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Trend we Love: Philly cheese steak, spotted in low- and middlebrow incarnations

The traditional cheese steak from I Went to Philly, and OddSeoul’s Koreanized version

Those who’ve grown weary of sanctimonious locavorism will welcome the sudden ubiquity of the Philly cheese steak on Toronto menus. The greasy cafeteria staple, in its traditional incarnation, is an oozing mountain of sliced rib-eye, grilled vegetables, hot peppers and Cheez Whiz piled into a squishy bun. It arrives on red checked paper, sends a rivulet of dribbling cheese down your shirtfront and defiantly flaunts its lowbrow junk factor in the face of fresh-and-local ideals. Here are some of the traditional and revamped versions we’ve spotted on menus around the city of late:

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VIDEO: Watch Jennifer McLagan peel lamb’s testicles with Matty Mattheson

The last time the words “sizzle reel” were deployed on TorontoLife.com, they were in reference to Lake Shore, the ill-advised GTA-based Jersey Shore takeoff that thankfully never got off the ground. This time, we’re happy to say the promotional video is for Odd Bits, a spin-off of Jennifer McLagan’s hit offal cookbook from last year. In the clip, McLagan is shown preparing testicles—yes, testicles—with Parts and Labour’Matty Matheson (after demonstrating to the tattooed chef the proper peeling technique, she actually drops the groaner, “Takes a girl to know how to handle testicles”). McLagan tells us that she shot a pilot for the show this summer, which also features segments at Beast with Scott Vivian (water buffalo tongue, heart and marrow) and Buca with Rob Gentile (blood). Here’s hoping it gets picked up—while we doubt home cooks would actually make too many of the recipes, the demonstrations should make for good, squirm-inducing TV.

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Restaurants

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Best of the City 2012: four extravagant whole-beast feasts

Best of the City: feasts

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Food Events

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Weekly Eater: Toronto food events for July 30 to August 5

On Tuesday, the Culinary Adventure Company leads a canoe picnic to the islands (Image: Mike in TO)

Monday, July 30

  • Group of Seven Chefs—Fish and Beer Dinner: The seven chefs get together with Bellwoods Brewery for a five-course, seafood-heavy meal with beer pairings. Bellwoods Brewery, 124 Ossington Ave., 416-535-4586. Find out more »
  • Monday’s Dinner chef series at Chantecler: This week, chefs Jonathan Poon (Chantecler) and Jeff Claudio (Yours Truly) will be cooking an 18-course tasting menu full of summer ingredients. Chantecler, 1320 Queen St. W., 416-628-3586. Find out more »
  • 86’D With Ivy Knight: Judge the ultimate Blue Ribbon battle of the butter tart. Competitors from Bestellen, The Gabardine, The Flaky Tart and more. The Drake, 1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042. Find out more »
  • Piola’s Monday Night Mixer: Piola’s weekly aperitivo italiano, with cocktail and beer specials and complimentary snacks. 1165 Queen St. W., 416-477-4652. Find out more »

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Here’s where Anthony Bourdain stopped by during his Toronto layover

Bourdain does a bone luge at The Black Hoof (Image: @tvsuperstarr)

Regular Dish readers will know that Anthony Bourdain, TV’s favourite bad-boy chef–turned–professional eater was in town last week to shoot an episode of The Layover, his new travel show where he attempts to cram in as much fun as possible in 24 to 48 hours. Although we have no idea which places will make it onto the show, here’s a roundup of the various Bourdain spottings from the last few days, along with reactions from the man himself (@Bourdain) or his crew (@tvsuperstarr):

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Food Events

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A look at the pork-mad garden party that was the Group of Seven Hogtown Throwdown

Matty Matheson and Derek Dammann at the Hogtown Throwdown (Image: Renée Suen)

What do you get when you give eight chefs a Perth Pork pig, some beer and wine and an open-air venue to host an event? A throwdown, naturally. Tuesday night, The Group of 7 Chefs—Bertrand Alépée (The Tempered Chef), Chris Brown (The Stop), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell), Marc Dufour (Earth), Kevin McKenna (Globe and Earth), Matty Matheson (Parts and Labour) and Scott Vivian (Beast), sans regular Nick Liu (Gwailo)—were joined by “Deadly” Derek Dammann, until recently of Montreal’s DNA, at the Evergreen Brick Works’ Chimney Court to pack eight solid punches of swine-based plates. The chefs and guests, including Jeff Crump (Ancaster Mill), Tobey Nemeth (Edulis) and Ivy Knight (Swallow Foods), braved the sweltering heat to raise funds for the group’s trip to New York’s prestigious James Beard House in September (only a handful of Canadians have been extended the invitation to host a dinner there).

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Our top six picks for Ontario Craft Beer Week


The third annual Ontario Craft Beer Week kicks off on Father’s Day (i.e., this Sunday) with 29 breweries participating in 29 communities throughout the province, and hundreds of events, including large-scale tastings, food pairings, special one-off releases, collaborations between brewers and Craft Beer 101 classes. After the jump, we assemble a six-pack of great Toronto events.

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Restaurants

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Terroir 2012 recap: what we saw, heard and ate at the big annual food industry meet-up

Kevin Gilmour (sous chef at The Drake Hotel) was assisted by his crew at this pork carving station. Hunks of roasted pork were served over a peanut-ginger slaw (Image: Renée Suen)

Last week, 500 members or so of Canada’s food and hospitality industry gathered for Terroir VI at the newly renovated Arcadian Court. The theme for this year’s symposium was “The New Radicals,” a new generation of chefs that have a collaborative and unconventional approach to cuisine despite their conventional training. Symposium chair Arlene Stein had arranged a line up of the industry’s finest from Canada and abroad, assembled on panels featuring restaurateurs, writers and chefs from the old and new vanguard—most attendees agreed this year’s crop was the best yet (before the event we spoke to Australian chef Ben Shewry, as well as sustainable aquaculture champion Barton Seaver and natural wine advocate Alice Feiring.).

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Canoe Shack-Up: Au Pied de Cochon’s Martin Picard brings his Quebec crew for an epic, maple-soaked feast at Canoe

Carl Rousseau (St. Canut Farm) with Martin Picard and Marc Beaudin (Au Pied de Cochon, Cabane à sucre)

Acclaimed Montreal chef Martin Picard, best known for his haute-rustic gastronomic temple Au Pied de Cochon, was in town to celebrate the release of his new cookbook, Au Pied de Cochon Sugar Shack. The colour book is full of recipes from his temporary and seasonal restaurant that’s known for serving traditional sugar shack fare with a Picard twist (think equal parts gluttony and innovation, with plenty of foie gras and other gut-busting ingredients). As part of a three-city tour, Picard partnered with Oliver & Bonacini corporate executive chef Anthony Walsh forCanoe Shack Up,” a $185 maple syrup–laden five-course menu which volleyed between recipes developed by the two chefs. Supported by the crews from Cabane à Sucre au Pied de Cochon and Canoe (led by John Horne), and fortified by some excellent VQA wines, the event saw a ton of big-name Toronto chefs and restaurant owners in the 110-guest audience, including the folks from Beast, Campagnolo, Enoteca Sociale, The Gabardine, Malena, Parts & Labour, Trevor and Hamilton’s Earth to Table Bread Bar feasting and imbibing as Picard held court and signed books.

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Food Events

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Weekly Eater: Toronto food events for March 5 to 11

The (culinary) Group of Seven (Image: Mary Elizabeth Armstrong)

Monday, March 5

  • 86’D: Ivy Knight hosts a Latin street food pop-up with Comida Del Pueblo. The Drake, 1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042. Find out more »
  • Group of 7 Chefs: Eight (the number of group members fluctuates) top Toronto chefs (including Beast’s Scott Vivian and Buca’s Rob Gentile) each create a special pasta dish for a seven-course dinner with wine pairings. Buca, 604 King St. W., 416-865-1600. Find out more »
  • All About Bacon: Taste a variety of delicious bacon preparations with chef Stuart Betteridge. George Brown Chef School, 300 Adelaide St. E., tastes@georgebrown.ca. Find out more »
  • Sorauren Farmers’ Market: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the field house at Sorauren Park. 50 Wabash Ave. Find out more »

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Check out some chefs behaving badly as they ham it up at a photo shoot for Terroir 2012

Terroir, the hospitality industry symposium, brings chefs, wine and food experts, restaurateurs and members of the food media together for one day each year. This time around the program is centered on the theme of the “New Radicals” (no, not those ones): the new generation of chefs who might be conventionally trained, but are more collaborative than their forebears and more than happy to set up shop in unconventional spaces. Attendees this year will be greeted with a unique Manchu Wok–style lunch buffet catered by a team of mainly Toronto chefs. The cheeky contemporary interpretations of pop culture classics will use local, seasonal and foraged ingredients: think sweet-and-sour confit chicken balls and General Tso sweetbreads. A couple weeks back, we sat in on the “Wok and Roll” photo shoot for the event, which included Jason Bangerter (Luma, O&B Canteen), Matty Matheson (Parts and Labour) and Charlotte Langley (Café Belong) among others, and asked which Canadian-style Chinese food item they’ve planned to rework. Mostly, though, it was just an excuse to watch some of our favourite chefs engaged in a little food fight.

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Food Events

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This year’s What’s on the Table fundraiser for The Stop features over 30 top chefs from Toronto and beyond

Eat well and feed the hungry along the way—that’s the concept behind the annual What’s on the Table benefit being held this year on November 2. Since 2005, the fundraiser has gathered $1.5 million for The Stop, the innovative community food centre whose goal is to increase everyone’s access to healthy food (check out our interview with chef Chris Brown from shortly after he joined The Stop). Dining stations open at 6:30 p.m., and patrons won’t be starved for choice; the event features offerings from over 30 chefs, including Lynn Crawford of Ruby Watcho, Anthony Walsh of Canoe and pâtissier Nadège Nourian (see below for the very impressive full list).

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Terroir 2011 roundup: we talk to Toronto’s top chefs and restaurateurs at the foodie symposium

Fergus Henderson (St. John’s) and Arlene Stein (event chair) at Terroir

A couple weeks back, 400 members of the food and hospitality industry gathered at Hart House for Terroir V. The annual symposium saw chefs, restaurateurs and members of the food media musing over this year’s theme: “the balance of artistic creation and traditional craftsmanship in our hospitality industry.” We caught up with some top chefs—including Jason Bangerter (Luma), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell), Matt DeMille (Parts and Labour) and keynote speaker Fergus Henderson—who shared with us what they took away from the day.

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Despite some reservations, Toronto will appear on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations

Anthony Bourdain at his book signing at Massey Hall (Image: Renée Suen)

Toronto chefs and foodies, take note: Anthony Bourdain, the reformed bad boy of the culinary world, beloved potty mouth and host of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations, will be featuring Toronto on his show. Bourdain made that announcement on his book tour this week when he stopped in at Massey Hall to promote his follow up to Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. The globetrotting professional eater and drinker entertained and dazzled admirers during his 90-minute performance, downing bottles of Steam Whistle pilsner and drawing upon material from his memoir. Bourdain graciously entertained banal questions during the event’s short Q&A and took time to applaud Beast’s Scott Vivian, who catered the post-show VIP book signing. However, it was his announcement of bringing No Reservations to the city that drew the most hoots and hollers from the packed house.

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Random Stuff

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The great scapes: five ways that Toronto chefs are using garlic shoots

A bunch of garlic scapes (Image: Joe Shlabotnik)

For the past few weeks, garlic scapes have been cropping up on menus throughout the city. An early summer treat, these shoots are the sweeter, mellower off-growth of the more pungent bulbs that come later in the season (cutting them from young plants helps the bulbs grow plumper). But as they are delectable in their own right, scapes have lately found a following from locavore chefs. Below, five ways of the best ways to enjoy scapes in Toronto right now.

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