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Toronto Life - The Wire

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

All stories relating to Restaurants

The Dish

Opening
May 9, 2012 | 11:32 am

1 Comment

Introducing: Windows by Jamie Kennedy, the locavore chef’s new Niagara Falls venture

The man with his name on the place (Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

Jamie Kennedy (Gilead Café, formerly of Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and JK Rom, etc.), describes his new venture, Windows by Jamie Kennedy, as “a taste of Niagara and a feast for the eyes.” Given his commitment to local and seasonal food, it’s fitting that dining at Kennedy’s latest restaurant will require a journey to one of the world’s natural wonders. We took a trip down to Niagara Falls to check the place out.

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The Dish

Foodie Follies
May 8, 2012 | 3:44 pm

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One woman’s harrowing tale of trying to get a table at Sydney’s Momofuku Seiōbo 

Janne Apelgren wrote an entertaining column for Melbourne’s The Age that outlines just how hard it can be to book a table at Momofuku Seiōbo, Sydney’s new David Chang restaurant and the first international outpost for the chain. As at Chang’s tiny Momofuku Ko in New York, spots at Seiōbo are booked online. In Apelgren’s experience, they kept getting snapped up right under her nose within the first minute of appearing—in the end, it took six months and 10 tries before she managed to snag a reservation. What’s more, once you’re in, there’s no phone calls or flash photography, and if you’re more than 15 minutes late and don’t notify the restaurant (via emergency hotline), there’s a $175-per-head charge. Still, Apelgren writes that she thoroughly enjoyed the experience and finished the 14 courses “elated.” A taste of things to come in Toronto? Who knows! It’s a fun read nonetheless. Read the entire story [The Age] »

The Dish

Opening
May 8, 2012 | 9:25 am

3 Comments

Introducing: The Fuzz Box, a new Danforth restaurant serving classic East Coast donairs

The view from the Danforth (Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

What, exactly, is it about Haligonian donairs that always has Maritimers waxing rhapsodic? “The trick,” says Neil Dominey, owner of The Fuzz Box, “is that there should be so much sauce that it runs down your elbows!” After being disappointed time and time again by this city’s ubiquitous shawarmas, Dominey decided to take on the problem himself with his new eatery on the Danforth—home, he says, to a surprising number of Nova Scotians.

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The Dish

Foodie Follies
May 5, 2012 | 10:30 am

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Weekly Eater: Toronto food events for May 7 to 13

Learn about smoking and grilling fish at Hooked on Wednesday (Image: Gabriel Li)

Monday, May 7

  • 86’D with Ivy Knight: Attend the Chef’s Congress Gala, and learn about the upcoming Chef’s Congress in Nova Scotia. Complimentary lamb from Michael Stadtländer’s farm and fresh oysters from Oyster Boy. The Drake, 1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042. Find out more »
  • Piola’s Monday Night Mixer: Piola’s weekly aperitivo italiano, with cocktail and beer specials and complimentary snacks. 1165 Queen St. W., 416-477-4652. Find out more »
  • Fit and Fabulous: Marni Wasserman teaches the positive impact of a whole foods, plant-based diet on health and fitness goals. Marni’s Kitchen, 26 Lauderdale Dr., 647-477-8131. Find out more »
  • YMC: Tweetup With Your Tea Cup: Join YummyMummyClub.ca and Metropolitan Tea at an exclusive event hosted by the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, as they walk you through everything you ever wanted to know about tea. Royal York Hotel, 100 Front St. W., 416-368-2511. Find out more»
  • Sorauren Farmers’ Market: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the field house at Sorauren Park. 50 Wabash Ave. Find out more »


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The Dish

Restauran-TO
May 4, 2012 | 4:00 pm

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Friday Night Bites: tables for two at Table 17, Fabbrica and Marben

FRIDAY NIGHT BITESIt’s 4 p.m. on Friday, and you don’t have a dinner reservation. Still, there’s no need to fret (or waste your night waiting for a table). We just called some of the city’s hottest restaurants and found three that can squeeze in two for dinner tonight. Now it’s up to you to get dialing and snag a table before they’re all gone. Today: Table 17, Fabbrica and Marben.

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The Dish

Rumours & Rumblings
May 3, 2012 | 5:03 pm

13 Comments

QUOTED: Matt Blondin, on leaving his post as head chef of Acadia

After weeks of deliberation, I’d like to announce that my final day at Acadia will be May 31, 2012. Thank you for all of your support.

— Matt Blondin, chef at Acadia, our second best new restaurant of 2012, which opened last July. No word yet on what’s next for the inventive young chef. [Twitter]

The Dish

From the Print Edition
May 3, 2012 | 2:50 pm

6 Comments

Pop-Up Madness: A look behind Toronto’s pop-ups, dinner series and roving restaurants

Rogue chefs are making some of the city’s most creative food in restaurants that are here today, gone tomorrow
By Matthew Fox

The Way We Eat Now | Pop-Up Madness

On a late-February evening, 24 of us were huddled around two dimly lit communal tables at Ortolan, a tiny restaurant at Lansdowne and Bloor. We were there for Boxed, a four-hour, eight-course pop-up dinner—one of dozens of one-night-only culinary shows happening in Toronto right now.

Pop-ups, dinner series and roving restaurants have multiplied over the last couple of years, as the city’s up-and-coming chefs have broken out of the traditional culinary training model. Instead of working their way up through the kitchen ranks at old-guard establishments, they’re making their names by cooking audaciously experimental food in makeshift kitchens, and using social media to promote themselves.

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The Dish

The Month That Was
May 1, 2012 | 5:08 pm

4 Comments

The Month That Was: the Toronto restaurants and bars that opened and closed in April

Looking down from the mezzanine at Bellwoods Brewery (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Openings:

• The Saint—after three long years of waiting, during which time most of Ossington rapidly gentrified, this neighbourhood tavern from the people behind Buca finally opened its doors. Read our Introducing post »

• Bellwoods Brewery—A highly anticipated new brewpub on Ossington from a pair of Amsterdam Beer alums, with food by Guy Rawlings. Read our Introducing post »

• Lilly’s Lunches—A new downtown-centric bike brown bag bike delivery service from a cubicle escapee. Read our Introducing post »

See (many) more openings and closings »

The Dish

Opening
May 1, 2012 | 4:15 pm

8 Comments

Introducing: Kitch, a new restaurant and club just north of the tracks at Dupont and Dufferin

Kitch’s bar is made out of a repurposed bowling alley lane (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Kitch bills itself as a place for “eats and beats”—the eats coming courtesy of Bryan Jackson, noted waffle lover and owner of Starving Artist, and the beats from Jose Rodriguez, talent booker for Charles Khabouth’s Ink Entertainment. The casual restaurant/bar/lounge is meant to be the kind of place where comfort snack food is paired with great music ranging from Nas to electronic to indie (with precious little Bieber or Top 40 here, unless, say, it’s a really cool remix). And unusually for a place like this, it’s nestled in among the auto body and plumbing supply shops north of Dupont and Dufferin.

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The Dish

Opening
April 30, 2012 | 4:45 pm

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Introducing: Edulis, Michael Caballo and Tobey Nemeth’s reinvention of Niagara Street Café

(Images: Signe Langford)

After more than a decade in the neighbourhood, the well-loved Niagara Street Café has been reborn as Edulis. The restaurant’s Twitter bio says, “Crafted with love,” and while the whole love-as-actual-ingredient thing is surely overdone, it rings true in this case. Everything about the place, from husband-and-wife owners Michael Caballo and Tobey Nemeth, is an ode to some version of love or another: love of family, love of Europe and of course, love of mushrooms—the place takes its name from the Latin for porcini.

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The Informer

From the Print Edition
April 30, 2012 | 12:35 pm

1 Comment

Editor’s Letter (May 2012): the city is in the midst of a cultural renaissance—except at city hall

Sarah FulfordThe spectacle at city hall has become a common obsession, even among people who never before cared much about municipal politics. It’s part comedy, party tragedy, and overall the weirdest show in town. The carnival-like atmosphere reached its apex when Rob Ford jumped on a giant scale and turned his weight problem into a public exhibit. David Miller, for better or for worse, was at least sensible enough to drop his extra pounds before discussing it with the world. In our cover story this month (“The Incredible Shrinking Mayor”), the writer, Marci McDonald, makes the case that beneath all the Ford family buffoonery is something quite dark. And also sad. The portrait that emerges from her sweeping narrative is of a man who would rather be coaching football than running the city. In fact, he’s a failed football player and reluctant mayor, much like George W. Bush was a reluctant president who really wanted to be baseball commissioner. And it’s no fun to watch someone ill-suited to his job struggle on a daily basis, particularly when the stakes are so high.

If you closely follow the day-to-day skirmishes at city hall—over subways, the waterfront, bike lanes, labour unrest—you might start believing that Toronto is hopelessly debilitated, which just isn’t the case. This is, I believe, a great moment for Toronto. The city is more energetic, creative and prosperous today than maybe ever before. In a recent issue of Toronto Life, we ran a profile of the city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, who said something that stuck with me: “Right now city hall is completely out of touch with the urbanism and energy that I feel in our neighbourhoods. We’re in a period of cultural renaissance and transformation.”

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The Dish

Restauran-TO
April 27, 2012 | 4:01 pm

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Friday Night Bites: tables for two at Chantecler, The Queen and Beaver and Maléna

FRIDAY NIGHT BITESIt’s 4 p.m. on Friday, and you don’t have a dinner reservation. Still, there’s no need to fret (or waste your night waiting for a table). We just called some of the city’s hottest restaurants and found three that can squeeze in two for dinner tonight. Now it’s up to you to get dialing and snag a table before they’re all gone. Today: Chantecler, The Queen and Beaver and Maléna.

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The Dish

Opening
April 27, 2012 | 1:05 pm

10 Comments

Introducing: Lilly’s Lunches, a new bike-based brown bag delivery service

Lilly’s Lunches owner Elizabeth Callahan packs brown bags into her custom-design basket (Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

Lilly’s Lunches is a new one-woman and one-bike operation run entirely by Elizabeth Callahan. After growing weary with her day job, Callahan fled her cubicle and landed on a bicycle instead. Throughout the workweek, she pedals her way around the downtown core, dropping off brown-bagged lunches to office workers too busy to head out for a bite. We decided to join her on her route for a day’s deliveries.

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The Dish

Opening
April 26, 2012 | 11:48 am

4 Comments

Introducing: L’Avenue, a new modern bistro on Bayview

(Image: Gizelle Lau)

Opened recently on a strip of Bayview Avenue that’s best known for Satay on the Road and Hollywood Gelato, L’Avenue, a new modern French bistro, is quickly making a name for itself among locals. The face of L’Avenue is Otta Zapotocky (he co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Jenna Kang), who has worked as sommelier and manager at Nota Bene, L’Unita, Malena and Wildfire.

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The Dish

Opening
April 25, 2012 | 2:57 pm

9 Comments

Introducing: Hawker Bar, Toronto’s first spot for Singapore-style street food

(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

Hawker Bar joins the likes of The Saint and Bellwoods Brewery on the strip as the new kids on the Ossington block. Run by a pack of longtime friends—Casimir Alyea, Andrew Mistry and brothers Nicholas and Frederic Laliberté, who are also behind Poutini’s—the joint offers up a first for the city: Singaporean street grub.

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