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George W.

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Everything posted by George W.

  1. I haven't had the time yet to gather all the ingrdiants and the courage to try one of Susur's recipes, however, I do not believe the format will be a problem - the book certainly sits quite flat and I suspect will maintain that position for the 12 hours I will need to complete my first try.
  2. The book is very attractive and, although I have not always agreed with Jacob, he is a good writer and I enjoyed his essays here. Regarding the complexity of the recipes it is clear Susur does not consider this to be a "cookbook". There were some interesting quotes in recent Toronto Stars, "... it's not about showing people how to cook ... if you buy a book on architecture do you race out and build something ...".
  3. I suspect their Sommelier April Kilpatrick has a lot to do with their wine list. April is a well regarded and well trained sommelier - she was at Ruth's Chris for 7 years and in 2004 (I think) won the CAPS Best Sommelier of Ontario award.
  4. The locks are off and work is once again going on inside - I assume Houston's paid their rent - or perhaps it's just the Landlord collecting the goods for a garage sale.
  5. Wine_Dad : Thank you for an information packed submission. I was unaware of the financial breaks OB got when they transformed the Boston Club into Biff's (I do like their bar). Perhaps OB is slightly less "obscenely successul" now that Square has followed Steakfrites and closed.
  6. As far as I know, dinners only - seven days a week.
  7. The same walk that took me by Ki's also took me by Houston's which is under construction on the S/E corner of Yonge and Wellington. I hadn't seen much activity there of late and now I see why, there is a NOTICE on the door saying the Landlord has changed the locks and padlocked the site - apparently Houston's owes $82,000 in back rent. I am sure the monthly rent must be high but I have no idea how many months this would represent. I am assuming this is the same Quebec-based Houston's that was on Adelaide W. near Duncan for a few years in the late 1990s.
  8. Walked by Ki ( S/E corner Bay and Wellington) today and they are putting on the finishing touches. According to one of the workers they were supposed to open today but this has been delayed until Friday. From what I could see the inside looked to be in good shape, there were restaurant personnel on site and it looked like they were trying out the kitchen and bar.
  9. There are many places within walking distance, it would be helpful (at least to me) if you could provide some idea of food types, price level, etc., that interest you.
  10. estufarian: Thank you for providing this report - as usual, well done. Regarding the 'other' chef, it was reported in the press in June that David left Czehoski. Apparently management wanted to make a change in direction and David felt it was time to move on. He was on good terms with his co-chef Nathan and decided he should learn more about how the 'front of the house' runs so he took a job as a food runner at the JK Wine Bar. I have no idea if that report is accurate or if he is still at (or even arrived at) the JKWB.
  11. Mark is certainly correct, this is not a high-traffic area in the evenings. I have to think that the backers of Ki and Houston's re-entry into the Toronto market must be counting on a change. With ex-restaurateur Harry Stinson's 51- storey Suites at 1 King W just about to open, plus a flurry of other current and future developments nearby, it will be interesting to see if this will be enough to give these places a customer base to build on. Time will tell.
  12. Thank you Jamie for this update. The Ki website http://www.kijapanese.com/ is of no use since it is still under construction. I have been walking by this site (s/e corner Bay and Wellington) for some time wondering what Ki was - from Vancouver you have filled in many of the blanks that I had, hopefully others can provide more information. Now, what about Houstons on the s/e corner of Yonge and Wellington?
  13. I didn't get the impression that the staff there were told to keep it quiet, they were certainly freely offering the details when I was last there. I agree with Jeebus, when the opening is so close and the renovations were quite obvious, why would they want to keep it hidden.
  14. Segar is the Sous Chef at the Hart House in Burnaby BC - www.chefdb.com/ now has this included. See the Hart House Web site: http://www.harthouserestaurant.com/dinner.html
  15. Funny Malcolm mentions 1997, that was the last time I ate at Prego - prior to that I had been there at least a dozen times. For me, I did not stop going because I disliked the product, I always found it excellent, but in this city there are so many restaurants that I would like to try I prefer to spend the funds available on new or different experiences. Prego has had a number of chefs since Capra left and perhaps it has been long enough that I should give it a try - I am sure it will feel "new".
  16. That's right, the article in the Globe in April said that Segar left Mildred Pierce in March "to pursue an ownership opportunity on the West Coast". Since then it has been all quiet on the Western front.
  17. estufarian makes an excellent point: "ALL licensed restaurants are now part of THTR - it comes with the license. The only requirement is to ensure the cork is flush with the top of the neck. (BYOW is an endorsement to the license which must be applied for - no fee)." So although the BYOW and re-corking were legitimized at the same time they are really uncoupled, i.e., any place that sells wine can re-cork. I thought I read someplace that the re-corking had to be done by the restaurant staff, if that is not so then presumably we can all just jam the corks back in flush ourselves and THTR. I am still puzzled that restaurants are not encouraging THTR.
  18. It has now been a few months since the legality of BYOW and Take Home The Rest (THTR) has been in effect. Except for paying my tabs I really know nothing about the financial side of the restaurant business, however, I remain puzzled and hope someone can help. I can understand the mixed feelings about BYOW and they have been well documented but I fail to see why every restaurant doesn't sign up to allow patrons to THTR - to me it seems like they can't lose. Personally I can see ordering a second (or more) bottle from the restaurant's wine list knowing that if I didn't finish it I could have it corked and take it away. Similarly perhaps you want a white and a red and if not finished THTR. There should be no charge for this, in fact restaurants should be encouraging it - I see no economic down side. The only financial cost that I see (and here I am sure many of you will set me straight) is the restaurant must purchase a proper re-corking tool to drive the cork flush with the bottle top. I read a review a few weeks ago where it was suggested that these gadgets cost in the "thousands" - I can not believe this. I have seen listings for low volume re-corkers under $50 and given that the number of bottles to be re-corked in any night is likely to be small I think most restaurants could afford something like that. In any case, I think the investment is small if they can sell more of their wines. What am I missing?
  19. About last October Rosewater Supper Club had a "horse meat" main dish - they had a much fancier name for it and it was excellent.
  20. Splendido (see www.splendidoonline.com ) is one of my favourite Toronto restaurants. It is open Sundays and closed Mondays.
  21. brab says : "For whatever reason Toronto's best restaurant days are long gone." I guess that goes along with the World's best days being long gone. Thank goodness there are still plenty of first-rate restaurants in Toronto to keep me happy and, yes, I have eaten in fine establishments in other cities.
  22. GordonCooks wrote "...Thanks for the info on Splendido - btw - Wasn't David Lee supposed to head up the kitchen at FLOW? " I had not heard that (not that that means anything) and I would surprised if it is the case. I thought Richard Andino moved from Executive Chef at Rosewater to be Co-owner and Executive Chef at Flow.
  23. Truffles across the street in the 4 Seasons can be outstanding (not cheap). I have had good meals at Pangaea - 2 blocks east. Also to be considered are Prego (directly across the street), Joso (a few blocks north) and I am sure many more.
  24. I believe Splendido should be at or near the top of your list but you certainly won't be disappointed if you make Susur your choice. There are lots more - everybody has their favourite!
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