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Trying to choose a selection of our favourite lunch picks from the last year proved too much like choosing a selection of our favourite children. So instead we present a complete year of lunch picks, ranked by price, from a humble porchetta sandwich (a reasonable $6.75) to a somewhat less humble five-course feast (treat yourself for $100).
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We stopped by for a sneak peek of Bestellen, the College Street work-in-progress of Top Chef Canada runner-up Rob Rossi
Rob Rossi and Ryan Sarfeld outside the convenience store they’re turning into Bestellen
When Top Chef Canada contestant Rob Rossi quit his job as Mercatto’s head chef for “new and exciting adventures,” many assumed he’d won the competition. He hadn’t—Vancouver’s Dale MacKay beat him out in a close finale. Now, the runner-up and his business partner Ryan Sarfeld are in the throes of preparing their new College Street restaurant, Bestellen (German for “to order”), for a mid-November opening. We stopped by to check out their progress with the space, just a few blocks west of Rossi’s Top Chef Canada buddy Dustin Gallagher’s kitchen at Grace.
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Musical kitchen chairs: Fat Duckling Matthew Sullivan is Maléna’s new head chef
Sullivan ferries food across Queen Street West to The Mascot during his Boxed pop-up (Image: Natalie Castellino)
Last week we reported that Maléna had lost executive chef Doug Neigel to Mercatto after its head chef Rob Rossi split to open his own place. Neigel’s replacement, Matthew Sullivan, is now in his fourth week and has made a few alterations. “The menu’s changed completely,” he told us. “There’s not one item that’s the same. The concept, the suppliers, the presentation are all different.” Sullivan previously completed a stage in the U.K. at the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck under celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, before moving to Spice Safar in Toronto. More recently, he garnered some buzz with his erstwhile roving pop-up operation Boxed Toronto (it popped up only once, at The Mascot on Queen West).
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Doug Neigel—of L’Unità and Maléna—appointed Mercatto’s new head chef, following Rob Rossi’s departure
After losing Top Chef Canada finalist Rob Rossi a few months ago, the Mercatto group of restaurants has announced its new executive chef: Doug Neigel. While not (yet) as famous as his predecessor, Neigel has worked his way through some top Toronto kitchens. He started his career with the Park Hyatt Hotels, including a stint as chef de cuisine at Annona and the Roof Lounge, before moving on to Maléna and L’Unità, where he was executive chef. Neigel’s creations will begin to appear on Mercatto dinner menus next month.
Top Chef Canada’s Andrea Nicholson announces she’s leaving her post at Great Cooks on Eight
Nicholson at this year’s Toronto Taste (Image: Renée Suen)
First it was Rob Rossi. Then Steve Gonzalez. Now a third Toronto Top Chef Canada contestant has announced they’re leaving their current gig to follow their culinary muse. This morning, Andrea Nicholson of Great Cooks on Eight announced via Twitter that this would be her last week at the restaurant. Nicholson plans to travel, focus on her company, Killer Condiments, and then pursue her “long-awaited dream” (mentioned back in episode 10) of opening her own restaurant. We’ll be watching closely.
Top Chef Canada favourite Steve Gonzalez leaves Origin to strike out on his own
(Image: Mishki Vaccaro)
Steve Gonzalez, everyone’s favourite class clown from season one of Top Chef Canada, has left his post at last year’s best new restaurant Origin, where he was the chef de cuisine. Gonzalez told The Dish that it was “time for me to do my own thing,” but that he left the restaurant last week with the blessing of chef and owner Claudio Aprile, who’s also giving him advice on his next venture. As for the details of that new venture, Gonzalez is keeping tight-lipped, although fans of Top Chef Canada know what to expect: nuevo Latino cuisine delivered with a swagger. He’s also considering hopping on Toronto’s recent food truck trend. Gonzalez is the second Toronto Top Chef Canada contestant to leave his perch, following Rob Rossi, who left Mercatto in June to open his own place. We’ll be watching to see how the show’s freshman class fares after graduation.
Top Chef Canada recap, episode 12: family-styled
The chefs steel themselves before judges David Lee, Gail Simmons and Jacob Richler. (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 12
Season one of Top Chef Canada has been all about head judge Mark McEwan’s approach to cooking: luxurious ingredients, simply prepared with exceptional technique. Last night’s episode felt like a master class in that philosophy, so it was only appropriate that the chefs started out chatting with McEwan over brunch at his Yorkville mainstay One. Sure, the conversation might have veered toward the painfully awkward, and sure, McEwan dropped some obviously scripted hints about this love of family-style presentation. But there was still something charming about seeing the four remaining contestants—Dustin Gallagher, Dale MacKay, Connie DeSousa and Rob Rossi— yammer on about their love of food and cooking. Of course, it was all went downhill from there. After the jump, our recap of an episode that featured some high-calibre guests, a tortured quickfire concept and some strangely disappointing cooking (not to mention a Toronto Life shout-out).
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Rob Rossi announces he’s leaving Mercatto for “new and exciting ventures”
Rob Rossi is leaving Mercatto. Is this a sign of how he did on Top Chef Canada? (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
News broke on Twitter this morning that Top Chef Canada finalist Rob Rossi will be leaving the Mercatto group of restaurants. For the past two years, the 27-year-old Rossi has been the executive chef at the Italian chain, overseeing two locations and opening up two more. Although there are three other contestants still vying for the position of Canada’s Top Chef (and the $100,000 prize), we have a hunch that Connie DeSousa may have made one too many sausage dishes to snatch the win, while Dale MacKay’s, um, assertiveness, may have gotten him into some hot water. Dustin Gallagher’s adorableness factor, meanwhile, can only go so far. “I am very excited to announce that I am moving on to new and exciting ventures,” wrote Rossi in an email. We can’t wait to find out more about what those ventures might be (and how they might be funded).
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
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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Weekly Lunch Pick: the rich, crispy pork belly at Trattoria Mercatto
Crispy pork belly and marinated mushrooms on the patio at Mercatto’s new Eaton Centre location (Image: Renée Suen)
Lunch around the Eaton Centre usually means waiting in long lineups for food court fare, but the recent launch of Trattoria Mercatto—the fourth location of the Italian chain run by Top Chef Canada contestant Robert Rossi—provides a nice alternative.
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Top Chef Canada recap, episode 9: the prez
Odd couple Roger Mooking and Thea Andrews at the quickfire challenge (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 9
For any viewers who found the Milestones sponsorship in episode seven of Top Chef Canada unbearable, it’s probably a good thing you were too busy watching the Canucks get trounced by the Bruins to witness last night’s episode, which sometimes felt a bit like a glorified, 42-minute President’s Choice ad. Still, seeing the contestants squirm around the constraints of the challenge made for far more entertaining viewing than watching the obliteration of Canada’s Stanley Cup hopefuls. Plus, the editing in the introductory scenes didn’t manage to give away who would be eliminated—a definite improvement over some previous episodes. After the jump, our recap of how it all went down.
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Top Chef Canada recap, episode 8: warring restaurants
An uncharacteristically friendly looking judge’s table—could it be because of Thea Andrews’s Princess Leia outfit? (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 8
The Restaurant Wars challenge on Top Chef is always a fan favourite, and for good reason—it’s a reliable way to jump-start any season low on drama, bleeped-out words and finger pointing, much like our rather polite Canadian edition. After the jump, our recap of how it played out on last night’s episode.
Top Chef Canada recap, episode 7: placing products
The giant Michael Smith and the merely tall Thea Andrews (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 7
Top Chef and blatant product placement have always gone hand in hand, with each season ratcheting up the level of sponsor integration. Far from being an outright fault, it has become something many fans almost look forward to—albeit with a little cringe. Top Chef Canada really outdid itself last night in that regard, with both the quickfire and the elimination challenges centred around a sponsor—a real milestone in the annals of Canadian TV brand integration. But episode seven was about more than just the all-important sponsors; it also featured a delightfully snarky Michael Smith, some adorable pictures of chefs with their significant others and rhyming put-downs from the judges. We recap it all, after the jump.
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Top Chef Canada recap, episode 1: playing with knives
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 1
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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We chat with Top Chef Canada contestants at Thursday’s mock quick-fire
The chefs scramble for produce (Image: Mishki Vaccaro)
Thursday afternoon, Top Chef Canada head judge Mark McEwan, alongside host Thea Andrews, held a mock quick-fire challenge at the Art Gallery of Ontario to promote the show’s April 11 debut. Top Chef fans that we are, we couldn’t resist. The six Toronto-based contestants gave it their best shot in the AGO’s catering kitchen and offered up a few sound bites about the competition. Considering the notorious secrecy surrounding the U.S. version of the show, we’ll probably have to wait until the season finale for any really juicy behind-the-scenes gossip, but we did chat with contestants Steve Gonzalez, Rob Rossi and Dustin Gallagher about their struggles in the Top Chef Canada kitchen.
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