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The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
Bannock’s holiday tourtière
This time of year, it takes a strong will not to indulge, whether it be in the beautiful pastries and cakes spilling out of patisserie windows or the drinks at a holiday party. We say, why even try? We’ve rounded up some of our favourites, along with a few other gifts that your food-obsessed friends are sure to love (including one salve for those who’ve indulged just a little too much).
(Image: Suzanne Long)
Fears are spreading throughout the Toronto Farmers’ Market Network that participants at city markets might soon be on the receiving end of a large user fee increase from the city. Anne Freeman of the Dufferin Grove market and Carolyn Wong of Trinity Bellwoods are just two of the market organizers who have been circulating a petition in an attempt to head off the hike. “You don’t attack your food source,” a frustrated Wong told The Dish.
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The West End Food Co-op—the folks behind the popular Sorauren Farmers’ Market—have partnered up with the Parkdale Community Health Centre to open a grocery store at Queen and Dufferin in the coming months. We caught up with Ayal Dinner, the WEFC operations coordinator, who spoke about taking the organization in this new direction.
CCTV, DJ Woody and Abel Boulineau
1. JANE’S WALK (FREE!)
Inspired by urban writer/activist Jane Jacobs, this festival of walking tours, led by Toronto-loving volunteers, is all about seeing the city with new eyes. With over 170 walks to choose from, we’ve narrowed our selection down to three: (Video) Eyes on the Street, U of T prof Andrew Clement’s exploration of the downtown core’s CCTV cameras; a gentrification-focused tour of Cherry Beach; and the cultural studies pick, A Hipster’s Guide to Ossington. May 7 and 8. Various locations, janeswalk.net.
2. KARDINAL OFFISHALL (FREE!) Read the rest of this entry »
Kardi’s made some headway south of the border, signing with Akon’s Konvict label and recording with chart toppers like Estelle and David Guetta, but he’s still a hometown boy. Proof? This free concert in Yonge-Dundas Square, part of Coke’s 125th anniversary celebrations. And last year’s “The Anthem” of course. May 7. Yonge-Dundas Square, icoke.ca.
The farmers’ market at Trinity-Bellwoods Park (Image: Matthew Burpee)
City councillor Mike Layton is sticking up for Toronto’s farmers’ markets. The rookie representative from Trinity-Spadina feels markets should be exempt from a daily charge by transportation authorities in cases where vendors need street-side parking to set up shop. For the past five years, vendors that need parking have been paying an annual “street event fee” of $81.33. Recently, however, city officials notified market organizers that the fee would soon start to be applied each day. At least five park-based markets would be affected by the changes: Trinity-Bellwoods, Riverdale Farm, East Lynn, Withrow Park and Sorauren Park.
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We prefer to pass the holiday season by eating our way through it and forcing loved ones to do the same. So we’ve come up with 13 inventive edible gifts (and not a mini-muffin basket in sight).
See our foodie gift guide now >>
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It’s harvest season, farmers’ markets are peddling a plethora of weird-looking local bounty, and adventurous consumers are left wondering what, exactly, to do with a $20 bunch of freshly foraged purslane. To aid, inspire and amuse, we concocted this contest: we filled three hampers with nine items each—a semi-random selection of goods from the Wychwood Barns market—and asked three daring chefs to prepare a main course, in two hours or less, using only those nine ingredients, plus their pantry staples. Then we asked our critic Chris Nuttall-Smith to rank the results.
1. Red scallion, 2. Ontario popcorn, 3. Beet biscuit, 4. Hen’s egg, 5. Baby red romaine lettuce, 6. Georgian Bay whitefish, 7. Kohlrabi, 8. Wild amaranth, 9. Pattypan squash
The bucolic eco-paradise between Rosedale and the DVP almost never was. How big money and one ambitious entrepreneur remade the Brick Works
On May 29, the opening day of the Brick Works farmers’ market, I pedalled past the savvy people who had parked their cars illegally outside the Mount Pleasant Cemetery’s southern gate, knowing there would be no parking spots below, and through the Moore Park ravine. The air was cool and moist, the trees still. Then, the vista of the Don Valley opened up: the sun was shining on the pretty quarry garden, burning away the morning clouds and reflecting off the wetland ponds. I couldn’t yet see the market, but I could hear it: at 8 a.m., the site was already alive with happy chatter and the slow strum of “You Are My Sunshine” on guitar.
(Image: Jeremy R. Jansen)
See into the future: Church and Front Streets, c. 2014
St. Lawrence Market’s historic north building is getting a not-so-historic-looking facelift. Yesterday, David Miller and Councillor Pam McConnell announced that a winning design for the St. Lawrence Market North Building Design Competition has been chosen from the short list of five. By 2014, the building will be transformed into a hulking four-storey structure that will house market space on the ground floor, with courtrooms and administrative offices for Toronto Court Services occupying the upper floors. It will also feature a green roof and parking garage.
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(Image: Devin Jeffrey)
Growing small quantities of organic produce is an expensive endeavour. When you’re forking over $8 for a basket of raspberries, you’re paying little more than the costs of production and labour, so our best advice is to suck it up or take your shopping cart to the fluorescent-lit aisles of the supermarket, where imported, pesticidal produce is available at half the price. That said, there are circumstances in which market merchants are willing to make a deal. Anyone buying in larger quantities is likely to get a freebie, and loyal regulars will often find an extra turnip or two in their bag. For your best chance at bargain bounty, wait until the end of the day, when the spinach is starting to look a little limp. Just be warned: you’re risking the stink eye from the guy in overalls and the clan of ethical eaters around you.
• Question from Dana Greenfield, Riverdale
Wondering about the waterfront? Curious about construction? Perplexed by politics? Ask the Urban Decoder a question here.
St. Lawrence Market bustles through the winter (Photo by Ernesto Andrade)
Although falling leaves and impending frost have shuttered most of Toronto’s farmers’ markets, not all have packed up their stalls before the first snow. Below is a list of seven winter-ready markets supplying vegetables, organic meats and artisanal cheeses to foodies who want to eat local no matter what the weather.
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Critical condition: The Times's Sam Sifton hits 13 cities (including Toronto) before taking up his new post as restaurant critic (Photo by Peter Dutton)
• Sam Sifton, who takes over as New York Times restaurant critic in October, is already proving to be a funny guy. Blogging about his pre-job eating tour, he mentions that he’s booked hotel rooms in Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Brussels, Shanghai, Barcelona, Riga, Los Angeles, Seattle, Mexico City, Stellenbosch, South Africa, and, yes, Toronto. With our hometown on his dining marathon, we think we’ll get along with Mr. Sifton just fine. [New York Times]
• Wolfgang Puck has opened a bar and grill in the new L.A. Live Square (think Yonge-Dundas Square’s pimped-out cousin). The menu is “user-friendly,” says the L.A. Times, with So-Cal versions of burgers, steaks and pasta, along with simple gourmet fare like tuna tartare. When and where the Puck drops in Toronto has kept local bloggers busy for years, but we hope that it will be somewhere neon-light free. [L.A. Times]
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The pits: Ontario cherries will last only three weeks (Photo by bensonkua)
A rainy June delayed the season, but Ontario cherries are finally making their annual appearance in desserts across the city. Farmers say the fruit will be around for three weeks, max, so we suggest all 100-mile dieters stock up now. Here, we look at what Toronto chefs are doing with Ontario cherries and list where to find fresh ones in the city. Read the rest of this entry »
Fruits of labour dispute: The city strike hits the markets (Photo by Natalie Maynor)
Toronto’s summertime farmers’ markets will be a lot less abundant for the duration of the municipal strike. Markets on private property will still be trading all things fresh and local, but the situation gets a little more complicated for those that operate on city-owned land. Markets at civic centres and city squares are cancelled for now, though organizers are scrambling to find alternate locations; those in city parks have technically had their permits revoked, but all are planning to set up anyway—some in nearby locations, others in their usual public green spaces (though they will be without washroom service and electricity). After the jump, our list of which markets are open, which are closed, and which are changing location.
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