With bread flown in from Paris, this Yorkville institution creates authentic French tartines that are worth the $15 price tag
(Images: Renée Suen)
Posts Tagged ‘French’
Restauran-TO
J.P. Challet returns to the Windsor Arms
Peter Tsang, Jennifer Decorte and J.P. Challet (Photo by Jessica Darmanin)
More than a decade after he reopened the restaurant at the Windsor Arms, French chef J.P. Challet is returning to revamp the dining options at the classic hotel, along with partners Jennifer Decorte and Peter Tsang. Their company Ici La-bas Partout, which has been operating out of an as-yet-unopened bistro on Harbord, will be transforming Prime, the hotel’s steakhouse, into a modern French restaurant called Ici. As for the spot on Harbord, it’s still coming, assures Decorte; they plan to open Ici Aussi in March.
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Restauran-TO
Jamieson Kerr talks about selling Crush and opening a second Queen and Beaver-esque pub
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After eight years as owner and operator of Crush Wine Bar, Jamieson Kerr has decided to sell the once-French, now-British King West bistro in order to focus on his growing family and the Queen and Beaver—his Elm Street gastropub that opened last spring. “I’ve been spending six nights a week at Crush, and I felt it was time to give a bit of time back to my family,” Kerr tells us. “A great offer came my way, to be honest. We all know that the economy was tough on large fine-dining restaurants, and I managed to hold my own, but when this offer came along, it was worth looking at.”
Aprons & Icons
Q&A: legendary chef Thomas Keller on his culinary empire
Thomas Keller at his first Toronto appearance (Photo by Renée Suen)
A crowd of 450 (including top Toronto chefs Ted Corrado, Mark McEwan, Bonnie Stern and Donna Dooher) gathered at the Toronto Reference Library on Monday night to hear from Thomas Keller, who was in town to promote his new cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home. In the book, Keller, the only American chef to receive Michelin stars for two restaurants (The French Laundry, Per Se) at once, reveals recipes from Ad Hoc, his restaurant in Yountville, California, which serves a different prix-fixe menu every night. We wrangled some alone time with the chef to talk about his culinary empire.
It’s your first time in Toronto. Will you be exploring much of its culinary scene? Read the rest of this entry »
Unfortunately, I got in late last night and am leaving early tomorrow morning, so I won’t really get to see much this time. The one restaurant that is on my list is The Black Hoof, which I heard from a friend is very good.
Deathwatch
How the mighty have fallen: 24 more restaurant closures
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Since our last report on restaurant closures in August, the wake of the worst economic storm in decades has forced scores of eateries to shut their doors forever. This roundup is as broad as it is long, with stalwarts falling beside start-ups, and takeout chains closing alongside legendary dining rooms. Here, our sad look back at two dozen of Toronto’s former restaurants.
DIY Gourmet
Nice rack: how to make Didier Leroy’s unapologetically decadent lamb Wellington
(Photo by Edward Pond)
Classic French cuisine is enjoying yet another buttery comeback. And no one makes it quite like Didier Leroy, the chef and owner of Didier, this city’s most unapologetically Gallic restaurant. His lamb Wellington is decadence wrapped in more decadence. While he makes his own puff pastry (a process that takes two days), he suggests buying a quality butter-based version. A word to the wise: take the Frenchman’s advice.
• Continue reading for Didier Leroy’s full recipe for lamb Wellington »
Pantry Raid
Squash season is upon us: five of T.O.’s top chefs show us how they’re treating fall’s star fruit
(Photo by Andy Roberts)
For Toronto chefs worshipping at the altar of fresh and local, squash is the ingredient of the moment. Cowbell’s owner and chef, Mark Cutrara, tells us that the locavore movement has led to a better infrastructure for getting Ontario-farmed versions to cooks, who are doing more than just puréeing the fruit for soup. Culinary innovators around town are transmuting squash into ice cream, gratin and gnocchi. We look at five delicious dishes from five Toronto menus that make the most of this year’s bountiful squash harvest.
Opening
Just Opened: Cinq 01
Parked on College Street: Cinq 01 contains elements from Toufik Sarwa's childhood (Photo by Karon Liu)
Lounge king Toufik Sarwa, owner of Amber, is branching out of Yorkville with the opening of a quaint bistro called Cinq 01 in Little Italy.
“When I set out at Amber, I thought I’d devote 10 years of my life to it. I had offers to be partners in other projects, but I turned them down,” Sarwa says. But last September, four months before his one-decade anniversary at Amber, the space formerly occupied by Arthur’s became available and Sarwa snatched it up. “It was just perfect timing; everything fell into place.”
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Read All About It
Airport food guide, Tim Hortons’ big move, Tyra Banks eats from trucks
On the fly: a typical airport dinner at Pearson (Photo by Ed Kohler)
• Harried travellers are often at the mercy of the overpriced, under-flavoured food on offer in most airports. Well, Michael Blackie has their backs—sort of. The globe-trotting Ottawa chef reveals some of the better eating options at terminals throughout the world. Montreal’s Trudeau Airport gets points for sandwiches; Vancouver scores high for Globe@YVR’s locavore-friendly menu (a 100-mile restaurant at the airport? That’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife). JetBlue’s new terminal at JFK and Heathrow’s Terminal 5 are notable for their luxury cuisine offerings. Sorry, Toronto—all you get is Wolfgang Puck, mentioned in the same breath as Tim Hortons. [Globe and Mail]
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Read All About It
French not crazy about Julia Child, Maple Leaf Gardens has a future, top food-buying trends of 2009
Pricey ice cream takes hit in 2009 (Photo by Monsieur Gordon)
• Retail analysts have released a list of 10 Canadian food-buying habits in 2009, and they’re all of a totally unsurprising theme: cheaper (lentils instead of chicken), less (leftovers instead of groceries) and trading down (Breyers instead of Häagen-Dazs). Missing from the list: free (the dumpster behind Ace Bakery). [Globe and Mail]
• Julie and Julia premieres in France this week, and ex-pat Americans are shocked to discover that French people don’t really know or care about Julia Child or her cookbooks. In the words of one Parisian, Child’s culinary style is “the vision of a revisited France, adapted to the American taste, at a time when tastes were lifeless.” Sacre bleu. [New York Times]
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