Every year, Toronto Life’s April edition names the current food and restaurant trends we love, hate and those with which we have a love-hate relationship. Here, in no particular order, are out seven favourites for 2010
New ways to adore bacon.
Bacon-infused rye? Bacon cream? Chocolate-bacon toffee? You had us at bacon.
Serious ice cubes.
When barkeeps customize their ice—hand-carved spheres, squares, shards or pulverized slush, depending on the drink—you know a glorious new cocktail culture is dawning.
Haute burger mania.
The continued proliferation of fancy patty parlours means there’s a decent burger with deliciously twee toppings in practically every corner of the city.
Getting pickled.
Preserving and pickling are the locavore chef’s not-so-secret winter-proof weapons. Whether it’s quail eggs at Swirl, sausages at Ceili Cottage or tongue at Caplansky’s, pickling makes everything taste like a party.
Thanks for smoking.
If it’s not pickled, it’s smoked: beef brisket at Stockyards, gnocchi at Local Kitchen, ham knuckle at Queen and Beaver. Sweet, mysterious, seductive smoke.
Big Meat.
Sharing platters—a roast for eight or a chicken for three—add a welcome tactical element to group dining.
Restaurants as social conveners.
Theme nights like pink-slip parties, all-you-can-eat pierogi buffets and gourmet TV dinners offer the organized fun of a hipster cruise line with way better food.
• See the six food trends we hate »
• See the five food trends we have a love-hate relationship with »
(Illustration: Jack Dylan)
Wow, bacon and ice cubes. What a forward thinking food culture we are.
March 24, 2010 at 9:37 am | by MattagascarMattagascar,
Bacon is totally forward thinking! Ontario has amazing pork. Bacon can be deliciously local, smoked sustainability on a plate. Don’t diss bacon!
Ice cubes on the other hand…..hardly a trend.
Why isn’t offal on that list!?
March 30, 2010 at 5:46 am | by JenniferNothing beats a cold beer, while on a patio, on a nice sunny day. Maybe I’ll have the Bacon-infused rye at night.
Cheers,
http://www.SafetenEvents.com
March 30, 2010 at 6:24 pm | by SusanBacon and burgers, seriously? The Toronto restaurant scene is on fire!
October 8, 2010 at 6:41 pm | by cee-eff