All is relatively calm when we arrive at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the Chef’s Challenge Saturday. Call it the lull after the crazy that comes before the next crazy. If you haven’t heard, the Chef’s Challenge is a slightly wild fundraising adventure where top campaigners get a chance to participate in an amateur, … Continued
Imagine a miniature farmers’ market that sells leafy heads of lettuce, fresh cheese and packaged meats inside your office space downtown. How convenient would that be? Located inside the Annex’s Centre for Social Innovation, the Food Innovation Constellation is testing out that concept.
Earlier this month, rumours began to circulate that former Black Hoof employees were involved in an upcoming Parkdale restaurant. Over at Toronto.com, Sheryl Kirby predicted that it would be Geoff Hopgood, but it turns out that it's Colin Tooke, along with former Hoof manager Ian McGrenaghan. Grand Electric, their new project, opened quietly last night, and looks to be indulging the city in just about all of its recent culinary obsessions.
It only seems natural that in a city where excellent cuisine and diverse flavours are a source of cultural pride, purveyors of fine cocktails are becoming much easier to find. These days, restaurant bars in Toronto are mirroring their kitchens’ offerings by taking a seasonal, artisanal and signature approach to cocktails. This season, dark spirits and autumnal flavours inspired by crisp citrus, wood fires and syrupy preserves are gracing the drink lists of some of Toronto’s best restaurants. Here are three perfect-for-autumn cocktails.
For anyone who didn’t get a chance to check out The Globe this weekend, Chris Nuttall-Smith got the scoop on the latest in the Grant van Gameren saga. Just weeks after leaving The Black Hoof and jumping back on board with Lucien, along with Guy Rawlings, to help steer the restaurant in a new direction, van Gameren has been announced as the executive chef at Enoteca Sociale.
This is one of the under-the-radar super-Tuscans at a reasonable price. It’s a blend of Sangiovese, Colorino, Canaiolo and Merlot. Ruby in colour with a smoky, minerally, black cherry nose; savoury on the palate with flavours of dried cherry, orange peel and earthy tones; firmly structured with good length. Food match: tomato-based pasta dishes.
A new idea is taking shape in one of Toronto’s trendiest ‘hoods. On Nov. 29, international chain Piola will be opening a new location near Queen and Dufferin, at the Bohemian Embassy condo. The new pizzeria will be serving up high-quality Italian cuisine and carefully selected wine, along with some local art, but owners insist Piola will be missing one ingredient: attitude.
Around six years ago, before doing one thing really well was hip in Toronto’s food scene, The Fish Store opened in Little Italy as a closet-sized purveyor of fish sandwiches and fresh raw seafood. It’s now a neighbourhood fixture, and its original formula has changed little. So it was a bit odd to venture into the store this week to find that beef bulgogi, a Korean specialty dish — and clearly, a departure from tradition for the place — has been added to the menu.
Sameer Mohamed had no intentions of giving up when Fahrenheit Coffee closed in September, just a few months after opening. The esteemed barista says there are multiple reasons why his coffee shop shut its doors, but now that he’s set to re-open in a new location, he’s confident that the change will be for the better. A new location of Fahrenheit Coffee has taken over the space at 120 Lombard Street, near Jarvis and Richmond.
The Cake Boss may have fancy tools and some badass cooks under his employ, but the ladies at new cupcake boutique We Bake in Heels can whip up scrumptious confections —including a giant-sized cupcake — while wearing stilettos in the kitchen.
Brown bagging it means something entirely different at the corner of Church and Granby these days. Brown Bag Sandwiches, a new sandwich joint by Matt Lai and Peter Lee, (both from, among other places, Pure Spirits Oyster House and Grill) opened up two weeks ago in the old Sandwiched spot.
That The Burger’s Priest is expanding is not a huge surprise. Since it opened in 2010, the east-end hamburger joint has consistently impressed customers and critics alike: it’s number 20 on Joanne Kates’ 100 best restaurants list, while Toronto Life recently bestowed burger of the year to the Vatican City Burger. But where it is expanding to is somewhat unexpected.
