If we allow ourselves to generalize for a moment and divide Europe into countries that prefer beer and countries that prefer wine, France is one of the easiest to put in the latter category. Except, in the north, in the areas that bump up against Belgium and the English Channel, there is a well-established style of beer — bière de garde — and La Divine St. Landelin is an excellent example.
Yesterday we extolled the virtues of The Harbord Room’s artery-clogging burger; today we focus on a mom-worthy cocktail from the very same place. The Harbord Room is known for its inventive libations, and the drinks list is chock full of noteworthy concoctions.
Francisco Alejandri is back. The chef shuttered his famed Kensington Market food stand, Agave y Agucate, last summer, but he has since partnered up with furniture designer Keyvan Foroughi to bring the brand to Baldwin Village in full restaurant form. We caught up with Alejandri to find out more about his upcoming venture.
Last month, chef Eric Wood announced that he was leaving Hawthorne Food and Drink to work at an upcoming “boutique hotel” on Queen West, the name of which he did not reveal at the time. Well, if a recent job posting on Craiglist is any indication, he’s now heading up the kitchen at The Beverley Hotel, a new venue that’s opening up on Queen West.
In honour of the May 5th Mexican holiday, we visit the artisanal Playa Cabana and the street-savvy La Carnita. Whose guac is greater? Whose peppers pack the biggest punch? You decide.
A real fruit salad of a wine — a blend of Chardonnay, Chardonnay Musqué, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. Medium straw in colour with an apple and lychee nose; complex flavours of grapefruit, apple and lychee. A well-balanced, medium-bodied wine.
It was announced today that chef Matthew Sullivan is no longer associated with Skin+Bones, the Leslieville restaurant that opened shop in November of last year. Daniel Clarke, who owns the wine bar along with Harry Wareham, says that it came down to a difference of philosophy.
Every crusty baguette, every flaky croissant and every chewy pizza crust renews my appreciation for my digestive system’s ability to process gluten. I know that not everybody is so lucky, and that beer needs to be avoided entirely by some because barley, wheat and rye — the drink’s principal cereal ingredients — all produce gluten when mixed with water.
It finally happened. After decades of not quite getting along with other men, I finally became a bro. I didn’t even have to grow a chin-strap beard to do it. I didn’t do preacher curls until my biceps exceeded 18 inches in diameter, and I didn’t have to wear a single piece of sports merchandise.
Hidden in the basement space under the financial district’s The Loose Moose is The Antler Room, a sprawling bar devoted to both sports and music. After the chime of five, Leafs fans tumble in, watching the game on big screens visible from every table. On the weekend, however, it’s all about the music: local bands take to the stage and up the noise factor aplenty.
Global warming must have something to do with it because Muscadet from the Loire doesn’t seem to be as austerely dry as it used to be. This wine, currently at Vintages outlets, is a light golden colour, which shows some maturity. It has a minerally, apple nose and well-extracted flavours. If I had this wine blind, I would have thought it was a Soave. It’s well balanced with clean lines and a lingering fresh finish.
In a review last summer, The Globe’s Chris Nuttall-Smith slighted the east end’s culinary prowess. “To eat out in Leslieville is to tumble back into the mid-2000s, to give into cheap little rooms, recidivist ideas and cramped expectations,” he asserted. But a handful of east side chefs, restaurateurs and bar owners has banded together to form the East End Dinner Club, which aims to combat the area’s (sometimes) dowdy dining reputation.
