“Quick-service restaurants” account for 64 per cent of food service in Canada (Image: Simon Law)

When they’re not bellyaching about adulthood and posing for Instagrams, it seems 20-somethings enjoy dining out—a lot. According to a new report from market research group NPD, Canada is witnessing a spike in restaurant traffic, due largely to people in their late teens and early 20s. People aged 18 to 24 played a large part in a three per cent traffic increase over the last two quarters. What’s more, the group writes that “visits to Canadian restaurants are forecasted to grow nearly two per cent per year between 2011 and 2016.” Okay, that might not sound like much, but that growth will apparently “surpass the projected 1.2 per cent annual growth of the country’s population.” The millennials are driving this growth partly because of their love of what the NPD calls “quick-service restaurants,” a delightful euphemism for fast-food joints. The group says fast-food restaurant QSRs account for “64 per cent of the overall food service landscape.” Which makes it one fatty landscape indeed.

In what sounds like a plot point from Total Recall, H&M press officer Håcan Andersson has confirmed that the models in a recent lingerie campaign are “completely virtual,” not unlike those on Looklet.com. What exactly does that mean? Yes, real human beings were hired and paid real money to pose for the brand, only to have their heads superimposed on humanized bodies created with photo editing software (for consistency, allegedly).

This was all uncovered by a writer at Jezebel, who translated an article from Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. In the same article, Andersson is quoted saying that this practice has nothing to do with body image, and that the goal was to show off the clothing better. Of course, we’ve seen Weird Science and know that despite any good intentions, harvesting body parts to create the most consistent, perfect woman is doomed to fail.

This morning, the world’s food editors, reporters and bloggers issued forth a collective shudder upon receiving the latest press release from J&D’s Foods. The Seattle-based company is famous for such creating novelty edibles as Bacon Salt, Baconnaise and, this year’s best April Fools’ joke (with us playing the role of the fool), BaconAir, a porky inhaler. But with their latest product, Baconlube, they’ve simply gone too far.

Billed as “a delicious massage oil and personal lubricant,” the limited-edition product is poised, in the company’s terms, “to make for a very happy holiday season.” Of course, we realize the entire thing is a PR stunt designed to get J&D’s name out in the press again. And of course we realize that by duly reporting on the, erm, “gold standard of meat flavored massage oils,” we’re merely playing into their game. But it can’t be helped. Because today, the bacon-everything trend, which was probably already starting to get stale sometime in mid-2010, has officially been killed forever. Thank you very much, J&D Foods.

Of course, there are ways to combine food and alcohol intake in one package

According to an article in the Calgary Herald, drunkorexia is a growing problem facing university populations in Canada. The term describes the practice of reserving one’s entire daily caloric intake for alcohol rather than food, a problem that apparently mainly affects females. The goal of drunkorexia: to keep weight down while getting drunk. Fast.

Occupy Wall Street may be one response to the global recession, but Valerie Taylor, chief of psychiatry at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, told the Globe and Mail that this problematic behaviour may also be linked to the economic downturn. “Perhaps…because students don’t have much money, it’s become more prevalent,” she said. While we’re not certain the trend has gone global, the story certainly has—the New York Daily News, Globe and Mail and the Daily Mail are just three newspapers of several with similar articles, all with a bit of a Girls Gone Wild tinge. This may well be a problem, especially amongst a few specific demographics, but we’re not so sure it’s anything new. After all, Tyra Banks—model turned serious talk show host and thus serious journalist—ran a segment on it in 2010.

• ‘Drunkorexia’ growing problem on campuses, research suggests [Calgary Herald]
• ‘Drunkorexia’ a growing problem as female students favour booze over food [Globe and Mail]
• ‘Drunkorexia’ common for college women; one in six skip meals to get drunk faster, save money [New York Daily News]
• Young women skip meals so they can save calories for drinking [Daily Mail]

Inspired by the experiments of Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, forward-thinking mixologists across the continent have been trying their hand at something that was until recently the province of wine- and liquor makers: aging their drinks in oak casks. Rob Mifsud has an interesting piece in the Globe and Mail about Black Hoof co-owner and bartender Jen Agg’s forays into barrel-aging her trademark Manhattans. Her initial verdict? “I’m going to go on the record. I don’t care for this.” It does get better, however. Check out the full story »

(Images: cocktail, star5112; barrel, g_kat26)

The Year’s Biggest Trends

Top 10 New Restaurants

25 Most Delicious Dishes

(Images: Ryan Szulc)

The manufacturers cite additional benefits to BaconAir: ease of use; lack of calories, fat or stimulants; no prescription required; and “maximum deliciousness.” So, what drove them to create the product? “If the French could make breathable cocoa, then it was up to us (and by us, we mean America) to bring the bacon flavored O₂,” says Justin Esch of J&D’s Foods, the same people who brought you Bacon Salt, Baconnaise, Bacon Lip Balm, Bacon Soda and Bacon POP.

For a short time, J&D’s, known for their marketing gimmicks, will be giving a lifetime supply of BaconAir to one lucky “Baconnoisseur” (you can send an e-mail to baconair@jdfoods.net explaining why you think you should be the first person to use BaconAir). For the rest of the bacon-obsessed hordes, BaconAir is $8.99 and available for a limited time at the company’s on-line store. And with Toronto’s ongoing bacon obsession and chefs like Chicago’s Grant Achatz serving up scented airs in plastic pillows, J&D’s might just have hit the sweet spot between two of the hottest food trends. Or not.

(Image: Vanessa Heins)

Best part of the job: I get to attend merchan­dise shows in Milan and Paris, which is pretty great, but it’s working with excited young couples that I love the most. The experience of registering at Ashley can be overwhelming—it’s 24,000 square feet of stuff. My job is to navigate the hundreds of options and collec­tions to help couples choose pieces they’ll truly enjoy.

And the worst: When couples are bickering, I just step away and give them a moment. If the groom wants bold patterns and the bride wants basic white, that’s going to require some figuring out. But there is always a way to combine two aesthetics.

What every couple should know: If you’re not going to use fancy china and Waterford crystal, don’t get it. I always encourage couples to choose things they will use frequently. If something is going to sit in your cabinet collecting dust, what’s the point of registering for it?

Professional philosophy: The dinnerware sets the tone for the rest of the table setting. It’s like the gown. Obviously you wouldn’t start picking out the shoes and jewellery before settling on the dress.

Current trends: Right now, the platinum band dinnerware is our most popular. Most major manufacturers are making a version of the design. Classic white is also big. Food can look so stunning against a plain white backdrop.

Biggest misconception: I don’t know where everyone gets the idea that china is so delicate. Most of our collections are incredibly durable. And, yes, they go in the dishwasher.

Biggest change: Brides and grooms tend to register together now. When I started with registries, there were a lot more daughters coming in with their mothers. At that time, the girls getting married were still living in their parents’ houses, so their moms would be there to advise on the essentials. Now men really get into the experience.

Some traditions never die: Believe it or not, people still register for gravy boats, though I always call them sauce boats to underline the fact that they work for so many things other than gravy—béarnaise, cheese and dessert sauces. They’re a surprisingly useful accessory to have around.

Horror story: I honestly don’t have any. In all the years I’ve been registering couples, I have not even so much as broken a single piece of china.

For more information on how to make a wedding perfect, see our Weddings Week 2011 coverage

Health-conscious indulgences at the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show (Image: Renée Suen)

Yesterday we reported the results of the second annual Canadian Chef Survey of menu trends. The relatively predictable list might reflect the chefs’ outlook on food trends, but attending the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show showed us exactly what food-service providers are pushing onto the dining room table. After the jump, 12 trends we observed from the CRFA show.

1. Guilt-free, healthy foods that sacrifice neither flavour nor texture (thick zero per cent fat Greek yogurt; low-fat, trans-fat-free, low-sodium, nut-free banana bread that’s advertised as being good for you). Bonus if it’s gluten and allergen free.
2. Micro-sized and single-serving portions of indulgent foods: triple cream cheeses, desserts and ice creams. Instead of committing to one flavour, diners can try all six.
3. Environmentally conscious packaging for take-away containers (bamboo, recycled material sources, reusable tumblers) and product wrapping (biodegradable and oven-safe plastics used for reheating bread).
4. Innovative time-, energy- and resource-saving equipment (vending machines that cook food to order, from potato chips to risotto to stir-fried shrimp and vegetables).
5. Growth of ready-to-assemble products (prepared shells and fillings) and ready-to-eat meals.
6. Homey, back-to-basic desserts (sticky toffee pudding, pies, tarts, loaf cakes, blackout cakes) instead of fancy mousse and layered creations.
7. Tea is showing up in both prepared foods (chocolate) and as a profession (tea sommelier). Watch for new technologies designed to aid the steeping process.
8. Glamorization of coffee and coffee culture continues apace (sexy espresso machines with enough chrome to rival the auto shows, barista demos, designer coffee pod flavours and coffee condiments specially formulated for latte art).
9. Meats shaped into long or tube form (souvlaki; deep-fried, bacon-wrapped hot dog stuffed with cheese) replace burgers and free-range products.
10. Spice is hot (ground chili, Tabasco and habanero sauces); so are flavour-infused foods (cucumber dill, black sesame, and Thai ginger tortilla wraps).
11. Artisan crafts (bread, cheese, craft beer) remain the best thing since, well, sliced bread.
12. Organic- and kosher-certified products (e.g. Japanese rice vinegar).

It’s obvious consumers are still thinking in recession mode, despite what economists say. Gone are the days of extravagance; instead, the focus is on affordable luxuries. Indulgences only appear in small portions; the emphasis is on flavour and comfort. Both time and the environment are valued resources, and striking a balance between both is the current food-service Holy Grail.

Hot sauces, kosher and organic Japanese vinegar and flavour-infused wraps (Image: Renée Suen)

Bite-sized desserts were one of the few fun trends in this year’s survey (Image: Eliyas J)

The results from the 2011 Canadian Chef Survey were announced Monday at the fourth annual Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show. More than 500 chefs confirmed what locavores and the 400-plus attendees at last week’s Terroir Symposium knew all along: locally produced food and locally inspired dishes are hot. Less surprising still was the focus on sustainable practices and nutritionally driven plates. While the list hardly qualifies as revolutionary, it is interesting to compare this year’s results to the up-and-coming trends predicted one year ago. So how close was it?

The focus on health and nutrition remains alive and well. Despite last year’s prediction that ancient grains and vegan entrees would show greater presence on menus, both barely find a place on this year’s list. Given all the meat-centric establishments popping up on the Toronto landscape, it was surprising to find little love for non-traditional cuts of meat, indicating that most people still consider offal awful. Just as predicted, more and more restaurants are accommodating folks suffering from food allergies. Thankfully, artisanal cheeses are still popular—no doubt good news to the folks at Pangaea (with their house-made cheese program), Enoteca Sociale (with their cheese cave) and the celebrated Monforte Dairy. Still, it’s hard not to discern a bit of a conservative vibe this year.

Top 10 Canadian menu trends for 2011

1. Locally produced food and locally inspired dishes
2. Sustainability
3. Nutrition and health
4. Organics
5. Simplicity/back-to-basics
6. Gluten-free/food allergy consciousness
7. Craft beer/microbrews
8. Artisanal cheeses
9. Bite-size/mini desserts
10. Quinoa/ancient grains

Top 10 up-and-coming Canadian menu trends

1. Gluten-free beer
2. African cuisine
3. Red rice
4. Organic  wine/beer/liquor/cocktails
5. Peruvian cuisine
6. New/fabricated cuts of meat
7. Cooking with tea
8. Beer sommeliers/Cicerones
9. Culinary cocktails
10. Traditional ethnic desserts

Stay tuned for our own observations from what we saw on the floor at the CRFA show this year.

• The chefs have spoken: Local is the hottest menu trend in 2011 [CFRA]

(Illustration by Julien Pacaud; skyline photo by Brian Summers)

Today, an average Saturday, I spent the following: $6 on a round-trip TTC ride; about $17 on groceries from the Wychwood Barns farmers’ market (organic Crispin apples, an olive boule and free-range eggs); $34 on two bottles of wine (one decent, one plonk); almost $20 on the recent Superchunk CD and $11 on toiletries. Lunch was cheap and simple: a peanut butter sandwich, an apple and a few spoonfuls of raspberry yogurt. Dinner was free: homemade rice-and-bean burritos at a friend’s house. On the way home from that modest dinner party, waiting forever for the Dufferin bus, I almost splurged on a cab, but it seemed wasteful. Then I got home and booked a flight to New York on Porter for a friend’s 40th birthday: another $326. There’s also what I spend on my mortgage, property taxes, insurance, utilities, cellphone, Internet, YMCA membership, charitable donations and credit card debt. All of that adds up to roughly $65 a day. So, as a childless, home-owning, not-terribly-extravagant-but-not-entirely-miserly-either Torontonian, this one day at the tail end of 2010 cost me—not counting the airfare, which, for argument’s sake, I’m setting aside as an exceptional expense—about $153.

That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s about $20 more than what I make every day, after taxes. And it leaves nothing, obviously, for home repairs, clothing, vet bills, investments, medical expenses, birthday presents, savings, recreational drugs, holidays or the kid that Liz, my fiancée, and I have been talking about having this year but which, if things continue in this fashion, we’ll have to postpone having until we get jobs that net us more than $50,000 each a year.

Toronto Life is paying me $6,500 to write this article, which is a good chunk of change, sure, especially given how much less other magazines and newspapers are coughing up these days. But it’s also about the same amount I would have been paid if I had written the same article in 1995. And in 1995, the $420,000 that Liz and I paid last summer for a little three-bedroom semi on a somewhat glum, treeless street at Dufferin and Davenport would have bought us an enormous detached home in Trinity-Bellwoods. We would likely have a car or two and a couple of kids; our kids might even have their own cars. We wouldn’t have cared so much that our food was locally or sustainably grown, but we would also have paid less for it and been able to eat in restaurants more than, say, once a month—even if the restaurants we could choose from would be fewer and not nearly as good.

We would have grudgingly become used to paying GST, but we wouldn’t have been paying HST or two land-transfer taxes or five cents for every plastic bag, not that I’m against that particular idea. We wouldn’t have to pay anything to use public swimming pools or put out our garbage. A TTC ticket was $1.30. At bars, you could buy smuggled American cigarettes, $3 a pack, from a greasy guy who carried them around in a duffle bag. Mike Harris would have just been elected. Toronto was just Toronto, and North York was North York; Etobicoke, Etobicoke. Whenever I used an ATM, I would take out $20 at a time, instead of the $100 I take out now, and the cash would go almost as far.

In 1995, whenever I used an ATM, I took out $20 at a time, instead of the $100 I take out now, and the cash would go almost as far

But nothing goes very far now. Enough, it seems, is never enough. This isn’t exactly news. Businesses fail; money moves. Habits change; appetites evolve. What was once a movie theatre becomes a dollar store. Toronto is today coping with an unforgiving drumbeat of financial strain: a still-booming real estate market, new taxes, perilous debt, stubbornly high unemployment and the possibility of stagflation. The city, in many ways and for many more people, is much more expensive than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Growing income polarization has made the middle class a minority where once it was the majority. We’re in no danger of becoming a hollowed-out Buffalo or Detroit; in fact, we are moving in the opposite direction—our downtown increasingly resembles New York City, for better and worse. If Manhattan long ago became a playground for the rich, Toronto is becoming something like a jungle gym; plutocrats purchase $11-million penthouse suites at the new Ritz-Carlton while the rest of us nervously ponder the nutritional value of a Roasted Vegetable Ritz cracker. Smug self-congratulation has characterized our two-steps-forward-one-step-back journey through the recession—Our banks are the best! Our real estate rocks!—but now that we’ve supposedly come out the other side, unless you are a Stronach or a Rogers, things still look scary. Everyday life now means living beyond our means.

Liana Chair by Patty Johnson at Liana Cane (All images: Stephanie Saunders)

As any good designophile knows, Toronto was host to the annual Interior Design Show this past weekend.  The show’s offerings ranged from humdrum soaker tubs to avant-garde lighting installations. No easily discernable trends overwhelmed the experience this year, but there were certainly some bright lights that stood out from the rest. Below, our eleven picks for the best of IDS 2011.

Start the slide show »

Lettieri’s busy Queen Street West location (Image: Steve Harris)

John Lettieri is in an interesting position these days. As president and founder of both Hero Certified Burgers and Lettieri Espresso Bar and Café, he straddles two of Toronto’s biggest food trends: gourmet burgers and coffee. Recently we noticed that his company decided to transform two Lettieris—one at Bloor and Bathurst and another at Church and Wellesley—into Hero Burgers. Is one hot trend overtaking another, or is the indie café explosion creeping up on the chain? We caught up with Lettieri and got his take on Toronto’s coffee and burger scenes, the future of his chain and a new concept he’s launching soon.

Two locations of Lettieri have switched to Hero Burger. Why the transition?

The lease came up, and we felt that with all the cafés in the area, we would be able to do a bit more business with burgers.

Could you see the reverse happening: Hero Burger to Lettieri?

We don’t see that happening in the future, but it definitely could be.

Both burgers and coffee have strong indie competitors. Do you think that element poses a threat to chains?

Everybody wants to get on the wagon. Competition will always be there—we invite good competition. As the categories get stronger, we’re going to see more people coming into the game.

Did the influx of indie coffee shops have anything to do with Lettieri being replaced with Hero Burger?

I don’t know if it’s because of that. We just felt that the Hero brand would be able to produce some good business there, and that there’s a need for this product in the area.

Do you think that coffee and burger markets are getting over-saturated in Toronto?

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. There are definitely a number of people getting into the game. There might be casualties.

What do you see as the future of Lettieri in Toronto?

We’re definitely looking to grow the brand. We’re going to be adding some new food elements, which we won’t disclose right now, to the Lettieri cafés and seeing how that goes.

How about Hero?

Well, we’re doing eight to 10 stores this year, and we’ll see what happens after that. We’re introducing a turkey burger and a gluten-free bun, so we’ll have a completely gluten-free burger. We’re also coming up with a new concept in March or April—a whole new concept altogether, which we’ll disclose later.