When they’re not bellyaching about adulthood and posing for Instagrams, it seems 20-somethings enjoy dining out—a lot. According to a new report from market research group NPD, Canada is witnessing a spike in restaurant traffic, due largely to people in their late teens and early 20s. People aged 18 to 24 played a large part in a three per cent traffic increase over the last two quarters. What’s more, the group writes that “visits to Canadian restaurants are forecasted to grow nearly two per cent per year between 2011 and 2016.” Okay, that might not sound like much, but that growth will apparently “surpass the projected 1.2 per cent annual growth of the country’s population.” The millennials are driving this growth partly because of their love of what the NPD calls “quick-service restaurants,” a delightful euphemism for fast-food joints. The group says fast-food restaurant QSRs account for “64 per cent of the overall food service landscape.” Which makes it one fatty landscape indeed.
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In a fit of hot dog hubris, Vancouver resto launches $100 bratwurst

The beast itself, all $100 of it (Image: Courtesy DougieDog)
Vancouver restaurant DougieDog Hot Dogs put out a press release this morning (which got picked up by the Canadian Press) announcing the latest in fast food extravagance: the world’s first $100 hot dog. The so-called Dragon Dog—a foot-long bratwurst steeped in 100-year-old cognac and topped with Kobe beef, lobster (!) and truffle oil—is a publicity stunt double-whammy: it arrives right on the heels of the Year of the Dragon, and it acts as a bit of promotion for the titular Dougie’s upcoming appearance on tomorrow’s Dragon’s Den (in this clip, Robert Herjavec lauds his “hot girls and hot dogs”). Owner DougieLuv tells us the attention has been nonstop since his announcement and warns that 12 hours advanced notice is required for an order, presumably to allow the Louis XIII to fully soak in. Of course, given what happened the last time someone attempted a novelty, $100 fast food item (we’re looking at you, M:brgr), we’re a bit worried that this operation might prove too big not to fail. Our fingers are crossed for Dougie.
Health organizations pepper the prime minister with requests to curb national sodium intake
The story of salt regulation in this country is long and only occasionally delicious. First, the feds created a task force to set targets for reducing sodium content in food. Then they decided they’d rather not bother with what those eggheads think, and handed things back over to industry (like we asked last time, when has self-regulation ever steered us wrong?). Now, the Globe and Mail reports, a crack team of health organizations is calling on Stephen Harper to quit talking and actually develop a strategy to curb Canadians’ excessive salt intake.
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Ex marks the spot: eight culinary innovations at this year’s Canadian National Exhibition (including deep-fried cola)

Four culinary delights at this year’s CNE (Images: Gizelle Lau)
In the days of yore, people flocked to the Canadian National Exhibition to see the year’s prize cows, pigs and horses. It’s only fitting that in these fallen fast-food times, people now gather round the warm, greasy glow of the deep fryers in the CNE Food Building. Indeed, gawking at the year’s fried fare has become something of an annual tradition, so we headed back to the Ex this year to bring you eight gut-busting indulgences, including this year’s headline grabber: deep-fried Coke cola.
See photos of all eight, along with a readout of our regret-o-meter »
Queen’s Park takes a cue from Ottawa, demurs on fast-food calorie labels
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We’ve mentioned from time to time the Canadian government’s curious efforts to keep us all eating plenty of salt. A weekend story from the Toronto Star details how it’s the kind of game that the provinces can get in on too. Specifically Ontario, which is trying to figure out how to deal with the oldest and most obese population it has ever seen. The province has pretty clearly ruled out even the blandest of regulations to help Ontarians control their weight.
Weekly Lunch Pick: a quick, tasty and affordable combo from Taste of Orient

Three-item combo at Taste of Orient (Image: Renée Suen)
A food court gem located in the newly renovated Richmond Adelaide Centre, Taste of Orient serves heaping plates of simple but flavourful Cantonese food at the right price and the right pace for local lunch-goers with a schedule to keep. Less than $8 delivers three items from the heated countertop display with rice or noodles. On our visit, the curry-stained Singapore-style noodles, stir-fried with cabbage, carrot and onion are surprisingly light, while the green beans and chicken is, unlike most fast food counters, neither greasy nor sitting in a pool of congealed sauce. The coconut shrimp is encased in a thin, crisp batter and coated with a sweet mayonnaise dressing. Finally, four large sole fillets come slicked with a faint oyster-based sauce and delicately steamed with ginger and green onion. Altogether, a great value for surprisingly well-executed food.
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It’s back: KFC introduces the Double Down 2.0 to Canada, now with slightly less sodium

It’s baaaaaacack: the Double Down returns to Canada on June 1 (Image: KFC Canada)
In what seems more like fodder for competitive eaters and Twitterers than legitimate news, KFC has just announced that the Double Down will be making a triumphant and greasy return to Canada on June 1. The sandwich, which features bacon and cheese squeezed between two pieces of the Colonel’s famous boneless fried chicken, seems more like something Man vs. Food’s Adam Richman would dream up in his sleep than a legitimate fast-food product—but, hey, there’s clearly a market for it.
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Want to know how much salt and fat there is in your food? Tough luck, thanks to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
While Canadians decide who they want leading the country, the bureaucracy in Ottawa is largely spinning its wheels until the next guy comes to boss them around. With all that spare time on their hands, some bureaucrats are turning to the time-honoured tradition of leaking to the press, and in this case we’re glad they are: it looks like the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has gotten out of the business of checking out the nutritional claims made by food producers on their labels.
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Sick Kids dumps Burger King from food court, but Pizza Pizza and Subway remain
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A minor victory for anti–junk food forces came last week as the creepy despot of the beef kingdom, Burger King, served its last meal from the Hospital for Sick Children’s food court. Some doctors at Sick Kids had been agitating to get Burger King shut down through a Facebook group suffering from severe friend anemia (seriously, 258 members?), but the process has apparently been underway for some time: Sick Kids had decided to auction off BK’s slot, and has managed the process so that something a bit healthier would win the competition.
McDonald’s to give away free buttermilk biscuit sandwiches tomorrow and Thursday
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If you’ve still got the stomach to handle fast food after our last post, then this one’s for you. On February 9 and 10, participating McDonald’s restaurants will be giving away free buttermilk biscuit “sandwiches” during breakfast hours. The offer is limited to one sandwich per customer with a choice of sausage, egg and cheese; bacon, egg and cheese; or sausage only.
Dangerous Dan’s gross new ads capitalize on pot, universal health care
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Dangerous Dan’s, Queen Street East’s unmissable hamburger joint, has never been known for moderation. It’s no surprise, then, that the diner’s latest ad campaign is a series of shock ads featuring shots of humongous burgers next to such slogans as “It’s 4:20 somewhere” and “While we still have health care.” The series is basically the marketing equivalent of the colossal colon clogger—Dangerous Dan’s 24-ounce patty topped with a quarter pound each of bacon and cheese.
Passing the bok bok bok: Etobicoke restaurant accidentally serves chicken head
This is one of those stories that wouldn’t have made the news at Dundas and Spadina, but because it happened to a visitor from Ottawa at a restaurant in Etobicoke, the Sun is there. Apparently, a guest of our city got a surprise when she ordered a box of wings from a local shop:
Among the mound of wings there was allegedly a deep-fried chicken’s head—its eyes staring up at Karen Cook.
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A&W tries to go hip with new concept store
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The North Vancouver–based A&W Canada chain—long synonymous with root beer, a dancing bear and burgers named after family members—is doing a 180. A press release from the restaurant chain says that a new Toronto concept store (there’s already one in Vancouver and one coming in Montreal) will be aimed at “urban diners” in an attempt to be “current and relevant for today.” What does that mean for a fast-food franchise? Salads, chicken sandwiches (why must every fast-food joint insist on serving spicy chipotle?), free Wi-Fi and self-order kiosks that accept debit and credit. That pretty much sums up the stereotypical urbanite: city folk who eat nothing but grilled chicken and salads, are glued to their iPads (or laptops if they’re poor) and never have cash on them.
The city releases secret to cancelling parking tickets: pretty much any excuse works
After what sounds like years of conspiracies and cover-ups, drivers finally have a shot against the sneaky tactics of parking officials. Thanks to two plucky city councillors, a formerly confidential document that offers guidelines on when to cancel parking tickets was made public last night. In the Star, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong explains the adventure: “Myself and Councillor [Howard] Moscoe have been trying to get it released for a long time, and staff have constantly been saying ‘It’s confidential, it’s confidential, it’s confidential…’ Here a group of bureaucrats have set up these secret rules that nobody knows about.” Until now.
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