Loblaws | torontolife.com

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

All stories relating to Loblaws

Water buffalo cheese is the latest in artisinal dairy

Water buffalo have picky milking needs (Photo by Cathy, Sam, Max and Mai)

Two years ago, Martin Littkemann and Lori Smith were tired of milking cows, so the couple purchased 40 young water buffalo for their farm north of Trenton. Since then, the herd has grown to over 100, and they’ve launched Ontario Water Buffalo Co. The milk is sold to Vaughan’s Quality Cheese, where it’s turned into small-batch cheese and sold at Pusateri’s, Whole Foods and select Loblaws and Longo’s. It’s also been served at Pizzeria Libretto, Terroni and Buca.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Goods

Shop Talk

February 24, 2010 | 12:56 pm

2 Comments

Andy Spade takes on Hudson’s Bay Company branding

Partners and Spade products for HBC (Photo via partnersandspade.com)

Many Canadians are proud of the Hudson’s Bay Company, passing the striped wool blankets and coats on as heirlooms, but there’s one New York ideas man who thinks our patriotic staples—and their founding company—are in need of an upgrade. Andy Spade, the husband of trendy tote maker Kate, has taken on a new hobby of late: under the banner Partners and Spade, he is re-imagining tried-and-true branding images of big retail institutions. Also on his long list are California’s Swanson winery and Target, which he will infuse with some of the imagination that helped the couple’s own brand succeed.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Goods

Shop Talk

February 18, 2010 | 11:54 am

2 Comments

Joe Fresh founder Joe Mimran gets a promotion at Loblaw

Joe Fresh puts on one of the best-attended fashion week shows (Photo by Jenna Marie Wakani)

Club Monaco founder and Joe Fresh Style tycoon Joe Mimran has been appointed head of general merchandise at Loblaw, meaning he’ll be overseeing the non-food items, such as books, electronics, home decor and furniture, toys, home furnishings, electronics, sporting goods, books, toys and hardware. The announcement comes after Loblaw’s fourth-quarter profits were down $190 million from a year ago, owing largely to weak food sales.

While it’s a big promotion for Mimran, who also founded the dearly missed home decor chain Caban, it’s not a surprising one. He’s managed to turn Loblaws stores into a cheap and chic clothing destination, drawing suburban families and urban fashion types alike. Joe Fresh has become the second-largest clothing line in the country and last year added makeup and body products to its repertoire. The company is hoping Mimran can work the same magic on other non-grocery items.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Pantry Raid

February 18, 2010 | 8:24 am

2 Comments

Fresh and Wild jumps on the “convenience food” bandwagon

As we reported a few months ago, the trend in food shopping is toward streamlined shops that offer prepared food for busy urbanites. Longo’s is doing it, Loblaws is doing it, Mark McEwan is doing it, and now Fresh and Wild is doing it. Construction is underway at the Distillery District location as Jason Rosso, ex-chef at Sassafraz and Rosewater Supper Club and currently the director of operations of the Distillery Restaurant Group, is giving the grocery store a makeover to make it more accessible to the neighbourhood, as well as to hungry travellers. “Our primary focus is on prepared foods, like roast chickens and oven-fresh pizzas. We also started a salad bar where you can pick and choose from 30 items.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Pantry Raid

February 10, 2010 | 8:24 am

3 Comments

Something is a lot less fishy at Loblaws seafood counters

(Photo by Calc-tufa)

Loblaws put its green foot forward this week, with a pledge to sell only sustainable seafood by the end of 2013. This means that all the seafood products in its stores—from frozen or canned items to cat food that contains fish—will adhere to strict guidelines that prove their makers have harvested and grown the food in a manner that preserves marine life. The grocery chain, which is one of the largest buyers and sellers of seafood in Canada, has already begun prepping consumers for the eco-friendly move. Trays that once sold such endangered species as Chilean sea bass now contain only signs suggesting alternative products (Pacific halibut in this case). Apparently Loblaws has come a long way since this time last year, when its stock of shark fin soup sparked a fishy fiasco among animal protectionists.

• Loblaw displays empty fish trays to highlight at-risk species [CBC]

The Dish

Read All About It

December 8, 2009 | 8:47 am

Comments

Anne Burrell sued for discrimination, picking the best rum, the Annex gets even more 905-friendly

• Although Amy Adams portrays her in Julie and Julia as a cute cubicle dweller wanting to escape, the real-life Julie Powell reveals in her new memoir, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession, that adultery and cybersex with strangers were part of the fallout of her fame. Wanting to escape the “pedestal” she was “undeservedly” placed on after her debut book got her a lucrative movie deal and a fan following, Powell followed in the footsteps of other great literati who tasted fame too young: she lived self-destructively and burned the people closest to her, then shoved aside the guilt and grasped for fame again by writing a book about her misadventures. [Globe and Mail]

• A lawsuit against spiky-haired Food Network star Anne Burrell alleges that, in addition to making mouth-watering meatball sandwiches in her West Village restaurant, Centro Vinoteca, Burrell relentlessly ridiculed her female front-of-house staffers. Burell allegedly told one bartender that she was a “ho” with “saggy boobs,” and another waitress that she “must be tired today from fucking all night.” The suit also claims that any employee who complained was dismissed. [Gothamist]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

December 2, 2009 | 9:18 am

1 Comment

Waiters’ secrets revealed, the thieving of oysters, Loblaws to move into Maple Leaf Gardens

The puck stopped here: with the exception of Battle of the Blades, Maple Leaf Gardens has remained quiet for years (Photo by Ian Muttoo)

• After years of delays, a Loblaws supermarket is set to occupy part of the space inside Maple Leaf Gardens. The grocery giant bought the building in 2004—prompting a backlash from hockey fans—but financial issues kept the Carlton Street landmark dormant for five years. A $20-million contribution from the federal government, plus a contribution from Ryerson, which will place an athletic centre in the building’s upper floors, has finally got the wheels moving again. [Toronto Star]

• In a list sure to invoke the ire of New York Times blogger Bruce Buschel, Reader’s Digest speaks with two dozen servers to find out what secrets they would reveal if they could get away with it. Responses range from the vindictive (one server admitted to running soup spoons under hot water to teach cold soup complainers a lesson) to the didactic (don’t take the credit card slip with the tip written on it—the server won’t get anything). [Reader’s Digest]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Goods

Shop Talk

December 1, 2009 | 12:58 pm

Comments

Loblaw, Ryerson and Joe Fresh Style will move into Maple Leaf Gardens

The exterior of the Gardens (Photo by Ian Muttoo)

Finally, some movement on the proposed deal between Ryerson University and Loblaw to rejuvenate Maple Leaf Gardens. Today the federal government said it would give $20 million to the project (the rest of the costs are to be shared by Rye High and the grocer), which will include the construction of an athletic centre, with a rink for the school hockey team.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

September 23, 2009 | 11:36 am

Comments

Black garlic takes Toronto, Christopher Walken chickens out, the world’s largest hamburger

• Christopher Walken has posted a YouTube video showcasing his cooking skills. In the video “Man Makes Chicken With Pears,” Walken walks viewers through the whole recipe. Emeril he is not. His kitchen reminds us of our first apartment, complete with cat sniffing around the food. Our favourite quote? “I love this chicken neck,” he says with his trademark spookiness. “It’s great.” [YouTube]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

September 18, 2009 | 8:30 am

Comments

French not crazy about Julia Child, Maple Leaf Gardens has a future, top food-buying trends of 2009

Pricey ice cream takes hit in 2009 (Photo by Monsieur Gordon)

• Retail analysts have released a list of 10 Canadian food-buying habits in 2009, and they’re all of a totally unsurprising theme: cheaper (lentils instead of chicken), less (leftovers instead of groceries) and trading down (Breyers instead of Häagen-Dazs). Missing from the list: free (the dumpster behind Ace Bakery). [Globe and Mail]

• Julie and Julia premieres in France this week, and ex-pat Americans are shocked to discover that French people don’t really know or care about Julia Child or her cookbooks. In the words of one Parisian, Child’s culinary style is “the vision of a revisited France, adapted to the American taste, at a time when tastes were lifeless.” Sacre bleu. [New York Times]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

August 25, 2009 | 9:12 am

1 Comment

Frank Bruni loves Toronto’s Asian food, Loblaws trumpets local produce, the Food Network is recession-proof

• The retired critic Frank Bruni told the Globe and Mail that his complicated history with food actually had an effect on the language he used in his reviews. The former sleep eater, “faster” and childhood bulimic says he specifically avoided the words “guilty pleasure” and “sinful.” The writer also spread a little butter on our muffin, saying he used to trek up to T.O. for Asian food when he lived in Detroit. [Globe and Mail]

• American specialty channel the Food Network is celebrating a 20 per cent rise in ratings this July over last. Real estate shows have tanked since the bubble burst, while food shows have become more popular because they “take away the pain,” says TV analyst Shari Anne Brill. The Food Network’s audience was growing long before the recent uptick, with a total increase of 55 per cent since 2004. [Bloomberg]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

August 8, 2009 | 10:53 am

Comments

Julia Child revisited, dining with dogs, a new breakfast chain for Ontario

Forget the doggie bag: some Toronto restaurants allow pooches to eat right at the table (Photo by rmatei)

• Going out for a bite can be a problem if one’s puppy wants to come too. Writer Ivy Knight suggests that there are a few dog-friendly places to eat in town. Buddha Dog on Roncesvalles offers free all-natural hot dogs to their canine customers. The Williams Coffee Pub on Queen’s Quay will actually let your dog share a meal with you at (or beneath?) the table. [Toronto Star]

• To mark this weekend’s release of Julie and Julia, Michael Rowe revisits his 1997 interview with Julia Child, which happened back when he was writing for Fab, a Toronto’s bi-weekly for the gay community. Child thought he was writing for Romantic Food (no such thing) and that was probably a good thing considering her homophobic past. Tidbits include her revelation that she sees chocolate and marijuana as similarly sensual, her distaste for low-cal food and her belief that Martha Stewart’s critics were “probably jealous of her because she’s so good-looking and capable.” [Huffington Post]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

May 27, 2009 | 8:10 am

2 Comments

The $12 cup of coffee, the pizza vending machine and the cocaine-tainted cola

• In a few weeks, an Italian company will present its re-imagining of the vending machine. Rather than serving up coffee, chips or chocolate bars, the new gizmo will produce pizza—ready to eat after about three minutes of infrared cooking. [National Post]

• The world’s most expensive coffee—$500 per pound or $12 per cup—is coming to Canada. The high price is due to the process that prepares the product for sale: a cat-like animal in Indonesia must eat and pass the beans (the digestion “elevates” the beans) before they are washed, ground and brewed. [Vancouver Sun]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

May 6, 2009 | 10:42 am

1 Comment

A $75,000 recipe, China’s “illegal” pork ban, and Meryl’s Julia Child impression

• To brighten up this Wednesday morning, here’s Meryl Streep doing an awesome Julia Child impression for the upcoming movie Julie and Julia. This almost makes up for Mamma Mia! Almost. [YouTube]

• Loblaws’ profit increased by a whopping 73 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, meaning the grocery giant made $109 million in the last three months alone. Somewhere, Galen Weston is celebrating with some non-PC brand wine. [CP]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dish

Read All About It

April 10, 2009 | 7:21 am

Comments

Flannel feasts at The Drake, fat facts at school, Burger King’s asinine advertising

• Because nothing screams “kids’ meal” better than a rap about getting an erection, the gurus at Burger King decided to sample one-hit wonder Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” in a new ad campaign. We now expect McDonalds to use “Cop Killer” to market its Polly Pocket toys. [Eat Me Daily]

• Top T.O. chefs (Oddfellows’ Matty Matheson and Veritas’s Brad Livergant, among others) dressed in flannel and gathered at The Drake on Monday for an Iron Chef–style cook-off. The special ingredient? Maple syrup. Winning dishes included a double-smoked bacon lollipop and a maple brûlée tartlet. With competitors dressed in flannel and knocking back beer, the only thing that could have made it more Canadian would have been the smell of burnt toast. [Toronto Star]

• In an effort to reduce levels of obesity in the province, the Ontario Medical Association is demanding restaurant chains and school cafeterias post calorie counts on their menus. [OMA]

• Expect two weeks of bag hoarding: starting April 22, Loblaws stores across the country will be charging a nickel per plastic bag in an effort to keep one billion non-biodegradable sacks from ending up in landfills. [Toronto Sun]

• New York’s guide to the best kosher wines for Passover includes suggestions on when to drink the wine during the Seder. Despite the tasting notes, the author says they all go well with brisket. Then again, what doesn’t? [New York]

All stories relating to Loblaws

Contests

Links and Offers

The latest from across the St. Joseph Media network