The dining scene in and around the Financial District has seen a lot of changes since last year’s festival, with new restaurants (Aria, Estiatorio Volos) and new chefs at existing restaurants (Lucien, Brassaii). Here, 24 Winterlicious picks south of College.

(Image: turtlemom4bacon)

While the moms (and dads) of Toronto can cook a fine turkey, plenty of chefs have also plumbed the bird’s mysterious cavities. For revelers with a discerning palate (or those too lazy busy to cook their own), we’ve assembled eight great ways to have someone do the Thanksgiving work for you.

• The Globe Bistro is offering a $35 three-course meal featuring a choice of curried celery and apple soup or autumn veggie salad to start, roast turkey or vegetable orecchiette for the main and apple/peach crumble or pumpkin tarts to finish. Globe Bistro. Oct. 9. $35. 124 Danforth Ave., 416-466-2000, globebistro.com

• Toronto’s only castle is serving a generous brunch buffet in the conservatory and library. Highlights include pumpkin bread pudding, scrambled eggs with caramelized pear and brie, Pacific salmon with kale from the castle garden and for the masochistic adventurous, a complimentary shot of “pumpkin pie”: cinnamon schnapps with Irish cream coffee liqueur. Casa Loma. Oct. 9. Start times between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. $51.45. 1 Austin Terrace, 416-923-1171 ext. 202, casaloma.org/seasonal

• The Miller Tavern is open all weekend, serving a three-course harvest dinner that comes with choice of appetizer, roast turkey or rib of beef and pumpkin cheesecake. Miller Tavern. Oct. 8-10. $35. 3885 Yonge St., 416-322-5544, themiller.ca

• Chef Timothy Palmer of the Royal York’s Epic restaurant has put together a complete take-home feast for those who prefer to stay in (or masquerade as classically trained chefs). Busy hosts can buy the full meal, which includes the turkey, butternut squash, sweet potato bisque, pumpkin pie, potatoes, veggies, gravy and cranberry sauce, or just the bird. We suggest interested parties act fast—pre-orders close today. Epic at the Fairmont Royal York. Pickup Oct. 9 to 10. Turkey $129, full meal $185. 100 Front St. W., 416-860-5050, epicrestaurant.ca

• We don’t have all the details yet, but we do know that Amaya has turkey korma on their prix fixe menu this weekend. And really, that’s all we need. Amaya. $29 prix fixe. 1701 Bayview Ave., 416-322-3270, amayarestaurant.com

• For a real harvest experience, Langdon Hall is hosting a Sunday buffet brunch using ingredients grown right on the property. Special holiday à la carte menus are available both Sunday and Monday, and for those with other plans this weekend, the Hall is also offering a six-course Late Harvest Dinner on Oct. 21. Reservations required. Langdon Hall. Oct. 9. Noon to 3 p.m. $55. 1 Langdon Dr., 1-800 268-1898, langdonhall.ca

• In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, the Big Chill is sharing its ice cream, free of charge. Sadly they’re just “mini-cones,” but the holiday requires you to thank them nonetheless. The Big Chill. Oct. 10., noon to 4 p.m. Free. 566 College St., 416-960-2455, thebigchill.ca

• If you find traditional Thanksgiving customs insufficiently nautical, both Mariposa and Jubilee Queen cruises are happy to serve turkey while surfing over the lake. We can’t vouch for the food, but we bet the view is pretty great. Mariposa Cruises. Oct. 8 to 10. 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. $72.95. 207 Queens Quay W., 416-203-0178, mariposacruises.com; Jubilee Queen Cruise Lines. Oct. 9 to 10. Various times. $54.95–$59.95. 539 Queens Quay W., 416-203-7245, jubileequeencruises.ca/toronto-thanksgiving-cruise.htm

Power lunchers and after-work diners are the bread and butter of Summerlicious. Here, 22 Toronto Life picks for where to go.

DOWNTOWN NORTH | DOWNTOWN SOUTH | EAST | WEST | UPTOWN

(Image: Renée Suen, from the torontolife.com Flickr pool)

January is upon us, and for many hungry Torontonians, that means one thing: Winterlicious. The menus are less predictable than previous years—crème brûlée’s out,  lentils du Puy are in—so even the ’Licious haters might have a reason to take advantage of the festival this year. We’ve already named the 12 menus that we think are the best bets, but that doesn’t begin to cover it. Here, find Toronto Life’s 62 favourite Winterlicious restaurants, complete with menus, reviews and reservation numbers.

Winterlicious runs from January 28 to February 10. Reservations are accepted from January 13 onward (January 11 for American Express users).

High times: a rooftop garden in Toronto (Image: Steven Harris)

Toronto is not always on the ball when it comes to eating and drinking trends (we’ve only just climbed on the speakeasy bandwagon), but we seem to be ahead of the game on the latest one to make—or rather, re-make—the news. According to a survey of 2,000 chefs by the National Restaurant Association, gardens are the hottest restaurant trend of 2010.

Restaurants like Vertical and Epic have well-known rooftop gardens, where they produce tomatoes, eggplants, Swiss chard and even honey from beehives. New ventures like Parts and Labour and Beast have continued the trend. The gardens are great because of the freshness, but also for the cost-cutting effectiveness of growing food in what would otherwise be unused space. With strong organic and locavore movements and a city hall that’s actively promoting green roofs, Toronto seems to be a perfect city for a restaurant culture that makes good use of gardens.

Well, besides the long winters. And the raccoons.

• Chefs Name Gardens Top Restaurant Trend Of 2010 [NPR]

(Image: Steve Harris)

The Globe is reporting that the Royal York has sacked 22 employees, claiming that they were stealing wine from the hotel’s food service. Melanie Coates, a spokesperson for the legendary hotel, told the Globe that the people in question were dismissed due to “inappropriate activity” and “a violation of workplace rules.”

Many questions are left unanswered. Were the 22 alleged thieves working together or on their own? Did they steal amarone or chianti? Chablis? Bollinger?

A quick scan of the wine list at the hotel’s restaurant, Epic, reveals that its holdings top out at $91 (a Cave Springs 2004 Riesling) for wine. Champagne, of course, is another matter, with a $600 bottle of Dom being the priciest on the menu.

No word yet on if any cheese went missing.

• Fairmount Royal York fires 22 employees [Globe and Mail]

The place: Sparkling chandeliers and silverware add glamour to this moody, windowless room on the Royal York’s main floor. Friendly and discreet servers add to the refined air. The volume is low, and the turnover is slow: it’s a luxurious break from the typically boisterous lunch spot.

The crowd: It’s all business: senior execs plot strategy, suited conference attendees talk shop, and even stray business travellers find solace in the day’s paper. The atmosphere is serious and elegant (expect designer ties and sexy heels).

The deal: A staunch supporter of all things local and sustainable, chef Ryan Gustafson uses Ocean Wise–certified seafood and quality Ontario produce for his lunchtime prix fixe ($25). Diners can choose from three appetizers; a fish, beef or pasta main; and two desserts. As the weather warms, hand-harvested herbs and honey from the hotel’s rooftop garden make their debut, turning the potential 100-mile diet to one of a mere 100 feet.

The dish: We begin with an ode to spring: pretty organic greens, heirloom carrot, cauliflower and pistachios tossed in a light lemon dressing. The black Angus steak frites is a delight to the eyes and the palate. Sliced on the bias, the beefy-rich but chewy cut is paired with an unctuous maître d’hotel sauce of butter-mounted veal stock and sided by tender broccolini. Yukon gold fries have perfectly soft and fluffy cores, but it’s the cornichon-studded truffle aïoli that has us lapping the bowl clean. Instead of the chai crème brûlée, we opt to finish the meal with an inch-thick financier—a generous slice of light sponge cake topped with a luscious layer of Meyer lemon financier, its sweetness cut by fresh strawberries and sweet blueberries, raspberry coulis and a refreshing scoop of lemon sorbet.

The time: A quiet and unhurried 105 minutes.

The cost: $47.25 per person, including tax, tip, a carafe of mineral water ($5) and a pot of Kea Lani orange pineapple tea ($5).

Epic, Fairmont Royal York, 100 Front St. W. (at York St.), 416-860-6949, epicrestaurant.ca.

(Images: Renée Suen)

The Rosedale Diner
For the first time, the midtown institution is offering a $29 prix fixe Passover plate called Charoset and Chrain from March 29 to April 5. Such standbys as chopped liver, matzo ball soup, roasted chicken, braised short ribs, tzimmes (candied carrots) and potato kugel will be well represented.

Sweet Escapes
The Distillery District dessert palace is offering a chocolate truffle cake that contains eggs, butter, sugar, chocolate and nothing else. An eight-inch cake costs only $20 and is a good injection of flavour after eating matzo.

Oliver and Bonacini Café Grill
From Good Friday to Easter Monday, the Bayview Village restaurant (along with its Oakville and Waterloo locations) will be offering dinner specials. For $20, diners can enjoy a AAA black Angus strip loin with Yorkshire pudding, buttermilk mash and onion gravy. Rest assured, rabbit will not be on the menu.

Caplansky’s Delicatessan
A no-brainer. Zane Caplansky blogged last month that he’s booked to cater his first seder (he even offered to do the Four Questions but, sadly, was denied) and is accepting orders for gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, fricassee, braised brisket, smoked turkey and desserts. Goyum regulars, take note: it’s still kosher to drop by for a brisket sandwich and poutine.

Shopsy’s
Those who miss the old landmark on Front Street can head to the new Shopsy’s at the Sheraton at Richmond and York. For Passover, the deli has set aside a special menu that includes a breakfast with matzo instead of home fries ($10 or less), chicken soup with matzo ball ($5), gefilte fish ($6.50) and chopped liver ($6). Mains include brisket ($14), grilled salmon ($16) and, for kids with big appetites, two all-beef hot dogs with veggies to balance it out ($10).

Epic
The Royal York’s annual Easter brunch, to be held on April 4, will cost $70 per adult ($35 for kids and free for children under five) and feature smoked salmon and cured meats, dark chocolate fondue, hot cross buns, roast sirloin and lamb, and, to buck the trend, sushi and sashimi from the Benihana chef. Finicky tots can also work up an appetite in the play area, where they will be either entertained or horrified by the Easter bunny.

Globe Bistro
The intimate Danforth bistro is offering a $29 three-course brunch starting with scones and such apps as a mushroom purée with pickled fiddleheads, smoked trout with a slow-cooked egg, and maple lardon frisée salad. Mains include prime rib with potatoes roasted with duck fat, a root vegetable lasagna and baked French toast with ginger maple syrup. End it with a slice of carrot cake or a chocolate panna cotta.

(Image: FaceMePLS)

(All photos by Karon Liu)

Even those who were born and raised in Toronto have a hard time navigating the city’s underground labyrinth, with its dead ends, identical food courts and utterly useless maps—not to mention the complete lack of sunlight, which can drive a person mad. Still, the world’s largest below-ground shopping complex is like a city of its own, with lots of unique shops, restaurants and attractions that are worth the slight possibility of getting cabin fever. An added incentive for people going to a game or a concert: most of the restaurants offer free parking. Here are 24 places to check out.

Suffix solution: the latest -licious kicks off tomorrow (Photo by Catherine Kustanczy)

We’re surprised it took so long for another “-licious” event to spring up between Summerlicious and Winterlicious, but here it is. As part of Localicious (running from October 2 to 18), 11 restaurants across the city will be offering menus of dishes containing local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients, with proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund. The Toronto edition of the dining deal (Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax, Ottawa and Calgary are also involved) features the following establishments: Cowbell, Epic, Gilead Café, Grano, La Palette, Marvellous Edibles, Quince, Rebel House, Reds, Veritas and Victor.

Our recommendations, after the jump.

Looking at the menus, this event is clearly less draconian than its -licious brethren. There are no three-course rules, no prescribed $25 to $45 prices. Grano, for example, is offering a four-course menu ($40 for one, $60 for two), and Epic is plugging B.C. halibut—not really sure how that is local, but at least it’s Canadian.

The items we are most looking forward to are Cowbell’s $50 three-course dinner (charcuterie, grass-fed beef, crème caramel) and La Palette’s special dishes (potato-crusted bison cheeks and a spiced pumpkin crème brûlée among them). Veritas has one of the thriftiest offerings: a tantalizing three-course lunch prix fixe for $20.

Localicious, Oct. 2 to 18, various locations, official Web site.

Alex Evans, manager of Célestin, estimates that 30 per cent fewer customers have dined at her restaurant during this year’s fest. “Everyone I know who’s participating is telling me their business is way, way, down,” she says. There’s consensus across the board: Didier, North 44°, Auberge du Pommier and Centro, arguably some of the city’s most sought-after tables, are all reporting quieter phone lines and lighter reservation books.

Centro has 1,000 bookings so far, reports manager Armando Mano, compared to 3,000 for Winterlicious. Though Mano says Summerlicious is always slower (thank you, Muskoka), he mainly blames the dreaded E-word. “It’s not like three or four years ago, when you needed three or four people to answer phones, and you filled up in 20 minutes.”

Elaine Viterbo, manager of North 44°, agrees. She says they now compete with other restaurants that began offering prix fixe once the markets bottomed out. “They’re not the same calibre, but you know…” The Mark McEwan flagship is even accepting walk-ins, something unheard of last year.

North 44° is only one among many that are now accepting walk-ins (stay tuned for a complete roundup). And with less harried service, maybe, just maybe, we’ll be subjected to fewer of the perennial my-Summerlicious-waiter-was-mean-to-me complaints. More than ever, restaurants will battle it out for business. “I take Summerlicious very seriously,” says Mano. “It’s not a cash cow, and it’s not, ‘Oh, Summerlicious, who cares?’ I would fire someone if I heard them say that.”

Patrick McMurray at the Festival of Chefs (Photo by Davida Aronovitch)

The Cheese Boutique was abuzz with food enthusiasts last weekend for the launch of its annual Festival of Chefs. Now in its sixth year, the shop’s gastronomic fair showcases the creations of top chefs from across the city—paired with local wines—on Saturdays and Sundays throughout May. We stopped by to check out a round of offerings from Starfish duo Patrick McMurray and Kyle Deming—and to pick up a little oka on the way.

McMurray tells us that people were lined up before the store’s 8 a.m. opening, and with good reason: last year, the hero of the half shell gave away some 1,200 top-of-the-line oysters. This year, his offerings included sweet and meaty clams from British Columbia (“Look at that colour—beautiful!” cried a keyed-up McMurray) and five-year-old whiskey-soaked Ontario farmhouse cheddar. (Look for Guinness cheese at his soon-to-open Ceili Cottage on Queen Street East.) We love Deming’s County Clare salmon, roasted over Irish peat turf to give it a rich, smoky flavour. Top it all off with a glass of fruity Niagara Stratus white, and it’s the most fun we’ve ever had grocery shopping.

How did Cheese Boutique convince 10 of the city’s hottest gourmets to give away their coveted creations? Established in 1970, the shop is a long-time provider of homemade cheese and specialty imports to many of the top kitchens in the province. Second-generation cheesemonger Afrim Pristine explains that the Festival of Chefs started as the occasional demo for chefs, clients and friends. It has since snowballed into a top epicure event. The April 30 launch party featured two lambs on a spit (polished off head to toe), six cases of champagne (ditto) and 500 people. The secret to this success isn’t just a good nose; it’s impassioned eating, explains Afrim: “At family dinners, we don’t talk about sports, politics or history. We talk about food.”

The Cheese Boutique’s founding father, Fatos Pristine, takes a break from dispensing tea to give us a tour of the family jewels, housed in the “cave,” where mammoth cheeses are stored for aging. Fatos says of a 12-foot, 398-kilogram Italian provolone that looks like a medieval battering ram: “We risked our lives getting it in here,” he says.

Still to come at this year’s festival are appearances by Mistura’s Massimo Capra, Frank’s Anne Yarymowich and Epic’s Ryan Gustafson, among others. As for what’s on the menu, “You’ll have to come in and find out,” says Afrim.

Come to think of it, we might need some gouda, too.

Deliciously forgiving (Photo by mattscoggin)

Mother’s Day is that one special Sunday when sons and daughters take their beloved parent to a lovely restaurant in the hope that she’ll feel loved, absorb their appreciation, and maybe forgive them for any childhood misdeeds. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best places in Toronto to treat a matriarch, organized by the severity of offences committed.

Mistook lipstick for crayon
Arcadian Court, 401 Bay St., 8th flr., 416-861-6611, arcadiancourt.ca
Treat her to brunch at this historic yet little-known venue inside the Hudson’s Bay building in the heart of downtown. Aside from traditional breakfast items, there will also be a roasted red pepper, tomato and gin soup, plus the restaurant’s famous homemade chicken pot pies, along with French pastries and tarts. 11–3. $25.95 per person.

Used wedding dress as a cape
The Knit Café, 1050 Queen St. W., 416-533-5648, theknitcafetoronto.com
This quaint Queen West hot spot is a fun alternative to bustling restaurants. This weekend’s brunch, prepared by Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, includes a mushroom and wild leek quiche; sweet milk cake with rhubarb, Ontario and Quebec artisanal cheeses; and apple cider. Although it’s not included, stay afterwards for knitting tips from the knowledgeable staff—or, better yet, Mom herself. Registration required. Noon. $36 per person.

Brought home a stray dog
Azure, 225 Front St. W., 416-597-8142, azurerestaurant.ca
This sleek, modern restaurant in the InterContinental hotel—perfect for the mother who is visiting from out of town—has a combination of breakfast and lunch items. Omelette and carving stations, made-to-order waffles, roasted vegetables and a seafood platter are all available. Finicky tykes will love the kids’ station, with mac-and-cheese, chicken fingers and ants on a log. 11:30–3. $55 per person, children six to 12 $27, children under six free.

Brought home a stray dog with rabies
Nella Cucina, 876 Bathurst St., 416-922-9055, nellacucina.ca
Switch things up by taking a cooking class led by the school’s director and resident chef, Joanne Lusted (and her mom, of course). The menu is described as “east meets west,” with such dishes as siu mai, pot stickers, cheddar cheese biscuits and coconut cupcakes. And what mom wouldn’t appreciate her offspring preparing lunch, for once? Registration is required; space is limited. 10:30–1. $75 per person; moms half price with the purchase of a regular ticket.

Flushed wedding ring down the toilet
Epic, 100 Front St. W., 416-860-5050, epicrestaurant.ca
Dine in the same restaurant as other, more famous mothers (the Queen Mum, Erin Brockovich, Joan Rivers, etc.). The large menu includes smoked fish, crab cakes, pâté, a huge cheese smorgasbord and a fondue station. Seatings at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. $70 per person, children five to 12 $35, children under five free.

Good morning, sunshine (Photo by darkmatter)

For Torontonians who are not so confident in the kitchen, or who simply prefer to spend Easter handling mimosas rather than roasting pans, here are some of the city’s top hotels offering family-friendly menus on April 12.