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Drink the Oscars: just the right drink for each of the best picture nominees

As a companion to our 2012 Academy Awards drinking game, which tells you when to take a swig, we here at the Dish thought we’d bring you a little helpful instruction on just what to drink during your Oscar party this year, depending on which film you’re hoping to see walk away with the big prize at the end of the night.

For fans of The Artist
With the advent of the talkies, silent film star George Valentin turns to the bottle, in this case whisky, for solace. You could turn to a nice, cheap bottle of Dewar’s White Label. ($23.95 at the LCBO)

The Dish

From the Print Edition

February 15, 2012 | 2:00 pm

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Best Bars: Beer geeks, welcome to your town hall

Bar Volo
587 Yonge St., 416-928-0008
Father-and-son team Ralph and Tomas Morana run their 23-year-old Yonge Street bar with the zeal of new converts to the cult of brewing. A sort of town hall for Ontario’s earnest microbrew crowd, Bar Volo offers a rotating array of Ontario drafts and cask-conditioned ales, posted daily to Twitter. Denison’s Weissbier ($7), a hazy golden ale with spicy notes and citrusy freshness, is usually on tap, and a safe starting point for initiates. There’s also a staggering selection of international bottles, and something unusual is always emerging from the Moranas’ on-site nano brewery. They have two or three casks at a time; just ask for the house ale.

Check out Toronto’s top seven spots to commune over a pint of beer (or three) »

The Dish

Bottoms Up

February 14, 2012 | 2:53 pm

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Tired of the Beer Store’s conveyor belt? Queen’s Park is reexamining its liquor laws (but don’t get your hopes up yet)

(Image: Ken Lund)

When stringent regulations (almost) prevent a small brewery from working with a charity for homeless kids, well maybe it’s a good time to reevaluate some of your policies. Back in December, the province’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission made a decision to, as the Globe and Mail puts it, “block a tiny eastern Ontario brewery from offering home delivery of its beer in conjunction with a prominent Ottawa charity for homeless teens” (that brewery would be Beau’s). The decision was luckily reversed due to a last minute intervention from the not inappositely named Liberal MPP Grant Crack. This legislative session, the province will be looking a little more closely at its liquor laws, which comes as welcome news at a time when the three large breweries that own The Beer Store pretty much control where you buy your brew, how much it costs and how crappy your shopping experience will be (this might explain why the LCBO is eating its lunch). As the Globe’s Barrie McKenna explained on the weekend, The Beer Store’s bare utilitarian setup means more profit for Molson Coors, Labatt (a.k.a. Anheuser-Busch InBev) and Sleeman (a.k.a. Sapporo). Unfortunately, it also means you have to pick your beer up off a rattling conveyor belt. McKenna says the McGuinty government shows no sign of toppling the Beer Store’s monopoly any time soon, but you can’t blame us for dreaming a little. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

The Dish

From the Print Edition

February 13, 2012 | 5:30 am

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Best Bars: Toronto’s top seven spots to commune over a pint of beer (or three)

CHECK OUT ALL SEVEN PICKS »

By Denise Balkissoon, Ariel Brewster, Andrew D’Cruz, Matthew Hague, Malcolm Johnston, Emily Landau, Jason McBride, Alexandra Molotkow, Mark Pupo, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Eric Vellend. Photographs by Jess Baumung, Emma McIntyre, Liam Mogan, Sean J. Sprague and Christopher Stevenson

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The Dish

From the Print Edition

February 13, 2012 | 5:30 am

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The City’s Best Bars: The ultimate handbook for Toronto’s discerning drinkers

The City's Best Bars | 2012

Drinking in Toronto has become a dignified pursuit. Over the past year, we visited the city’s newest and greatest bars, and we noticed a conspicuous dearth of appletinis and Jägermeister shots. Instead, we discovered premium cocktails crafted by inventive bartenders obsessed with Prohibition-era recipes, house-made bitters and obscure Italian aperitivi. We also found Ontario microbrews galore (and beer geeks who debate them hotly while playing Ping Pong), and wine lists flush with offbeat bottles never seen at the LCBO. Here, the fruits of our not entirely sober research—40 outstanding places to warm up this winter.

By Denise Balkissoon, Ariel Brewster, Andrew D’Cruz, Matthew Hague, Malcolm Johnston, Emily Landau, Jason McBride, Alexandra Molotkow, Mark Pupo, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Eric Vellend

The Dish

Bottoms Up

February 10, 2012 | 12:50 pm

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U.S. native tribe accuses big beer companies of bootlegging

Either a town of 11 people is drinking 13,000 cans of beer a day, or brewers are looking the other way as their product is bootlegged onto a First Nations reserve. If you’d like to give the good folks at Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch the benefit of the doubt, it’s the 11 residents of Whiteclay, Nebraska, who have been downing all that booze. But a lawsuit by the Oglala Sioux tribe is alleging that the brewers have been deliberately selling beer in the tiny town’s grocery stores despite a ban on alcohol in their nearby reservation. And rather than assume the thirsty Whiteclay residents consumed nearly five million cans of beer in 2010, it seems plausible, as the president of one social organization said, that the brew is being bootlegged on their reservation—a place with a history of alcoholism. The brewers haven’t yet responded, but it will be interesting to hear their explanation of how such a small group of people could supposedly soak up so much beer. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

The Dish

Bottoms Up

December 13, 2011 | 11:00 am

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Miraculously, microbrewery regulations ease up slightly

While craft beer fans are still lamenting the takeover of the old Duggan’s space by Molson Coors subsidiary Six Pints Specialty Beer Company, there was one good piece of news for the province’s microbreweries last week. Due to some last-minute intervention by Liberal MPP Grant Crack, licensed liquor delivery services (yes, they exist) will now be able to purchase their beer directly from small brewers, not just from the LCBO or the Beer Store. This was all precipitated by the shutdown of the new delivery service run by Beau’s All-Natural on the day it was supposed to open. What’s more, the incident has sparked a 15-month full-scale review of liquor licensing practices in the province. Some items on the craft brewers’s wish lists no doubt include: an all-craft beer retail store, to escape the Beer Store’s stranglehold and the vagaries of LCBO listings; the ability to share trucks between small breweries to save on shipping costs; and easier access to out-of-province markets. Not earth-shaking stuff, perhaps, but when it comes to liquor control in this province, things proceed only by baby steps. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

The Informer

My Name Is Lucre

December 12, 2011 | 4:31 pm

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Reaction roundup: What the city’s sports (and business) writers are saying about the MLSE deal

Sure, the fact that Bell Canada and Rogers have teamed up to purchase Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment is old news now, but the full implications of the deal remain to be seen. For our part, we’re wondering if the Toronto Maple Leafs will be slapped with absurd roaming charges on the road, or whether fans will have to purchase beer by following a series of annoying prompts on their cellphones. Of course, there’s also the tricky matter of whether or not the $1.32-billion purchase will turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing for Toronto sports teams—and, by extension, their fans—when it comes to the business of winning and losing. We round up what the city’s sportswriter corps is saying on the matter, after the jump.

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The Dish

Bottoms Up

December 9, 2011 | 5:15 pm

1 Comment

Details emerge on Creemore’s plans for the old Duggan’s building (no, there won’t be a brewpub)

On Tuesday we confirmed a tip that Creemore Springs is moving into the spot on Victoria Street vacated by Duggan’s Brewery last April. Now another tipster has led us to a story in the Creemore Echo with the details. Apparently, the Duggan’s brewing facilities will be kept intact, but won’t be churning out Creemore Springs lager (the formula requires water from Creemore, and it’s a bit of a trek). Instead, it will become an “experimental lab” where test beers for Six Pints Specialty Beer Company—Molson’s craft beer division—will be cooked up and made available to the public.

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The Goods

From the Print Edition

December 9, 2011 | 12:30 pm

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The List: Ten things Blue Rodeo frontman and Canadian rock icon Jim Cuddy can’t live without

The List | Jim Cuddy Photography by John Cullen

The List | Jim Cuddy 1| My skates
I play a lot of hockey. It’s amazing that at my age I still get thrilled about skates, but I do. These ones are by Graf, and they’re customized to my feet.

The List | Jim Cuddy 2| My Gretsch
It’s a 1948 acoustic on long-term—maybe permanent—loan from Colin Cripps, who’s in my band. I got it from him 14 years ago and used it to write my first solo record. Since then it’s become my go-to guitar for writing.

The List | Jim Cuddy 3| My talisman
I bought these Tibetan prayer beads when my wife and I were in China for the 2008 Olympics. We got all wrapped up in the commercialism of the Games, and then we went to this rural place near the Great Wall that was beautiful and calm and run by Tibetans. The beads remind me of that tranquility.

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The Dish

Bottoms Up

December 6, 2011 | 3:40 pm

4 Comments

Creemore Springs to open up shop in the empty Duggan’s building?

Creemore Springs permit
A casual stroll down Victoria Street this afternoon confirms a rumour we first heard in our comments: Creemore Springs, which is owned by Molson Coors under its Six Pints Specialty Beer Company umbrella, looks to be setting up shop in the building that Duggan’s Brewery vacated last April. Over at The Bar Towel, some members are lamenting the rise of ersatz craft breweries owned by the big guys, but judging from the difficulties Duggan’s faced, that sort of money might be exactly what’s required to make a go of it in the cavernous space. Meanwhile, hopes are riding high among hopheads for the Indie Alehouse set to launch in the Junction soon.

The Dish

Bottoms Up

November 22, 2011 | 3:42 pm

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Latest batch of Samuel Adams Utopias beer sells out in under an hour—at $115-per-bottle

Last Friday, starting at 9 a.m., the LCBO made 150 bottles of Samuel Adams Utopias beer available to the public, with another 60 orders held for liquor licensees. Made from a blend of various batches of beer, some aged for up to 18 years, and weighing in at 27 per cent alcohol, the brew has achieved cult status. Indeed, as Crystal Luxmore explained last week in The Grid, 1,675 people entered last year’s lottery to win one of a mere 70 bottles.

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The Informer

A Message from Toronto Life

October 1, 2011 | 11:00 am

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Weekend Reading List: top stories from our sister sites, from designer glam to Italian ham

Every weekend we round up the highlights from the other websites in the St. Joseph Media family. Check them out, after the jump.

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The Informer

Ford Focus

September 7, 2011 | 1:05 pm

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Reaction roundup: city hall reporters journeyed to Etobicoke to take in Ford Fest—then, they tweeted about it

What’s a good ol' BBQ without burgers? (Image: Neil T)

Last Friday, Jonathan Goldsbie tweeted, “When we reach the ‘1500 Royal York’ bus stop, the bus driver announces ‘Stop for Rob Ford.’ Half the passengers on the crowded bus disembark.” And so began an evening of dispatches from Ford Fest, a late summer gathering in the backyard of Doug and Rob Ford’s mother. The event attracted the mayor’s supporters, critics and people who were just there for the beer and food. Undeterred—or perhaps fuelled—by the hamburgers, Toronto’s city hall observers expressed their amazement with the Fords’ vast backyard and the treasures within. We’ve rounded up some of our favourite tweets and broken them down into categories—because here’s another case where the reporting on Twitter outdid the old-timey fare (except for maybe this piece)—after the jump.

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The Informer

Ford Focus

August 31, 2011 | 2:15 pm

1 Comment

CONFIRMED: Tim Hudak will be attending Ford Fest

(Image: Ontario Chamber of Commerce)

This weekend, all of Toronto (well, most of Etobicoke, at least) will be checking out the cul-de-sac at the Ford family compound to see who arrives to have beer and hot dogs at the second annual Ford Fest. Last year’s party fell during mayor Rob Ford’s election campaign; this year, however, promises more partying for partying’s sake and less rallying around the small-c conservative flagpole. Earlier this week, rumour had it that Ontario Tory leader Tim Hudak wasn’t on the guest list, but Toronto Star reporter David Rider confirmed that Hudak will indeed be attending the festivities. Now that Ford has met with Dalton McGuinty and, this afternoon, NDP leader Andrea Horwath, that leaves just Hudak for Ford to corner by the kiddie pool and shake down ask for some subway money.

• Thousands to party with the Fords [Toronto Sun]

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