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Toronto Life - The Dish

The latest buzz on restaurants, chefs, bars, food shops and food events. Sign up for the Dish newsletter for weekly updates. Send tips to thedish@torontolife.com

Rumours & Rumblings

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Joanne Kates to leave the Globe after 38 years (UPDATED)

If the Twitterverse is to be believed (and no less a figure than Shinan Govani has confirmed it, so it must be true, right?), Joanne Kates, the long-time Globe and Mail restaurant critic, will publish her last review in the paper this Saturday. As NOW’s Joshua Errett notes, the perennial Scaramouche lover was a prominent practitioner of the old-time hat-over-the-eyes school of criticism, although like most critics she didn’t entirely manage to keep her likeness under wraps. No word yet on who might replace her, or which restaurant will receive the honour of her final bit of praise or skewering.

UPDATE: We recently heard from Kates, who told us in an email, “38 years was a great run—and long enough. I didn’t need the grind of a weekly column any more.” As for what’s next for her, she noted that her “voice will not be silent.” Case in point: her iOS app.

Kevin Siu, the executive editor of features at the Globe, told the Dish that Kates’ last review will indeed run this Saturday, followed next Saturday by a column reflecting on her nearly four decades reviewing Toronto restaurants (her first Globe column has been scanned and uploaded). “She’s been the defining voice in Toronto dining for a long time,” Siu said, “and we do look forward to continuing to work with her.” The paper’s new critic will be announced on Tuesday, followed by an online chat between the two critics on May 28.

Rumours & Rumblings

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Acadia’s Matt Blondin to join Momofuku’s Toronto team after all 

When Matt Blondin announced (via Twitter, naturally) that he’d be stepping away from Acadia, the molecularly tinged Southern restaurant he helped launch last summer, he set the rumour mill spinning about where he’d land. Yesterday, he put those rumours to rest in an interview with the Star’s Amy Pataki, in which he revealed he has signed up with Momofuku to be the executive sous-chef at Daisho, which will apparently serve communal meals for groups of four or more. He’ll be working under Sam Gelman, who was previously chef de cuisine at Má Pêche, the midtown New York outpost of David Chang’s Momofuku empire. Blondin, it turns out, will be in charge of hiring and training the kitchen staff and overseeing daily operations—no small responsibilities for such a hotly anticipated restaurant. Chang’s praise for Blondin in the Star article was characteristically wry: “He’s well entrenched in the Toronto food scene. He can help with things like, which is the better garbage disposal company?” Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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More details emerge about Bent, the new restaurant from the Bent-Lee clan

The future home of Bent at 777 Dundas St. W.

While the initial hoped-for launch date of Christmas 2011 has come and gone (like every single other hoped-for launch date in the history of the restaurant industry), the new project from Susur Lee and his sons Levi and Kai Bent-Lee is coming along nicely. The restaurant, we’re told, will be called Bent, after Susur’s wife, Brenda Bent, who designed the interior (given the family’s restaurant naming history, with Susur, Lee and Madeline’s, this leaves the names Brenda, Kai, Levi, Jet and Bent-Lee available for future projects). Levi will be in charge of the restaurant’s operations, Kai will run the bar, which will focus on sake, and Susur, naturally, will be in charge of the kitchen, whose menu will apparently prominently feature ceviche. If things go according to schedule, Bent should be open for business in about four weeks.

Rumours & Rumblings

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Glory Hole Doughnuts turns to crowdfunding to help launch its new Parkdale shop

The, ahem, creatively named Glory Hole Doughnuts is looking to get a permanent storefront in Parkdale soon, but before that can happen, baker Ashley Jacot De Boinod hopes lovers of meat-laden doughnuts will help her drum up the $15,000 needed to turn a former beauty salon at 1596 Queen Street West into her doughnut headquarters. Jacot De Boinod’s treats are ambitious (in addition to the staple maple bacon, there’s a fried chicken and waffles doughnut as well as peanut butter and grape jelly one), and have been gobbled up at places like 416 Snack Bar and Thor Espresso Bar. Jacot De Boinod’s pitch is currently up on Kickstarter clone precursor Indiegogo—her project’s funders will receive goodies like tickets to the soft launch party and a free doughnut, and the store will also feature a whole wall devoted to their generosity. At last count, fans have chipped in $1,827, and the campaign will be accepting funds until June 26. Check out Glory Hole’s pitch [Indiegogo] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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QUOTED: Matt Blondin, on leaving his post as head chef of Acadia

After weeks of deliberation, I’d like to announce that my final day at Acadia will be May 31, 2012. Thank you for all of your support.

— Matt Blondin, chef at Acadia, our second best new restaurant of 2012, which opened last July. No word yet on what’s next for the inventive young chef. [Twitter]

Rumours & Rumblings

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Annex sushi restaurant Noka called out for (alleged!) menu plagiarism

A screenshot of the Uchi website (Noka’s site has been taken down)

Imitation may be flattering, but it looks like Noka, the Annex’s newest sushi restaurant, may have taken things a bit too far, borrowing entire chunks of copy from the menus of two Austin eateries and running a mighty similar-looking website. As Eater points out, the text, layout, logos, dishes and descriptions shared between Noka and Uchi and Uchiko are downright uncanny. What’s more, it turns out Noka’s chef Cheng Lin has ties to the area, having won the 2009 Austin Iron Chef competition. At least Noka didn’t copy the part about being the city’s “most unique dining experience,” because that would be really embarrassing. Oh wait. It did? Well, then. Read the entire story [Austin Eater] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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Swish by Han to open Ossington outpost

Swish’s popular soon dubu (Image: Matthew Fox)

Back in January, Swish by Han’s Leeto Han posted a set of New Year’s resolutions on the restaurant’s blog promising a “new spot by mid-year,” but offered precious few details beyond the fact that the brothers behind the popular Korean restaurant “can’t wait to spread our wings.” Now The Grid is reporting that the new restaurant, whose name is secret, will be located at 90 Ossington Avenue, sandwiched between Delux and Levack Block, and will serve both dinner and late-night Korean bar food. The opening date: hopefully by August, which, come to think of it, sounds a lot like another (sort-of) Korean restaurant we know. Read the entire story [The Grid] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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Momofanboys and girls: we have a date for the opening of Momofuku Toronto

It’s not as though we’re excited or anything... (Image: Arnold Gatilao)

Earlier today, the good people at Grub Street posted a Q&A with Momofuku chef and owner David Chang, where he dropped several details about his upcoming Toronto ventures, including the most important: the opening date of July 28, which, if you’re inclined to start counting things, is 94 days away. (See update below). There will be either two or three different Momofuku concepts in the building adjacent to the Shangri-La, with the bottom floor called Lucky Peach and the top called Daisho (the middle seems up in the air), and apparently, upwards of ten people will be moving up from New York to run the place. Oh, and Toronto is apparently both “an awesome town” and “a lot of fun.” So there’s that too. Read the entire story [Grub Street] »

UPDATE: We just heard from Momofuku’s PR rep, who tells us that the opening, in fact, will be “by August 2012,” which gives them up to 34 extra days of leeway.

Rumours & Rumblings

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Restaurateur charged for weaponizing masala powder

maroli poster

(Image: ruffin_ready)

When Naveen Polapady, who lives above his Koreatown Indian restaurant, Maroli, spotted someone trying to break into a vehicle, he took action—by dousing the thief in chicken masala powder and fending him off with a broomstick. The thief took off on a bicycle, and Polapady called the cops and gave chase in his car. Just another bout of everyday awesomeness from a small businessman, right? Not quite. According to the Toronto Star, Polapady has been charged with assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and administering a noxious substance (yes, that would be the masala powder). Polapady’s story is similar to that of David Chen, the Toronto storeowner charged for hogtying a shoplifter. In fact, Polapady’s lawyer is counting on Chen’s story—and the resulting legislation from the federal Conservatives—to prove that his client was acting in defence of his home and property. For the moment, Polapady has at least proven that masala powder can be pretty effectively weaponized. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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Sometimes that shiny new Apple Store turns out to be just another Jack Astor’s 

In an attempt to drum up excitement for its new St. Lawrence Market location, Jack Astor’s has put up a sign reading, “Apple Store Opening Soon (Just kidding, it’s a Jack Astor’s).” (Karon Liu snapped a photo of it over at The Grid.) The stunt is sad on at least two counts: first, because it means rents in the rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood have reached the point where mediocre chain restaurants are starting to take over (there’s another location only four blocks west for crying out loud!); and second, because it feels totally defeatist on the part of the chain’s parent company SIR Corp. Sighs all around. Read the entire story [The Grid] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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After a successful meeting at city hall, Food Cabbie runs celebratory Ford Burger special

Food Cabbie Spiros Drossos

A couple weeks back we told you about the recent travails of Food Cabbie and Caplansky’s Delimobile, two food trucks parked, most of the time, in a lot at Queen and Shuter. Although they’d both gotten the necessary permits and inspections, they ran afoul of a little-known rule that prevents trucks from setting up shop for more than 10 minutes at a time in a pay-to-park lot (no, really), and were given until the end of March to vamoose. Earlier today, Food Cabbie’s Spiros Drossos had a meeting with one of Mayor Rob Ford’s staffers, along with the director of Municipal Licensing and Standards to see if they could find a way around the impasse (the meeting was set up after a chance encounter between Ford and Drossos’s wife and fellow Food Cabbie Helen Antonopoulos). Although the regulation is still on the books, Drossos tells us both sides are optimistic that they’ll be able to come to an amicable solution. Indeed, he was so impressed by the mayor’s willingness to help out the little guy that he named today’s special the Ford Burger: feta, onion, romaine lettuce and diced tomato, along with homemade burger sauce, all for $6.75.

Rumours & Rumblings

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QUOTED: One Pizzeria Via Mercanti pie man reflects on the departure of another

Salvati and Di Lascio, back when they opened their new pizzeria (Image: Caroline Aksich)

What’s the big deal?… He’s a drama boy. Besides, I make a better pizza.

—Pizzeria Via Mercanti’Romolo Salvati, talking about his former partner Massimo Di Lascio’ decision to return with his family to Naples after only a couple months behind the counter. [Now]

Rumours & Rumblings

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Ken Friedman—of New York’s Spotted Pig—contemplating a Toronto restaurant 

While Toronto loves its gastropubs (they are “the new tapas,” after all), it loves the adoration of New Yorkers even more—which means that news about Ken Friedman’s (vague) plan to open a restaurant in Toronto is exciting stuff. The Grid reports that Friedman, co-owner with April Bloomfield of West Village gastropub The Spotted Pig, has been scouring Toronto for a location, although he hasn’t had much luck. Apparently, Friedman thinks Toronto is quickly becoming a food destination, “with great ethnic restaurants, a lot more young people opening restaurants and lots of food blogs and people writing about food there” (we can vouch for that last one). Friedman also said that one reason he’d like to open a spot in Toronto is because his dad is from Timmins. Sure, this seems like something of a tenuous connection, but we’re not complaining one bit. Read the entire story [The Grid] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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Two Toronto food trucks run afoul of a regulation they’d never heard of 

Of all the kinds of terrible red tape to get tangled in, the worst kind may be the red tape you didn’t even know existed. Torontoist recounts the long, bureaucratic story of a pair of food trucks, Food Cabbie and Caplansky’s Delimobile (a.k.a. Thundering Thelma), who have happily (and profitably, we’re sure) been serving food from a pay-to-park lot for months. That is, until they learned that they were violating a city bylaw. No, they hadn’t skipped out on the requisite inspections or failed to obtain a license to serve food. Instead, they were breaking the rule that forbids food trucks from serving from a licensed lot for more than 10 minutes. A little digging on Torontoist’s part reveals that the trucks could operate in, say, an unlicensed (i.e. non-pay-to-park) lot if they wished, however. This, of course, makes no sense. Then again, when you consider the amount of red tape that accompanied the A la Cart fiasco program, this is not particularly surprising. Unless the licensing issue is resolved, the trucks could be gone by the end of March. Read the entire sordid story [Torontoist] »

Rumours & Rumblings

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12 trends we observed at the 2012 Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show

(Images: Renée Suen)

Each year, we trek over to the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show to get a look at what the industry believes will be the big trends in food (check out our roundups from 2010 and 2011). Twelve trends we observed at this year’s CRFA show, after the jump.

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