for a bottomless cup of the house blend ($1.57) that Crowe keeps topped up.

Service is always friendly and quick (Crowe is one of the most cheerful servers I know, with a smile for every customer), although things can get backed up when it gets busy because the kitchen is so small, and they can really only put out one table at a time. Also, while the warm wood floors, exposed brick wall and breath-taking tin ceiling all give the space a glorious atmosphere, when it gets busy, the room can get loud as all the voices bounce off the hard surfaces of the room.

To experience Rustic Cosmo at its best, we always make a point of arriving early, before the room gets packed and the kitchen gets backlogged. Nevertheless, this Parkdale landmark will continue to be a favourite, whether it’s to grab a quick coffee or for the multitude of benedict options, none of which I have to cook myself.

Just as we’re finishing our wine, Jay comes over and says, “How would you like to enjoy your dessert in a more comfortable booth?”

“No, we’re fine.”

Then he had to admit he wanted the table for a large party that was now coming in. Gourmudgeon is testy. Of course we’ll move, but why wasn’t Jay up front right away? Why didn’t he say, “Could you do us a favour?” Because that’s what we’re doing. We may not much like our table but to emphasize its unattractiveness suggests we’ve been ill-treated (and we haven’t). And to move is to break a mood. Gourmudgeon says, “They could have said, ‘Coffee’s on the house.’ “

Also in the Post:

• Adam McDowell reports that despite changes to provincial legislation last year that will allow for vendors to sell more than hot dogs and sausages, reams of bureaucratic bullshit at City Hall will ensure that we won’t be getting any new street food options any time soon. In accompanying articles, McDowell and Peter J. Thompson ask a few local politicos and celebs what they like to dress their dogs with, Ben Kaplan takes a ride with ice cream man Ike Alexopoulos, and Maryam Siddiqi suggests that Toronto should look to the Dominican Republic for some good street food ideas.
• Ben Kaplan goes shopping for baked goods with French electro-pop starlet Yelle.
• Shinan Govani tells us that police chief Bill Blair really liked the risotto at the Sante Ultimate Winemakers Dinner.
• Jon Bricker and Kate Swoger slurp some tasty soup at Scarborough’s Phở Vietnam.
• Margaret Swaine previews next week’s New Zealand Wine Festival with reviews of six Kiwi varietals.
• Sarah B. Hood discovers some ancient apple trees at Spadina House.
• Bonnie Stern offers some mom-approved recipes for Mother’s Day.

Over in the Globe & Mail, Joanne Kates finds that Simple Bistro lives up to its name perfectly, and she considers that to be a very good thing:

[Chef Masayuki] Tamaru, despite his personal lineage, is a resolute Francophile. He does sweet little frites with steak or mussels. His magret de canard is ruby-red, fork-tender duck breast served over tasty chard with caramelized sweet-potato sticks. His halibut is correctly cooked.

Even risotto is credible at Simple Bistro, rich with the sweetness of Jerusalem artichokes and the earthy savoury of shiitake mushrooms. Cornish hen has tender flesh and crisp skin and is served with a grand pile of mashed potatoes topped with crisped onions, smoky bacon and sausage.

Also in the Globe:

• Beppi Crosariol says that malbec is the new shiraz, or new merlot, take your pick.
• Sasha Chapman profiles The Cookbook Store, where they’ve been increasing the culinary knowledge of Torontonians for 25 years.
• Lucy Waverman rounds up some restaurant brunch recipes that you can make at home.

In the Toronto Star, Amy Pataki (who, if the rumours are true, will soon be going on maternity leave) forgoes a restaurant review this week in favour of a treatise on the etiquette of tipping. Most of what she writes is pretty obvious to anyone who eats out semi-frequently, although some may argue with her on the “tip based on pre-tax vs. post-tax amount” issue. She says 15 per cent (or 20 for especially good service) should be calculated on the final total, including all taxes. But many people (including, it must be admitted, yours truly) tend to use the pre-tax amount of the calculations, especially back when the taxes added up to 15%, making the figuring out the tip a piece of cake. So I guess I’ve been a cheapskate for years without even knowing it.

Also in the Star:

• Gord Stimmell rates a mixed bag of five wines, ranging from a dry and floral rosé to a big and juicy malbec.
• Megan Ogilvie gives good marks to The Wall Street Diet, which offers advice on healthy food alternatives for busy businesspeople.
• Mark Bittman makes some quick and easy stir-fried snow peas.