Caplansky’s Delicatessen is holding its inaugural “Battle of the Bubbies” competition this Sunday in search of the city’s best matzo ball maker. Chief mensch Zane Caplansky points out that the competition is open to anyone—not just bubbies—and there will be two categories to compete under: cannon balls (hard balls) and fluffy balls (soft balls). For the record, Caplansky himself likes the fluffy balls. The judges include Moses Znaimer, Bonnie Stern, David Sax, Lara Rabinovitch and Amy Wilson, so it’s quite clear that these people will know what goes in a good matzo, unlike most food competitions out there (remember when Antonio Sabato Jr. was a judge on Iron Chef?).
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Zane Caplansky wants your grandmother’s balls
Best new restaurants 2010: James Chatto names five honourable mentions

(Image: Renée Suen)
Toronto Life‘s annual ranking of the city’s 10 best new restaurants is in our April issue, on newsstands now. Despite the lacklustre economy, it’s been a banner year for eating out. Here, James Chatto picks five more new restaurants are worth lining up for.
Technician’s eyebrows presumed missing after gas explosion at Caplansky’s Delicatessen
Caplansky’s Delicatessen was closed yesterday, and officials crowded its College Street space after a technician set off a small fireball while trying to install a fryer. Zane Caplansky writes on the restaurant’s blog that the technician got burned and, amid the panic, used the fire extinguisher, then ran onto the street. Firefighters arrived, and soon the police, EMS, Toronto Public Health, the Ministry of Labour and Technical Standards and Safety Authority arrived to see if the technician who fled was OK. Eventually, the fryer vendor who hired the technician came to the restaurant and told the police that he installed the fryer himself. The cops promptly arrested him for obstruction. “Seeing your kitchen equipment guy being cuffed in your dining room and led away by the police is an experience I never imagined I’d have,” writes Caplansky. “And I’m not grateful for it.”
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New Yorkers told to visit Toronto and eat at CN Tower
As if our superior Chinatown weren’t enough of a draw, New Yorkers in search of a reason to visit Toronto may find inspiration in this odd list compiled by the travel site eTurbo News.
Some of the city’s best restaurants fail to make the cut, though some obvious culinary draws—like Wine Bar and the CN Tower’s touristy 360 Restaurant—are given a thumbs up. But how about fleeing the deli-filled streets of NYC for, wait for it, a deli? Apparently Caplansky’s is worth the journey (the writer even fantasizes about having the “cute, charming (a little pudgy), intelligent” owner Zane Caplansky as a son-in-law). Theatre district joints Dhaba and Focus Group are also top picks.
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Cora Pizza reopens, Joanne Kates picks her top restaurants, the fooderati’s top Twitterers

Ratted out: Cora Pizza reopens after health inspectors discovered rats on the premises (Photo by The Pizza Review)
• U of T students, rejoice: Cora Pizza reopened its doors last week. The restaurant, a long-standing refuge of drunken university students, was closed due to unsanitary conditions (including, apparently, several dead rats and rat feces on the premises). With a history like this, we’re sure the customers will come flocking back. [CBC]
• Joanne Kates counts down Toronto’s top new restaurants of 2009, with fairly predictable results. Among her favourites are Buca, Black Hoof, the revamped Splendido, Osteria Ciceri e Tria and Mildred’s Temple Kitchen. The one wild card is Ba Shu Ren Jia, a Szechuan spot with a four-figure Steeles Avenue address. [Globe and Mail] Read the rest of this entry »
The healthiest meal in the world, the scariest foods ever, the enduring success of Farmville
• The travel Web site concierge.com lists the world’s scariest foods. At first glance, we thought Jell-O reigned supreme as the scariest—at least scorpions and tarantulas are natural—but then we watched this video of a writhing plate of sannakji (live baby octopus). Imbibers have to contend with still-active tentacle suckers, which apparently present a choking hazard. [Concierge]
• New York Times writer Micheline Maynard visits Ottawa’s Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute to see if it lives up to its worldwide reputation. There, she experiences the highs and lows of professional cooking, including a successful lobster in verbena cream sauce, and a not-so-successful platter of skate. [New York Times]
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The sandwich generation: how the recession helped the lowly lunch box staple conquer Toronto
As people downsized discretionary spending (and foie gras consumption), the city’s chefs embraced their new bread and butter, turning humble sammies into the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread (sorry, we’re, um, on a roll). We chart the best of an ever-increasing bunch.





Whether you celebrate the slaves’ escape from Egypt, the resurrection of Christ or the annual arrival of Cadbury eggs, these seven restaurant events—with Passover- and Easter-themed menus—can help make next weekend memorable. 



