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11/30/12
Earlier this summer, news hit the streets that chef Anthony Rose, previously of The Drake Hotel, had planned to open not one, not two, but three new Toronto restaurants. Last week, he opened his first Rose and Sons establishment — on his 40th birthday — in the former People’s Foods space, which had been a neighbourhood staple for around 50 years.
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11/30/12
Friday Restaurant Recap rounds up the week’s Toronto restaurant news. In this edition: ramen for Queen West and Little Italy, cupcakes for Yorkville, a new chef de cuisine for Scarpetta and more.
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11/30/12
This is a powerful, fruit-driven Aussie shiraz. Deep ruby in colour, with a minty-menthol nose of ripe blackberries with a spicy cedar note. On the palate, expect a ripe blackberry flavour with a savoury herbal note and a firm tannic finish.
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11/29/12
Riverside’s Loïc Gourmet will close its doors this holiday season after almost five years in business. The gourmet take-out spot was known for its decadent French-inspired fare, including rotisserie chicken and terrine.
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11/29/12
Innis & Gunn, the Scottish brewery known for the beer that tastes a little bit like whisky, has launched a program of seasonal releases. This month it led off with the timely Winter Treacle Porter.
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11/29/12
It didn’t take long for restaurateur-in-the-making Harry Wareham to realize that an old Leslieville warehouse at Queen and Carlaw was the perfect spot to open a new restaurant. Passing through the storefront, he entered a massive, cavernous space that was teeming with history. It would make for a stunning dining room. He called his business partner, Daniel Clarke, immediately.
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11/28/12
Tom Papachristou has no qualms about it: “This is my first restaurant,” he says. “I’m learning day by day.” Retsina, a stone’s throw from Allan Gardens, is a month-old eatery serving up Greek cuisine. After pursuing chemistry in university, Papachristou decided a life dictated by science was not for him, and he opted to throw himself into the dining world instead.
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11/28/12
Kanji Sushi & Sake Bar opened back in August, and it has been supplying the Parkdale set with sushi ever since. The work of entrepreneur Rob Banton, Kanji — which refers to one set of characters in Japan’s modern writing system — sees chef James Gao behind the sushi bar. There, he turns out fusion fare like a spicy salmon mix tucked into Pringles chips, along with a variety of rolls decked out in French and Italian-influenced sauces.
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11/27/12
Yorkville is getting in on Toronto’s cupcake craze in a big way: first, Dlish cupcakes recently opened a new location in the ’hood, and now Prairie Girl Bakery is moving in. According to Prairie Girl President Jean Blacklock, the cupcakery will be opening its third location at 150 Bloor Street West on March 1.
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11/27/12
It’s been a year since barista Sameer Mohamed opened Fahrenheit Coffee at its current location, and that’s good news for coffee drinkers in the ’hood. The coffee shop is celebrating its first birthday tomorrow with free drinks — and anything on the menu is game. And some added frosting on the birthday cake: all tips will be donated to the Movember cause.
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11/27/12
Don’t be deterred by its location: Schnitzel Queen has the best schnitzel in town. A Corktown staple, the teeny tiny eatery is known for its hulking schnitzel sandwiches. Owned by Bernard and Teresa Untergasser (she’s Polish; he’s German), the space is outfitted with five stools and is only open for lunch, meaning that you best be prepared to wait.
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11/26/12
It’s no secret that Toronto has acquired a good number of ramen shops this year, and there’s still more on the way. Coming to Toronto from Okinawa, Japan is Ramen & Izakaya Ryoji, set to open soon in Little Italy.
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11/26/12
Looking for a Monday morning breakfast pick-me-up? Look no further than the breakfast sausage hoagies from OMG Baked Goodness, which are quickly becoming a daily ritual for me.
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11/23/12
Friday Restaurant Recap rounds up the week’s Toronto restaurant news. In this edition: a new beer bar on Eglinton, some competition for Snakes & Lattes, a chef de cuisine for Crown Cooks and more.
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11/23/12
John Clark and Richard Mulley embarked on their maiden restaurant voyage last May with a lofty idea: to open a sandwich shop dedicated to bacon. And that’s just what they did. Rashers opened in Leslieville last week, celebrating the simple goodness of a bacon sandwich.
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11/23/12
Here’s a bargain-priced Riesling from Ontario. Pale straw in colour, with a green tint. A nose of petrol and grapefruit with a lifted honeyed note. It’s medium-bodied and off-dry, with grapefruit and lime flavours, plus a touch of honey and a light spritz on the palate.
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11/22/12
One of my favourite wine stories comes from the end of a winery tour I took a few years ago with some family members. We had seen the barrel cellar and the fermenting tanks, and we had been given tons of tasting notes. One of my younger cousins leaned in and quietly said, “Dave, I think I get it all, but where do they add the strawberries?”
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11/22/12
In a blink-and-you’d-miss-it do-over, Shawn Creamer and Tyler Cunningham up and changed The Bloordale Pantry into The Whippoorwill Restaurant and Tavern earlier this month. As a big fan of the Pantry’s brunch, Creamer’s business sense (he also owns The Dakota Tavern) told him that the place had far more potential.
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11/21/12
Reds Wine Tavern has upped its game following a recent revamp. With Top Chef Canada’s Ryan Gallagher stepping into the kitchen, and a décor do-over adding conversation-prompting wooden tables and eye-catching chandeliers, the restaurant has shrugged off its slightly stuffy past. Though the locale is known for, um, wine (it does have over 350 types of wine at any given point), a cocktail menu — much like the shuffleboard table — keeps things interesting.
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11/21/12
It’s clearly the year of ramen for Toronto. In the past month, we’ve seen the opening of at least three new shops: Shogun Ramen, Santouka and, most recently, Ramen Raijin. Located at the southeast corner of Yonge and Gerrard, Raijin is prime real estate for downtown foot traffic, not to mention Ryerson students. Even Corey Mintz is a fan, it seems.
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11/20/12
Few three-ingredient meals are as delicious and satisfying as bread, butter and cheese. So it’s a good thing that Stratford’s beloved Monforte Dairy has a new bricks-and-mortar location in town. Located in Liberty Village, the shop opened earlier this month to supply the neighbourhood with the same high-quality cheeses that farmers’ market regulars are already familiar with.
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11/20/12
Sometimes life throws you a curveball. For Rodney Bowers, it happened as he was opening up his latest restaurant, Hey!. His wife had just given birth, and the child promptly needed open-heart surgery. It goes without saying that, at the time, the restaurant was the least of Bowers’ concerns.
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11/20/12
Parkdale’s West End Food Co-op hasn’t been open for long, but the community-friendly space has already created quite a neighbourhood stir. Located near the corner of Queen and Dufferin, the co-op is a food hub and grocery store that aims to showcase local, sustainable purveyors such as Wheelbarrow Farm and Kind Organics.
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11/19/12
Fans of Grant van Gameren likely know that come January (we hope), the renowned chef will be opening up his own restaurant: Crown Cooks. Taking over the former Grappa space, the upcoming College Street eatery will be turning out tapas-style sharing dishes in addition to a late-night menu — both influenced by van Gameren’s recent European jaunt.
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11/19/12
Growing up, my family’s dim sum ritual was a weekly one, reserved for weekends and Saturday mornings after piano lessons. Our favourite has always been steamed BBQ pork buns. We would order them with military-like precision.
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11/16/12
Friday Restaurant Recap rounds up the week’s Toronto restaurant news. In this edition: two new restaurants for Baldwin Village, a British food truck, the new College Street Bar and ramen. Lots of ramen.
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11/16/12
When Jimmy Im and his wife Sophia opened a restaurant in Richmond Hill earlier this year, the intention was to serve sushi. It didn’t take long for the couple to realize that the neighbourhood was lacking something else — a dish that Torontonians have been consuming in ever-increasing quantities as of late. You may have heard of it: ramen.
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11/16/12
This is a well-made sparkler that could fool some into believing it’s champagne. It has a pale straw colour with an active mousse and small bubbles. Boasting an apple and citrus nose, it is medium-bodied with apple and green pineapple flavours. Good length.
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11/15/12
Opening a bottle of this rauchbier is like tending a grill stacked with ribs or leaning in towards a bonfire to blow out a flaming marshmallow: there is no avoiding the powerful aroma of wood smoke.
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11/14/12
Baldwin Village received a much-needed culinary injection earlier this year with the opening of Kinton Ramen, and now another Asian concept aims to continue the upward trend. Veteran restaurateur Sang Kim is set to open two restaurants — to be known as Yakitori Bar and Seoul Food — which will share a space at 1 Baldwin Street.
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11/14/12
Toronto’s food truck industry is still in its adolescence. But for William Randolph, owner and chef of The Feisty Jack, food trucks are a family business. A few decades ago, Randolph’s grandfather owned a fleet of over 50 concession trucks in London, England.
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11/14/12
Disgraceland beckons passersby with its strands of Christmas lights twinkling in the window — regardless of the season. Inside, the Bloor Street bar caters to a mixed crowd, with patrons entwined in board games (plucked from a hodgepodge on the shelf), cheering over a foosball match (there’s a table dead-centre) or noshing on food (the menu is vegans and vegetarian friendly).
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11/13/12
Koji Tashiro, the head chef of JaBistro, the new modern Japanese restaurant at Richmond and Simcoe, does more than make food. Watching him cook is like watching a performance.
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11/13/12
Just voted the city’s best diner by readers of NOW Magazine, The Lakeview Restaurant woos night owls and early birds both. Always open — as the front window proclaims smartly in neon — the retro diner has all the fittings one would hope for: black and white floors, snug booths and vintage tunes. Those dreaming of the past can wolf down a classic burger and slurp on a root beer float while eyeing their favourite Betty by the bar.
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11/12/12
It’s official: Toronto is experiencing ramen mania. This year alone we’ve seen the opening of New York noodle giant Momofuku, along with ramen-houses such as Kinton and Sansotei. Meanwhile, the team that brought us Yours Truly is set to open a ramen shop come December, and Ramen Raijin, from the owners of Vancouver favorite Kintaro, is opening on Gerrard Street soon. And now we can add Santouka Ramen to the list.
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11/12/12
You wouldn’t know it if you just walked by, but College Street Bar has a new owner, a new look, a new cocktail list, a new chef and a new menu focusing on affordable bar snacks. Simple math is key at the revamped CSB: all cocktails are $9 and all menu items are $5.
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11/12/12
Earlier this spring, The Bristol Yard opened as one of several British-inspired restaurants to join the city’s dining scene around the same time. From Sunday roast dinners to homemade, handmade pies to trivia nights, The Bristol Yard has quickly become a popular neighbourhood joint for locals and downtowners looking for a hearty plate of mushy peas and the like.
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11/09/12
Friday Restaurant Recap rounds up the week’s Toronto restaurant news. In this edition: a new resto-bar takes over The Double Deuce Saloon, Live Organic Food Bar announces an expansion, Liberty Village gets a new cheese shop and more.
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11/09/12
Winemaker Natalie Spytkowsky has blended back unfermented riesling juice to give this Ontario wine a touch of sweetness. I tasted the 2010 vintage, and it’s equally good. It has honeyed grapefruit flavour that is balanced with fresh acidity.
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11/08/12
Last night, over 500 of the Big Smoke’s most famished — and generous — foodies gathered at the Wychwood Barns for What’s On The Table, an annual charity event for The Stop. The fête brought together quite the collection of culinary talents for its seventh iteration.
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11/08/12
As dark as Spanish coffee and as powerful as a steam locomotive, the Imperial Black IPA is Great Lakes Brewery’s third in a series of 25th anniversary beers. And it could hardly be more different than the last one. Unlike that light, complex, yeast-driven saison, this ale is all malt and hops.
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11/07/12
National Post columnist Shinan Govani spurred some waves of excitement on Twitter and Chowhound yesterday when he provided a “supersaturated tip-off” that Ladurée, the hugely popular macaron shop from Paris, would be opening a Toronto location next year. So is it actually happening?
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11/07/12
At 9:20 on Monday night at Acadia, I went to the bathroom. Not so unusual. But the bathroom itself was. Both rolls of toilet paper in my stall were folded on those cute little v’s like in hotel rooms. It was immaculate and smelled good. All of which was surprising in an almost-full restaurant mid-evening.
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11/07/12
While driving home from work one night, Daniel Fortin was struck with the idea for his Two Bite Saloon. “I wanted to offer something where people could taste a bit of everything,” Fortin says. The solution? A saloon devoted to sliders. With Charlie An and John Kim rounding out the team of owners, Bloorcourt’s latest bar has only been open since the weekend, but it has already gotten off to a rollicking start.
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11/07/12
Rakia Bar has only been open since August, but owner Dusan Varga’s east-end ode to one of Europe’s most notorious tipples is already a hit. With seemingly endless types of rakia (a.k.a fruit brandy) on offer, there is something bound to please every palate — even the most delicate. Although traditionally the stuff is consumed with a tiny plate of fruit, cured meats or cheeses, patrons can switch things up and sip on rakia-infused cocktails instead.
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11/06/12
The latest addition to the Danforth’s tight-knit restaurant scene is Slider Revolution, a new spot that’s taking the traditional slider to another level. After generating some buzz earlier this year, owner Rich Lee opened the place about a week ago, and it’s been steadily busy ever since.
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11/06/12
Ever since Banh Mi Boys opened its doors on Queen West last year, the sandwich shop has been a runaway hit, even though brothers David, Philip and Peter Chau did something most wouldn’t do: they opened an eatery, gained a huge following and then promptly closed for two months of renos. Not that that changed anything: Torontonians still can’t get enough of their Vietnamese fusion sandwiches and trendy tacos, as proven by the seemingly unwavering lineup.
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11/05/12
For Hanif Harji and Charles Khabouth, it’s all about the details. Originally slated to open properly in time for TIFF — when it did open for a brief stint — Patria officially swung open its doors a few weeks ago. Harji and Khabouth’s latest offering is an ode to all things Spanish. Translating into “fatherland,” the term patria is reflective of the restaurant’s desire to showcase traditional Spanish cuisine.
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11/05/12
It’s no secret that fried chicken is one of my favourite things in the world. A close second is spicy seafood, an obsession recently spearheaded by the bucket of shrimp from Playa Cabana; then, there was the true Anton Ego moment of digging into chili crab and black pepper crab at Long Beach in Singapore. But the new obsession was finally confirmed last weekend during a family dinner at Gourmet Malaysia in Scarborough.
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11/02/12
Friday Restaurant Recap rounds up the week’s Toronto restaurant news. In this edition: sliders take Toronto, pho for Little Italy, South of Temperance closes and more.
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11/02/12
Behold its dense ruby-purple colour. This malbec has a blackberry and dark chocolate nose with a discreet fragrance of vanilla oak; it’s beautifully balanced, medium-bodied, with a velvety mouth feel and blackberry and dark chocolate flavours. It has a fine, dry finish with just enough tannin to give it a fist.
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11/01/12
With Mexicana being the hottest cuisine in town, it’s small wonder that Playa Cabana, a cute dive, is a hard-to-get reservation. Go figure: any second they’ll be closing the back patio, where plastic sheeting, masking tape and ineffectual heaters do little to cut the cold. The front room (warmer!) is an urban remake of a Mexican beach bar, with impeccably rendered tacos and the like.
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11/01/12
It can be tough to remember what Niagara’s wine scene was like before Inniskillin’s icewine won the big prize at Vinexpo in 1991. It was certainly a far cry from the 75-plus wineries that there are today. And now, as of this summer, two breweries have joined Niagara-on-the-Lake’s beverage business. Silversmith Brewing Company is slightly further along in development, with two products on the market: a wheat beer and a black lager.
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10/30/12
The crowded strip near Yonge and St. Clair now has its first spot dedicated to oysters: John & Sons Oyster House. Co-owner John Belknap, who also co-owns Rodney’s by Bay, took over the space on the southwest corner of Yonge and Balmoral earlier this summer and opened the highly-anticipated restaurant about a week ago.
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