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(Image: Ontario Craft Beer Week)
The fourth annual Ontario Craft Beer Week brings together 30 brewers for seven days of boozy revelry. Over 150 events, including free barbecue, marathon tours of Ontario’s best microbreweries and craft beer taste-offs at city bars, take place in more than 50 towns across the province. Here, our six-pack selection of tastings, collaborative dinners and random beer-powered events to make sure you get the best brews, and a good buzz, starting this Sunday.
(Image: Twitter)
Food and Liquor, a new late-night snack bar from owners Nigel French (Campagnolo) and Ginny Tam, is opening in the space soon to be vacated by Queen West coffee and brunch spot Poor John’s Café. Thanks to a liquor-license transfer, French and Tam have evaded the restaurant moratorium in Parkdale. Poor John’s closes this weekend, and Food and Liquor is expected to open in July. [The Grid]
Food and Liquor, 1610 Queen St. W., @FoodandLiquorTO
The LCBO’s line up of summer brews has slowly started appearing in stores since the end of last month. Bottles include both the rare finds that keep beer geeks buzzing and more accessible upgrades on the usual mix of lagers, pilsners and ales. The summer release also moves away from the hop bombs that currently dominate craft brewing—and recently received criticism for basically ruining beer—toward yeast strains like saisons (think light, refreshing farmhouse ales) and specialized sours (acidic, tart beers). We pick eight of the very best below.
Two hundred people packed the Malaparte event space on the sixth-floor of the TIFF Bell Lighbox last Thursday for our first-ever Art of the Cocktail party, a boisterous evening of top-shelf booze mixed by some of the city’s best bartenders. Over three hours, Toronto bartenders from Blowfish, Miller Tavern, Bloke and 4th and Jump whipped up four fancy craft cocktails with chefs from O&B pairing hors d’oeuvres for each. Check out the slideshow for pictures from the party.
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(Image: Megan Leahy)
Name: THR & Co.
Neighbourhood: University
Contact Info: 97 Harbord St., 647-748-7199, thrandco.com, @THRandCo
Owners: David Mitton (The Harbord Room, Czehoski), Cory Vitiello (The Harbord Room, The Drake), Mike Logue (The Harbord Room, Czehoski) Liz Campbell (The Harbord Room, Czehoski), Curt Martin (The Harbord Room)
Chef: Cory Vitiello (Executive Chef), Curt Martin (Chef de Cuisine)
The Food: A more accessible version of the menu at The Harbord Room. Appetizers include beef heart tartare and grilled romaine and chicory salad with crispy pig ear, cured tomato, chopped capers and anchovies. Mains include pizzas, pastas and meat and fish plates, like slow cooked lamb neck osso bucco with dried currant and pinenut gremolata and 22 oz bone in rib eye.
(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Name: Switch
Neighbourhood: Downtown Core
Contact Info: 55 Colborne St., 416-901-9990, switchtoronto.com
Owners: Hanif Harji (Patria, Weslodge)
The Food: A pan-global menu of sharing plates. Dishes range from finger snacks (cheesy truffle popcorn and spiced, smoked marcona almonds) to more substantial nosh (scotch eggs and haute dogs). The kitchen is open from 5-10 p.m. and reopens at midnight with a curated selection of snacks.
(Image: Megan Leahy)
Montauk is the latest addition to the stretch of Dundas West east of Trinity Bellwoods park, joining Bent, L’Ouvrier and Campagnolo (plus, impending arrival Queen Margherita Pizza). After a thorough overhaul by the owner Dustin Keating, who added exposed reclaimed piping, hefty reclaimed wood tables and industrial light fixtures to the space, the room is more polished than nearby dives like The Press Club and Magpie. Cocktails are created by guest bartenders who stop by on a weekly basis to mix their own concoctions, there are four beers on tap and the wine list is exclusively Ontario. Montauk doesn’t have an in-house kitchen: so housemade beef jerky is the only snack standing in the way of a tipsy trip to the McDonalds next door. 765 Dundas St. W., 647-352-4810, barmontauk.com, @Montaukbar
(Image: Toronto Police Service)
This story is a doozy: a rare and really, really expensive bottle of scotch valued at $26,000 was stolen from the LCBO near Queens Quay earlier this month. A burglar in a plaid Burberry shirt somehow removed the bottle of 50-year-old Glenfiddich single malt, one of only 50 in the world, from its locked case and walked out the front door with it tucked under his coat (apparently, the obvious bulge in his trench didn’t arouse suspicion). A single malt expert says the thief is likely a hired hand: the appreciation value of upscale scotch can be higher than gold creating a booming black market for the spirit. The heist certainly seems like the work of a pro—the luxury bottle is the single most expensive item ever stolen from one of the LCBO’s stores. [National Post]
Name: The Beer Hall
Neighbourhood: Distillery District
Contact Info: 21 Tank House Lane, 416-681-0338, millstreetbrewery.com, @MillStBrewPubTO
Owners: Mill St. Brewery
Chef: Elizabeth Rivasplata (Frank, Top Chef Canada)
Head Brewer: Joel Manning
The Food: Gourmet versions of classic pub fare, like a hot charcuterie pork board ($32) and mini-lamb and lavender sausage sliders ($16). Mill St. beer is an ingredient in almost all the items on the menu.
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Serving custom-designed drinks is the latest wedding craze, but that doesn’t mean you have to go without a champagne toast. Below, four of Toronto’s most creative bartenders riff on the classic sparkling cocktail
THE SPARKLING BOUQUET
Brad Gubbins, bartender at SpiritHouse
This elegant emulsion blends 1 oz Lillet Rosé with ¾ oz gin, a spoonful of simple syrup and 2 dashes of rhubarb bitters. Gubbins tops up the flute with chilled champagne and a grapefruit twist.
Six years in and the earnest annual charity beerfest started by Jamie Kennedy, Slow Food Toronto, Local Food Plus and Green Enterprise Toronto to push sustainable food and drink in the city has become oddly almost trendy. There are artisanal beers from small-batch breweries, dishes made from regional ingredients, top Toronto chefs doing the cooking and a conspicuous locavore ethos (with proceeds going to charity). But the trend quotient ends there: the classy event on April 17 costs $125 per ticket, the attire is essentially suit-and-tie and the purpose is to raise dollars for the cause. This year, the roster counts chefs Chris McDonald (Cava), Lora Kirk (Ruby Watchco) and Brad Long (Café Belong), and the long list of local brewers includes microbreweries like Amsterdam and Steam Whistle serving suds alongside smaller shops like Beau’s and Nickelbrook. Find out more at brewersplatetoronto.org.
Charles Khabouth does two things very well: pounding nightclubs and fancy restaurants. This new resto-lounge, the Toronto counterpart to Montreal’s Buonanotte, highlights his knack for both. The place looks like one of Khabouth’s King West clubs, with underdressed female wait staff and low-slung lounge furniture, and the kitchen turns out confident classic Italian food.
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Avro owners Bruce Dawson and Rachel Conduit (Image: Courtesy The Avro)
Riverside’s The Avro is shutting down after three years on the strip, following a request from its landlord for double the rent. In a farewell note on the bar’s website (complete with a ticking countdown clock), the owners reminisce about the comedy shows, indie film shoots and video game tournaments they hosted, and, naturally, draw comparisons to the demise of the place’s famous namesake. The Avro’s last service will be on April 26, and as promised, there are no plans to reopen at a new location. [The Avro]
Following the example of restaurants like Glory Hole Doughnuts and The Real Jerk, Kensington Brewing Company is asking Toronto beer lovers to help fund the construction of its new Augusta Avenue bar and retail shop. Instead of using Indiegogo or Kickstarter, however, Kensington has adopted a model they call “Community Supported Beer.” The allusion to Community Supported Agriculture is more than just lip service, since each level of support—ranging from Keg Washer at $50 to Brew Master at $1,200—actually involves the advance purchase of beer (the lower tiers even receive gift cards worth more than the contribution). Kensington owner Brock Shepherd told The Grid that he needs $500,000 to open his new brewery, and that he’s hoping $50,000–$100,000 of that will come from the CSB—which means he’ll probably need to entice at least a couple hundred people to sign up. [Kensington Brewing Company]
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