rgruby

Well, I worked a whole shift in a pizza joint in Romagna, so that makes me an expert. Right? Ok, maybe not - I was basically a runner. There weren't really any secrets to the dough (I have the recipe somewhere), the sauce (tomatoes and salt), the toppings. We had a wood fired oven that got freakishly hot - the pizzas were done in a minute or minute and a half. Really, really fast. The crust was really, really thin. Other than that, I don't know. I've never ventured south of Rome, so the pizza mecca of Naples is not in my experience. I will say that the place where I was made some of the best pizza I've ever had, and that Ive also had pretty mediocre pizza in Italy. One other comment I know from a guy who grew up on a farm in Canada, was chef in Canada, and also cooked in Italy. He felt the ingredients there tasted "old" (his word). Not that they were stale or past their best before date or something, but that they came from lands that had been worked not for a few decades, but hundreds of years. They had a mature, lived in quality to them. Terroir if you will, to an extent that newly farmed lands on this side of the pond may not have.I actually think he may have something there. Then, there is the just being in Italy element. That can't hurt. Cheers, Geoff

He did mention that he saw rotisserie chickens - but that's about it. Cheers, Geoff

A friend just got back from his honeymoon in Provence and he mentioned to me that he doesn't recall seeing chicken on a restaurant menu during the entire time he was there. Lots of other poultry (duck, geese, pigeon), but no chicken. He wanted to know why. I couldn't come up with anything other than they may simply like other poultry better. So, first off, is chicken a rarity on restaurant menus in the south of France(or in France generally)? And if so, why, given its near ubiquity in North America. Cheers, Geoff

Just got back from a few days in London. Tried to check out the Mexican place in Wortley village and it's now a Cuban joint. Si Senor appears to also be gone. Apart from Under the Volcano, are there any Mexican places in town now? As an aside I came across something saying Leamington on a Saturday night is the place to go for authentic Mexican. Anybody been? cheers, Geoff

Looks like the former Coca space is turning into an outpost of Milagro's (upscale-ish Mexican). Cheers, Geoff

Thermador anyone? There doesn't seem to be much (recent) talk of them here. A quick google search has found a lot of reliability problems/lack of service, but I don't know how much weight I should give to that. I don't think the model I'm looking at (PRD304EH) is true convection (if it is convection at all) and the website doesn't want to tell me the max BTU level of the burners. Also looking at Bluestar (do I want/need that much firepower going to the burners? But a couple of other points - given the size of the gas line going to the range, does it even matter - I have a suspicion that the size of a typical residential gas line may make the additional BTUs pretty much a non-issue. Does anybody know? Second, restaurants need the extra BTUs mostly to get the pans hot fast - and not for cooking so much. (Wok cooking and heating large stockpots are exceptions). My crappy electric burners get oil to smoking no problem. How often do I want/need anything more than that. Not often. So I'm wondering if the highest output burner on the GE profile I was also looking at would meet my needs. I don't do all that much wok cooking (well none now on the current electric top), but would like to be able to bring 24 L of liquid to a boil (homebrewing). If the 16,000 BTU burner will do that I wouldn't mind saving a couple grand over the Thermador and Bluestar. Thanks, Geoff

Opinions? Nope. Congrats? Yes. Glad you had a good meal! Happy Anniversary! Cheers, Geoff

It's now open. Coca appears not to be reopening any time soon. They had a sign up for a bit saying under new management etc. A different sign now says the lease has been terminated by the landlord. Cheers, Geoff

There doesn't seem to be a thread on this - if there is, I couldn't find it. I have had a quick look at the Ottawa dining threads from 2007 on (some handy suggestions on there - is the Wellington gastropub still recommended?). So, can anybody suggest some kid-friendly (in my case a three year old) places in Ottawa. We're looking mainly downtown and the Wellington St area, but suggestions outside those areas also welcome. Thanks, Geoff

Young Thai is opening another location at King and Strachan. Walked the mutt by on the weekend and they look very close to being ready to open. Don't know if any other locations are still going. And I'll just say that Salad King, despite being a budget (not really fast food?) joint, has fed me tastier food than many of the standard Thai places on the handful of times I've eaten there. Not a destination for dinner, but good food for not a lot. Cheers, Geoff

Thanks for correcting me about Linda - i didn't know it had moved. Also, from what I understand, Mong-Kut Thai Gold is a newish offshoot of Mong-Kut Thai, which is also on the Danforth. I'm not sure how different their menus are though - if at all. But just to clarify, there are currently two Mong-Kut Thai restos on the Danforth, with one of them having the extra gold bit thrown in, and it was the latter one featured in TO Life. Cheers, Geoff

Is there more than 1 Linda - the website seems to say that it's north (or perhaps it's because I don't know one part of TO from another). Is there an online source for the TO life discussion? ← Linda is one block north of Dundas, above Salad King. Don't know about TO life - I'll try and come back to this thread with the name of the restaurant. Please let us know how Mengrai Thai is - It's been on my list, but I haven't made it there yet. Cheers, Geoff

In this month's TO Life, Chatto discusses a place on the Danforth that he claims to be about the only authentic Thai place in town. In addition to Mengrai, another option in the core would be Linda, which is close to Yonge and Dundas. Linda Thai Cheers, Geoff

In one of my first posts here, all those years ago, I was a bit harsh on Ms Waters. (IIRC she had gone to Italy and wanted to prepare something with an ingredient that wasn't in season there, yet insisted that they do it her way anyways. I opined that this seemed hypocritical to her stated ethos. Local, seasonal, yadda yadda. I got slammed here for that opinion.) So, I tried to start the AW backlash. And I failed. As I should have. Despite that, name me a more influential restauranteur in the last 30 years in the US. She really started the ball rolling on this stuff and has kept at it. So here's my opportunity to say way to go Alice. (I still think she might've been better off to bend to the good local stuff in Italy those many years ago, but ...). She may come off as preachy or holier than thou - I dunno, but her message is sound, sensible and is guiding literally thousands of restaurants across the US and Canada. For the better, I think. Am I wrong to say she has almost single-handedly upped the provenance/ quality of the ingredients that go into our restaurant meals? And that trickles down to the farmer's markets and even supermarkets (at a cost, yes). Let me know if I'm (grossly) overstating this in your opinion, but. Would this have happened without her? As for the elitism tag - well, yeah, organic does tend to cost more. But the school initiative, at least partly, counters that. Grow your own - invest some sweat into this and maybe some things aren't so expensive after all. So, at the end of the day is the backlash more about the presentation than the actual content of her message? I'm in Canada, so I probably here less about her than say the Bay area folks. Cheers, geoff

Ok, I definitely should've added Susur to the examples in the my first post. I walk the mutt past there fairly often. Susur wasn't all that full early in the week before they announced it was closing. But Madelines certainly doesn't look to be any busier (I'd say less so) based on my not so scientific, but relatively frequent, walks by. Does seem to be doing ok on weekends though. Not Susur busy, but ok. Splendido's the one that surprised me though - they'd been building towards the top resto in town/ the province/ the country in terms of food, service, ambiance - the whole deal. They were gunning for the Michelin-level experience, from what I understand. And for quite a while. Slowly, methodically. And they've abandoned that - seemingly very quickly. But who knows what factors went into that decision? I'm not sure anybody else had or has that level of ambition in town now though. Is that kind of ambition even realistic in today's economic reality? I know I'm not going to be dining in that kind of place unless someone else is footing the bill (kid and mortgage - along with kitchen reno - basically killed the luxe dining for us a few years back) but are there enough folks out there willing to keep the remaining top places afloat? I hope so. Just because I'm not eating there doesn't mean it doesn't affect me or you. The lack of high end kitchens means less places for eager cooks to learn their craft at a high level. There was a recent post that felt the opposite (in NYC at least) - that the downturn would separate the wheat from the chaff and the good cooks would rise to the top. In essence, the poster felt there was too much "fat" in most NYC kitchens and not enough real talent. Perhaps. But with less good places to learn, where are the neighbourhood bistro chef/owners that rise above the crowd going to learn their craft? Cheers, Geoff

Yeah, that's a bit of a surprise given that Chatto is a fan of Thuet. But Thuet did get listed in the top ten best new restos (for Athelier Thuet). so he hasn't been completely left out. Cheers, Geoff

Read about Perigee's closure in the Star yesterday, I think. Now, two restaurants does not a trend make, perhaps. But add in Thuet's (second) move to lower priced fare, Avalon's closure a couple of years back and, well? How are some of the other higher-end places doing? Are we going to see more closures or moves to more casual and wallet friendly menus? Cheers, Geoff

The Bungalow Cafe space on King near Strachan appears to be the new location of Young Thailand's return to the core. Cheers, Geoff

Well, I started this topic talking about eating at Addis Ababa and Coca opening. Had dinner on Sunday at Addis Ababa - they've redone the space since I last visited. It feels more open and I think they've probably added a few tables as well by moving the bar to the back of the room. And Coca has butcher paper up over the windows. Cheers, Geoff

I think we could almost predict next years list already, almost down to the order they come in. Don't know whether that says more about Chatto/TO Life or our high end resto scene). I was a bit surprised Canoe got the top nod - but not from any personal experience. I haven't been to any of the top 10 in recent memory. Of the top 10 new restos, I was mildly surprised Madelines wasn't on there (although haven't tried it either). Then I looked and noticed they gave it 2.5 stars - the same as Nota Bene, their pick as top new resto. Hmmmmm. And a question, have any non-European ethnic restos made the top ten in the past. Lai Wah Heen maybe? I ask because I noticed that a Thai place has garnered three stars. And, just for fun, how would your lists differ? Cheers, Geoff

Well, that didn't last long. the Nepali place has changed to a pan-Asian place. Cheers, Geoff

Well, I spoke too soon - LaHa appears to still be open. Walked by a few days ago and it looked like they had started ripping it apart. So I assumed they were done. My bad. Not sure if they did any redecorating or not. regardless, they're still open. Cheers, Geoff

Update: In the last month or so one of the Thai places has changed to an Indian/ Nepali place. The drug bar beside the bank at Queen and Bathurst has morphed into the Tota Lounge. Menu looks to be pub grub (nachos/wings/burgers) and North-American Italian. Across the road, the former Queenshead pub is going to be a Timmy's. Not sure if it's open or not yet. And, La Hacienda has shuttered. I'm going to miss that old dive. A bit. Bungalow Cafe on King has also closed - kinda in the 'hood so I thought I'd mention it. Cheers, Geoff

There's a few more along those lines - Sybil Kapoor (Taste, I think), Gray Kunz (Elements of taste?) and one by Rocco diSpirito (really! - it's actually not bad). Sorry for the rushed off the top of my head answer. I've seen the Kapoor book on remainder tables for next to nothing. Maybe Rocco's book as well. Cheers, Geoff

Last minute addition to my list! I'd love to hear other opinions too. But I finally got a chance to thumb through a copy, and although Id sort of vowed to not get another fancy-pants restaurant's cookbook, this one is unique enough (not just recipes) that I've put it on my list. Cheers, Geoff