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The Dish

TV Diner

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Recipe to Riches reviewed: Episode 6, Kulfi Karma

RECIPE TO RICHESSeason 1 | Episode 6

Six episodes deep, it seems like the producers have finally started to give host Jesse Palmer a little more rope. This week, the Bachelor star and ex–football star finally got to show a little heart after the first elimination, exclaiming, “That was a little bit intense, wasn’t it?” before noting, philosophically, “And then there were only two.” The criticism that keeps coming back about this show, in our comments and elsewhere, is that every episode is the same as the last. Perhaps this was an attempt to mix things up a bit. Still, the comments might have applied a little better to last week’s tear-stained episode than to this week’s frozen treats challenge, which was mercifully more even-keeled. After the jump, our regular recap and tasting panel.

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The Dish

TV Diner

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Q&A with Lisa Ray, the new host of Top Chef Canada, on the joys and perils of eating for a living

(Image: Top Chef Canada/Insight Productions)

Yesterday we told you that actress and former model Lisa Ray had been pegged to replace Thea Andrews as host of Top Chef Canada. We caught up today with the 39-year-old Torontonian to try to pry some secrets about the second season, which airs March 12 on Food Network Canada. For the most part, we failed. Still, Ray did tell us a bit about working with Mark McEwan, turning into a professional eater and learning about food on the job. Read our Q&A with her after the jump.

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The Dish

Restauran-TO

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Amaya empire to expand into the lucrative kiddie birthday biz with Bazaar: Global Food Bar 

It seems the man behind Amaya is no longer satisfied with merely serving Indian food. According to a story in The Grid, Hemant Bhagwani will be exploring the rest of the globe with the multi-culti kid-friendly Bazaar: Global Food Bar, opening on Mount Pleasant in December (see a rendering on Twitter). Bhagwani envisions the place as a Chuck E. Cheese alternative for Toronto’s cultural mosaic, complete with a chalkboard-walled party room, a gift shop and—of course—an in-house psychic. The restaurant will serve a hodgepodge of Italian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Mexican cuisine: think kimchi burgers and butter-chicken pizza, which will presumably appeal more to the adults. Construction starts next week on the site vacated last month by Lai Toh Heen. Read the entire story [The Grid] »

The Hype

To-Do List

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The Long Weekender: 9 to 5, Food Truck Eats and six other ways to spend your Canada Day/Pride weekend

Pride, Street Food and Canada Day—that’s what we call a long weekend.

1. 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL
The ’80s are so hot right now. Ripped skinnies, jelly shoes and Chuck Taylors are all in, samples and remakes of ’80s jams are de rigueur, and this musical is hitting the stage. Based on the cult film of the same name, which starred Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton, this high-energy show is basically the original Horrible Bosses. Three co-workers band together against their dictatorial boss, with a predictably slapstick outcome. June 29 to July 10. $40–$65. Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge St., 416-644-3665, tocentre.com.

2. FOOD TRUCK EATS
Remember when Torontonians were promised more exciting street food, only to see their street food dreams go up in smoke as the Toronto A La Cart program was an utter failure? Here’s hoping this foodie event—which offers up five-spice pork belly buns (El Gastrónomo Vagabundo), cupcakes (Cupcake Diner), south Indian favourites (Tiffinday), kulfi (Joshna Maharaj), barbecue (Buster Rhino’s) and yes, even hot dogs—can prompt a street food revival. And if you’re cottage-bound this weekend, no worries. Organizers are planning follow-up events in August and October. July 2. The Distillery District, thedistillerydistrict.com.

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The Hype

Awards Season

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We take a quick look at some of the top Bollywood flicks up for hardware at the International Indian Film Academy Awards

There’s been no shortage of Bollywood-related events taking place around the GTA this week, but even amidst all the hype and hoopla we haven’t forgotten why the biggest stars in Bollywood have descended on Toronto: the IIFA Awards at the Rogers Centre on Centre (yup, it’s big). While we wouldn’t call ourselves Bollywood experts, we’ve been following the scene pretty closely ever since we heard the awards would be coming to Toronto. With that in mind, we offer a small preview of five of the biggest and best films in the running at tomorrow’s spectacle, after the jump.

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The Dish

TV Diner

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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

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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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The Hype

From the Print Edition

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Six reasons the International India Film Academy Awards are in Toronto

If you encounter more than the usual number of bhangra dancers on the streets this month, that’s because the International Indian Film Academy Awards are taking over the Rogers Centre on June 25. The gala will be watched by 600 million people in 60 countries and do more to raise Toronto’s profile than several G20 weekends. Forty thousand tourists will descend on the city’s hotels, and in the background, government and business officials will meet to build trade ties between Ontario and India. Infinitely more exciting are the many Indian movie stars who’ll be here, strolling in and out of the Thompson Hotel, signing autographs and, if we’re lucky, travelling the streets by elephant. Here, a primer to all things Bollywood in Toronto.

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The Dish

Aprons & Icons

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Q&A with Hemant Bhagwani: the Amaya co-owner on building his Indian restaurant empire

Although the recession is officially over, its effects—shuttered doors and restaurants offering humbler, more comfort-driven cuisine—can still be seen on Toronto’s culinary landscape. So we were a bit surprised when we heard the news that the Amaya Group is set to open yet another outpost next month, this time on Ossington. With even further expansion ahead, we asked Amaya co-owner Hemant Bhagwani about the secrets to his success and the future of the empire.

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The Dish

Opening

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Cuisine of India, an old North York favourite, reopens in Davisville

Cuisine of India’s new interior features their signature peacock motif

It’s been over a year since the North York Indian stalwart Cuisine of India closed its doors. Now, the once-beloved restaurant is reopening in midtown with a revamped vision, transplanting its trademark menu into a somewhat hipper new ’hood, with grab-and-go options and an unfussy ambiance.

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The Dish

Restauran-TO

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After years of renovations, the Lahore Tikka House trailers are finally down

The demolished trailers as seen last week (Image: Gary Campbell)

Last week, diehard butter chicken fans in the east end were startled to discover that Lahore Tikka House’s beloved, albeit “hole in the wall,” trailers were being torn down. We caught up with the management to find out what had happened to one of our fave places in Little India.

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The Dish

TV Diner

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Top Chef Canada recap, episode 1: playing with knives

TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 1

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Like most fans of the original, American Top Chef, we came to last night’s premiere of Top Chef Canada with some pretty serious expectations. Would the level of competition be as fierce? Would Thea Andrews be credible as the host? Could we blindly trust head judge Mark McEwan the way we do Tom Colicchio? Would the producers be able to cram in as many egregious product placements?

We needn’t have worried. Top Chef Canada is eerily similar to the original—same structure, same music, same sound effects, same stock phrases—but with an extra dash of Canadian hokeyness added in. Here, our recap of the best dishes, quips and insidious sponsorship.

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The Hype

High Art

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ROM announces exhibit of Bollywood advertising timed to Indian film awards

Garam Masala, 1972 (Image: courtesy of the Hartwick Collection)

The Royal Ontario Museum announced yesterday that it will host a new exhibit on the history of Bollywood advertising starting June 11. “Bollywood Cinema Showcards: Indian Film Art from the 1950s to the 1980s” consists of 120 pieces of advertising for Bollywood films, and will run until early October.

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The Dish

Aprons & Icons

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Q&A with Vikram Vij: the celebrated Vancouver chef on his successes and why he won’t open a restaurant in Toronto

Vikram Vij at All the Best Fine Foods

Vikram Vij, chef and owner of Vancoucer haute Indian restaurants Vij’s and Rangoli, was in town this week for the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show and a series of meet and greets around the city. His namesake restaurant is well known for its no-reservation policy, long lineups and devoted fans, including New York Times columnist Mark Bittman, who once hailed it as “among the finest Indian restaurants in the world.” Recently, we sat down with the chef, restaurateur and cookbook author to talk about the reasons behind his success and why he won’t expand to Toronto.

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The Dish

Opening

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Introducing: Fifth Elementt, Bay Street’s Indian fusion restaurant reborn on Queen West

Inside the new Fifth Elementt (Image: Jon Sufrin)

When Bay Street’s Fifth Elementt closed down last May, chef Johnee Savarimuthu knew he wanted to continue the Indian fusion restaurant’s legacy. His culinary career had taken him down many roads—from sommelier to Disney cruise cook to head chef at New York City’s Revival—but he’d never owned his own restaurant before. So he and his sous-chef partnered up and bought the Fifth Elementt brand, taking it to Queen West earlier this month in the space where Bangkok Paradise used to churn out its signature pad see ew.

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The Informer

From the Print Edition Neighbourhoods

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Gerrard Street East Guide: our nine favourite places along Little India’s main drag

The shop lights on Gerrard Street East stay on till nine—a late-night tradition that started out with the old Bollywood movie house that originally brought Indian merchants to the strip. Now sari shops, glowing neon signs for Kashmiri tea and sidewalk stands selling spiced corn on the cob keep the area filled with Pakistani Canadians from nearby Victoria Park, South Asian families in from the burbs, and residents from the slowly-but-surely gentrifying side streets. The retail bustle is creeping west of Jones, where several new businesses are revitalizing a dreary stretch of empty storefronts, noodle houses, laundro­mats and hair salons.

Start the Gerrard Street East tour »

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