SYoung

Agree on Saigon Star for Vietnamese. They're Chinese owned but wouldn't hold that against them. Off the Asian theme, there is a pretty good Italian restaurant hidden away in a small strip plaza at 8133 Yonge Street (East side) just South of the 407 called Tutto Bene. To me, it's one of the best Italian restaurant in the area not known for Italian or fine dining.

I was there a few weeks ago and the food was fair and all right for the price. The Asian fusion menu is definitely interesting, like Jamaican Chicken Risotto and Fish and Chips, but with due respect to estufarian, I think they are a notch below JK and Lee, but definitely above Supermarket (the restaurant/club on Augusta). The ambiance is like something out of Manhattan, catering to the young professional and you'll see a lot of "good looking" people (except for me, of course ). At least that was the demographics of the clientele that Friday night. Overall, it's definitely worth a try, especially if a you're with a group of friends where being seen is just as important as the food itself.

Have to sternly disagree here and it is "a definite no no" whether it's Chinese or Italian. In fact, I've been to more European restaurants than Chinese Restaurants where the waiter "hover" wanting to take your order early. Not only is this not the "style of service" of Chinese restaurants, on the contrary, good Chinese restaurants are so busy and the staff running around so fast that you'd be hard pressed to try and flag one down to take an order. Generally speaking, where Chinese restaurants differ from most European restaurants is that wait staff don't have dedicated tables so you won't normally get the same attention and the tip jar is pooled (or in some extreme bad cases, go to the owner). So, if you're ready to order at a Chinese restaurant, you almost always have to flag down staff rather than to have one of them approach the table unsolicited. The only exception would be if the restaurant is not busy in which case staff might be hovering because they have nothing else to do. As for Ambassador, it's living on reputation alone as it's not a good restaurant and have not been for a long time. I would be surprised if it was that busy for dinner and if the manager was hovering, it means they weren't.

How do you define "cocktail culture"? No one knows for sure which country originated cocktail. Some believe it was introduced to America by the French during the American Revolution and is based on the word "coquetel" which is a drink from the Bordeaux region known for centuries. Talk about France, drinking an aperitif before dinner is quite the "culture", and that includes mixed alcoholic drinks such as Kir which is a cocktail (as it is commonly defined) based on cassis, a very traditional, if not cultural, liqueur in Dijon. Italy has a similar "aperitivo" culture with cultural drinks us as limoncello, amaretto and sambuca. And then there is negroni which is a traditional Italian cocktail of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. I'm not sure if I've really answered the question but there is certainly without doubt, enough of a spirit/liqueur, if not cocktail, culture in France and Italy such that it is not at all surprising that some of the finest cocktail ingredients originated from these countries.

It depends on the alcohol content of the gin you're using as well. For example, I can use 95 Proof Tanq 10 (my favorite!) stirred with ice and still have a stronger drink than mixing without ice and using 80 Proof freezer gin.

The so called Winston Churchill method where you pour the gin while merely looking at the vermouth or just passing the vermouth bottle over the glass or shaker is, in my opinion, not a martini at all. A classic martini (named after the vermouth maker, Martini & Rossi) must have vermouth. Otherwise it's just two shots of gin straight up. The purpose of the vermouth is to balance or round out the sharpness of the gin. So, in theory, the perfect martini is that which there is enough vermouth to just round out the sharpness. Not a molecule more or a molecule less. Then there's the water added through the ice. The water is suppose to tame the alcohol. The degree of taming needed varies by individual. Therefore, in practice, there is no one perfection for all, as the optimum gin-vermouth-water combination depends on individual taste preference. In terms of tips... the "In & Out" method of making an extra dry martini (which, by the way, can be performed in the shaker or in the cocktail glass) described above is pretty common. A less common procedure is to put the vermouth in a spray bottle and spray a mist into the glass or shaker. A even more inventive method is to first down a shot of vermouth and then exhaling into the glass of gin. For the sake of not spreading germs, however, this method should be used only when making your own drink.

Interesting. I too did nothing but put the bottles separately in the center of a fully packed suitcase in between layers of clothing. We put 9 bottles in 4 suitcases and no breakage occurred. However, I did not envision that airport handlers would open and inspect the bag as was your case. I think it's careless, if not outright negligent, for handlers to reclose the bag leaving the glass bottles unprotected like that. You should try and make a claim against the airport authorities. Just wondering whether a note placed inside the bag that says in big bold letters something like "if this bag is inspected, before re-closing, please make sure the wine bottles are placed back in their original position at the center between layers of clothing" would help. At least probably wouldn't hurt.

I haven't read the entire thread so not sure if this has already been mentioned, but I would highly recommend Casa Imperial for one of the best Dim Sum (and overall Cantonese food for that matter) places in town today. It recently opened at 4125 Steeles Ave East in Scarborough. The building (The Hood-Gough House) is listed by the City of Toronto as a heritage property and it housed the now defunct steakhouse Devonsleigh Place, so the decor is Victorian with its huge paintings and chandeliers, which is quite unique (if not strange) for a Chinese restaurant. Consistent with the Victorian ambiance, prices are slightly higher than your typical Chinese restaurant, but still quite a bit lower than the Westernized Lai Wah Heen or it's sister Lai Toh Heen. Unlike these other 2 high end restaurants, Casa Imperial caters mostly to Chinese patrons so the cuisine is authentic.

In case you didn't already know, the Toronto International Film Festival is going on into this weekend so it'll likely be difficult getting last minute reservations to some of the top restaurants here unless you happen to be one of the many movie stars here for the festival. ;-) Nevertheless, assuming you can still get a table... For overall food excellence, I'd recommend one of Splendido (416-929-7788) at 88 Harbord or Susur (416-603-2205 ) at 601 King Street. For interesting wine experience, try Via Allegro (416-622-6677) at 1750 The Queensway (in Etobicoke which is closer to Oakville) with it's 50,000+ bottles earning them Wine Spectator's Grand Award, or Jamie Kennedy (416-362-1957) at 9 Church Street. For a good view of the city, try Scaramouche (416-961-8011, closed Sun) or Canoe(416-364-0054) at 66 Wellington St. W., 54th Floor, TD Bank Tower. Make sure to request a table by the window when making a reservation. Enjoy your stay in Toronto!!

We were in Côte de Nuit a couple of weeks ago and went to a fine restaurant - Restaurant Simon - in Flagey-Echézeaux between Beaune and Dijon. We had the degustation menu and the food quality, taste and presentation was nothing short of fantastic and the best food we had in Burgundy (we went to a few of the highly rated restaurants in the area as recommended by other reviewers). The service was also top rate and I would especially like to point out and thank Chef François Simon for being more than kind enough take the time and effort after our dinner to get into his car and lead us through the dark roads (it was almost midnight) from the restaurant back to the main road (N74) towards Beaune where we were staying. This was totally unexpected as we were expecting one of the waiters and not Mr. Simon himself to help us and he did so with a great big smile! We did a lot of research in prepration for our trip to find the best restaurants around Beaune and our experience definitely confirmed all the praises given to Restaurant Simon in various reviews. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone staying in the area.

I believe there are in-store releases that are not publicized but are available only at specific stores. Also, I understand some of the bigger stores may get permission to put wines on the shelf that aren't released until later because they have extra shelf space. So, yes, you really have to go to the stores to look and not rely only on the publicized releases... but that's what makes it fun!!

If you travel out of country, beyond the 1.5L tax-free exemption, you're allowed to bring up to a case per person, but taxed at 100%. Sounds pretty bad, but if you consider the outrageous LCBO mark ups for some wines, in particular, American wines, bordeaux, it may be worth it, especially if the wine can't be found at the LCBO. Just remember to have invoices for the wines because they tax based on invoice price.

We're from Canada and we've booked a trip to France for about 2 weeks in August - a few days in Paris, then to in Burgundy driving to Lyon and then down to Avignon and back. However, we're finding that some (many?) places are shut down for the month of August because France is on vacation!?? For example, we tried to book La Tour d'Argent in Paris (highly recommended by friends) and they said they are closed most of that month! Is this a country-wide thing or just in Paris? Will wineries be closed as well? Any suggestions of places to eat that aren't closed? If all of France is on vacation, will traffic in Burgundy/Rhone be a nightmare? Merci Beaucoup!!... any advice would be appreciated as the main purpose of the trip is food and wine which would be major a problem if most good restaurants and wineries are closed!!

Top 10 of 2005: 1 JOSEPH PHELPS Insignia Napa Valley 2002 96 $150 2 CLOS DES PAPES Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2003 97 $68 3 ROSENBLUM Zinfandel Rockpile Rockpile Road Vineyard 2003 94 $29 4 CONCHA Y TORO Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Don Melchor 2001 95 $45 5 SETTE PONTI Toscana Oreno 2003 95 $95 6 ALBAN Syrah Edna Valley Reva 2003 96 $56 7 LEWIS Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2002 96 $65 8 CASTELLO BANFI Brunello di Montalcino Poggio all'Oro Riserva 1999 96 $125 9 STAGLIN Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 20th Anniversary 2002 95 $125 10 CHÂTEAU D'YQUEM Sauternes 2001 100 $400

Where on the label did you find it "clearly labeled filtered"? Not on any of the 12 bottles I bought from the LCBO. In fact, someone did ask and according to the LCBO, it's unfiltered version. Someone on the Wine Spectator forum did some snooping and confirmed this. Apparently, only in the US (where Parker tasted) is the word unfiltered specifically stated on the label. Everywhere else, including Canada, it's not specifically stated but it is nevertheless unfiltered.

I thought the 92 was about right. You have to let it air out as it definitely got better with time.

As someone said above, there were 1,200 cases, which is normally enough volume for 'wine of the month'. But the problem was that people were buying it by the case. I should know... I bought a case. Bayview LCBO was out of stock by about 9:15am that Saturday, so Tuesday was WAYYY too late if you're buying in the TO area! It's just history repeating itself as I knew that a Parker 92 wine at less than $20 would go fast, even at 1,200 cases.

Supermarket restaurant on 268 Augusta (off College about a block west of Spadina) is trendy and their food is kind of asian tapas style and pretty good for the price. On Sat nights, it becomes a club atmosphere with music and dancing. Website at http://www.supermarkettoronto.com/.

I visited Yarra Valley earlier this year and besides those already mentioned above, other can't miss are: Yering Station - Shiraz Viognier good QPR and their winery is very scenic. It's better than their Reserve IMO. Domaine Chandon - Even though they're known mostly for their sparkling wines and roses, their Green Point shiraz is excellent and has been rated at least 90 by WS for a couple of years in a row. Oakridge - their pinot and cab sav are great! Coldstream Hills - Good pinot. Originally founded by James Halliday who's the Robert Parker of Australia. It's located in the middle of nowhere as you have to travel a long dirt road just to get there. They didn't let us taste the Reserve Pinot but offered to sell it to us for something like $72 and later I found the same at Dan Murphy's bottle shop for $20 less!

I can't really say the service was that bad as they did seem friendly in a forceful kind of way. Some people are friendly and you can feel it in their demeanor and see it in their faces. Others are friendly because it's their job and they must be nice in a forced way. My experience at this restaurant was defintely the latter. At least that was the way we felt. Yes, maybe it was a just a bad or off night for them. Yes, they did offer a tasting menu and the restaurant was less than half full by the time we left probably at around 7:30pm on the Saturday.

The Karl Lawrence cab was not out of place in their wine list that was quite extensive for an asian type restaurant. I especially noted the Charles Melton Nine Popes (one of my all time favorate Aussie) that cannot be found anywhere in Toronto as far as I know. Their mark up was fair too, about 100% on average. The Nine Popes was $100 at the restaurant and sold at the LCBO for about $50 last year when it was still available.

We went to JOV at Bayview south of Eglinton on Saturday. We hadn't been there for at least 2 years and recently heard that it was under new ownership under chef Masayuki Tamaru, so we decided to give it a try. We came about 15 minutes early for our reservation and there was no one else at the restaurant at that time, so we sat at the bar and ordered a bottle of chianti. The waiters kept on reminding us that they needed our table at 8pm and kept asking whether we wanted to sit at our table. We came about 15 minutes before our reservation time and had lots of time. Nonetheless, they asked us at least 2-3 times to sit at our table in the 15 minutes that we were at the bar. It was quite annoying and totally unnecessary in our opinion. Perusing the wine list I knew the LCBO prices of some of the wines and their mark up was about 300%, some were definitely more. One of the waiters who was at the bar was well mannered but had the demeanor of a bouncer rather than a friendly waiter. Not very inviting to say the least and a lasting impression as we left. My wife's sister and I ordered the scallop appetizer with the snapper as the main course. The scallop was somewhat bland and the fish was somewhat dry. My wife ordered the cornish hen which she said was just OK. We did not order dessert. We simply did not feel comfortable at the restaurant, like they really didn't want us there. Overall, the food was fair and not as good as the JOV I remember under the previous owner. Maybe the well mannered aggressive waiters put a bad taste in our mouths but I think it will be at least another two years before we return.

Since I work in the financial district, finally went to Ki Restaurant at west side of BCE Place on Wellington/Bay. The decor is modern Japanese and the place is big with a big bar area. I went last Friday and the bar got busier as the night went on with mostly young professionals in their 20's and 30's making up the clientele. Good ambiance but the bar was a bit noisy (a lot of people), a little bit like a busy hip New York restaurant. They definitely put some money into interior design. The food is Japanese to Japanese fusion. My work colleague and I ordered 3 appetizer maki sushi to share. Not bad. Not the best Japanese food in Toronto, but still pretty good considering this is a restaurant that also serves Western style steaks and ribs. The lobster maki was the best of the bunch. For the mains, I ordered ribs which came highly recommended by the waiter, and my work colleage ordered lamb. The ribs were pretty tasty but was burnt on one side to the point where certain areas of the rib were all black. I just cut those pieces aside, no big deal. When then waiter later asked how the food was, I mentioned that the ribs were slightly burnt but otherwise fine. Well... the manager came shortly thereafter and said that he would like to replace the burnt ribs. I said that it was fine and not a big deal and I was almost done with it anyway. Then he said that he would not charge us for the ribs. I said it was not necessary but he insisted. This generosity was unexpected and much appreciated. We ended up giving a bigger tip. Both of us commented on the great service. For dessert, I ordered the cheesecake and my work colleague ordered creme brulee. Both came in 3 different flavours with asian touches such as greeen tea cheesecake and ginger creme brulee. Interesting. Again, not the best, but not bad. Overall, the food was fair to pretty good for the price. I already made a reservation again for this Saturday with my wife and friends. Excellent service, great ambiance and decent food.

Yes, a killer smile will do it every time. Seriously, anyone tried Ki yet? Looking for reviews!?

So what you're saying is that if the server likes you, s/he will waive the charge. If not, how do you show interest? We were there to buy some wine and were interested. How will the server judge whether you're interested or not? This practice, to me, leads to prejudices on the part of the server depend on how you act and what you look like. And, yes, the fee is "nominal". But so is the wine you get for the fee. You pay a buck for an ounce of wine. A bottle is 750ml or 25oz, so that buck an ounce equates to $25 per bottle which is more than the retail price of the bottle in most cases. Nominal? I think not. They probably make more money per bottle at the tastings than if they sold to LCBO.