Italy | torontolife.com

The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com

All stories relating to Italy

Five things we learned—or relearned—about Giorgio “Hot Wheels” Mammoliti from Ed Keenan’s profile in The Grid

(Image: Toronto.ca)

In the months since Rob Ford took office, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti has become the mayor’s de facto party whip, wielding his all-powerful thumb—up signals a yay, down a nay—to rally Ford supporters on any given vote in the council chamber. Combine that with his unyielding and very public hatred of “communists” and it’s easy to forget that he was once an active union member, an NDP MPP and one of Rob Ford’s fiercest critics (these days we like to think of him as a “reformed commie”). In his profile of Mammoliti in The Grid, Edward Keenan reminds us of all this, and adds some other juicy details he’s dug up. Five things we learned about Hot Wheels, after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

From the Print Edition

April 20, 2011 | 9:11 am

9 Comments

The sipper club: meet the city’s competitive cabal of top sommeliers

Will Predhomme belongs to a competitive cabal of top sommeliers who sniff, sip and spit their way through hundreds of bottles a week. They do this to help you decide what to drink with your dinner, while making you think it was your idea all along
By Jason McBride | Photography by Sandy Nicholson

One hundred and fifty-one people have reservations at Canoe tonight. Among these are many Bay Streeters, a couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, dozens of people on dates, including the bar manager from Crush, and a young woman who plans to propose to her boyfriend over dinner. The two private dining rooms are fully booked.

Canoe, part of the ever-expanding Oliver and Bonacini empire, is routinely considered one of the finest restaurants in the city. Last summer, in a rigorous competition held by the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers, known as CAPS, Canoe’s head sommelier, Will Predhomme, was proclaimed Ontario’s best. Predhomme has devoted a third of his life—he’s 29—to wine scholarship. He now knows more about wine than almost anyone in Toronto.

Just after 5 p.m., the bar area begins to fill up with commuters sipping cocktails as they wait for the traffic on the clogged Gardiner, 54 floors below, to dissipate. One of the restaurant’s first guests, a retired trial lawyer, arrives. As a young female host escorts him to his large corner table, he puts an arm around her shoulder. “I don’t like to pay bills,” he says. “I want a fucking account. Last time I was here, I offered those ladies”—referring to the hosts who greeted him at his last visit—“$300 and told them to set up an account for me. And I still don’t have one.” He and his three dining companions, Canoe regulars, have brought in several bottles of their own wine, including a cabernet franc from the ex-lawyer’s private vineyard in Tuscany. When Predhomme arrives at the table to discuss the wine, the ex-lawyer, captivatingly bratty in a way that only the rich and sort-of-powerful can be, repeats his complaint. “Look, I spend about $50,000 a year at Bymark, and I’d do the same here if I had a fucking account.” Predhomme is unmoved, but gracious. “If you give me your contact information,” he says, “I’ll make sure that it gets to the right people.”

“You’ll get me an account?”

“I’ll look into it.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Hype

To-Do List

March 23, 2011 | 4:09 pm

Comments

The Weekender: Blue Rodeo hockey, blind tequila tasting and Earth Hour stargazing

1. SNAP! 2011
Over 16,000 Torontonians are living with HIV/AIDS right now, and two more are infected every day. That’s why this annual photographic fundraiser for the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) is more than just a fun, artsy event (though it’s that, too). Gorgeous photos and photo-based art make up the catalogue of the evening’s live and silent auctions, which raise money for ACT’s education and community outreach programs. March 27. $90. Canada’s National Ballet School, 400 Jarvis St., 416-340-8484, snap-toronto.com.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Hype

Pretty Young Things

February 10, 2011 | 4:45 pm

1 Comment

Sk8er girl Avril Lavigne goes sexpot for Vanity Fair Italy

She didn’t make the cover, but Avril Lavigne’s photos did make it into this issue of Vanity Fair Italia

Newsflash: Avril Lavigne is all grown up. She’s sexy in an adult way now, looking like a vampy version of Taylor Swift. The reformed sk8er girl is hoping to make a major comeback with a new album, which is why we’re seeing a lot more of her these days, including this sexpot spread in Vanity Fair Italy.

No, we didn’t know there was an Italian Vanity Fair, and no, we didn’t know that Avril had an Italian following, but we guess that she’s happy to remind anyone of her existence after a lengthy professional sabbatical. So far, the reception to her new tunes has been mixed (her first single hit 13 on the U.S. charts). Meanwhile, the eternally complicated pop tart is doing her best to stay in the headlines with controversial statements—“don’t compare me to Madonna”—and even more controversial hair. Maybe we should compare her to Rainbow Brite instead.

The Dish

From the Print Edition

January 31, 2011 | 8:52 am

32 Comments

12 wines under $10: good, affordable wine is no longer an oxymoron

WHITE

BIG HOUSE WHITE 2009
(California, U.S.)
A sharply reduced price makes one of California’s most amusing whites—a fresh, perfumed, multi-grape blend—a no-brainer for parties (The cost of this wine has increased to over $10 since this article was published.). LBCO 173286

CASAL THAULERO 2009 OSCO PINOT GRIGIO
(Abruzzi, Italy)
Casal Thaulero’s flavourful and refreshing pinot grigio blows away the rest of the Italian competition. LCBO 73163

Read the rest of this entry »

The Goods

Shop Talk

December 2, 2010 | 3:06 pm

Comments

Introducing: Calligaris, King Street East’s newest home decor shop

Calligaris is home to sleek, multifunctional Italian-made furniture

The place: Toronto’s largest selection of Calligaris merchandise is housed in a heritage building, originally built in 1907 for the Sovereign Bank of Canada, on King Street just east of Jarvis. Of course, King East needs more furniture stores like Queens Quay needs more condo buildings, but this Italian import offers a sleek alternative to the more traditional styles of Up Country and the antique stores that dot the strip.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

The New Normal

November 17, 2010 | 10:35 am

1 Comment

Twitter gives Toronto its own “trending topics” section, unironically puts city on same list as New York and London

OMG, it’s #stuffYYZlikes!

Twitter, rather than discover a way to let people share their feelings with more than 140 characters at a time, has decided instead to finesse its “trending topics” service. This is where users can learn the popular subjects of discussion in particular locales. Until recently, the municipality-specific trending topics have been limited to U.S. cities, but the list went global yesterday to include London, São Paulo and, yes, Toronto.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Summit Survivor

June 27, 2010 | 1:40 pm

Comments

Welcome, G20 leaders! Now, spend some money here

Yes, you can spend money in Toronto (Image: Sweet One)

The long-anticipated G20 summit has arrived in Toronto and has not been an unblemished joy for the people who live here. Between expensive security and shuttered businesses and Karl Rove and riots, many Torontonians now wish the summit had gone elsewhere. What would soothe the city’s irritation at having to play host to the world’s rich and powerful? How about if the foreign delegates spent some fat cash while they’re in town partying? For the leaders of the G20, here is our guide to where they should leave their money as they breeze through Toronto.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

From the Print Edition

June 9, 2010 | 1:58 pm

7 Comments

Fever pitch: four ideal places to watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup—soccer’s ultimate series—offers a riotous excuse to cut loose and bend your elbow before 11 a.m. Here, five places to cheer on your mother country (or adopted team) By Denise Balkissoon

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Rumours & Rumblings

May 25, 2010 | 2:03 pm

1 Comment

Eataly coming to Toronto? Rumours swirl amid explained puns and subtle cultural insensitivity

The entrance of Eataly in Milan (Image: singingbeagle)

Oscar Farinetti was in town this weekend, scouting possible locations and looking for a financial partner to help him open Canada’s first location of Eataly. Started in Turin, Eataly is a chain of Italian food grocery meccas. With locations in New York, Japan and, of course, Italy, the shopping phenomenon focuses on education, local products, quality food retail and dining (the Manhattan location counts Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich among its partners). Farinetti wonders which is a better location for his store: Montreal or Toronto?

Read the rest of this entry »

The Informer

Election Whoas

May 7, 2010 | 1:18 pm

1 Comment

Not as sexy as it sounds: five things the U.K. can expect from a hung parliament, from a country that’s been there many times before

LIMPFIFE: the U.K. election joins the ranks of the electorally ambiguous (UK map: uni-bielefeld.de)

Welcome, Brits, to the 21st-century club known as Lands Irked by Minor Political Fiascos Immediately Following an Election (LIMPFIFE). First, it was the Americans in Florida, then Italy in 2008, then Ottawa two winters ago, and now the United Kingdom is busy trying to figure out who, exactly, will be its next prime minister.

There’s nothing more fun than electing a “hung parliament,” the country’s delightfully naughty term for the situation in which no party wins a majority of seats in the House of Commons. Of course, Canada has had a minority government (our name for it is predictably duller and more emasculating) for years now, and along the way we’ve had plenty of opportunities to pick up some hints of what’s coming for the Brits between the chaos, bickering, and near-constant brinkmanship of a Parliament where nobody’s really in charge. Here, our top five things to watch out for after your electile dysfunction. (No need to thank us. You look pretty busy.)

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

From the Print Edition

April 27, 2010 | 2:30 pm

1 Comment

Mixed marriages: nine excellent blended wines

White blends are red hot By David Lawrason

(Image: Brian Rea)

Before buying a bottle, we all want some idea of what it holds in store, and we often look to the grape variety for clues: chardonnay will likely be creamy and rich, sauvignon blanc crisp and herbal, viognier will bloom with exotic fragrance. The latest white wine trend—blending three or more grape varieties—makes it much harder to predict taste, especially when the wines are given such enigmatic names as Conundrum, Twisted and just plain White. (What exactly does a conundrum taste like?) The new white blends may seem mysterious (and some wineries even market that mystery), but a few rules of thumb still apply. They tend to be floral because they usually contain muscat, gewürztraminer or viognier—grapes with stridently perfumed aromas. Most also feature sauvignon blanc or riesling, as the acidity of these grapes balances the sweeter, fruity notes of the aromatic varieties. And many have background oak spice when chardonnay is mixed in.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

From the Print Edition

March 29, 2010 | 11:12 am

2 Comments

Safety in numbers: Are the world’s highest-scoring wines really that good?

A taste test of critics’ picks By David Lawrason

Taste test of critic's picks, Illustration by Dan Page

(Illustration: Dan Page)

It has been three decades since a group of American critics introduced the 100-point scoring system and revolutionized wine reviewing. Some purists still argue that you can’t put a number on a piece of art (assuming wine is art—an unwinnable debate for another day) and that taste can’t be measured. But, like it or not, the system has become the industry standard. Ratings are now so important that retailers worldwide market their wines according to them. Vintages recently grouped more than 30 wines that scored highly among international critics in a special release called North of 90—a 90-point rating being the tipping point to excellence. The idea is to offer consumers what Vintages calls “a low-risk purchasing decision.” The promotion seems to work; the 90-point releases are among its most popular.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Pantry Raid

March 17, 2010 | 10:20 am

2 Comments

That EVOO may have lost its extra virginity

Unclean? Unclear (Image: Monica Arellano-Ongpin)

The Post reports that as demand for olive oil grows around the world, producers are mixing different kinds of cheap oil and calling it extra-virgin to take advantage of customers. “Olive oil is a commodity that can easily be diluted or substituted with cheaper oil,” said a spokesperson for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last summer. “The presence of other oils in olive oil cannot be detected by visual inspection, and therefore consumers rely on the labelling.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Culinary Curiosities

February 25, 2010 | 3:27 pm

1 Comment

The next generation of pizza: the pizzacone

At one midtown Manhattan restaurant, pizza is undergoing an extreme makeover. Ingo Pinto, co-owner and manager of K!, has introduced North America’s first truly portable pizza slice: the pizzacone.

Pinto saw the trend taking off in Portugal, Brazil and Italy, and he wanted to bring it to his N.Y.C. pizzeria, which looks more like a frozen yogurt shop. Customers fill their dough cone at the topping station with fixings like salami, broccoli, bacon and green peppers, and the cones are then baked for five minutes. The only problem: five minutes is far too long for many New Yorkers. And given that Torontonians barely take 15 minutes for lunch, we might not see the pizzacone here until the preparation time can be perfected to under a minute.

• Reinventing the pie [New York Daily News]

All stories relating to Italy

Contests

Links and Offers

Most shared stories today

The latest from across the St. Joseph Media network