The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
All stories by Davida Aronovitch
Introducing: Mavrik Wine Bar, a laid-back Queen West hangout run by two escapees from the corporate world
Mavrik Wine Bar’s cozy room with an open kitchen in the back (Image: Davida Aronovitch)
Mavrik Wine Bar, a cozy new place replacing the Korean spot San, quietly opened a couple weeks ago one door east of Queen West staple Czehoski. Following the lead of DeKefir, Prairie Girl Bakery and these guys, co-owners Joanne Park and Elizabeth Choi have done what so many cubicle-slaves only dream of. The childhood pals left high-paid corporate jobs to open their ideal hangout spot: a homey wine bar—hold the pretension. “We left our cares behind,” says Elizabeth, a former Wall Street trader whose love of wine was inspired by hip New York hubs like Terroir and Blue Ribbon.
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Cuisine of India, an old North York favourite, reopens in Davisville
Cuisine of India’s new interior features their signature peacock motif
It’s been over a year since the North York Indian stalwart Cuisine of India closed its doors. Now, the once-beloved restaurant is reopening in midtown with a revamped vision, transplanting its trademark menu into a somewhat hipper new ’hood, with grab-and-go options and an unfussy ambiance.
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Introducing: More Than Pasta, Ossington’s new low-carb daytime draw
Workers pull fresh noodles through the pasta machine
There’s a new spot on Ossington and, amazingly, it’s not a resto-bar. Open during the day and family run, More Than Pasta brings the rustic Italian and the artisanal trends together with homespun, health-conscious pasta for at-home chefs. Inspired by their aunt’s diabetic restrictions, sisters Gabriella and Margot Micallef pioneered a low-glycerine and low-carb alternative that actually tastes good.
Introducing Parkette: Italian comfort food, Trinity Bellwoods style
(Image: Davida Aronovitch)
Aptly named for its proximity to Trinity Bellwoods, Parkette is yet another new, rustic Italian outpost, this time only a couple blocks away from Terroni, which, arguably, launched the trend in Toronto. Cheery and warm, the 30-seat space features sandy blond woods, exposed brick, a playful park bench banquette in classic picnic green and a kitschy vintage Coca-Cola sign.
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A sneak peek at Claudio Aprile’s Origin brunch menu
Origin’s fabulously mustachioed bartender Taylor Corrigan prepares cocktails (Image: Davida Aronovitch)
Claudio Aprile is about to dive into the most sacred of Toronto meals: brunch. Starting Saturday, February 5, Origin, the chef’s ten-month old restaurant, will serve the ritual feast on both Saturday and Sunday. The menu will feature Aprile’s unorthodox twists on classics, like dim sum-inspired French toast and elderberry mimosas. We caught up with Aprile to get a preview of what to expect.
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Jamie Kennedy dishes on his plans for 2011 and beyond
Jamie Kennedy sports a new ’do at his flagship Gilead Bistro (Image: Davida Aronovitch)
Recently, rumours were brewing that chef Jamie Kennedy was looking to buy Prince Edward County’s culinary jewel, Harvest. While Kennedy confirms that he was approached by Harvest’s seller, he told us, “Considering everything that’s going on in my life, taking on something like Harvest is out of the question at this point.” Still, the rumour gave us an excuse to sit down with our locavore-in-chief to talk about what’s on his plate in 2011.
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More Canadiana! The inside details on Canoe’s forthcoming make-over
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Fourteen years after first opening, Canoe is closing its door to undertake a major renovation starting New Year’s Day. The million-dollar revamp, which partner Michael Bonacini calls “a 30-day extravaganza,” will include top-to-bottom redecoration, Canadiana accents and a fresh menu. “We need to continue to reinvent to keep Canoe pointed true north,” says Bonacini, “and, of course, afloat.”
Introducing: Le Germain Maple Leaf Square. We take a photographic tour of Toronto’s newest hotel
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The latest in the city’s rash of new hotels is a second location of Le Germain, this one at Maple Leaf Square. The boîte brings Euro chic to the $500-million Maple Leaf complex, a fandom sanctuary of sporty condos, bars and retail slipped into the no-man’s land between the waterfront and the downtown core.
Q&A with Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich: The restaurateurs talk about Conviction Kitchen II, their marriage and how Vancouver compares to Toronto
Biana Zorich and Marc Thuet at their home in Toronto (Image: Davida Aronovitch)
Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich are exhausted. It’s taken the pair a month to recuperate after shooting the second season of their reality show, Conviction Kitchen II, in Vancouver. Like last year’s Toronto edition, the program is airing on CityTV and features former convicts learning the cooking and restaurant trade. Amid talk of a third season set in the U.S., Zorich and Thuet are in Toronto re-organizing their lives. They’ve shut down the original Conviction restaurant on King Street West and are focusing on their bread-making business. Here, they talk with us about their Vancouver experience, their marriage and the Conviction Kitchen contestants they came to love.
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Inside the fridge of chef Marc Thuet and restaurateur Biana Zorich
In our new series, Crisper Chronicles, we ask the city’s top food personalities to let us into their most intimate alimentary enclave: the home refrigerator. This week, chef Marc Thuet and his wife, front-of-house master Biana Zorich—both back in Toronto after shooting a new season of Conviction Kitchen in Vancouver—talk about the treasures (and trash) that lurk in their icebox.
Introducing: Churchill, the latest lo-fi bar on “destination” Dundas West
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Remember West Queen West before it was a zoo? The folks at Churchill, Little Portugal’s newest bar, sure do. The owners of the new place are looking to resurrect that 2006 feeling, one street north. Churchill, staffed by Parkdale expats, joins Camp 4, Red Light and Brockton General in the glut of lo-fi-vibe bars that seem to be spilling off Ossington onto Dundas West.
