Guu SakaBar, the sequel to Church Street’s hugely successful Guu Izakaya, may have finally opened its doors in the Annex, but the waiting has just begun. Thankfully, it’ll be in an enclosed waiting area this time around. Many elements here are reminiscent of the Izakaya — this is a Guu, no question — but there’s a sizable selection of new menu items. We sampled some and had Natsuhiko Sugimoto, chef and general manager, break them down for us.
While hamburgers are still cool In Toronto, hot dogs are out, apparently. So out, in fact, that they’ve been booted from the Mink Mile. According to the Sun, The Bloor-Yorkville BIA says hot dog carts don’t fit in with Bloor Street’s newly renovated vibe.
The culinary minds at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) revealed a meaty new list of concessions yesterday, just in time for the Toronto FC home opener against the Portland Timbers tomorrow. The inspiration behind BMO Field‘s new barbecue-driven menu is “comfort food,” says Tony Glitz, executive chef of Real Sports Bar and Grill, who helped put the menu together. Fans of beef, pork and porchetta will be impressed.
It’s happening again. It wasn’t even a month ago when everyone went gaga at the prospect of David Chang setting up shop in Toronto, and now we’ve caught wind that Daniel Boulud – a multiple Michelin-starred chef from NYC – has his sights on Toronto, too, but nothing is confirmed as of yet.
Tawfik Shehata, executive chef at the club district’s newest hot spot, the Ballroom, developed a taste for chicken shawarma while studying at Le Cordon Bleu.
Mehmet Uzel is as close as it comes to an olive evangelist. From a town in northern Turkey that prides itself on growing the world’s best, he moved to Toronto to expand his family’s olive empire, believing the city’s diverse population would help him tap into an olive-loving culture.
What does it take for a Canadian to win Iron Chef America? Apparently, a little bit of Canada’s national food doesn’t hurt. With a menu that included lobster poutine, Quebec chef Chuck Hughes won an Iron Chef battle against Bobby Flay in an episode that aired last night, making Hughes the youngest chef – and the second Canadian ever – to have won the title.
It wasn’t so long ago that popular Italian chain Terroni closed its Balmoral location, but a new one is opening up just down the street in a three-storey space at Rosedale’s Scrivener Square. Terroni Bar Centrale will occupy the ground floor and should open by April 1 at the latest, owners say, as a café/wine bar/restaurant. The upper floors will house a full-fledged restaurant, Terroni Price Street, expected to open this summer.
Sausage Partners hasn’t opened its doors yet, but anyone who’s eaten at Ceili Cottage may be familiar with its products already (hint: try the bangers and mash for a taste of the Naked Pig sausage). Ceili Cottage’s head chef Kyle Deming and his wife, Lorraine, are the masterminds behind Sausage Partners, which produces a variety of made-from-scratch pickles, preserves, meat products and yes, sausages. This summer, they’ll be branching out with a retail outlet of their own at Queen and Greenwood.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries got some major publicity a couple years ago when Barack Obama hung out there, but now that Obamamania is a thing of the past, is Five Guys still cool? Torontonians will find out this summer, when a location of the American burger chain is set to open in Scarborough.
Palate-pleasing Chardonnay has legs from here to ya-ya
As anyone familiar with the too-popular Asian restaurant chain knows, Guu and “waiting” are terms that can be used nearly interchangeably. And the same has been true with the upcoming opening of Guu SakaBar in the Annex. According to Eye Weekly, owners were hopeful that the place would open some time this week, but James Kim, a Guu general manager, tell us the restaurant is still waiting on its liquor license, which will come “hopefully soon.”
