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Pierre Gagnaire’s new restaurant, more Canadians eating out, International Bacon Day

Happy International Bacon Day to all (Image by Mandy Jouan)

• Why wait until September 5 when you can start International Bacon Day shopping now? Bacon-flavoured lip gloss and bacon-scented soap make excellent stocking stuffers, and bacon cupcakes from Yummy Stuff (topped with bacon ice cream, of course) make the perfect holiday dessert. The Globe’s Sarah Boesveld highlights these and other perks of the bacon craze, just in time for the pig day. [Globe and Mail]

• Restaurant traffic in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the U.K. fell significantly in the first quarter. Canada was the only country in the NPD Group study to see a rise in the number of meals consumed. It was only a 0.1 per cent rise, and the fastest growing sector is the “evening snack.” Good show, Taco Bell; good luck, everyone else. [NDP Group]

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| 2 Comments » August 27, 2009 | 12:33 pm | Josh Dehaas

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Frank Bruni loves Toronto’s Asian food, Loblaws trumpets local produce, the Food Network is recession-proof

• The retired critic Frank Bruni told the Globe and Mail that his complicated history with food actually had an effect on the language he used in his reviews. The former sleep eater, “faster” and childhood bulimic says he specifically avoided the words “guilty pleasure” and “sinful.” The writer also spread a little butter on our muffin, saying he used to trek up to T.O. for Asian food when he lived in Detroit. [Globe and Mail]

• American specialty channel the Food Network is celebrating a 20 per cent rise in ratings this July over last. Real estate shows have tanked since the bubble burst, while food shows have become more popular because they “take away the pain,” says TV analyst Shari Anne Brill. The Food Network’s audience was growing long before the recent uptick, with a total increase of 55 per cent since 2004. [Bloomberg]

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| 1 Comment » August 25, 2009 | 9:12 am | Josh Dehaas

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Black Death-plagued tomatoes in Ontario, run a restaurant on Facebook, Alain Ducasse loves leftovers

• Ontario cheesemakers have taken home top honours at the American Cheese Society Awards, considered the “Superbowl of cheese.” Two Prince Edward County dairies, Fifth Town and Black River, won three ribbons, including first place for an aged goat’s milk cheese called Lighthall Tomme, named after the dairy owner’s mother-in-law. Finally, an answer to the age-old question: “What’s a girl gotta do to get a natural rind goat’s milk cheese named after her?” [Toronto Star]

• The rainy summer hasn’t just sucked for cottagers—it’s been bad for tomatoes, too. Many plants in the province have developed a fungus that flourishes in soggy fields. The blight, known as the Black Death, the same one that caused the Irish potato famine, has made tomatoes scarce across the province. [Globe and Mail]

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| Leave a Comment » August 21, 2009 | 8:36 am | Kate Allen

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Beer sales down, thief swipes grease, Frank Bruni passes fork to new critic

Hot commodity: vegetable oil makes a biofuel good enough to steal (Photo by schrislloyd)

• A man was arrested in Britain after allegedly stealing 8,200 gallons of vegetable oil from restaurants all over the city of York, including the chip stand and the Dairy Queen. The grease is a valuable biofuel that can power any car engine. We have to wonder if he’s a Simpsons fan. [Seacost]

• Sam Sifton will be replacing legendary New York Times food critic Frank Bruni. Sifton, who starts the job in October, established his gourmet cred through editing the Dining section, writing a food column for the New York Press and making meatloaf for Nora Ephron. Also changing at the Times is the tradition of concealing the appearance of food critics. The Observer illustrates this today by publishing an enormous photo of Mr. Sifton. [New York Observer]

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| Leave a Comment » August 6, 2009 | 10:24 am | Josh Dehaas

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Robert Pattinson cheaps out, forks outsell knives, measuring restaurant pretension

Tipple over tipping: Robert Pattison leaves a meagre 14 per cent (Photo by twilight foxdie)

Tipple over tipping: Robert Pattinson leaves a meagre 14 per cent (Photo by twilight foxdie)

• Twilight star Robert Pattinson has outraged New York waiters by leaving a 14 per cent tip. The English actor munched on caprese salad while downing chianti and beer until well past midnight this week, and when he offered just $50 on his $350 bill, the aghast wait staff at Il Cantinori felt compelled to leak his penny-pinching to the media. Fans defended Pattinson’s faux pas as a simple cultural misunderstanding (tipping isn’t customary in Britain), but no one seems to have asked if the service was bad. [New York Daily News]

• The British are buying half as many knives as forks, according to a study by Debenham’s department store. Marketers have come to the conclusion that more meals than ever–like burgers, fries and salad–don’t require cutting. In bustling London, full of time-strapped urbanites wolfing down their dinner, the fork-to-knife gap is even wider (three forks sold per knife). [Independent]

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| 6 Comments » July 22, 2009 | 8:04 am | Josh Dehaas

Restauran-TO

Susur Lee brings his New York menu to Toronto

Two weeks only: Susur's back on King Street (Photo by aser)

After making news—some good, some bad—with his new restaurant, Shang, over the past four months, Susur Lee is bringing the menu of his Manhattan venture to Toronto for a brief cameo. The celebrity chef will offer his newest creations at both of his satellite restaurants, Lee and Madeline’s, with a special prix fixe menu. For the first two weeks in April, Torontonians will be able to sample a three-course Shang offering from Monday to Wednesday for $35 and $1 corkage, as well as a five-course Shang menu from Monday to Saturday for $60.

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| 1 Comment » March 30, 2009 | 1:11 pm | Davida Aronovitch

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Charging for tap water, ATM-style coffee, the return of Jamie Oliver

The Naked Chef outsells Harry Potter (Photo by Really Short)

• Though he’s been in Britain’s bad books often over the past decade, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver is back. He became the country’s best-selling author when his latest cookbook, Ministry of Food, sold a record 11.7 million copies, surpassing the sales of even J.K. Rowling. [The Guardian]

• Some Toronto restaurants are now charging $1 for the city’s piped water. This is not the next trend in water snobbery: funds raised go to a UNICEF project that provides clean drinking water to children in developing countries. [Toronto Star]

• Things got heated in the kitchen when New York Times foodies staged a dinner duel. Critics Kim Severson and Julia Moskin each cooked up a lavish meal on the shoestring budget of $8.50 a head. Heavyweight critic Frank Bruni settled the score. [New York Times]

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| Leave a Comment » March 27, 2009 | 8:51 am | Davida Aronovitch

The Downturn

Recessionary gratuities: Is 2009 the year of lousy tips?

Thanks for the tip (Photo by Wade from Oklahoma)

What to tip at recession time? This is the latest question in the never-ending gratuity debate; and since the market went south, it appears to be striking a nerve in Toronto and elsewhere. The New York Times‘ etiquette authority, Frank Bruni, wrote about it on his blog recently, sparking chatter about servers getting stiffed during hard times. Apparently diners are not just ordering less food, but they are then dialling down the percentage of their cheques left for gratuity. The recession effect—Bruni calls it a “double whammy”—is being felt closer to home, too. Toronto servers have been reporting paltry pourboire during the downturn. “Before the crisis, money was getting thrown around, but now people are more careful,” says France Salmon, who has been serving for over 10 years at celeb sanctuary Bistro 990. It seems even stars can be guilty of skimpy tipping (we’re looking at you, Madonna). With everyone else getting their bonuses trimmed and salaries frozen, is it all right to be less generous with the gratuity?

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| 23 Comments » March 11, 2009 | 1:20 pm | Davida Aronovitch

Aprons & Icons

The New York Times finally reviews Shang

Add one more to the stack of tepid reviews of Susur Lee’s Lower East Side fusion restaurant. In today’s New York Times, critic Frank Bruni summarized his experience at Shang thusly: “Pleasant, but inconsistent and uneventful. The magic that Mr. Lee reputedly made in Toronto hasn’t followed him here.” Ouch. Read on to find out how many stars were awarded to the restaurant.

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| Leave a Comment » February 18, 2009 | 1:20 pm | Carley Fortune