High-end grocery store Pusateri’s is outraged over a recent proposal by resident council rogue Kristyn Wong-Tam to remove the valet parking area in front of its Bay Street shop. In 2003, Pusateri’s paid big bucks ($75,000) for the city to create a street indent called a “lay-by” that allows customers to stop momentarily and hand off their keys to the valet or to pop in and out for a quick bag of groceries. But now Wong-Tam wants to eliminate the cushy road space in order to double the width of the sidewalk (she says the move is part of the city’s larger plan to build a more walkable, livable city). For its part, Pusateri’s argues removing the lay-by will jeopardize the store’s very existence. After all, that Benz isn’t going to park itself. [Toronto Star]
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Meet the five Toronto contestants on Top Chef Canada season three
(Image: Top Chef Canada)
Season three of Top Chef Canada kicks off on March 18, and earlier today Food Network Canada unveiled the slate of 16 contestants, including five from the GTA (that’s one less than in seasons one and two). Returning this year are host Lisa Ray, head judge Mark McEwan and resident judge Shereem Arazm, and just like last season, the winner takes home $100,000 and a new GE Monogram Kitchen (plus a custom Caesarstone countertop installation, which was the prize in episode 12 last year). The celebrity guests will include Montreal chef-hunk Chuck Hughes, U.S. Top Chef season six champ Michael Voltaggio and Food Network regulars David Rocco and Robert Irvine, as well as the usual sprinkling of CanCon’s finest like Trish Stratus, Russell Peters and, gloriously, Jann Arden. Below, we suss out the Toronto contestants’ chances.
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Holiday Gift Guide 2011: 30 fantastic presents for homebodies everywhere
By Fraser Abe, Karolyne Ellacott, Kevin Naulls and Mark Teo | Photography by Carlo Mendoza
For friends and family just moving into a new place or on the lookout for their next apartment, it’s nice to pick out gifts that will make those places feel like home. We scoured the city and found a fantastic hand-carved deer for a dose of Canadiana (it says, “Hey, I know I don’t live in a log cabin, but I can try”), a cord chair that beats those schoolhouse ones we used to think were cool and a selection of tchotchkes that aren’t likely to be re-gifted or simply tossed in the garbage.
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Holiday Gift Guide 2011: 90 of the best presents money can buy
By Fraser Abe, Karolyne Ellacott, Kevin Naulls and Mark Teo | Photography by Carlo Mendoza
The holiday season is rapidly approaching, and we’ve tackled the ever-difficult task of narrowing down a list of items that would be perfect for the men, women and children in your life. We find it is always a big to-do finding that special something for the wine snob who likes to aerate his or her wine, but we’ve got it covered, and to spare moms, dads, uncles, aunts and friends from waiting in line for this year’s Tickle Me Elmo, we’ve found some cool options for rug rats that won’t break down and send a greedy child into a tantrum.
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Holiday Gift Guide 2011: 19 fantastic finds for the at-home butcher, baker and boozer
By Fraser Abe, Karolyne Ellacott, Kevin Naulls and Mark Teo | Photography by Carlo Mendoza
Everyone needs to eat, but some people have more refined palates than others. For the wine snobs and fine diners in your life, we’ve compiled a list of great ideas for the at-home butcher, baker and boozer.
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Holiday Gift Guide 2011: 32 great gifts under $30
By Fraser Abe, Karolyne Ellacott, Kevin Naulls and Mark Teo | Photography by Carlo Mendoza
Little treats are perfect for host and hostess gifts and stocking stuffers, so we’ve picked some presents under $30 to help with the stress of sticking to a holiday budget (and, really, there are always obligatory presents to buy for people we know nothing about). We have everything from a space-age travel toothbrush for that friend you used to have eight years ago who just came home from teaching in Korea (and is likely to depart again) to a baguette carrier for when someone chooses bread as their item for a potluck (it doubles as a wine carrier, if that’s more their style) to various smile-building knick-knacks.
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Pusateri’s to reopen tomorrow morning
We received word this afternoon that the Avenue and Lawrence location of fancy food institution Pusateri’s is set to reopen Monday morning at 8 a.m. after passing an inspection by Toronto Public Health. As we reported on Thursday afternoon, the store was shut down when inspectors found evidence of a pest infestation. (Over at The Grid, Karon Liu offers some perspective on the situation by rounding up other recent health violations.) A representative of the company later told us a shipment of wicker baskets might have been to blame.
Pusateri’s shut down after failing public health inspection, could reopen tomorrow (MORNING UPDATE)
The Toronto Star is reporting that the Avenue and Lawrence location of fancy food institution Pusateri’s has been shut down by Toronto Public Health “due to poor sanitation and pest infestation.” Well, at least that’s what a public health spokesperson told them. Pusateri’s general manager John Mastroianni, on the other hand, insists the closure was “equipment related.” Ever intrepid, the Star goes on to report that workers could be seen through the windows “cleaning and scrubbing shelves before returning the gourmet cookies and biscotti to their places.” The Yorkville and Bayview Village locations remain open for any urgent fancy food needs.
UPDATE Oct. 20 at 10:42 p.m.: we received a press release from Pusateri’s this evening acknowledging that as of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, the store was temporarily closed following a visit from public health. From the release:
During the investigation, a small portion of the storage area and walk-in coolers as well as “hard-to-reach and obscure locations” seem to have been infested by pests, which may have been missed as a result of human error during our on-going routine maintenance. The situation is already being dealt with including the complete removal of all goods in the effected areas to ensure no further problems arise.
None of our public areas have been affected by this incident. Our location has operated for 25 years with complete compliance Toronto Public Health regulations. We are committed to following our track record as soon as this incident passes.
The City of Toronto DineSafe page for Pusateri’s has also been updated to reflect the latest inspection. The report lists eight infractions, including “inadequate pest control” and “improper maintenance/sanitation of non-food contact surfaces/equipment.”
UPDATE Oct. 21 at 9:45 a.m.: a spokesman for Pusateri’s has let us know that the store is being scrubbed down by professional cleaners at the moment, and could reopen as soon as tomorrow. Apparently, the infestation problem seems to have been caused by a shipment of wicker baskets from abroad; they’ve since been removed from the site and destroyed. He also told us that the store’s last routine pest control check was performed just over a week ago.
• Rats, roaches shut down gourmet grocery store Pusateri’s [Toronto Star]
Twelve Treats of Christmas: amazing edible (or drinkable) gifts for the indulgent epicure
Now is the time of year when Toronto’s patisseries and food shops offer a tremendous selection of goodies that cater to the most specific tastes. To make sense of this yearly embarrassment of riches, we found some delicious items that are sure to be crowd pleasers and ideal gifts. Here, 12 ways to avoid the dreaded (and regifted) Pot of Gold.
Black garlic takes Toronto, Christopher Walken chickens out, the world’s largest hamburger
• Christopher Walken has posted a YouTube video showcasing his cooking skills. In the video “Man Makes Chicken With Pears,” Walken walks viewers through the whole recipe. Emeril he is not. His kitchen reminds us of our first apartment, complete with cat sniffing around the food. Our favourite quote? “I love this chicken neck,” he says with his trademark spookiness. “It’s great.” [YouTube]
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Diners poisoned by human sewage, grapefruits are the new miracle weight-loss drug, Pusateri’s five fall pantry staples
• One of Toronto’s newest ethnic enclaves, Danforth’s Little Ethiopia, began with the crank of a slot machine. When Daniel Bekele opened his Ethiopian restaurant Wazema, customers were turned off by the crappy decor and absence of air conditioning. But after Bekele won $190,000 at a Casino Rama slot machine and invested it all in renovations, good things happened. The new modernist dining room drew customers, which drew more Ethiopian restaurants, which drew even more customers, and voila—another neighbourhood bragging right for Toronto. Thank you, gambling. [Toronto Star]
• Michael Pollan argues in an NYT op-ed that the Obama administration should reform the food industry if they plan to fix health care. Over three-quarters of the money poured into health care in States goes toward treating preventable chronic illness, the majority of which are caused by poor diet, says Pollan. [New York Times] Read the rest of this entry »
• The general manager of Pusateri’s doles out advice on five must-have pantry staples for the fall. Spelt we get, but in what galaxy is Essence of Niagara Red Pepper Icewine Jelly considered a staple? [Globe and Mail]
The holy grail of ice cream, wagyu for $45 per pound, Farmville takes over Facebook
Farmville just earned the Most Annoying Update yellow ribbon on Facebook
• Facebook trends continue to follow those in the real world: first, there was the restaurant craze (known as Restaurant City on the ‘Book), and now there’s the back-to-the-farm craze. A new app called Farmville is storming the profiles of virtual locavores. Players can tend sheep and rabbits, as well as harvest strawberries, soybeans and eggplants. We predict a backlash app that involves pounding down virtual Big Macs and e-fries. [Globe and Mail]
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Fruit follies at Pusateri’s, a hidden culinary haven, the dangers of baby food
Grapes of wrath: a dispute over lousy fruit sparked a one-woman boycott of Pusateri’s (Photo by LD Cross)
• After the harrowing experience of watching her mother try to get a refund for rotten grapes at Pusateri’s, the National Post’s Meghan Telpner got to wondering why grocery stores won’t let customers return damaged produce. [National Post]
• Who knew that in the middle of economically devastated Michigan there lies a near-mythical land of milk and honey just waiting to be discovered? The resort town of Traverse City has a rising “gastronomic subculture,” as celeb chef Mario Batali puts it, including a wealth of new restaurants, farms and a diversity of produce second only to California. Road trip, anyone? [Canadian Press]
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Mark McEwan predicts that Torontonians will “get” his North York version of Dean & Deluca
Mark McEwan, shopkeep (Photo by Nikki Leigh McKean)
We’ve been hearing about McEwan—Mark McEwan’s proposed gourmet grocery store—for what seems like eons now. News about it broke in late 2007, with an opening date set for January 2009. But then we were told we’d have to wait another five months. Now, even though controversy is brewing over the store’s gentrifying effects, we are told that the suspense is almost over. Come June, the Bymark chef will open the doors to his supermarket at Lawrence and Don Mills. He envisions the size of his store as somewhere between Pusateri’s and Whole Foods, with aisles of gourmet ingredients and prepared foods tended by employees offering restaurant-style service.
