Last fall, a masonry company working on the new Loblaws flagship at Maple Leaf Gardens unearthed a gift for local historians (and Loblaws public relations managers): a time capsule. A small copper box had been placed behind the cornerstone on September 21, 1931, and yesterday, Loblaws and Ryerson University finally revealed what was inside. Among the dozen items is a miniature Red Ensign flag (Canada’s national flag at the time), three hockey rulebooks and four newspapers containing stories about Japan invading Manchuria and the financial crisis (i.e. the Great Depression). Yes, 80-odd years ago Torontonians were obsessed with hockey and worried about a global economic slowdown. Sound familiar?

(Image: Food Network Canada)

Last night, as thousands of Canadians looked on from their living rooms, Recipe to Riches came full circle when Glo McNeill, winner of episode one’s sweet puddings and pies challenge, took home the $250,000 prize. The vivacious grandma from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, impressed the country with her Luscious Lemon Pudding Cakes, beating out John Grass and his Chicken Grenades in the final elimination round. The cakes weren’t the office favourite, but we have to respect such a simple recipe trouncing the competition. We caught up with her just after the taping to discuss her toughest rivals, web presence and what she plans to do with all that cash. Read our Q&A with the one and only G-Lo from Lunenberg, after the jump.

You said in the finale that you didn’t expect to win. Was that just modesty?

I’ve been following this online, and I’ve been looking at people raving about the kulfi ice cream. I really thought it was going to come down to Rosy and me. I thought she had a huge support network and her product was extraordinarily well received. I mean, some of the comments about it were just lyrical. Now, I took a couple of mouthfuls and I didn’t care for it at all, but that’s a personal palate.

Do you know how well your product is selling?

We could only go on hearsay, word of mouth. I know they were sold out along the south shore, which is where I live, because people kept phoning me up and asking, “When are you going to make some more?” But I had no no way of knowing besides what I read on my Tweetdeck or on Facebook.

Were you active on social networking before the competition?

I got my first computer in 1986. I played Scrabble on ISC [Internet Scrabble Club] for many, many years. So computers are nothing new to me—mind you, I’m sort of an idiot savant because I don’t know how they work—but when I found out it was going to be cyber-voting, I took it very seriously.

So do you think your personality contributed to your success? Being a somewhat tech-savvy, eloquent old lady…

Compared to a gorgeous 22-year-old with incredible tattoos and hair down to her behind? Or compared to a six-foot, four-inch ex-football champion? We all had our charms, or else we wouldn’t be up there as finalists.

So what are you going to do with all that money?

First we’re going to have a good Christmas, a damn good Christmas. Second we’re going to get the builder in to look at our 140-year-old house and fix all the little niggly things that have been worrying us. We haven’t had a holiday in a long, long time. We’re going to be able to go to the dentist without thinking we can’t afford it. So, really and truly, we won’t have to look over our shoulders for a long, long time.

What have you used your $25,000 for?

We put away enough to cover our mortgage payments for the next year, which is huge. Visa took a lot, you know. And the rest is just going on basic living. It couldn’t have happened at a better time, because we were really at a stage where we were thinking we were gonna have to talk with the children to see if they could help us, which is a horrendous thing to have to do.

Do you have any other genius recipes to share?

I’ve written a family cookbook and I think they’re all genius recipes. You’ve probably not seen the Facebook page, G-Lo from Lunenburg? Well, I’ve been doing quotes from the family recipe book, which is used on most Canadian coast guard ships because of Drew. [McNeill’s son is a senior captain.]

We’ve been wondering: why is your cartoon likeness painting on the box art?

I used to make my living teaching art. And since this show has happened, a new gallery has picked up on my paintings. So, after not painting seriously for 40 years, I’m back in business. I was in the 1967 centennial exhibition of Canadian women painters. My best years were pre-1974.

How do you think the product is going to do going forward?

I think it’s going to be the sort of thing that’s totally ageless. I’ve worked on a gluten-free version as a result of comments I’ve read about how excited people were about a gluten-free cookie. So I experimented with flours and I was just mentioning it to Galen Weston, and he said, “Let’s talk about it.” So there may well be a gluten-free version. I think it’s going to be around a long time.

Always with your name attached to it?

Irrelevant. I don’t mind. I’ve had my moment. How much excitement does an 82-year-old want?

The finalists await their fate (Image: Food Network Canada)

The six remaining home cooks from across the country were all dressed in their Sunday best for the season finale of Recipe to Riches. The drama was suitably amped up, given the $250,000 at stake: gold envelopes containing the identities of the winners were kept on a pedestal under a glass lid, always in plain view (we attended the taping in person this week and got to see a few off-camera hijinks, like judges Laura Calder and Tony Chapman having a mock slap fight). Host Jesse Palmer called up two contestants at a time, Noah’s ark style, for a one-on-one elimination (notably, this structure was only possible with Smart Cookie creator Sonya Walos’s absence; she never came up). Before each matchup, a standard reality TV video recap of each contestant’s “Recipe to Riches journey” was played. Then, the usually cheerful Palmer turned suddenly grave before revealing which contestant would be going home.

Round One

The opening faceoff was between Jacqui Keseluk (Rock ’n’ Peach Bliss Cheesecake) and John Grass (Chicken Grenades). Keseluk was the first kicked out of the running, but revealed that her old community college was helping her plan a pastry shop anyway. On his way back to his seat, Grass gave fellow barbecuer-in-arms Robert Luft a hearty fist bump.

Round Two

Next up were Melaney Gleeson-Lyall (Bannock Hazelnut Pie) and Luft (Slow and Low Pulled Pork). Lyall credited the competition with bringing her mother’s side, father’s side and adopted family together for the first time. However, it was Luft who got the nod for the next round, returning Grass’s fist bump as he took his seat.

Round Three

A near-mute Rosy Soobrattee (Kulfi Karma) took the stage alongside a dumbstruck Glo McNeill (Luscious Lemon Pudding Cake)—“You’re just giving hand signals today,” Palmer quipped. Once she found her words, G-Lo explained that her son Drew, captain of Canada’s largest icebreaker, actually moved a few satellites around to be able to watch her episode in the arctic—once the ship hit dry dock, Loblaws shipped 24 cases of the pudding cakes for the crew. In the end, a visibly disappointed Soobrattee was edged out of the final three. “Life is short, life is sweet,” she mused. “I’m truly blessed.”

Final Elimination

Jesse Palmer announces the winner of Recipe to Riches (Image: Food Network Canada)

With only Luft, Grass and Glo remaining (and positioned in perfect height order), it was time for Galen Weston Jr. to make his grand entrance and drop a few pithy comments. The Chicken Grenades, for instance, “virtually blew the freezer doors off.” First out: Luft, who left with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. Down to two, McNeill confessed that she had “very, very old butterflies in [her] tummy doing handstands.” For the final announcement, Palmer, for the last time, turned on his latter-day Cronkite face and announced that Grandma Glo was Canada’s choice as winner of Recipe to Riches. Cue a giant novelty cheque and a face full of confetti. Family, friends and judges all rushed onstage for the requisite hugs, but before Palmer closed the show, he revealed that auditions for a second season aren’t far away. We can’t say we’re shocked: the show is equal parts reality TV and marketing stunt, and has a built-in cross-country fan base of aspiring home cooks. Who knows? Maybe next year, we’ll be graced with a President’s Choice–brand gulab jamun.

The Recipe to Riches finalists, along with judges Tony Chapman, Dana McCauley and Laura Calder

Today is the last day of voting for season one of the President’s Choice product development spectacular Recipe to Riches. The show’s producers flew the six finalists in from across Canada to meet each other for the first time before they film the final episode this weekend. We stopped in at the event, held in the cooking studio at the new Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens, to find out why they think they should take home the $250,000 grand prize. See their answers after the jump.

(Maple Leaf Gardens image: Kevin Naulls)

In the seven years since news broke that the Maple Leaf Gardens would be turning into a grocery store, it’s become something of a bad joke, a symbol of modernity callously stomping on the past. But after Wednesday’s grand opening of the Loblaws flagship store, Torontonians have suddenly opened up to the idea with surprising vigour. And there’s a lot to love, what with walls of cheese, cupcakes, tea and aging meat, as well as plenty of relics from the days of yore, like a giant leaf sculpture made out of the stadium’s original plastic chairs and a red dot in aisle 25 marking the former location of centre ice. Here’s some of what other Torontonians had to say:

• Hockey Hall of Famer and former Maple Leaf Dick Duff wandered the floor on opening day, signing autographs and posing for cheesy photos at the centre ice marker. “It’s a shame they couldn’t keep the Gardens as the home of the Leafs,” he told the Toronto Sun. “But I’m glad they’ve done something good with the building. In Montreal, they’ve almost forgotten the Forum.” The 75-year-old was largely satisfied with the nods to the team’s glory days, but joked to the National Post, “That Ace Bakery sign—it should really say Ace Bailey.” Zing!

• According to the Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume, “Maple Leaf Gardens never looked so good, nor smelled so sweet.” He credits the store, along with new condo development and the National Ballet School expansion, with revitalizing a once-crummy Carlton Street. Apparently the effect was immediate: as soon as the doors opened, “Loblaws was already an urban fixture. That’s how long it took.” He also contributed some Humovision.

• Marcus Gee at the Globe and Mail was also impressed: “The stunning new Loblaws brings life to the old hulk and a new urban buzz to its downtown neighbourhood,” he writes. Gee expects that the flagship store will prove that big chain operations can fit in and flourish in the city. With a university, a corporation and the government working together, he calls the Gardens rebirth “city building at its best.”

• To prevent the city from collapsing in fits of joy, The Grid’s Edward Keenan tweeted a link to a grumpy 2004 article in which he called it an insult to have “the repository of our dreams and past glories” transformed into “a place to buy toilet paper and dog food.”

• Like Keenan, Toronto historian Michael Bliss chastised Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for vetoing efforts to establish a hockey stadium that could rival the Air Canada Centre. “Surely Ryerson University and Loblaws have done a great thing for Toronto and Canada,” he wrote in a letter to the Post, “mostly against the wishes of the organization that also has failed repeatedly to give our community a quality hockey team.”

• Stuart Ross—owner of the nearby Bulldog Café—called it “a spectacular store” in the Globe. “Their cheese wall is unbelievable,” he said. “The cupcakes—it seems like a 20-foot-long display case of bakery goods—that impressed me.” He claims he bought the very first item (pomegranate juice) at the new store, with the receipt signed by Galen Weston himself. Predictably, a number of gourmets on Chowhound complained about the quality of the food, but as apologist “freia” noted, quite reasonably, “Well, it IS a grocery store.”

(Images: Kevin Naulls)

When a heritage building like Maple Leaf Gardens is renovated, there’s always a concern that whatever goes inside will gut the building’s soul, with, at best, a commemorative plaque to mark what used to be. Thankfully, Galen Weston and his Loblaws crew chose to retain the charm of the iconic arena, except that instead of stadium seating and the aroma of beer nuts, the impressively large space is now home to fresh bread (from Ace Bakery), a café (with the original Gardens gold seats), a wide selection of organic produce (fans of Portlandia will be pleased to know that images of the farmers responsible abound), a sushi bar, an LCBO, a walk-in clinic, a Joe Fresh, a wall of cheese (seriously, a whole wall), a wall of cupcakes (seriously, a whole wall) and a wall of aging meat (yes, a whole wall). That’s just the tip of the chocolate-by-the-chunk iceberg (of which there is one—it weighs 250 pounds and required a mechanical lift to drop into place). Tour the brand new grocery mega-store in a gallery after the jump.

Before we were admitted to the supermarket-cum-coliseum for the grand opening, Weston gave a speech, followed by a baguette-cutting ceremony (the purpose-baked Ace baguette was a good five feet long). We entered and hung a left to find a red-subway-tiled café selling bagels (69 cents each), espresso-based drinks ($1.79–$3.19) and house-made gelato ($2.99–$10.99). Much of the prepared food in the store, from stocks and soups to baked goods, is made in-house by executive chef Mark Russell and his team of nine Red Seal chefs. According to senior VP André Fortier, who was responsible for the “concept rollout,” there will be no day-old goods at this location (leftovers will be donated to Second Harvest).

There’s a lot to see and touch, but some of the most appealing items in-store right now include Malpeque oysters ($1.20 each), live market lobsters ($9.99), dry-aged Wagyu strip loin steaks ($88.16 per kilogram), a Cropwell Bishop Stilton ($4.59 per 100 grams) and a dried mushroom bar that’s home to dried morels ($113.39 per pound), black trumpets ($31.75 per pound) and porcinis ($45.36 per pound). We even found a pretty decent-looking PC Santoku knife ($22) in the home section and some beautiful Phalaenopsis orchids ($14.99), bred in the Niagara Peninsula, in the large flower shop. We do warn that shoppers should heed the old adage “never shop hungry” at this place, lest they find themselves needing to be pried off the gigantic cheese wall (or the 12-foot cupcake wall).

Last night was the premiere of Recipe to Riches, the much-hyped new Food Network Canada show where each week, a trio of home cooks compete in one of eight different categories to determine whose recipe would make the best President’s Choice product. (No, really.) The show was one pinch of So You Think You Can Dance’s nationwide talent search, a dollop Top Chef’s cook offs and product placement and a heap of Dragon’s Den’s Marketing 101, all whirred in a blender. To be honest, it can sometimes make for a strange mix—the Top Chef–style solemnity that greets each elimination seems a little out place when the contestants change every episode. Each winning product will show up on Loblaws shelves the weekend after the episode airs, and at the end, viewers will vote to crown the winner of a $250,000 grand prize. Every week, we’ll be bringing an advance sample of the winning dish into our office to see whether it’s worth the trip to the grocery store. After the jump, our thoughts on the winner of the Sweet Puddings and Pies challenge.

Mini-Recap

The winner this week was Glo McNeill from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, a tough yet charming 81-year-old granny who arrived with her “luscious lemon pudding,” so-called because it symbolizes the return of “luscious lemons” after the deprivations she faced in World War II–era England. Next to that story, Mijune Pak, a high-heeled food blogger from Surrey, British Columbia, didn’t stand a chance with her “Canadian pie,” a multi-culti mishmash in a jar. Pak was eliminated in the “batch-up” challenge, in which the competitors are asked to make 200 portions of their home recipes with the help of a trio of “product development mentors.” Gatineau’s Brad Gash came closer with his down-home, maple cream–laden pouding chômeur (which he billed as the next poutine), but was edged out in the product development challenge, which involved coming up with a name and marketing plan and putting on a big public tasting event for hungry-looking Ryerson students (who, to be honest, looked like they’d devour whatever was put in front of them). Not-so-secret guest judge Galen Weston Jr. came on at the end of the episode to announce the winner. The requisite tears and embraces followed.

Tasting

In what we’re sure will be a running theme in the series, it was a little hard to square the four frozen miracles of modern food science we received with the six-ingredient homemade dessert on the show. Each 330-calorie pudding cake came individually wrapped in a little plastic tub, which can be baked in a microwave or an oven. The office consensus? A solid “meh.” One staffer called the dish “inoffensive,” while another quipped, “I kind of wanted it to have a filling.” There was broad agreement that it was very, very sweet, and that the tartness of the lemons was missing. Visually, the goopy sauce and spongy cake that emerged from the microwave left something to be desired (one smart aleck described it as “something HR Giger would have designed for Betty Crocker”). We must admit that when we brought one of the pudding cakes home to bake in the oven, the flavour and texture of the cake improved tremendously. And it was nice to see every ingredient on the packaging was more or less recognizably “real food.” The verdict: if you’re gonna buy it, bake it. Check out some photos of our tasting in the gallery.

Next week on Recipe to Riches: Fall River, Nova Scotia’s Jacqui Keseluk, Calgary’s  Melissa Lam and Kentville, Nova Scotia’s Crystal Peach compete in the cake challenge.

(Images: Glo McNeill and Luscious Lemon Pudding, Food Network Canada; tasting photos, Andrew D’Cruz)

1. LG FASHION WEEK
Some of the city’s more fashionable citizens have been accumulating this year behind Roy Thomson Hall to check out what’ll be big next spring from the likes of Pink Tartan, Bustle, Cynthia Rowley and the eminently wearable Joe Fresh. The most high-style week of the year (or one of two, at least) wraps up on Friday with shows by David Dixon and Denis Gagnon. To October 21. Various prices. David Pecaut Square (formerly Metro Square), King St. W. between John and Simcoe streets, lgfashionweek.ca.

2. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS
Once again it’s storytime for grownups (and very precocious children) at Harbourfront. Big-name writers like Michael Ondaatje, Miriam Toews, Johanna Skibsrud and Douglas Coupland will be taking part in panels, book signings and, most importantly, readings at this 12-day literary fest. To October 30. $10-$35. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000, readings.org.

3. OPERANATION 8: A MUSE BALL
This year’s fundraising gala for the Canadian Opera Company’s COC Ensemble Studio, a training program for aspiring opera singers, is all about artistic inspiration. The tortured singer-songwriter–cum–opera composer Rufus Wainwright is the extra-special musical guest; expect his signature baroque pop sound, lots of dancing and copious references to great muses, past and present. October 21. $150. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W., 416-363-8231, coc.ca.

4. TORONTO ZOMBIE WALK (FREE!)
This five-kilometre stroll is not like other walks that take place in the city from time to time. Lycra rarely makes an appearance, for one thing, and there’s more shambling, ragged clothing and faux decomposition. Registration required. October 22. Trinity Bellwoods Park, torontozombiewalk.ca.

5. TORONTO AFTER DARK FILM FESTIVAL
For those seeking to get in the Halloween spirit in a less participatory fashion (i.e. costumes not required), this annual shiver-inducing fest is key. Zombies appear on the lineup, naturally, with the world premiere of Marko Makilaakso’s War of the Dead. Also on offer this weekend, Father’s Day, a very, very violent tale of a vigilante on the hunt for a serial killer, and Redline, a seven-years-in-the-making anime featuring a psychotic cross-planetary death race. To October 27. Screenings $13, gala screenings $15. Toronto Underground Cinema, 186 Spadina Ave., 647-992-4335, torontoafterdark.com.

6. HOW TO SUCCEED: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO DES MCANUFF
Stratford Shakespeare Festival artistic director Des McAnuff gets the tribute show treatment with this fundraising concert for, naturally, the Des McAnuff Scholarship Awards at Ryerson’s theatre school. The show features performances of songs from McAnuff-directed hits Jesus Christ Superstar, Jersey Boys and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. October 23. $50, gala tickets $150. Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory, 273 Bloor St. W., 416-408-0208, rcmusic.ca.

7. LES COQUETTES PRESENT CABARET ENCHANTÉ
Most people know that the original versions of fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers et al. aren’t quite as warm and fuzzy as the more popular retellings—blood and gore and horrible endings for innocent children were pretty common. Just keep that in mind when taking in this cabaret burlesque show from Les Coquettes. “Beloved fairy tale characters” make up the cast, but expect the darker sides of their stories to emerge. October 23 to 30. $15–$30. Revival, 783 College St., 1-877-821-7803, lescoquettes.com.

8. MICHAEL JACKSON: THE IMMORTAL WORLD TOUR
Highly anticipated and only in town for a very short run, this Michael Jackson tribute incorporates some of the King of Pop’s most well-known and loved songs and Cirque du Soleil’s terrifying acrobatics. It’s also set in the “fantastical realm” of Jackson’s “inner world” which, frankly, sounds just as scary. We can’t wait. October 21 to 23. $50–$175. Air Canada Centre, 50 Bay St., 416-870-8000, ticketmaster.ca.

(Images: Jeremy Laing model, Jenna Marie Wakani; zombie nurse, Christopher Brian from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool; Ondaatje, Tulane Public Relations)

Joe Fresh (Image: Kevin Naulls)

Joe Fresh, the Loblaw-owned fashion retailer known for its reasonable prices and wear-them-until-they’re-destroyed basics, is opening a new location on Queen West at Portland. The new store has 8,200 square feet of retail space and will open its doors on October 13—it will be the only Joe Fresh store in Toronto offering almost all of the Joe Fresh runway and ready-to-wear pieces. Considering Joe Fresh’s success at LG Fashion Week this past March, we’re intrigued by the promise of runway fashion—perhaps we’ll see these metallic, fur, floral and electric coloured minis or this orange neoprene coat in the mix. Whatever the case, the store will have something for everyone, since it will be offering men’s apparel, activewear, sleepwear, cosmetics, jewellery and sunglasses, in addition to the usual women’s apparel Joe Fresh is best known for (basic tees come to mind). Creative director Joe Mimran seems to feel that this new Queen Street West location is a no-brainer: “Over my career I’ve had experience opening two important retail stores on Queen Street and have been thrilled to be a part of the area’s evolution into a lively and unique shopping destination. We’re excited to bring the Joe Fresh brand to the vibrant art and cultural scene of Queen Street.” Perhaps our favourite part of store openings is opening day discounts: the new Queen and Portland Joe Fresh location is offering 20 per cent off purchases on opening day, which means we’ll be buying approximately 10 t-shirts in various colours, and maybe each of those skirts mentioned above.

(Image: Michelle Easton)

Loblaws is set to launch a line of gourmet products meant to compete with the likes of Pusateri’s or Mark McEwan’s grocery store McEwan, the auspiciously named President’s Choice Black Label. Indeed, they’re working with Toronto chefs like Marc Thuet and Anthony Walsh and macaron pushers Bobbette and Belle to introduce a tasting menu based on the products to 40 or 50 food writers and “influencers” at Parkdale’s Neubacher Shor Contemporary gallery on September 22. We got a sample at this week’s TIFF Tastemakers gifting lounge at the Intercontinental, where celebs were offered ginger-spiced chocolate, hickory-smoked olive oil, sweet chipotle dip and bacon marmalade.

According to a piece in the Toronto Star, the line will launch with about 200 items and appear at 140 select stores in Ontario and Quebec, with more coming in December. Priced from $1.99 to $24.99, the items are meant to sell for a lot less than they might in specialty gourmet stores. The Star interviewed Jeff Doucette, a principal in the consulting firm Sales Is Not Simple, who explained “Yes, there’s a debt crisis in Greece. But if this truffle aioli whipped dressing is cheaper at Loblaws than at my favourite gourmet store, I don’t have to give up great-tasting food, just because I’m a little over-invested in European mutual funds.” We might not be over-invested in European mutual funds, but we’ll still take that truffle aioli whipped dressing.

• Loblaws gambles on luxury food line [Toronto Star]

Inside the revamped Maple Leaf Gardens (Image: Rick Harris)

In their efforts to transform Maple Leaf Gardens into a functioning multi-use facility, it seems the folks at Loblaw Properties and Ryerson University have awoken a sleeping giant: Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. When MLSE sold Maple Leaf Gardens to Loblaws for $12 million in 2004, one of the conditions of the sale was that the House that Conn Smythe Built would be converted exclusively into a grocery store and retail space. But now that Ryerson has committed upwards of $60 million to turn the upper levels of the Gardens into a bona fide athletic facility, MLSE is seeking a court injunction against Ryerson and Loblaws, claiming that they have violated the terms of the original agreement and should be forbidden from using the name “Maple Leaf Gardens”—an MLSE-owned trademark.

The Globe and Mail has more:

In late 2009, Loblaw and Ryerson reached a deal whereby the main floor would be converted into a supermarket, while the school would build an athletic centre, basketball court and 2,500-seat arena with an NHL-size rink on the upper storeys.

The legal manoeuvring comes just three months before the first phase of the development is set to open.

MLSE would not comment in detail on the case, but court documents filed by the company suggest the sports giant is afraid Ryerson’s new facilities will host concerts and generate money, in competition with the ACC.

MLSE controls all of the city’s most valuable sports properties—including the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC, the Air Canada Centre, BMO Field, and Ricoh Colleseum—which makes going after Ryerson and its new venue seem a little unnecessary. After all, it’s hard to imagine that any promoter looking to rent out the revamped Gardens facility (capacity 2500) would also be considering the ACC (capacity 20,000-plus) as a realistic alternative.

But frankly, we don’t expect anything else from MLSE. This is the same corporation that threatened court action when Jim Balsillie mused about relocating an NHL franchise to southeastern Ontario (as if the Hamilton BlackBerries would really cause the demise of the Leafs empire). We think MLSE should just go back to counting their piles and piles of money—or perhaps even take a dip in it, like this–while they wait to be sold to Rogers.

• Don’t call arena Maple Leaf Gardens, Loblaws told [Toronto Star]
• MLSE seeks injunction over Ryerson plan for Maple Leaf Gardens [The Globe and Mail]
• Maple Leafs owner takes Maple Leaf Gardens to court over name [National Post]

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.

Quickfire

Rob Rossi fights with some seafood (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)

As the contestants piled into the GE Monogram kitchen (there, we finally said it), they were introduced to a familiar face for Canadian food TV fans: chef, restaurateur and restaurant consultant Rob Feenie, described—confusingly—by host Thea Andrews as Canada’s Iron Chef (turns out she meant he was the first Canadian to defeat an Iron Chef). The producers decided not to delve into the messy history between Feenie—once chef and co-owner of Vancouver’s Lumière—and MacKay, who succeeded him after his dramatic exit. Likewise, Gagnon’s decidedly tamer tenure under Feenie also went unmentioned (unlike “Dusty” Gallagher and Susur Lee’s back story, which the show played out back in episode 4.)

The challenge seemed strangely straightforward for Top Chef: pick three seafood items from the live, writhing spread on the table and create three memorable dishes to showcase them. Of course, there was a catch. After the chefs had made their selection, Andrews blithely informed them that they’d actually be cooking the seafood chosen by the chef to their right. Cue lots of good-natured grumbling from Rossi, who got stuck with Gallagher’s slimy, oozing and, frankly, phallic geoduck. Amazingly, Rossi, who’d never cooked with the giant clam before, managed to pull out the best trio of dishes: oyster with black pepper and apple, scallop ceviche and geoduck with wasabi, cucumber, ginger and jalapeño. Feenie was effusive in his praise, exclaiming, “Rob, by far what you did was brilliant!” Rossi replied with an impish kid-at-Christmas smile.

Elimination

After a fairly elevated quickfire, the elimination challenge was down and dirty: the chefs were asked to create street food that melded two world cuisines and serve it from a hot dog cart in Nathan Phillips Square (once again, we’ll note the irony is hard to miss). The chefs drew knives for their two cuisines, with DeSousa drawing Thai and German, MacKay getting Trinidadian and Indian, Gagnon, Chinese and Spanish, Gallagher, French and Italian and Rossi, Canadian and Vietnamese. As winner of the quickfire, Rossi was given the option of swapping one of his cuisines, so he nabbed Gagnon’s Spanish and dumped his Vietnamese on the poor francophone chef, who confessed his experience with Asian cuisine was limited to the eating end of things, not the cooking.

During the manic shopping spree at Loblaws, we were treated to a panicked Gagnon running around searching for won ton wrappers, all set to the tune of accordion music that screamed, “I’m a hapless Frenchie” (never mind that he’s from La Belle Provence, not France). MacKay’s grumbles about the challenge, meanwhile, started early and continued right to the end—apparently he was unable to compromise his lofty dining standards for lowly street food, and he seemed particularly aggrieved that he might be sent home for Trinidadian food, a cuisine he’d never once tasted. Is it us, or has “aggrieved” become his default tone? (In a rare moment of cheffy insight, MacKay did acknowledge that “sometimes I’m a bit of a douchebag, and I just need a sleep and I’m usually better in the morning.”) DeSousa, for her part, confessed that she’d actually worked for a Thai chef in Germany, so she was perfectly suited to her challenge—a realization that gave her the confidence to once again make sausages, despite head judge Mark McEwan’s misgivings about her previous attempts.

Rob Rossi’s winning dishes: grilled cheese and a sloppy Joe—no, really (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)

At the top for this street food challenge were the two remaining Toronto chefs: Gallagher, who created a French take on pizza with duck confit, emmenthal and béchamel alongside a sort of niçoise salad on a bun with Italian ingredients; and Rossi, who made a grilled cheese sandwich with serrano ham and Canadian cheddar and a sloppy Joe with chorizo, manchego and green onions. Rossi’s down-home cooking netted him the win.

When the three chefs at the bottom faced the judges, McEwan explained they were all there because, “at the end of the day, flavour was lacking in your dishes.” MacKay’s two dishes, a curry soup with some bizarre roti stuffing and a jerk chicken salad, were all heat and no flavour (resident judge Shereen Arazm was appalled when MacKay confessed he’s never tasted roti). DeSousa’s dishes were also insipid, despite their colourful presentation (and her adorable ball cap): her traditional wurst was watery (turns out she’d boiled it), and her pad Thai prompted Andrews to exclaim, “All those Thai ingredients are there… there’s just no flavour!” (to which a thousand home cooks nodded in rueful recognition). Gagnon’s dishes—a lame-looking dumpling floating in a bland faux-pho broth and some allegedly Peking duck wrapped in a Vietnamese spring roll—were as misguided as they were boring. Arazm’s pithy condemnation: “François’s roll was a waste of time—it was like eating water.” Unsurprisingly, he was sent packing back to Vancouver, where he had quit his job to be part of the competition. He bid a fond adieu to his fellow competitors with a wistful “China and Vietnam took me down.”

Next time on Top Chef Canada

U.S. Top Chef resident judge (and former Toronto Life intern) Gail Simmons stops by to kick the remaining five chefs into shape (and show the judges how it’s done, too). Apparently the results are less than stunning—at the tasting, she exclaims, “I’m totally confounded. This is your last chance to wow us!” We can’t wait to see who’s on the receiving end of her smackdown.

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