This is a copybook introductory white Burgundy at an affordable price. It’s straw in colour, with a bouquet of fennel, peanut and apple notes; on the palate, expect a crisp yellow apple flavour. The wine is medium-bodied with good length. A versatile food wine.
Good fruit beers can go in one of two directions. The special ingredient is either buried deep in the background, faintly whistling a quiet but distinctive tune, or the flavour is unmistakable and right at the front, like the horns section of an orchestra. Spearhead’s Hawaiian Pale Ale, with its gentle hint of pineapple, is a good example of the former, while this week’s beer, Cannery Brewing Company’s Blackberry Porter, is definitely the latter.
With enRoute’s 2012 edition of Canada’s best new restaurants list, the magazine has confirmed what Torontonians already knew: “The city’s dining scene is on fire.” Six of the 10 restaurants on the list are from Toronto, including Niagara Street’s Edulis, which snagged the number one spot.
Back in May, we told you about the departure of chef Tom Brodi from TOCA at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto. At the end of this month, TOCA will relaunch with a new chef who’s looking to add some excitement to Toronto’s dining scene.
El Almacen, the Queen West café known for its authentic yerba mate and empanadas, is expanding soon with a new location in the Junction.
With a somewhat clandestine location at Adelaide and Portland, SpiritHouse is the latest addition to the west end’s sundown scene. The subterranean space is the work of Len Fragomeni, known around town as the owner of the Toronto Institute of Bartending. Head bartender Brad Gubbins serves up a roster of cocktails, including a barrel-aged Sazerac that comes in a bottle ($46), but the Corpse Reviver No. 2 ($15) is our drink of choice.
By lindsaylow
Dammit, the Emperor is back and he’s in his boxers again. I have been wanting (dare I say pining) to go to David Chang’s Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York for years. So of course, I, like every other foodie in Toronto, was ecstatic when Chang opened Momofuku Toronto on University Avenue. Who doesn’t want … Continued
Fan of mash-ups? Try this on for size: a Porchetta & Co. sandwich in pizza form. Starting today and going until Thursday, both Pizzeria Libretto locations are offering a special pizza ($17) featuring the same porchetta and crackling that you’d find stuffed inside a Portuguese bun at Nick auf der Mauer’s popular Dundas West sandwich spot. The pizza also comes with rapini, truffle oil and chilies.
The longstanding Lick’s hamburger joint in the Beach is closing in order to make way for a six-storey condo project, but the restaurant is planning to open a new location in the area. The iconic restaurant will flip its last burger on Oct. 31, and to celebrate the long haul, Homeburgers and Nature Burgers will go on sale for 25 cents apiece (on that day and at that location only).
Friday Restaurant Recap rounds up the week’s Toronto restaurant news. In this edition: new locations for Pizzeria Libretto, ramen from the Yours Truly team, the second Hooked location and more.
I don’t come across Malbec from California very often, but there’s one at the LCBO made by E. & J. Gallo under the Red Rock Winery label. It’s deep ruby in colour with a smoky, truffle, barnyard nose; the fruit is ripe and sweet with jammy blackberry and blackcurrant flavours, ending with a spicy, dark-chocolate note. It’s full on the palate with supple tannins.
Eating soup… for a cause? That’s the idea behind Soupstock (Oct. 21, Woodbine Park), an event that brings 200 chefs together to prepare their best soup recipes to protest Melancthon’s proposed mega-quarry. The daylong soup-fest features chefs such as Jamie Kennedy and Anthony Walsh offering up their fare ($10 for three servings), with all proceeds going towards building a community to stop the controversial mega-quarry.
