A steak dinner at Noce (Image: Renée Suen)
Big-spending downtown Torontonians have taken in the past few years to whining about Winterlicious, but the two-week dining festival, running from January 28 through February 10, remains popular for a reason: it offers great value, particularly if you choose your reservations well. Here are a dozen of Toronto Life’s best bets. They’re older, more established places, generally, with kitchens that clearly care. And though we haven’t yet tasted the restaurants’ 2011 Winterlicious menus, they’re full of interesting, delicious-sounding picks.
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For once, Apple is bowing to our demands. The federal government yesterday approved the company’s iBookstore in Canada, but Apple had to make some promises. One is that it will use iBookstore Canada to promote Canadian titles (both English and French) and improve their catalogue of works by Aboriginal authors and publishers. The company also says it will help Canadian publishers create e-books 
Didier Leroy, English Canada’s first Maître Cuisinier de France, offers one of Toronto’s more curious lunch experiences: a three-course mystery menu in which the entire table must participate. On this sunny afternoon, our trust in the chef pays off handsomely. A pair of baked eggs coddled with black truffles and foie gras arrive in an irresistibly rich madeira sauce. Next, Atlantic salmon roulade, kissed with briny sturgeon caviar, arrives on a bed of sweet braised leeks and puréed potatoes. The meal finishes with a crème brûlée that’s creamy cool, with hints of Tahitian vanilla and a thick, golden sugar crust. 
