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The latest restaurant buzz, including what’s opening, what’s closing, and where to eat, drink and be seen

Opening

February 6, 2012 | 5:00 pm

Introducing: Ursa, a new Queen West restaurant serving modern Canadian cuisine (that’s secretly good for you too)

Inside the sleek space that used to house Bar One (Image: Meaghan Binstock)

Back in July, the owners of Trinity-Bellwoods staple Bar One announced they were shutting its doors after an 11-year run. Six months and one gut job later, the dramatically transformed space, complete with sleek burned wood panelling and constellations of bare hanging bulbs, has reopened as Ursa, with brothers and first-time owners Jacob and Lucas Sharkey-Pearce at the helm. Jacob, the executive chef, is no stranger to the industry, with a pedigree that includes Thuet Bistro, Centro and the Windsor Arms Hotel. And while Cosimo Mammoliti of Terroni fame is the restaurant’s third (and mostly silent) partner, the menu is almost the exact opposite of that chain’s carb-heavy Southern Italian comfort food (the brothers started off as teenage employees at the Queen Street location).

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TV Diner

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February 6, 2012 | 1:22 pm

Top Chef Canada season two contestants announced; here are your six Toronto chefs

(Images: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)

With the sophomore season of Top Chef Canada set to premiere on March 12, Food Network Canada has finally introduced the 16 chefs hoping to cook their way to $100,000 (and, lest we forget, a GE Monogram kitchen). The group (which, perhaps responding to feedback about season one, is a tad more multicultural) once again contains six Torontonians, among them Marben’s Carl Heinrich and Ruby Watchco’s Ryan Gallagher. Tasting the food will be new host Lisa Ray, alongside head judge Mark McEwan and resident judge Shereen Arazm and a spate of guests that includes culinary personalities (Top Chef Masters winner Marcus Samuelsson) and sundry celebrities (handyman Mike Holmes, actor Alan Thicke, Kenny vs. Spenny’s Spencer Rice). We round up the Toronto contestants, starting with Victor’s David Chrystian »

Bottoms Up

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February 6, 2012 | 11:13 am

Queen West’s Brooklynn is all boarded up—because it’s expanding

(Image: Fraser Abe)

Dish readers gazing out the windows of their westbound 501 streetcar might have noticed the recent boards covering the entrance to Brooklynn at Queen and Northcote. No, the bar, co-owned by Zak Kellar and Ryan Boudah (and definitely not named after hipster ground zero), isn’t shuttering forever—in fact, it’s expanding. We spoke with Kellar, who told us that when the neighbouring Dufferin-Queen Animal Clinic moved across the street, the building’s landlord offered them the opportunity to grow. The place will now house a small art gallery, mostly featuring the work of their friend Krista MacFarlane, and the capacity will increase from slightly over 100 people to slightly over 200. So in case you ever felt there weren’t enough places on Queen West to get sloppily drunk before taking in a little art, your prayers will be answered. The renovated space is expected to open by this weekend.

Weekly Lunch Pick

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February 6, 2012 | 7:30 am

Winterlicious Lunch Pick: a power lunch for less at Reds

Our main course: roasted sea scallops with a sweet apple-vanilla chutney (Image: Andrew Brudz)

At Reds, the 12-year-old Financial District staple of the power lunch crowd, award-winning chef Michael Steh has created an uncommonly attractive Winterlicious lunch menu ($20). Unlike so many, which require careful planning to weed out the duds, the prix fixe offerings here feel practically fool-proof (in addition to our selections, high praise goes to the spinach salad with duck breast and the bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin). We start with the ham hock and pig’s head terrine, which is formed into a patty, deep-fried and served warm. It’s smoky, salty and crispy, with a sweet apple and pear sauce that benefits from the coarse texture of stone-crushed mustard seeds. We suggest tiny bites; you’ll want to savour this dish. Next up, roasted sea scallops with a sweet apple-vanilla chutney. The plump bivalves arrive perfectly blackened on the outside and are served on a bed of creamy pumpkin risotto, with the added crunch of salt-candied pumpkin seeds. For dessert, the panna cotta tasting is an adorable collection of three flavours: strawberry with white chocolate–covered rice crisps; tart lemon with meringue; and rich Nutella with crushed hazelnuts. You’ll want to hurry up and get here before the prices soar back after February 9.

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Bottoms Up

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February 3, 2012 | 3:36 pm

Demand for fancy cocktail ice spurs Chilean man to steal five tonnes’ worth—from a glacier

Nothing like an old-fashioned on the glacial rocks

Seizing on a new and unique way to sucker people into paying exorbitant prices for water-based products, a man in Chile chipped five tonnes of ice from a glacier in Patagonia, which he allegedly planned to sell as “designer ice cubes.” The Guardian reports that cops busted the man as he was driving a refrigerated truck with about $6,200 worth of illicit ice that would have wound up in fancy cocktails in Santiago, Chile. The ice, by the way, was taken from Jorge Montt, which ranks among the world’s most rapidly shrinking glaciers—it’s retreating at a rate of half a mile per year, according to the Guardian. In addition to making us not want to live on this planet anymore, this story leaves many lingering questions. Is glacier theft the next big bartending trend? What other landmarks might we desecrate in the name of a perfectly chilled old-fashioned? Could the Leafs raise some extra cash by selling cubes of centre ice? Read the entire story [The Guardian] »

(Images: cocktail, thebittenword.com; glacier, Luis Argerich)

Restauran-TO

4 Comments

February 3, 2012 | 11:47 am

War on fun update: patio applications for Campagnolo, Woodlot and more up for Valentine’s Day rejection

More like probably denied (Image: Jon Sufrin)

Summer—a.k.a. patio season—is still months away, but that isn’t stopping the Toronto and East York Community Council from raining on everyone’s parade in advance. Seven proposals for “boulevard café permits,” including from Campagnolo and the Queen West location of Dark Horse Espresso Bar, are on the agenda for the upcoming Valentine’s Day meeting of community council. In each and every case, city staff members have recommended that the application be denied. (To be fair, most of the time at least some nearby residents have opposed the patios.) At the same meeting, the Greektown on the Danforth Business Improvement Association will continue its battle against Toronto’s inconsistent rules on patio hours. Last year, a stretch of Danforth eateries won the right to keep their patios open until midnight, but a few party animals just couldn’t help themselves and broke curfew—so city staff has recommended the privilege be withdrawn. See the full list of doomed patio proposals after the jump:

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Opening

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February 3, 2012 | 9:31 am

Introducing: Playful Grounds, the new kid-friendly coffee shop in Little Italy

Kids and coffee, together at last (well, sorta) (Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

Playful Grounds has only been open a few days, but the kid-friendly College Street café is already garnering plenty of attention from the neighbourhood. Indeed, when we dropped by, one mother looked around incredulously before asking, “When did this open?” The shop is the creation of Davina Cheung-Brown and Tera Goldblatt, who met at a local drop-in centre. “We wanted to create a place that has everything moms need,” Goldblatt told us. “Drop-in centres are life savers, but we wanted an adult place that can accommodate kids—rather than the other way around.” Tired of getting the hipster brush-off in regular coffee shops, the duo decided to open a café that welcomes kids but can still appeal to adults.

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Deathwatch

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February 2, 2012 | 3:40 pm

Real Jerk landlord seeks to overturn injunction, calls judge’s decision “astonishing”

In what’s turning into the Toronto restaurant story that just won’t die, Bill Mandelbaum, the new owner of the Queen Street East building that houses The Real Jerk, has sent a note out to Toronto media lamenting the court’s decision to grant the Caribbean restaurant an injunction against its earlier eviction notice. Here’s what he had to say:

TO THE TORONTO READERS

The Courts decision on Monday was surprising and and quite disappointing in the judicial process.

It was obviously based on sentiment, not law.

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Restauran-TO

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February 2, 2012 | 3:21 pm

Ever-hungry/lazy 20-somethings lead brisk growth in the restaurant industry

“Quick-service restaurants” account for 64 per cent of food service in Canada (Image: Simon Law)

When they’re not bellyaching about adulthood and posing for Instagrams, it seems 20-somethings enjoy dining out—a lot. According to a new report from market research group NPD, Canada is witnessing a spike in restaurant traffic, due largely to people in their late teens and early 20s. People aged 18 to 24 played a large part in a three per cent traffic increase over the last two quarters. What’s more, the group writes that “visits to Canadian restaurants are forecasted to grow nearly two per cent per year between 2011 and 2016.” Okay, that might not sound like much, but that growth will apparently “surpass the projected 1.2 per cent annual growth of the country’s population.” The millennials are driving this growth partly because of their love of what the NPD calls “quick-service restaurants,” a delightful euphemism for fast-food joints. The group says fast-food restaurant QSRs account for “64 per cent of the overall food service landscape.” Which makes it one fatty landscape indeed.

Deathwatch

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February 2, 2012 | 10:44 am

The Real Jerk wins the right to stay put (Injunction: 1; Eviction: 0)

(Image: Amber Dawn Pullin)

The eviction saga that cast Real Jerk owners Ed and Lily Pottinger as Davids against Bill Mandelbaum’s Goliath is over (for now, at least). A judge has granted an injunction that will allow the Caribbean restaurant to stay at the corner of Queen Street East and Broadview Avenue until the end of the year, though Ed told reporters he would be looking to move before then: “I just wanted a little more time to relocate, and I now have that. Whatever happens from now on, I’m going to be looking for a new place…hopefully in the neighbourhood.”

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Pantry Raid

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February 1, 2012 | 4:35 pm

Have some Alkanater brand Tahina in your fridge? Check the date—it might have Salmonella in it

(Image: CFIA)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency sent out an alert yesterday warning that certain batches of Alkanater brand Tahina were being voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer, Phoenicia Group, for potential contamination with Salmonella. Just as in last week’s Neilson milk recall, the contaminated Tahina might not actually look or smell funny—but that doesn’t mean it can’t make you very, very sick. The CFIA warns that salmonellosis can lead to everything from fevers, vomiting and nausea to abdominal pain and diarrhea (although no one has reported getting sick just yet). In other words, keep away from any Tahina with the UPC code 6 92551 00002 0 and the expiration date 5/7/2013. It turns out, this isn’t the first time this particular product has been recalled either: a similar notice was posted in September of last year. Yikes.

UPDATE: The CFIA has posted a followup to its initial alert. Apparently, if your tahina has “Lot: TT3N-281011” printed on it, you can breathe easy (i.e. your jar is not affected by the recall).

Restauran-TO

3 Comments

February 1, 2012 | 3:08 pm

Old-school downtown Italian spot Little Anthony’s to receive Volos-like facelift

After successfully transforming Mediterra into the upscale Greek spot Estiatorio Volos, Andreas Antoniou has turned to another of the Richmond Street eateries formerly run by his restaurateur father, Bob. Little Anthony’s Italian Ristorante will re-open in March as Little Anthony’s Italian and Bar, in an overhauled space and with a new menu. “It’s similar to moving from Mediterra to Volos,” Antoniou told The Dish. “We want to take traditional dishes and present them in a clean fashion with really nice flavor combinations.”

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Opening

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February 1, 2012 | 12:00 pm

Introducing: DonDon Izakaya, downtown’s new spot for authentic Japanese bar food

A healthy strike of the taiko drum greets each customer (Image: Gizelle Lau)

When we first told you about DonDon Izakaya last summer, it was slated for an October opening, but as such things go, it wasn’t until early January that the Japanese restaurant opened quietly after nearly 10 months of renovation. Located on the second storey of an unassuming building at Bay and Dundas, DonDon took over the space once occupied by One Up Restaurant & Lounge. Despite the slightly inauspicious upstairs location, it’s already drawing customers (the big wooden entranceway probably helps), but not quite the mad lineups of its izakaya forbear, Guu—a least not yet.

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Pantry Raid

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January 31, 2012 | 4:35 pm

La Palette brings back the horsemeat

La Palette’s horsemeat hiatus didn’t last long—viande chevaline will return to the menu at the Queen Street bistro as of this week. Co-owner Shamez Amlani stopped serving the French delicacy late last summer after the Toronto Star exposed questionable sourcing in the horsemeat industry, but he didn’t let the matter drop. “We’ve spent the past six months doing as much research as we can,” he told Post City. “We’re very certain that we’ll be serving our customers high-quality meat.” So what makes him think the meat is now safe? One reason could be that President Obama recently lifted the American ban on horse slaughter, meaning American workhorses would no longer be mixed into the Canadian food supply. We have a hunch this isn’t the end of the story, though—horsemeat, like shark fin and raw milk, always seems to stir up controversy. Read the entire story [Post City] »

Restauran-TO

9 Comments

January 31, 2012 | 4:19 pm

Ottawa-based cult chain The Works sets out to become the Second Cup of burgers

(Image: The Works)

The Works, the popular chain of gourmet burger joints that started in Ottawa in 2001, has announced a downright Manifest Destiny–like plan for national expansion: 50 new locations across the country. The chain already has locations in London, Kingston, Ottawa, Guelph and Oakville, and three others under construction—including one on the Danforth set to open in May. It’s an impressive spread for the company, which, by its own admission, developed “a cult-like following among burger connoisseurs in Ottawa.” Among those connoisseurs: Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, not to mention former Montana’s president Andy O’Brien, who took over The Works last year along with two of his vice-presidents. Michael Bregman, the former owner of Second Cup, is one of the company’s new directors, which suggests The Works might soon be the Little Burger Place That Could.

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