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The latest addition to the spate of Internet-based foodie happenings in Toronto is Dish Duel (not to be confused with Dishcrawl), a bracket-style tournament pitting signature dishes from Toronto restaurants against each other. The project is the invention of Restos in TO blogger Jacob Younan, who has managed to convince the likes of Acadia, Cava, George and Cowbell (among 12 others) to gird their (tender)loins and head into battle beginning February 18.
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Top Toronto restaurants to go head to head in Dish Duel, a new foodie tournament
GALLERY: At this year’s What’s on the Table benefit, Toronto’s top chefs came out to support The Stop
(Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)
On Wednesday, 550 Toronto foodies and philanthropists gathered in the Wychwood Barns for What’s on the Table, the annual fundraiser for The Stop Community Food Centre. The sold-out event featured 35 food and drink stations representing a staggering array of top Toronto restaurants, including Canoe, Scaramouche, Niagara Street Café, Parts and Labour, Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, C5, Ruby Watchco, Noce, Cowbell, George and the Gabardine, with desserts from Frangipane, Nadège and Soma, and drinks from Steam Whistle, Henry of Pelham, Frodpond Farm and Château des Charmes, among many others, not to mention two contestants from season one of Top Chef Canada.
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Toronto’s five best house-made pickles
Lovingly brined, jarred and served by the city’s star chefs, these pickles are the best of the puckery pack
The Drake chef Anthony Rose ferments bushels of cherry bomb peppers, the little Jewish deli–style fireballs, and sends them out with a variety of dishes. 1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042.
This year’s What’s on the Table fundraiser for The Stop features over 30 top chefs from Toronto and beyond
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Eat well and feed the hungry along the way—that’s the concept behind the annual What’s on the Table benefit being held this year on November 2. Since 2005, the fundraiser has gathered $1.5 million for The Stop, the innovative community food centre whose goal is to increase everyone’s access to healthy food (check out our interview with chef Chris Brown from shortly after he joined The Stop). Dining stations open at 6:30 p.m., and patrons won’t be starved for choice; the event features offerings from over 30 chefs, including Lynn Crawford of Ruby Watcho, Anthony Walsh of Canoe and pâtissier Nadège Nourian (see below for the very impressive full list).
DIY Barbecue Guide: Cowbell’s Mark Cutrara on the perfect patty
A great barbecued hamburger doesn’t taste like chipotle or paprika or horseradish. It tastes like beef. Cowbell chef Mark Cutrara’s burger, made with grass-fed beef from Dingo Farms, is one of the best in the city for good reason: it’s all about the meat. Here’s how he does it.
(Image: Joel Kimmel)
Introducing: Against the Grain, a new lakeside pub with a lakeside patio
The big draw: Against the Grain sports a sunny lakeside patio (Image: Gizelle Lau)
For so long, Toronto’s eastern waterfront has felt like a barren wasteland (remember when The Guvernment seemed like the edge of the world?). Lately, however, it feels as though it just keeps getting better and better. First there was the new Corus Entertainment building, followed by Sugar Beach, with its pink umbrellas and Muskoka chairs, and Sherbourne Common, the verdant park and water purification facility (no, really). The most recent addition is Against the Grain Urban Tavern, one of the very few lakeside restaurants in the city.
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Keriwa Café, a new restaurant with an Aboriginal menu, to open on Queen West next month
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A new restaurant focused on Aboriginal cuisine is set to open on Queen Street West this coming May. Behind Keriwa is Aaron Joseph Bear Robe, previously of Splendido, Michael Stadtländer’s Eigensinn Farm and Haisai, and the River Café in Calgary. With a strong pedigree of farm-to-table haute cuisine, Keriwa Café will bring Aboriginal recipes together with more contemporary dishes, and will focus on local, seasonal and organic ingredients. He’s also promised us fried bread.
Best New Restaurants 2011
This year’s crop of restaurants, from a million-dollar dining room to a brazen burger joint, pushed Toronto’s culinary culture in creative, comforting and blessedly cheap directions. Here, the 10 new spots that are redefining the way we eat, drink and play in the city
Terroir 2011 roundup: we talk to Toronto’s top chefs and restaurateurs at the foodie symposium
Fergus Henderson (St. John’s) and Arlene Stein (event chair) at Terroir
A couple weeks back, 400 members of the food and hospitality industry gathered at Hart House for Terroir V. The annual symposium saw chefs, restaurateurs and members of the food media musing over this year’s theme: “the balance of artistic creation and traditional craftsmanship in our hospitality industry.” We caught up with some top chefs—including Jason Bangerter (Luma), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell), Matt DeMille (Parts and Labour) and keynote speaker Fergus Henderson—who shared with us what they took away from the day.
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The 10 best pickled foods at Toronto restaurants
Pickled things—lovingly brined, jarred and served by the city’s star chefs—are the hottest grandmotherly food since cookies and milk. Here, the best of the puckery pack
Cowbell is the first restaurant in Toronto to get LEAF certification for its green ways
Ring my bell: Cutrara and company get a green thumbs-up (Image: Google)
When it comes to providing environmentally sustainable cuisine, locavore haven Cowbell walks the walk, according to Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF). The new Alberta-based organization, which aims to help diners recognize green restaurants, spent hours extensively examining Cowbell’s energy and water use, its menu and the way it deals with waste and recycling, among other criteria, before giving Cowbell the distinction of being the first LEAF-certified restaurant in Toronto.
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Despite some reservations, Toronto will appear on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations
Anthony Bourdain at his book signing at Massey Hall (Image: Renée Suen)
Toronto chefs and foodies, take note: Anthony Bourdain, the reformed bad boy of the culinary world, beloved potty mouth and host of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations, will be featuring Toronto on his show. Bourdain made that announcement on his book tour this week when he stopped in at Massey Hall to promote his follow up to Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. The globetrotting professional eater and drinker entertained and dazzled admirers during his 90-minute performance, downing bottles of Steam Whistle pilsner and drawing upon material from his memoir. Bourdain graciously entertained banal questions during the event’s short Q&A and took time to applaud Beast’s Scott Vivian, who catered the post-show VIP book signing. However, it was his announcement of bringing No Reservations to the city that drew the most hoots and hollers from the packed house.
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Nine highlights of Toronto’s first ever Beer Week
Perhaps the only thing Torontonians seem to love more than patio season is the beer they drink on patios. Well, the thermometer may have dipped, but the organizers of Toronto Beer Week see no reason why they should stop slinging suds. In an homage to all things frothy and foamy, 45 bars and restaurants have banded together to celebrate the first ever Beer Week—a showcase of craft beers and foods.
Below, our Beer Week preview, with our best bets for the best ways to get tipsy from now until Sunday (the full schedule is here).
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Flavour of the month: 13 ways that local chefs are cooking with corn
We love what Toronto chefs are doing with corn this season. The sweet summer staple is showing up on menus not just boiled and buttered, but grilled, ground, pureéd, roasted, even nitro-zapped. Here, the best places to get your fix
(Image: My Yen Trung)
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