Top toque Michael Steh, bronze medallist at Toronto’s annual Gold Medal Plates competition, is the culinary mastermind behind this haute mac-and-cheese. The bowl of al dente ditalini is enriched with moist shreds of crab and scallions, spiked with just enough grainy mustard to give it a nutty crunch. It’s all baked under a blistered layer of fontina. The final product is like a crab cake, only made better thanks to the naughty combination of the nostalgia of kiddie comfort food and a three-ounce pour of muscat blanc ($7).
Time: 56 minutes.
Cost: $27, before tax and tip.
Reds, 77 Adelaide St. W., 416-862-7337, redsbistro.com.
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La Palette shuttering its Kensington location this weekend
When Shamez Amlani muses about this coming Sunday, it’s not without a little sentimentality. Three days from now, the restaurant he co-owns in Kensington Market, La Palette, will shut its doors for good so that he and his team can concentrate on the Queen West location. Ten years ago, Amlani and his associates applied a meagre $18,000 to a grungy Chinese joint and turned it into an edgy French bistro. They never imagined that it would have taken off the way it did. “It’s a miracle,” Amlani tell us. “We shot at the moon, and we actually hit it.”
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Weekly Lunch Pick: the $38 Trust the Chef prix fixe at Didier
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Didier Leroy, English Canada’s first Maître Cuisinier de France, offers one of Toronto’s more curious lunch experiences: a three-course mystery menu in which the entire table must participate. On this sunny afternoon, our trust in the chef pays off handsomely. A pair of baked eggs coddled with black truffles and foie gras arrive in an irresistibly rich madeira sauce. Next, Atlantic salmon roulade, kissed with briny sturgeon caviar, arrives on a bed of sweet braised leeks and puréed potatoes. The meal finishes with a crème brûlée that’s creamy cool, with hints of Tahitian vanilla and a thick, golden sugar crust.
Weekly Lunch Pick: the soft shell crab BLT at Nota Bene
Former Splendido mastermind David Lee named his restaurant after the Latin for “take note”—and this BLT is one of many reasons to do just that. The classic lunch sandwich more than lives up to its acronym: crisp bacon, fresh greens, lemon-herb mayo and plum tomatoes as red as they are flavourful are nestled between toasted slices of toasted white Epi Bread. Lee ups the ante by stuffing it full of crispy, deep-fried, chipotle-zinged soft-shell crab. With a few house-made potato chips and gherkins, the deli staple becomes a lunchtime luxury.
The cost: $33, including tax and tip.
The time: 55 minutes, with our food arriving in less than 15 minutes.
Nota Bene, 180 Queen St. W., 416-977-6400,
notabenerestaurant.com.
Weekly Lunch Pick: the $7 stew at Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu
Kimchee, tofu stew, rice and soup at Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu (Image: Renée Suen)
What this little Korean institution lacks in decor it more than makes up for with its namesake specialty, served as part of a set menu ($7–$9). We’re greeted with a cup of barley tea and complimentary dishes of kimchee, simmered soybeans and blanched bean sprouts. Soon, a bubbling cauldron of kimchee-tofu stew peppered with bits of pork and beef arrives with a small egg that we crack into the spicy broth. While the egg poaches, a server ladles black Japonica rice from a hot stone pot into a cool dish, then fills the empty pot with water for the meal’s second course: burnt rice soup. The tofu stew is a filling and fiery affair, and the soup acts as a hearty digestif.
The time: Everything arrives within 10 minutes, but it takes 28 more to finish the ample food on the table.
The cost: $10, including tax and a $2 tip.
Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu, 691 Bloor St. W. (at Manning Ave.), 416-537-0972.
Toronto’s Five Best Grilled Sandwiches
The best thing to hit the sandwich (since sliced bread) has to be the panino press. Here, the city’s top five melty, crunchy, lunchy grilled things.
1. Delux’s pressed Cubano
The post-mambo snack is elevated with such premium ingredients as cider-cured pork shoulder, shaved ham, homemade boule, gruyère and cornichons. This pork-on-pork sandwich is a tasty example of all that is right with today’s pig-centric cuisine. $10. 92 Ossington Ave., 416-537-0134.
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The Hoof’s delectable mix of brined, shaved tongue with brie and provolone and a sprinkling of dill is criminally non-kosher, but this refined grilled cheese and Jewish deli combo is fusion food at its finest. $12. 923 Dundas St. W., 416-792-7511.
Weekly Lunch Pick: the $29 prix fixe at Trevor Kitchen and Bar
Just don't call them sliders (Image: Matthew Fox)
For its four-year life, this acclaimed downtown restaurant has been a dinner-only establishment. That all changed this month as Trevor Kitchen and Bar opened its doors to lunchers. The elegant and cozy dining room makes the most of its underground space, with exposed stones and a little conceptual art (pity about the pot lighting, though). The freshly printed lunch menu includes à la carte selections, as well as two prix fixe options ($22 for two courses or $29 for three, both with a 30-minute lunch time guarantee). The shaved autumn vegetable salad features vibrant arugula, luscious, crunchy curls of golden beets, spiced pecans and pomegranate molasses. Two juicy mini Kobe burgers with mushrooms (the menu avoids the unappetizing moniker “sliders”) are delicious enough to make us wish they were plus-sized. The requisite side of fries gets some bold assistance from the garlic-truffle mayo. Crème brûlée and sorbet can be found anywhere, so choosing from among the three dessert options is a no-brainer: the rich dark chocolate cake with peanut butter chantilly and fresh berries defines decadence.
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Weekly Lunch Pick: the $22 Lunch Special at George
George's beef tenderloin with chevre and sweet potato (Image: Renée Suen)
Bay Street bistros can be frantic at midday, but at George, a few streets over, noon hour is a tranquil experience, set in a room of wood, linen and wrought iron. Pricey at dinner, the Queen East restaurant is more accessible at lunch with its wallet-friendly $22 special featuring any plate from the a la carte menu, one side and a dish of complimentary tapenade with fingers of focaccia. Our main is a layered affair: gooey goat cheese gratin adds depth and complexity to a rare beef tenderloin medallion that’s set in a sweet potato cake. Fresh blackberries and crisp green bean caponata punch through the fat. The daily side also amazes: curry-stuffed okra pods encased in tempura and juxtaposed by a mango, tomato and red onion salad.
The cost: $28.86, including tax and tip.
The time: 55 minutes.
George, 111C Queen St. E. (at Mutual St.), 416-863-6006, georgeonqueen.com.
Weekly Lunch Pick: the $16 prix fixe at Mengrai Gourmet Thai
Any list—formal or otherwise—of Toronto’s best Thai restaurants will inevitably include Mengrai Gourmet Thai. The ivy-covered building with an exposed-brick interior is an anomaly along this rough part of Richmond East but is known among local newspaper staffers and creative types as the ’hood’s go-to place for pad Thai, curries and stir-fries. The prix fixe lunch ($16) features chef Sasi Meechai-Lim’s delicate fresh salad roll accompanied by tiger shrimp, crispy deep-fried jumbo panko prawn, and a tiny shrimp triangle wrapper. But these are mere extras compared to the scene-stealing supporting player—a smooth, deservedly lauded golden pumpkin soup—and the undisputed star, a red curry chicken with pineapple and lychees. The pineapple-less presentation lacks the pizzazz of its dinnertime incarnation, but no matter: the dish finds the perfect balance between spicy and sweet. Dessert is the standard, but still appreciated, selection of lychee, mango, green tea and red bean ice cream.
The cost: $30, including tax, tip and a bottle of Tsingtao ($6).
The time: 50 minutes.
Mengrai Thai, 82 Ontario St. (at Richmond St. E.), 416-840-2754, mengraithai.com
Weekly Lunch Pick: the beef sukiyaki at Tokyo Grill
Sukiyaki at Tokyo Grill (Image: Renée Suen)
Turns out Guu isn’t the only place to go for Japanese comfort food. Homesick expats and Japanophiles often turn to the belly-warming sukiyaki ($12) at Tokyo Grill, an unassuming (even garish) hole in the wall near the gay village. The sumo-sized cast-iron pot comes packed with shirataki noodles, sautéed bean sprouts, spinach and sweet onions, topped off with a poached egg, thin slices of beef and creamy soft tofu. The soy-mirin broth hasn’t been over-sugared for Western tastes; it’s semi-sweet and sublimely piqued with a touch of shichimi togarashi seasoning. Diners who sit in are rewarded with a complimentary bowl of miso soup that’s showered with scallions, wakame and tofu cubes.
The cost: $19 per person, including tax, tip, an upgrade to brown rice ($1) and tea ($1). Cash only.
The time: 31 minutes.
Tokyo Grill, 582 Yonge St. (at Wellesley), 416-968-7054.
Spotted! Kate Bosworth at the Drake
Kate Bosworth and a friend are eating a late lunch at the Drake Café right now. Her film Easy A premiered on Saturday; we wonder if she watched her beau Alexander Skarsgard on True Blood’s season finale on Sunday or kept the party going with the TIFF crowd instead.
= Find this story on our Celebrity Sightings Map, where we plot the locations of stars spotted throughout Toronto
Spotted: Jennifer Garner at Holt Renfrew
We spy one Mrs. Ben Affleck, the always gorgeous Jennifer Garner, in a grey sweater and black jeans, eating lunch with a female at the Holts Café. Her order: chicken noodle soup and an iced tea.
UPDATE: We now have 25 photos of Jennifer Garner in Yorkville, hanging out with fans. David Schwimmer and Blake Lively were also caught on camera.
= Find this story on our Celebrity Sightings Map, where we plot the locations of stars spotted throughout Toronto
Zane Caplansky wants your grandmother’s balls
Who has the testicular fortitude to take on city's best ballers? (Image: Gotham Nurse)
Caplansky’s Delicatessen is holding its inaugural “Battle of the Bubbies” competition this Sunday in search of the city’s best matzo ball maker. Chief mensch Zane Caplansky points out that the competition is open to anyone—not just bubbies—and there will be two categories to compete under: cannon balls (hard balls) and fluffy balls (soft balls). For the record, Caplansky himself likes the fluffy balls. The judges include Moses Znaimer, Bonnie Stern, David Sax, Lara Rabinovitch and Amy Wilson, so it’s quite clear that these people will know what goes in a good matzo, unlike most food competitions out there (remember when Antonio Sabato Jr. was a judge on Iron Chef?).
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Spy on the stars: midday interview series on Peter Street makes it easy to see celebs
Owen and Franco and Keener, oh my
Contrary to popular belief, stars don’t only come out at night, spottable only as they rush from black SUVs to VIP sections. We’ve figured out a way to see them in broad daylight. Over the course of TIFF, our friends at the film site IndieWire are hosting a series of lunchtime interviews with Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer and James Franco, to name just a few. The chats will be on the ground floor of the spanking new Filmmaker’s Lounge (134 Peter Street), which has massive windows that overlook the street. Downtowners are welcome to come by and gawk. BlackBerry users can even ask the stars questions by texting them to PIN number 20878C9E.
The whole schedule of which stars will appear on which day, after the jump.
Toronto’s 13 new cafés: board games, Bohème and a resurrected waffle house
(Image: one2c900d)
These days, the arrival of a new indie café on Queen West or in Leslieville is about as novel as a Gap opening in a mall, which is why we’re pleased to inform readers that the newest coffee houses in town aren’t located in hipster hubs. Since our last café census in March, we count a total of 13 new spots for Hogtown’s java lovers.
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