La Palette’s horsemeat hiatus didn’t last long—viande chevaline will return to the menu at the Queen Street bistro as of this week. Co-owner Shamez Amlani stopped serving the French delicacy late last summer after the Toronto Star exposed questionable sourcing in the horsemeat industry, but he didn’t let the matter drop. “We’ve spent the past six months doing as much research as we can,” he told Post City. “We’re very certain that we’ll be serving our customers high-quality meat.” So what makes him think the meat is now safe? One reason could be that President Obama recently lifted the American ban on horse slaughter, meaning American workhorses would no longer be mixed into the Canadian food supply. We have a hunch this isn’t the end of the story, though—horsemeat, like shark fin and raw milk, always seems to stir up controversy. Read the entire story [Post City] »
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Introducing: The Westerly, a new Roncesvalles restaurant and bar from a pair of West Coasters
Co-owner Beth Davyduke outside her new Roncesvalles restaurant
The churn of restaurants on Roncesvalles continues apace with the addition of The Westerly to the once Polish-dominated strip (indeed, we recently reported on the closing of Roncy mainstay Granowska’s). Like The Ace up the street, The Westerly focuses on classic dishes done right, which means making things from scratch. Focaccia and crusty baguettes baked on the premises? Check. Fresh homemade pasta? Check. Desserts made in-house? Check. And to top it off, The Westerly even features its own intrepid young mixologist and signature cocktail, the Sweet Roncy, a blend of gin, fresh apricots and Italian cherry liquor.
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Introducing: The Ace, a classic Roncesvalles diner reborn
A traditional ’50s diner, reborn
For almost two decades, the Ace Chinese Restaurant on Roncesvalles has been shuttered. This spring, however, Maggie Ruhl (co-owner of the Dakota Tavern) and her partner, Greg Boggs, took possession of the space. The pair renamed it simply The Ace and have preserved the vintage 1950s aesthetic, but updated the menu with homestyle comfort food and French classics.
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Horsemeat poised to make a comeback in the U.S.
(Image: James Byrum)
Top Chef Canada made headlines (and alienated horse lovers everywhere) earlier this year when it featured horsemeat during a classic French cuisine challenge. The scandal prompted an in-depth investigation of the industry by the ever-intrepid Toronto Star, which explained how a 2007 slaughtering ban in the United States led to a boom in Canada’s industry. Now, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune, horsemeat may be making a return to the U.S. market in the coming months.
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J. P. Challet to open Le Matin, a new French boulangerie on Queen East
J. P. Challet at his new Queen East bakery (Images: Signe Langford)
Queen Street East has been steadily attracting culinary entrepreneurs for the last decade or so, but with prime spaces available for rent and condos and townhouses going up at every turn, the pace has really picked up. French ex-pat J. P. Challet, a culinary craftsman of many trades, is the latest to try his hand with Le Matin, a new authentic French bakery that’s slated to open in December.
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Introducing: Crêpes à GoGo on Bloor, the authentic French crêperie’s return to the Annex
Chef Véronique working a crêpe machine (Image: Gizelle Lau)
Crêpes à GoGo first started building its cult following at the corner of Bedford and Bloor in 2002, decamping for 18 Yorkville Avenue five years later to make way for a condo development. Now owner Véronique Perez—known to her customers as Chef Véronique—has returned to the Annex with a new location at Bloor and Spadina.
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Toronto’s five best brunch dishes
We stopped by for a sneak peek of Bestellen, the College Street work-in-progress of Top Chef Canada runner-up Rob Rossi
Rob Rossi and Ryan Sarfeld outside the convenience store they’re turning into Bestellen
When Top Chef Canada contestant Rob Rossi quit his job as Mercatto’s head chef for “new and exciting adventures,” many assumed he’d won the competition. He hadn’t—Vancouver’s Dale MacKay beat him out in a close finale. Now, the runner-up and his business partner Ryan Sarfeld are in the throes of preparing their new College Street restaurant, Bestellen (German for “to order”), for a mid-November opening. We stopped by to check out their progress with the space, just a few blocks west of Rossi’s Top Chef Canada buddy Dustin Gallagher’s kitchen at Grace.
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Introducing: Le Kensington, the new French bistro from the owners of Loire
(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
Le Kensington Bistro, the second eatery from the owners of Harbord Street’s Loire (one of 2009’s best new restaurants), recently opened in the space that used to house La Palette, the market’s original French bistro (La Palette decamped to Queen Street last year). Owners Sylvain Brissonnet—who spent a decade as the sommelier of Langdon Hall—and Jean-Charles Dupoire—who put in hours at both The Savoy and The Berkeley in London—purchased the spot at the start of the year but were bogged down with lengthy renovations. Brissonnet tells us the pair “really wanted to do something very French” and are keeping the focus on their homeland’s cuisine.
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Weekly Lunch Pick: a classic croque madame at La Société
La Société’s classic croque madame (Image: Andrew Brudz)
La Société, the Bloor Street bistro with an unmistakably Parisian atmosphere (an intricately tiled floor, art nouveau knick-knacks and a stunning stained-glass ceiling), opened this past June to much fanfare. But expect the buzz to hit a fever pitch next month when celebs jet into town for TIFF. Nestled among Cartier, Gucci and Prada stores, there will be no better (or more aptly named) perch for watching the Yorkville melee.
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Why Greek wines are about to become the next big thing
Greek wines are as intriguing as their popular French and Italian counterparts, and they’re half the price
(Illustration: Jack Dylan)
Pine-scented retsina has left a bitter taste with many wine drinkers, but Greek wine has moved on, and it’s poised to become the next big thing, with more Greek labels making their way into trendy restaurants beyond the Danforth. More than 300 indigenous grapes are grown in the country’s 28 wine-growing appellations, which are home to more than 650 wineries. And the quality and value has only been getting better over the last 10 years. The new Greek wines combine the firm acid and mineral structure of many European wines with the ripe, bright fruitiness often found in hotter New World regions. The country’s core strength is aromatic yet steely whites, like moschofilero and assyrtiko, that will appeal to riesling and gewürztraminer fans. Lighter-weight, complex reds like xinomavro and agiorgitiko are similar to pinot noir and Italian nebbiolo. The LCBO’s selection is still meagre, but Vintages carries some excellent-value bottles, while Kolonaki Group, an Ontario-based Greek wine specialist, offers great buys by the case. Here, nine bottles worth trying, even if you’re not serving souvlaki.
Introducing: Elle M’a Dit, Baldwin Village’s modern take on traditional Alsatian food
Outside Elle M’a Dit, the new Baldwin Street Alsatian bistro (Image: Karolyne Ellacott)
Elle M’a Dit, a new Alsatian restaurant, is the latest spot to open up on the popular Baldwin Street strip. Husband-and-wife team Gregory Furstoss and Tory Yang opened their doors in early June, and are hoping to put a modern twist on staples from France’s northeastern Alsace region, renowned for its melting pot cuisine.
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Introducing: Le Canard Mort, the new Leslieville restaurant and cocktail bar from the people behind Le Rossignol
Outside the Leslieville spot that once held Barrio (Image: Signe Langford)
The beloved neighbourhood watering hole Barrio shuttered its French doors last summer, and hungry Leslievillers have been gazing at the space longingly ever since. Well, no longer. Richard Henry, the proprietor of Le Rossignol, a few blocks west, has opened up his newest venture, Le Canard Mort. “They closed the place on Saturday and I put an offer in on Monday,” Henry told us. “I had to move fast since there was a lot of interest in it—the Ruby Watch Co. people were down here looking.”
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Introducing: La Société, Bloor Street’s massive new bistro and people-watching hub
The bar at La Société (Image: Gizelle Lau)
La Société, Charles Khabouth and Danny Soberano’s new upscale bistro, opened last week to just the chic red-carpet reception one would expect, with guests like “jersey boys” Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine, media mogul Moses Znaimer, Canadian Read the rest of this entry »musician music manager and producer Jake Gold and Food Network Canada host Kevin Brauch (no RPattz sighting, though). We first scoped out the dining room’s impressive stained-glass ceiling shortly after it was installed, and returned last week to see how everything turned out.
Top Chef Canada recap, episode 11: street meet
Rob Feenie with host Thea Andrews (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 11
From the opening moments of last night’s Top Chef Canada, we learned the following: Dale MacKay, the supremely arrogant self-confident Vancouver chef, actually has a soft side (he was missing his young son); Montreal-by-way-of Vancouver chef François Gagnon sleeps without his shirt on; Mercatto executive chef Rob Rossi likes to sleep in; and Connie DeSousa is feeling the pressure to win the competition for all the female chefs out there (about Grace’s Dustin Gallagher, we learned nothing). None of these micro-developments gave away who the winner and loser might be. After the jump, the twists and turns that brought us down to the final four.
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