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A couple weeks back, news broke that the space that once held Marc Thuet’s Conviction (which closed last fall and was previously Bite Me! and Bistro and Bakery Thuet) was turning into a loosely interpreted Munich-style beer hall called Wvrst. Recently, we caught up with chef and owner Aldo Lanzillotta to ask him about joining Hogtown’s sausage party.
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All stories relating to Conviction
Wvrst, a new King West beer hall, to feature menu from “Southern Italy by way of Munich”
Conviction Kitchen over, but not the end of TV for Marc Thuet
Zorich and Thuet at the opening of Conviction in 2009 (Image: Karon Liu)
It was fun while it lasted, but despite plans to eventually bring Conviction Kitchen to the U.S., next week’s season finale of the reality show will mark the end of the series, Eye Weekly reports. Chef Marc Thuet and partner Biana Zorich have put the kibosh on a third season of the reality show, since working away from Toronto is apparently making it too difficult for the couple to focus on their business here.
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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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Marc Thuet closes Conviction for good, but has two new restaurants in the works
Biana Zorich and Marc Thuet at the opening of Conviction in 2009 (Image: Karon Liu)
Just over a year after opening Conviction—the third incarnation of their flagship restaurant—chef Marc Thuet and partner Biana Zorich have closed the restaurant for good. A lapsed lease has spelled the end of team Thuet’s presence on King Street West—and the end of an era, seeing as the couple was among the first to colonize what is now a hot restaurant strip. Now they’re turning their attention to places as close as Rosedale and as far away as Alsace. Anywhere, they say, but King West.
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Spotted: Hilary Swank, Bill Murray and Helen Mirren at Roots
Hilary Swank with Roots' Michael Budman
Hilary Swank swept by Roots not once but twice on Monday. The two-time Oscar winner, in town gunning for her third as a waitress who earns a law degree to get her brother out of prison in Conviction, was all over the leather offerings. The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis stopped by the same day to pick up a pair of boots and Bill Murray scooped up some swag there earlier in the week. Helen Mirren also gave the store her royal endorsement. “My two favourite shops, literally in the world, are here,” she told CTV on the red carpet for The Debt. “One is Roots, and the other is Bedo.” Wait—Yonge Street’s sexy street wear shop Bedo? Here’s hoping they thank her with some sleek, low-cut evening wear.
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Hilary Swank and the woman she portrays at the Conviction press conference
Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
“If I didn’t do justice to this story, which is so beautiful and inspiring, I don’t think I could live with myself,” said Oscar-winning actor Hilary Swank at Monday’s press conference for her new film Conviction, the film adaptation of Betty Anne Waters‘ true story of spending 18 years to get her wrongly accused brother out of prison. Waters, who was also at the press conference, was a high school dropout who later worked her way through law school to defend her brother Kenny after he was convicted of first-degree murder. Kenny, who is played by Sam Rockwell in the movie, was exonerated in 2001 after DNA testing proved that he did not kill Katrina Brow.
“Betty is my real-life hero, and to let her down and Kenny and their family, it would be the biggest regret of my life,” Swank continued to say about the pressure of bringing Waters’ life to the big screen.
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Hilary Swank attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actors Sam Rockwell and Hilary Swank attend the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Juliette Lewis attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Juliette Lewis attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Juliette Lewis attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Minnie Driver attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Minnie Driver attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Minnie Driver attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Betty Anne Waters, one of the real-life inspirations behind Conviction, attends the film’s press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Betty Anne Waters, one of the real-life inspirations behind Conviction, and actor Hilary Swank attend the film’s press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Actor Melissa Leo attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Director Tony Goldwyn attends the Conviction press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Cast members from Conviction attend the press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
TIFF Fashion Poll: red-carpet battle at the Conviction premiere
Hilary Swank, Leslie Bibb, Minnie Driver and Juliette Lewis all went for jewel tones at the Conviction premiere on Saturday. Who did the look best? Read the rest of this entry »
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Hilary Swank, Minnie Driver and Sam Rockwell at the Conviction premiere
Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell at the premiere of Conviction (Image: Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
The stars of Conviction (Hilary Swank, Minnie Driver, Sam Rockwell, Juliette Lewis among them) showed up at the Elgin theatre yesterday to celebrate its premiere. See the photos of event below.
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- Actor Minnie Driver at the gala premiere of Conviction at the Elgin Theatre (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Hilary Swank and Minnie Driver at the Toronto premiere of Conviction (Image: Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
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- Hilary Swank at the Toronto premiere of Conviction (Image: Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
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- Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell at the Toronto premiere of Conviction (Image: Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
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- Juliette Lewis at the premiere of Conviction at the Toronto International Film Festival (Image: Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
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- Director Tony Goldwyn at the gala premiere of Conviction at the Elgin Theatre (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Director Tony Goldwyn at the gala premiere of Conviction at the Elgin Theatre (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Screenwriter Pamela Gray at the gala premiere of Conviction at the Elgin Theatre (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Betty Anne Waters attends the gala premiere of Conviction at the Elgin Theatre (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: James Franco, Hilary Swank and Marion Cotillard party at the Thompson Hotel
James Franco and director Danny Boyle at the Vanity Fair, Belvedere and Fox Searchlight party at the Thompson Hotel to celebrate their film 127 Hours. (Image: Tom Sandler)
The TIFF celebrity brigade was out in full force at the Thompson Hotel on Saturday night to celebrate the films from Fox Searchlight: Conviction, Black Swan, Never Let Me Go and 127 Hours. Cast members (and a few of their friends) who swung by included Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Juliette Lewis, Marion Cotillard and Carey Mulligan. Also spotted were director Darren Aronofsky, comedian David Cross and basketball legend Steve Nash.
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- Minnie Driver at the Vanity Fair, Belvedere and Fox Searchlight party at the Thmpson Hotel to celebrate her film Conviction. (Image: Tom Sandler)
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- Actror Hilary Swank and director Tony Goldwyn at the Vanity Fair, Belvedere and Fox Searchlight party at the Thmpson Hotel to celebrate their film Conviction. (Image: Tom Sandler)
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- Actor James Franco and director Danny Boyle at the Vanity Fair, Belvedere and Fox Searchlight party at the Thmpson Hotel to celebrate her film 127 Hours. (Image: Tom Sandler)
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- Sam Rockwell and Michael Sheen at the Vanity Fair, Belvedere and Fox Searchlight party at the Thmpson Hotel to celebrate Rockwell’s film Conviction. (Image: Tom Sandler)
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- Danny Boyle and Amber Tamblyn at the Vanity Fair, Belvedere and Fox Searchlight party at the Thmpson Hotel to celebrate their film 127 hours. (Image: Tom Sandler)
Officially dubbed the Vanity Fair, Belvedere and Fox Searchlight Party, the event became a crowded affair once the rain started falling and guests poured inside from the patios, clutching their special-for-the-occasion vodka cocktails (we had a very sweet liquid interpretation of 127 Hours that, to be fair, tasted rather good for a drink inspired by a man pinned under a boulder for five days). The celebs seemed to take the weather in stride, coming and going throughout the night under canopies of black umbrellas and, in one case, lighting up a cigarette in one of the booths.
= Find this story on our Celebrity Sightings Map, where we plot the locations of stars spotted throughout Toronto
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Alliance Films celebrates TIFF with Juliette Lewis, Erin Karpluk and hundreds more guests
Former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis and his wife, Violet Chang, at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
For the past four TIFFs, Alliance Films has left the party organizing to everyone else. Well, not this year. The bash last night at South of Temperance attracted actor Juliette Lewis, former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis and Being Erica‘s Erin Karpluk.
Check out the red carpet photos below.
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- Actor Juliette Lewis from Conviction at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Actor Juliette Lewis from Conviction at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Actor Erin Karpluk from Being Erica with Adam Feyers at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Actor Erin Karpluk from Being Erica with Adam Feyers at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Actor Emily Hampshire from Good Neighbours at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Cast members from Repeaters at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Cast members from Repeaters at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Actor Tara Spencer-Nairn from Corner Gas at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Actors Rachel Blanchard, from Daydream Nation, and Liane Balaban at the Alliance Films party (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis and his wife, Violet Chang, at the Alliance Films party at South of Temperance (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
Today at TIFF: Roger Ebert Twitter showdown, Hello! party, Vanity Fair party, OneXOne fundraiser
Our daily roundup of opening galas, parties and screenings.
• 12:00 p.m. George Christy Luncheon at Avenue Bar and Print Room (Four Seasons Hotel)
• 1:30 p.m. Little White Lies world premiere gala at Roy Thomson Hall
• 2 p.m. The Whistleblower world premiere at Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
• 3 p.m. Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie world premiere at Ryerson Theatre
• 3 p.m. Conviction world premiere at Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
• 4 p.m. Roger Ebert Twitter showdown at the Hyatt Regency
• 6 p.m. Made in Dagenham world premiere at Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
• 6:30 p.m. The Conspirator world premiere gala at Roy Thomson Hall
• 6:30 p.m. Artists for Peace and Justice Fundraiser at Pears on the Avenue
• 7 p.m. HELLO! Magazine Film Festival Cocktail Party at Royal Conservatory Telus Centre for Performance and Learning
• 7 p.m. ReelWorld Film Festival Indie Film Lounge Reception at Empire Lounge
• 9 p.m. Beginners world premiere at Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
• 9 p.m. It’s Kind of a Funny Story world premiere at Ryerson Theatre
• 9 p.m. Vanity Fair Party at Thompson Hotel
• 9:30 p.m. The Town North American premiere gala at Roy Thomson Hall
• 10 p.m. Forest Park hosted by Hayden Christensen at Ultra
• Dipdive Nights featuring Will.i.am at Festival Central (148 Cumberland St.)
• OneXOne fundraiser at Bisha
• Late Night It’s Kind of a Funny Story after-party at Brassaii
• 11:59 p.m. Bunraku world premiere at Ryerson Theatre
Summerlicious 2010: the restaurants have been announced, so let’s pick them apart
The view from Toula: be a tourist in your own city (Image: Ian Muttoo)
First things first: there’s not much change under the Summerlicious sun. All of the old favourites are here (including Canoe and Bymark, which always sell out first). Seven Numbers, which by Winter/Summerlicious rules is allowed only one location, has swapped out its Danforth location for its Eglinton one. Winterlicious participant Conviction is out for the summer edition as the second season of Conviction Kitchen films in Vancouver. The new owners of Crush Wine Bar are apparently not feeling the ’licious love—nor is Moroco. And while The Citizen’s digs are alive and kicking under new ownership, its vaunted replacement, Ruby Watchco, is opting out.
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Thuet’s upcoming cookbook now has a title and release date
More details of Marc Thuet’s cookbook are out as he and Biana Zorich prepare to head out west to work on the second season of Conviction Kitchen next month. The Post reports that the surprisingly expletive-free title is French Food My Way and that the book will be released in November. This may be cutting it close in terms of promotion, since the chef is scheduled to shoot a third season of his reality show in the States starting in September. The book includes 100 recipes covering breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus desserts and special meals for get-togethers.
• Celebrity chef Marc Thuet has new cookbook coming: French Food My Way [National Post]
Best new restaurants 2010: James Chatto names five honourable mentions
(Image: Renée Suen)
Toronto Life‘s annual ranking of the city’s 10 best new restaurants is in our April issue, on newsstands now. Despite the lacklustre economy, it’s been a banner year for eating out. Here, James Chatto picks five more new restaurants are worth lining up for.
Go west: Marc Thuet leaves T.O. to take Conviction to B.C. and the U.S.
Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich: courage of their Convictions (Photo by Karon Liu)
Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich are leaving Toronto to take on Vancouver and the United States. Following the success of their two major projects of 2009, Conviction and Conviction Kitchen—restaurant and reality show, respectively—the couple is heading to the west coast next week to scout real estate for the second location of the restaurant. Like the King West version, the Vancouver outpost will be run by reformed criminals whose trials and tribulations will be broadcast on TV.
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