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In Print

It’s official: gastropubs are the new tapas bars

The new locals: the Queen and Beaver (Photo by Jessica Darmanin)

“Food and pubs go together like frogs and lawn mowers,” wrote the unswervingly provocative British restaurant critic A. A. Gill. “Pubs don’t do food; they offer internal mops and vomit decoration.” He didn’t entirely mean it, of course: the same article ends with a declaration of passionate love for a dish he had encountered in a London pub—a thick potato soup with a large island of pressed foie gras melting in the middle. But as a general observation it seems sound enough, in Canada as well as in England. Anyone who has accidentally ordered a meal in one of our fake Irish or English chain pubs knows the fried snack food and industrial meat pies are as phony and mass-produced as the pissy commercial beer and the Sherlock Holmes decor.

• Read the rest of James Chatto’s column from the November issue of Toronto Life »

| Leave a Comment » November 5, 2009 | 10:20 am | James Chatto

Opening

The Queen and Beaver takes up house near Yonge-Dundas Square

A nook, a castor and a monarch: The dining room at the Queen and Beaver (Photo by Karon Liu)

Jack Astor’s, Hard Rock Café, Milestones—the area around Yonge and Dundas Streets is hardly known for its authentic cuisine. And yet, it was here that Crush Wine Bar owner and English expat Jamieson Kerr chose to open his classic British gastropub. The new Elm Street spot combines the owner’s love of Canada and Britain (the pub’s name came from the two sides of a nickel) and shows a glimmer of hope for simulacra central.

“There’s nowhere in Toronto where I can really sit down and enjoy a pint,” says Kerr, who is hardly a stranger to the area, having attended Ryerson in the late ’80s. “The pubs all seem to be the same here, with pizza, curries, wings, a mix of everything.” Bored with it all, he hired chef Andrew Carter (Le Paradis, Herbs), who grew up in a small town outside Manchester, to create a traditional British menu replete with pub staples. Thick slices of black pudding are served with a poached egg and frisée tossed in a light mustard-shallot dressing ($15); an unabashedly fatty potted duck comes adorned with bread slices and wild cherries ($8); and, of course, there’s ale-battered haddock and chips ($17).

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| 9 Comments » June 18, 2009 | 12:18 pm | Karon Liu

Restauran-TO

The new patios of summer ’09: Fresh grazing grounds for outdoorsy appetites

Queen Street in patio season (Photo by LexnGer)

The new leisure class: Queen Street will benefit from some of the city's new patios (Photo by Alexa Clark of CheapEatsToronto.com)

With spring heating up into summer, we scoped out some new (and renewed) terraces that will get a beer-drenched baptism this summer. From east to west, here are six of the hottest new patios.

Oddfellows
Opened in September, this Queen West newcomer has yet to see a balmy season. The space faces Shaw Street and offers views of the sprawling CAMH grounds, seats about 12 and stays open for cocktails until 2 a.m. (though the kitchen closes at 11). A new spring menu arrives just in time for picnic chic, with such fresh dishes as venison tartare to usher in the season. Rest assured, regulars: the house favourite, bison rib-eye, is still on offer. 936 Queen St. W., 416-534-5244.

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| 2 Comments » May 11, 2009 | 2:06 pm | Davida Aronovitch

Read All About It

Metro makes money, sustainable sushi and Gordon Ramsay’s fiscal nightmare

Lily Allen fights with dairy (Photo by Douglas Cason)

• British pop star Lily Allen is fined $2,000 for starting an ice cream fight in her dressing room after performing at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Wednesday. Hey, at least it wasn’t mashed potatoes. [UK Sun]

• Dough makers: Jamie Oliver steals the title of U.K.’s richest chef from Gordon Ramsay. To make matters worse, Ramsay didn’t even make the list of country’s 2,000 richest people. [Evening Standard]

• Grocery giant Metro boasts higher than expected earnings, and is confident shoppers will be cooking at home for at least another two fiscal quarters. [Financial Post]

• Nova Scotia’s Ecology Action Centre releases a guide to ordering sustainable sushi. The dolphin maki-roll is a no-go? [Metro]

• UK’s The Guardian unleashes the long-awaited backlash against the gastropub trend and asks readers to construct “the perfect English menu.” [Guardian]

| Leave a Comment » April 25, 2009 | 8:41 am | Karon Liu

The Downturn

RIP, recession-struck restaurants

Gone but not forgotten (Photo by Jasoon)

The market may be slowly rebounding, but restaurants are still going belly-up. Diners who live by the “eat, drink and be merry” mantra—whether that means drowning sorrows in a pint of beer or a piece of chocolate truffle cake—can’t fill enough tables to keep some of the city’s eateries from shuttering. Here, a farewell to the few that fared well but have fallen.

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| Leave a Comment » April 1, 2009 | 7:03 am | Davida Aronovitch

The Downturn

“We’re recession proof!”—an annual saviour comes to Toronto

Irish for a day: Patrons queue along Church St. for some St. Patrick's day fun (Photo by Davida Aronovitch)

Several holidays have been downsized by the economic downturn: first there was Recessmas, then Valentine’s “Pay What You Can” Day. But it should come as no surprise that the holiday that’s all about beer and comfort food—two things that get a boost in bad times—is showing no signs of cramped style. Torontonians were out in full force last night for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. With all the to-do over the economy and the state of pub culture, we headed out to get the lowdown from the city’s top pint pullers. The word was unanimous: pubs were packed to the gills, and sales were way up.

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| Leave a Comment » March 18, 2009 | 3:22 pm | Davida Aronovitch

Bottoms Up

Go west: The Saint brings some King Street style to the Ossington strip

Saintly partners: Giancarlo Spataro and Adam Graham

For the past two years, trendspotters’ eyes have been fixed on the Ossington Avenue strip. And now the ’hood is getting a fresh infusion of talent from the downtown core. The boys behind King West bistro Brassaii are opening The Saint, a new gastro-pub at 227 Ossington, in mid-April. The forecast feel? Swank style meets community comfort—that is, if the community embraces it.

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| 20 Comments » March 17, 2009 | 9:21 am | Davida Aronovitch

Read All About It

Stolen meat in Toronto stores, Irish authenticity, how to lose 173 pounds

What does it take to be a real Irish pub?

What makes a place an authentic Irish pub?

• With St. Patrick’s Day on the horizon, it’s time to start scoping out Irish pubs. But as Toronto welcomes two new venues for green beer, anxiety climbs across the pond over the supposed extinction of authentic ale houses. A Dubliner reveals the qualities of a real Irish tavern. [New York Times]

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| Leave a Comment » March 11, 2009 | 11:38 am | Davida Aronovitch

Bottoms Up

Starfish’s Shucker Paddy brings some more Irish to the east end

Patrik McMurray stands before yet-to-be-completed Ceili Cottage in Leslieville (Photo by Signe Langford).

Patrick McMurray stands before yet-to-be-completed Ceili Cottage in Leslieville (Photo by Signe Langford)

Leslieville must have the luck of the Irish. The east-end neighbourhood will be home to two new Irish pubs this spring: The Roy, at 894 Queen Street East, and the Ceili Cottage, at 1301 Queen Street East. The latter doesn’t look like much right now, but the bones are there. And according to proprietor Patrick McMurray, champion oyster shucker and owner of Starfish, they are good bones. The space was last an unremarkable auto body shop, but the building itself dates back to the 1850s. McMurray is now peeling back the layers of paint, paper, motor grease, plywood and cement in order to create the Irish cottage of his dreams. “My wife and I often came down to Sweet Bliss Baking Company, across the road, and when she ran in for cupcakes, I’d sit in the car and stare at the place. I could see the outline of my Irish cottage under those bricks. One day, I was sitting and staring and there it was, the ‘For Rent’ sign.”

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| 6 Comments » March 5, 2009 | 12:33 pm | Signe Langford