Hosting an Oscars party is going to be tough this year. With 10 nominations for best picture, instead of the usual five, making movie-themed munchies will be twice as hard. To help Toronto hosts get their bearings, we suggest the following dishes from across the city, each inspired by the films hoping for the ultimate Academy prize.
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Posts Tagged ‘guu’
Restauran-TO
Corey Mintz to Toronto’s Guu fans: chill out
Guu's salmon natto yukke (Photo by Jen Chan)
Corey Mintz thinks Torontonians need to get a grip—at least on our obsession with Guu, the city’s offshoot of the Vancouver-based izakaya chain that has everyone from Ryerson students to West Coast defectees lining up for hours to get a seat.
Although the Toronto Star food writer is a fan of Guu’s Japanese pub grub (fried, salty fare that’s perfect with beer), he laments that we have not been “cool” about Guu’s arrival. “We have lined up, kvetch-blogged and snapped iPhone pictures, capturing all the lustre of Nick Nolte’s mug shot… In short, we have spazzed out over Guu.”
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In Print
Get a sneak peek at Toronto Life’s nine new restaurant reviews
My friend Guu's got a new review (Photo by Jen Chan)
Toronto Life’s March issue hits newsstands on Thursday, but we’ve got a preview of the nine new restaurant reviews contained therein, including ones for Guu and Hoof Café. Click on the links below to read the reviews and see how many stars the establishments earned.
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Restauran-TO
No-reservations policies drive people outdoors, crazy
That's my queue: customers wait for hours to taste the fare at Guu (Photo by snowpea&bokchoi)
Capitalizing on one of the more frustrating dining trends, the Globe writes about the no-reservations policies at such restaurants as Guu, Black Hoof and Pizzeria Libretto and how they are resulting in long lineups, rushed dining experiences, annoyed customers and, in some cases, mayhem. TasteTO’s Sheryl Kirby opines that the chaos is a side effect of Toronto’s unsophisticated nature: diners care more about partaking in the latest trend than indulging in quality dining. The sight of teeming masses lined up in sub-zero temperatures may reek of herd mentality, but Michael Sangregorio, the owner of Local Kitchen, says that it’s all part of the fun. “I think people like lineups… People want to eat in busy restaurants.” He also suggests that restaurants (like his) often merit the attention and that reservations are unsuited to the operations of a small restaurant.
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Read All About It
Q&A with Guu’s chef, hangover-free alcohol, Corey Mintz’s castrated rooster
• Home chefs are increasingly turning to YouTube for cooking lessons. Eschewing the Food Network’s plucked and preening stars (except Guy Fieri, who is neither) and dishes, viewers are embracing the shaky camera angles and amateur stylings of such series as Maangchi’s Korean Cooking Show. The host, ex-Torontonian Emily Kim, has tens of thousands of subscribers, and her most popular recipe, kimchi, has been watched almost 300,000 times. Good start, Kim, but call us when you reach sneezing panda or dramatic chipmunk numbers. [Globe and Mail]
• The Star’s Corey Mintz extols the virtues of brining, which promises juicier meat and uniform seasoning. The capon—a castrated rooster prized for its tenderness—Mintz cooks for guests gets a 24-hour bath in a solution of salt, brown sugar and water, which produces a near-perfect bird. In talking about the emasculated chicken, Mintz ends the article with the observation that “we all have a tendency to get soft and juicy once we no longer have chicks on the brain.” [Toronto Star]
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Opening
Just Opened: Guu Izakaya slings Japanese beer and comfort food on Church Street
Get inside: Guu's interior mixes comfort and modernity (Photo by Renée Suen)
The year 2009 was an offal one in Toronto. The success of The Black Hoof, Buca and Local Kitchen showed that are many adventurous diners left in this city. December’s most anticipated opening shares that adventurous spirit. Tonight, doors officially open at Guu Izakaya, the first Toronto location of Vancouver’s intensely popular Japanese watering hole. Will the diners that embraced the offal trend take to Guu’s fusion of Japanese flavours?
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Opening
Toronto the Guu’d: Vancouver’s popular izakaya chain lands on Church Street in December
My friend Guu's got a new debut: Masaru Ogasawara is overseeing the Toronto opening (Photo by Renée Suen)
“Patience is a virtue” is an axiom that Toronto fans of izakaya have been repeating to themselves since we first reported that Guu, the west coast’s popular Japanese restaurant, would be coming to town in 2009. Recently, we met up with Masaru Ogasawara, the chef at one of the Vancouver locations (Guu in Gastown), who gave us the lowdown on the opening date (early December), the cause of the delay (the municipal strike) and the location (398 Church Street, near Carlton).
Right away, he tells us that Guu’s new home will be in a strip mall close to the Ryerson campus. The middling Sushi Plaza restaurant that once occupied the space has been gutted, leaving barren walls and ceilings, and kitchen equipment shoved into one corner. The 76-seat Guu will fill the space with long communal tables—think Salad King, but with more wood than chrome—designed by Bennett Lo, veteran of Spring Rolls. Come summertime, 20 more seats will be added on a patio.
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Opening
It’s Guu for you, Toronto
House of the rising fun: One of Guu's locations in Vancouver (Photo by Christian Paul)
Vancouver’s popular izakaya group, Guu, is planning to open a Toronto location. Unlike the long-gone wannabe Izakaya that once sat on Front Street, Guu promises to be closer to the real deal: an authentic Japanese drinking establishment that serves food and can get rowdy. Expect small plates prepared by chefs trained in Japan, served on big communal tables. Food swapping and socializing will be encouraged. For booze, there will be everything from beer to sake to Japanese plum wine.
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