Mention Argentinean wine and people immediately think of Malbec. But the Mendoza Valley also produces some Cabernet Sauvignon at attractive prices. This Cab has an expressive bouquet of blackcurrant and cedar. Medium-bodied with juicy cherry and currant flavours, it’s a wine that punches above its weight in terms of price. Food match: lamb chops or grilled sausages.
Four downtown T.O. fine-dining options with heated patios for tasty, toasty spring evenings
Pancakes and waffles at breakfast tables in the province may go dry and lonely this year. According to the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association, the unseasonably warm temperatures over the past few weeks had sap flowing earlier than expected, resulting in output that’s down at least 50 per cent in parts of the province.
After catching word that Queen Margherita Pizza is set to open a second location near the Junction this fall, we got in touch with co-owner John Chetti. Apparently, he and his partners have cemented a deal with Stefano Ferrara, who Chetti refers to as the “God of pizza ovens,” to come from Naples and personally build and install a pizza oven at the new location.
Yes, it’s costly — but once in a while you’ve got to spoil yourself and taste a wine at the top of its game. Dense purple ruby in colour, it offers an elegant nose of blackberries and spice. Medium- to full- bodied on the palate, it has that firm, dry, majestic flavour of mature Sangiovese. Food match: osso buco or veal chop.
Food lovers in Little Portugal are a lucky lot these days, with a cluster of new spots having recently opened a stone’s throw from each other near Dundas and Gladstone. The latest, This End Up, joins neighbours Midfield Wine Bar and The Federal on the strip.
Celebrity chef Bob Blumer is setting up shop in Toronto next week, promising patrons at The Drake a “unique” pop-up dining experience — replete with beef short ribs served in a toilet bowl. Blumer is perhaps best known for his TV shows, but he’s also written a number of cookbooks over the years. Herewith, Blumer shares one of his breakthrough dishes — Caesar salad — adapted from his Glutton for Pleasure cookbook.
The curtains are drawn tight over the windows at Reither’s Fine Food International. After 23 years of providing Church Street shoppers with meats, seafood and other edibles from all over the world, owner and Austrian master butcher Peter Reither has decided to close the deli and specialty food store.
After three years at the helm of classic English pub The Queen and Beaver, Jamieson Kerr and executive chef Andrew Carter are embarking on a new venture: The Oxley. Located on Yorkville Avenue opposite the Hazelton Hotel, the new restaurant will cater to the area’s clientele with a slightly more upscale play on what the duo currently has going on at their Elm Street location.
This weekend, St. Lawrence Market will host the first ever GradsMarket, a reverse job fair where recent graduates of Toronto culinary schools can flaunt their wares for potential clients. Founder Yulia Vasilyeva, inspired by her own transition from student to budding entrepreneur, decided she wanted to create an event where students could gain exposure and meet others in their industry.
At this year’s Wine and Cheese Show, you can find wine that’s fine and choose cheese with ease. Options are almost endless, so we certainly don’t expect you’d find yourself in this situation. Still, it can be a bit overwhelming, so here is a primer on how to delve into cheese and wine, at the show or on your own.
It hasn’t even been a year since Rodney Bowers opened Hey Meatball! in Little Italy, but we’ve just received word that a second incarnation of the popular food shop is already in the works. Bowers has secured a location at 91 Roncesvalles Avenue, where he hopes to open a new Hey Meatball! in about six weeks.
