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Zagat’s 2012 survey picks Toronto’s best restos and settles that pesky average tipping question

Scaramouche’s Keith Froggett (Image: Renée Suen)

Online restaurant review sites like Yelp and Urbanspoon may have cut into the crowd-sourced territory that Zagat once owned, but the yearly survey still has some clout—and the power to get diners in the door. The 2,266 food-loving Torontonians who voted in this year’s survey were crazy for Keith Froggett, giving fine dining restaurant Scaramouche top honours for food and also placing Scaramouche’s pasta bar in the top 10. But the winners weren’t all about linen tablecloths and tasting menus: The Burger’s Priest, with its epically greasy Vatican City burger, broke the top three for best food, while pan-Asian chain Spring Rolls was voted most popular restaurant (proving that democracy isn’t foolproof).

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The Dish

Culinary Curiosities

January 24, 2012 | 4:03 pm

2 Comments

In a fit of hot dog hubris, Vancouver resto launches $100 bratwurst

The beast itself, all $100 of it (Image: Courtesy DougieDog)

Vancouver restaurant DougieDog Hot Dogs put out a press release this morning (which got picked up by the Canadian Press) announcing the latest in fast food extravagance: the world’s first $100 hot dog. The so-called Dragon Dog—a foot-long bratwurst steeped in 100-year-old cognac and topped with Kobe beef, lobster (!) and truffle oil—is a publicity stunt double-whammy: it arrives right on the heels of the Year of the Dragon, and it acts as a bit of promotion for the titular Dougie’s upcoming appearance on tomorrow’s Dragon’s Den (in this clip, Robert Herjavec lauds his “hot girls and hot dogs”). Owner DougieLuv tells us the attention has been nonstop since his announcement and warns that 12 hours advanced notice is required for an order, presumably to allow the Louis XIII to fully soak in. Of course, given what happened the last time someone attempted a novelty, $100 fast food item (we’re looking at you, M:brgr), we’re a bit worried that this operation might prove too big not to fail. Our fingers are crossed for Dougie.

The Dish

TV Diner

January 17, 2012 | 4:29 pm

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Top Chef Texas crew spotted in Vancouver, presumably filming the finale

(Image: heydrienne)

Rain, Lululemon, hippies and now… Top Chef? Eater drew our attention to a series of tweets that suggest the entire Top Chef Texas crew is filming the show’s finale in that most Texan of cities, Vancouver. Judges Tom Colicchio and Emeril Lagasse were allegedly spotted dining at Hawksworth, while Owen Lightly, a catering chef, tweeted that he “Saw a bunch of contestants from Top Chef Texas in Whole Foods on Cambie today shopping for ingredients.” If the rumours are true (and it seems like they are), that would mean the Lone Star State ponied up $400,000 to host the series and was then shut out of the finale. Does that qualify as messing with Texas? Read the entire story [Eater] »

The Dish

Restauran-TO

January 10, 2012 | 11:02 am

4 Comments

Where magazine names Acadia Toronto’s best new restaurant

This morning, Where announced its annual picks for the best new restaurant in each of the regions the travel magazine covers in Canada. The winner for Toronto, unsurprisingly, was Acadia, Matt Blondin and Scott Selland’s buzzy new Clinton Street temple to the cuisine of the Lowcountry, which the Where editors praised for its “precisely pruned menu of seasonal sea- and soul-food dishes in a space that’s evocative of an old, oceanside cottage.” Other picks across the country include Calgary’s Latin-tinged Ox and Angela, Parry Sound’s Kudos Kuisine and the vintage-glam Hawksworth Restaurant in Vancouver’s Rosewood Hotel Georgia. Toronto Life will announce its picks for the city’s top 10 new restaurants of 2011 in our April issue. Read the entire story [Where] »

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

January 6, 2012 | 10:15 am

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Can gondolas bridge the gap (heh) in Rob Ford’s transit plan?

Back in October, urban planner Steven Dale argued that gondolas—sort of like the ones you find at ski resorts—could serve as a thrifty complement to light rail transit. At the time, we thought the idea sounded both semi-crazy and completely awesome. Now, apparently, gondolas are being floated as a viable transit alternative everywhere from Vancouver to Mecca. Turns out an aerial cable system can carry between 5,000 and 6,000 passengers an hour—not as many as a subway, but more than a streetcar or bus. As for a Toronto location, Dale still thinks the Don Valley is the most obvious spot. Coincidentally, that’s the same pesky valley that’s threatening to derail Rob Ford’s plan to run the Eglinton Crosstown underground. And given that a monorail was part of the transit discussion not so long ago, maybe gondolas aren’t so crazy after all. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

The Hype

From the Print Edition

December 21, 2011 | 8:00 am

24 Comments

Why three prominent Chinese-Canadian writers launched a $10-million plagiarism suit against Ling Zhang

A tale of death threats, tarnished reputations and literary jealousy
By Leah McLaren

(Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)

The streets near Scarborough’s Confederation Park curve and loop in a vertiginous web. The neighbourhood was built in the 1970s—several blocks of low-lying split-levels and bungalows divided by neatly trimmed hedges and 20-foot pines. The 401 is just a few blocks away, but these houses are quiet and isolated, even prim. Ling Zhang lives here in a large mock Tudor. She answers the door on the first ring, a diminutive woman with full moon cheeks and a bashful smile. At 54, she wears her hair in a wispy, youthful updo and is dressed in a peacock-blue sundress, a simple cardigan and slippers. The house is immaculate. We pass through a large front hall with a formal dining and living room off either side. Matching white leather sofas sprawl across polished cherry floors. Everywhere I look, there are vases filled with flowers in pastel pink and white. They’re all fake, but the effect is cheerful.

In the kitchen, Zhang makes me a cup of tea. Her husband, Ken He, a slight man in a short-sleeved plaid shirt, pops in to say hello—but not much else. Zhang explains his English isn’t great. “Moving to Toronto was a big sacrifice for him,” she says. The couple met in Vancouver, at the church where Zhang, a born-again Christian, was baptized as an adult. They came to Toronto so Zhang could take a job at Scarborough General Hospital as an audiologist. Her husband, who was an ophthalmologist in China, now sells real estate to the GTA’s Chinese immigrant community.

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The Informer

Tech Wars

December 2, 2011 | 4:45 pm

1 Comment

Research in Motion and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

(Image: BestBoyZ Germany)

It was an especially bad week in an especially bad year for Research in Motion. The battered company announced this morning that it has lost $485 million US from PlayBook price cuts (but hey, at least they’re selling), that BlackBerry shipments have been declining and that the company will probably not reach its projected earnings for the year. Plus, RIM’s security credentials were damaged on Wednesday when three hackers—neuralic, Xpvqs and, um, Chris Wade—claimed to have “jail-broken” the PlayBook, allowing them to run unauthorized programs and have full control over its hardware. And that same day, two RIM employees pleaded guilty to mischief charges. The pair got in a drunken dispute with attendants on an Air Canada flight and needed to be restrained. The plane, carrying 300 people en route to Beijing from Toronto, had to turn back and land in Vancouver to hand the troublemakers over to police. Their belligerence cost them $35,878 each and a suspension from RIM. Perhaps it’s best for them to take a vacation; we imagine things are a little tense at the office these days.

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The Dish

Restauran-TO

November 22, 2011 | 11:16 am

1 Comment

Toronto takes first and second place in this year’s best washroom competition; see why

(Image: Cintas Canada)

After losing out to Vancouver last year, Toronto has ascended the, erm, throne in Cintas’s annual Canada’s Best Restroom contest (no, we’re not entirely sure why this exists, either, but why not?). This year, first place went to E11even, MLSE’s iPad-toting fine-dining restaurant, with second-place honours going to the Allstream Centre (a.k.a. that conference centre out at Exhibition Place). The five finalists were selected, according to a press release, “based on exceptional hygiene, style, public accessibility and usability,” after which the public got to have its say through an online vote. So what makes E11even’s washrooms so special? Huge expanses of marble, mosaic tiling and judicious use of the Toto washlet, which is basically the modern incarnation of the bidet (glimpse the future at Toto’s website). The LEED silver restrooms at the Allstream Centre, meanwhile, feature a carpeted makeup lounge (in the ladies’ room), complete with individually illuminated mirrors with walnut accents. In third, fourth and fifth place were Montreal’s Hôtel Le Germain, Edmonton’s David Morris Fine Cars and the Ottawa Convention Centre. Check out a slideshow of E11even’s winning w/c, after the jump

The Informer

Streetcar Named Disaster

November 18, 2011 | 12:35 pm

1 Comment

Rob Ford’s transit strategy is costing, not saving, the city a lot of money

Seizing on the opportunity to run a photo of Rob Ford in a goofy hard hat, the Globe and Mail takes the mayor to task for his transit strategy—specifically his decision to extend the Sheppard subway and bury the Eglinton LRT. But apparently all is not lost. The Globe argues Ford still has a way out: reverting to the original Eglinton plan and using the surplus cash as “seed money” for a public-private partnership that would finally see Sheppard built. Of course, as John Michael McGrath at OpenFile points out, the same money could be used to build a Finch LRT line “almost twice.” And although the Globe cites Vancouver’s Canada Line as an example of a working public-private transit partnership, we’re still skeptical—not only about the feasibility of the same approach, but also of how essential the Sheppard line is in the first place. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

The Dish

TV Diner

November 17, 2011 | 1:12 pm

59 Comments

Recipe to Riches Reviewed: Episode 5, The Smart Cookie

Last things first: at the end of this week’s episode (the sweet and savoury snacks challenge), the producers flashed a disclaimer explaining that “due to unforeseen circumstances,” the winning contestant would “not be competing for the grand prize in the final episode.” Our minds rife with conspiracy theories neither sweet nor savoury, we dashed off a note to the show’s publicist, who reassured us there was nothing untoward going on. Apparently, after the show was taped, the producers found out that the winner had a family member who worked at a company connected to the show, making her technically ineligible. But since that family member wasn’t in a position to have any influence on the show, they decided to let her keep her $25,000 in winnings while barring her from the grand prize. Given how badly she wanted to win (see below), we have to admit we feel a little bad. After the jump, our weekly recap and tasting panel.

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The Dish

Restauran-TO

October 18, 2011 | 10:39 am

6 Comments

The cat’s out of the bag: Daniel Boulud to open restaurant at the new Four Seasons

Back in April, we reported that Daniel Boulud was another in the growing group of Michelin-starred chefs to snub Toronto in favour of Vancouver or Montreal. Not so, apparently: the National Post’s Shinan Govani confirmed yesterday the rumours that the lauded New York chef of Daniel fame will be opening a restaurant in the new Four Seasons hotel and condo complex on Bay Street (there’s an official announcement scheduled for next Thursday). This is the second Canadian hotel partnership in the works for the chef, who is opening Maison Boulud in Montreal in early 2012 to coincide with a $150-million renovation to the Montreal Ritz-Carlton. Previously, Boulud opened and subsequently closed two restaurants in Vancouver, DB Bistro Moderne and Lumière, after only two years in business.

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The Informer

Cityscape

October 18, 2011 | 10:35 am

1 Comment

Toronto ranked middle of the pack by Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards

Publishing powerhouse Condé Nast recently released the Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards—an annual roundup of the best places to visit and stay around the world—and Toronto’s showing was average at best. More than eight million votes were cast for the survey, with top honours going to exotic locales like Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, the Peninsula House in Dominican Republic and Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. Toronto, on the other hand, seems to lack the allure of other far-flung (read: tropical) destinations. In fact, no Toronto-based hotels made the cut on the Top 100 travel experiences list, although a few Canadian locations did (King Pacific Lodge in B.C., Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario, Emerald Lake Lodge in B.C. and Auberge Saint-Antoine in Quebec City). In the Canadian rankings, Toronto ranked fifth, behind practically every other city that matters (Quebec City, Vancouver, Montreal and even little Victoria). Although a few local spots did make the cut for the Canadian hotels list (the Hazelton Hotel was named fifth best in the country, the Four Seasons in Yorkville ranked 27th and the Windsor Arms and the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel took 31st and 35th place, respectively), the results prove that the CN Tower has nothing on historical clout, mountains or waterfalls. The verdict: we could really use an ocean view and year-round sunshine. Read the entire story [Condé Nast] »

The Dish

Opening

October 7, 2011 | 1:59 pm

2 Comments

Introducing: Fusia Dog, Dinah Koo’s return to downtown

Dinah Koo, proudly back downtown at her new “multicultural hot dog” shop (Image: Karoylne Ellacott)

Dinah Koo makes no bones about her new hot dog joint: “We’ve got a pretty upscale dog—it’s certainly no street meat!” Just around the corner from the main Queen Street drag, Fusia Dog aims a bit higher than what your average night-time reveler might go for, offering up various fusion hot dogs with more than a bit of panache. After witnessing the success of Vancouver’s Japa Dog and New York’s Asia Dog, Koo decided to follow suit, putting her own twist on the fusion dog. Her versions meld together Asian-inspired flavours with those from elsewhere: “There are so many fabulous combos from everywhere!”

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The Informer

From the Print Edition

October 7, 2011 | 10:22 am

88 Comments

Michelle Dean: I ♥ N.Y. (Not T.O.)

(Jack Dylan)

Dear Toronto: I’d like to say that it’s me, not you, but I’d be lying. It is you. You have no passion, no ambition. You elected Rob Ford! I’m leaving you for another city

About a year ago, in what felt like defeat, I moved to Toronto. I was looking to overhaul (some might say “ditch”) my career. I’d spent five years in New York as a corporate attorney, warring with myself from the get-go over whether I could stay in a city that I loved on employment terms I despised. When I was finally laid off and I decided to leave practice altogether, Toronto was the obvious choice for a crash landing. Though I’d never lived there, I had a lot of friends in the city, there were cultural events aplenty, and rents seemed shockingly cheap after Brooklyn and Manhattan. Maybe, I thought, I’d been crazy to stay away.

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The Dish

TV Diner

September 30, 2011 | 2:20 pm

5 Comments

Top Chef Canada winner Dale MacKay to launch new restaurant (sadly not in Toronto) and spice line

Dale MacKay finds out he’s the winner of Top Chef Canada as Toronto’s Rob Rossi looks on. (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)

We don’t usually cover Vancouver restaurant news here at the Dish, but for Top Chef Canada winner Dale MacKay, we’ll make an exception. Shortly after taping the series, MacKay opened Ensemble (although he wasn’t able to make use of his winning until after the series aired). Now the Vancouver Sun is reporting that he’s launching a new eatery a few blocks away this December (the name is currently a secret). Sure, we’re disappointed we won’t be trying his food in Toronto any time soon, but we take solace in the fact that MacKay is also apparently introducing a line of spices.

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