All stories relating to Angelos Economopoulos

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

After a long wait, Indie Ale House finally opened in the Junction this month (Image: Yves Freypons)

Opening

Café Boulud and dBar—The third Café Boulud and 14th restaurant in Daniel Boulud’s portfolio isn’t the buzziest arrival in recent weeks, but it probably wasn’t designed to be. The casual bistro, with its tidy four-part menu, is more of a neighbourhood spot than a fine dining destination. Read our Introducing post »
Richmond Station—Top Chef Canada winner Carl Heinrich and Ryan Donovan broke away from Marben to set up their transit-themed restaurant. Fans of Heinrich and Donovan’s “good, honest cooking,” which includes a Marben-esque rib-stuffed burger and a decadent take on a s’more, need only look for the ersatz subway station sign. Read our Introducing post »
Indie Ale House—After two years of labour, Jason Fisher’s lager-free brewery has brought craft ale to the once-dry Junction. Salt alum Patrick Fraser handles the elevated pub grub menu. Read our Introducing Post »
Patria—Charles Khabouth must not sleep. In the past four months, his bid to take over King West has manifested itself in Weslodge Saloon, Storys and, most recently, Patria, a traditional Spanish restaurant boasting wines that are largely unavailable at the LCBO. Read our Introducing post »

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Introducing: Fancy Franks, the new College Street spot for haute dogs

(Image: Caroline Aksich)

A funny thing happened when Angelos Economopoulos opened Fancy Franks Gourmet Hot Dogs on College Street, with no prior advertising. “As soon as I opened the door,” he told us, “the place was full.” Granted, locals have been eyeing the spot ever since a campy, nostalgic mural (painted by Andrew Kidder) showed up, livening the bleak corner of College and Major. A couple years ago, Economopoulos first heard of the haute hot dog craze that was spreading from Los Angeles across the States. After a few cross-boarder reconnaissance field trips, Economopoulos was sure the concept could take off in Toronto too.

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The Dish

Restaurants

August 7, 2009 | 2:39 pm

3 Comments

Taste of the Danforth: The east-end street braces for a 72-hour “gift to Toronto”

Rolling right along: Taste of the Danforth roars through the east end this weekend (Photo by Matthew Filipowich)

At last night’s launch party for the annual August feeding frenzy, Taste of the Danforth, we ate: stuffed phyllo triangle, roasted mushrooms, shrimp rice pilaf, olive tapenade, pad thai, a pakora, a souvlaki skewer, another bigger souvlaki skewer, an entire grilled squid, some unidentifiable pink stuff, a barbecued rib, a Portuguese custard tart, another helping of pad thai, some Singapore noodles, red pepper dip and gnocchi. We were crammed into resto-bar-lounge The Local Company and, like the rest of the fooderati and media types present, we either had our eyes trained on the food or wore the glazed over expression of a cadet emerging from the trenches. That’s roughly what visitors can expect this weekend at Taste of the Danforth, when over one million eaters will descend on Greektown, from Broadview to Jones, for 72 hours of food, culture, entertainment and more food.

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