jenc

sigh. Yes, nxtasy pointed that out on Chow. Back to rearranging! Still... getting closer!

Good note on Fronterra. Am currently considering swapping that for dinner instead of CdA. Might make a stop at Big Star if I can. I've been trying to shoe in The Violet Hour in, but we'll see. It'll be a late-night thing, I suspect. And the walking - I will need it

Hmn, great twitter link. I'll make use of that. We'll be resting in our room before then, so we can go at any time. Mercat out. Blackbird in and shifted up! Also shifted up! I would totally eat at Topolo, but it's entirely booked up. However, I think I will drop Mercat and Xoco in favour of hitting up Fronterra Grill at brunch on Saturday. We'll see how the lines go. I think I'm dropping Avec as well and keeping things as light as I can (while still eating as much as I can), as I do want to get the Grand Taster at Moto. So, I think it's Fronterra for brunch and two markets in the afternoon and a long period of no-food before our later res at Moto. I pretty much assume Alinea is a lost cause. Would Goose Island be served around the city? If so, then I'd rather skip the brewery. I just checked and you're right - no food on most nights at the Map Room, so how far on Damen should I be wandering for those Tacos? I do need to make it back to the station ... detours are acceptable!

Dear eG kids: I'll be coming to visit and I've pretty much plotted out my weekend, but thought I'd run it by you vets to make sure that I'm not making any egregious errors in planning. And I will accept alternate suggestions if anyone feels strongly about it. SO! THURSDAY dinner : Purple Pig (Is aiming for 8:30 late enough? Go later?) FRIDAY - morning 1: Mercat De La Planxa (I'm not sure this is necessary to smash in?) - morning 2: Blackbird - afternoon snack: Hot Doug's (aiming to be there at 2:30/3p) - early evening: The Publican (beer, light eats) - late night: TRU (dessert) SATURDAY - morning: XOCO (For churros and chocolate - couldn't get a res for Topolobampbo) - Fox & Obel, then the French Market - early evening: Avec - night: Moto (I'm #80 in the wait-list for Alinea...) SUNDAY - morning: Maxwell Street Market (street food) - afternoon: Mado for a pig butchering demo (no food) - afternoon: The Map Room (drinks/snacks) - afternoon: Goose Island (beer) - night: Cafe des Architects (that neighbourhood menu thing looks good) ....aaaand that's about it. I'mma explode after, but I should have a lot of photos from it all x-posted at Chowhound.

Sorry if this is answered elsewhere, but I'm planning on hitting up Moto in a few weeks and I made an 8:30 res - would that be enough time to do the GTM, or do I need to bump up my res time...?

At a guess, Black Hoof's menu changes about every 6-8 weeks or so, with some dishes rotating in and out. There was a horse heart and tongue dish there the previous week (really good) that wasn't there when I went with friends this past weekend. So, while I'm not sure how often it changes, it does get mixed up frequently enough. If you go to The Hoof early (opening), you should be able to get a table no problems. If you have to wait, they'll send you across the street to their holding area, The Hoof Cafe. Drinks and snacks to be had there and popular in its own right.

Amuse got sold to Scott Vivian (JKWB) and he'll be opening "Beast" http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/rumours-rumblings/2010/04/28/scott-and-rachelle-vivian-leaving-wine-bar-to-take-over-amuse-bouche-space/

You're in the right place for Pho! Pho Linh is my personal fave, but there's also Golden Turtle and Pho Tien Thanh on Ossington that get a lot of love. http://www.foodpr0n.com/2009/08/11/my-favourite-pho-linh/ Personally, I'd avoid poutine in Toronto. It's more of a fad then anything else. That being said, if you're never going to Quebec, then there's Smokes and Poutini, where all they serve is poutine. I really don't like either. Had a good poutine out in Queen East at Great Burger Kitchen, but I don't think it's worth the trek across the city to eat it. http://www.foodpr0n.com/2010/04/07/leslieville-is-sprouting/ You're also just down the street from The Hoof Café, which I think has some very good and interesting food. Note: if you can, eat at The Black Hoof (dinner only) as well. Two of my favourite places to eat in Toronto right now. http://www.foodpr0n.com/2009/12/22/the-hoof-cafe-in-toronto/ http://www.foodpr0n.com/2010/03/03/international-pig-day-black-hoof/ For good cupcakes, I like The Wedding Cake Shoppe (859 College Street, Toronto, theweddingcakeshoppe.com) just up the street from you. It's primarily a storefront for their cake making, so this is not a full-service bakery. I think it's just cupcakes, tea/coffee, and maybe some cookies. Not even sure about the last one. Dufflet (787 Queen Street West) has some of the more N. American-style cakes/bars that you would be looking for, as does Wanda's Pie In The Sky (287 Augusta Avenue). Moreso at Wanda's, I'd think. Dufflet carries primarily cakes and less of an assortment (I think - it's been a while since I've gone). As for Simple Bistro, I probably wouldn't recommend going there from where you are. It's a good local lunch spot, but not a drive-across-the-city lunch spot. There are some food/menu shots in the flickr set below. Pizzeria Libretto is also right nearby you and does lunch. Not sure if you want to eat pizza though! Map o' places (incomplete) http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=100866790085696303995.000477e94cca9a173da3e&z=11

huh. interesting indeed! *ponders a trip to Chicago in the fall...*

I think Chatto did have a blog, but I thought they axed that a while ago too? Not sure. But for the print edition, Chatto mainly wrote the big features. Chatto is too expensive to make him write blogs, I'd think. In general, I thought food was the biggest money maker for TL? If not by revenue, than by interest, I'd think. But I actually think it's both. I don't have any handy marketing literature to scavenge and find out. Anyone less lazy than me?

While I can’t say I dine alone often, these are certainly restaurants where I have, or would, pull out a magazine or sketchbook, and to me, that qualifies. Here are my suggestions. (Full post w/photos and map: http://bit.ly/djRdvZ) While I couldn’t eat there every day (why hello, heart attack!), currently The Black Hoof would appear on every list I’d ever make about the Toronto food scene. Except a vegetarian one. Prime-time is always busy and there’s usually a wait-list going, but you can loiter at their Hoof Café across the street at least. House-cured meats, interesting drinks, and lots of less-common meat bits ‘n’ pieces done up in creative ways. On the menu right now is a pork belly with rhubarb that I would recommend (re)ordering – as a dessert. It’s that good (and potentially that sweet). On the other end of the spectrum is Manpuku, my comfort-food place and where I could eat almost every day. Serving Japanese rice and udon bowls, you can eat for under $10 and leave satisfied. Or too full, as I’ve done on many occasions. Found inside the Village By The Grange complex in the rear part of the food court. My favourites include the curry udon when it’s cold and the Jumbo inari, well, pretty much all the time. I can never finish it all. Beer Bistro has many bar perches for the solo diner and food is decent-to-good. My default tends to be the horse tartare and a side of fries. I always order fries here, as they’re consistently good and they make ‘em how I like ‘em. Crispy outside, smushy inside. Pizzas can go from awesome to just barely okay. Beer is used in everything on the menu. And of course, an extensive beer list is offered. It’s a busy place in general, especially when the after-work crowd comes out. Duggan’s Brewery is along the same vein as Beer Bistro, but with consistently better food. However, their beer is limited to their own microbrewery label. You can check out the basement set-up as you walk in. Though their #9 is award-winning (and served at many other local establishements), I prefer their porter. Apparently, they’ve now taken to calling their pork hock “Knuckle of God,” after my post on it. Don’t order that if you’re on your own though. You’ll have leftovers for days. I’ve only visited Nota Bene’s bar area later in the evenings, but while it’s not packed, it’s busy enough that you get the spill-over of energy/noise from the main dining area. It’s a bit fancy-pants, but certainly less-so at the bar. And I really like their pasta + morels that they have going on right now. I’d say this is border-line solo dining, as while I’m okay with pulling out a magazine here, you might not be. I like Ceili Cottage for its convivial atmosphere, though food, like at Beer Bistro, can vary. It’s a bustling neighbourhood place with a small, but decent, on-tap beer selection. This is one place to go when you’re not in a rush though, so bring a magazine or newspaper and you’re set. A loud and over-the-top experience – almost a bit raucous, even – I think Guu Izakaya is a great spot to dine alone and drink at their bar. Lots of small dishes to sample and some interesting sake-inspired drinks to try. It’s not a long list – there are probably many other places to go in the city – but these are the places that come to mind and cover a variety of vibes to suit your mood. Where do you guys go to eat when you're on your own?

Majesteas is open Frankly Eatery is also new and I forgot to add/mention. Breakfast with an Indian slant. Look forward to trying it out some lunch time.

posted this in another forum, but here are my thoughts: Honestly, he did a lot for the food scene in Toronto - good or bad, he had power. While foodies know to take reviews with a grain (or shaker) of salt, the masses would take his opinion as THE TRUTH. Chatto primarily wrote what I think of as "food essays" and it's interesting that TL is moving away from Chatto. I wonder if the competition online is getting to a point where TL feels the need to compete more seriously against the flood of boards 'n' bloggers. Despite the fact that TL is print, they can't ignore the speed/turnaround of online publication/forums and the buzz and traffic that they produce, especially early on in a restaurant's game.

Hmn. Sounds interesting! Thanks for the update. Might prod the boy into eating here at some point.

At Simple, we had the salmon roulade and the eggs benny as well. Nothing crazy there, pretty normal. Not bad food, but nothing that blew my mind either. I have a menu and chalkboard shot in the flickr set:

I hear Grinder is open and I swear Majesteas looks like the papers are about to come down any day now (they might have already in the last two days, I dunno). There's a display in the window and all, but still papered. Now if only Florentin looked as likely to open soon...

A collection of recent eating notes (full post w/photos: http://www.bit.ly/a3yopl) Swirl’s got a new jar on the menu – boudin noir. Quite a nice take on the traditional sausage. We’d gone early in the evening (for once) and I was able to get some decent shots of this great space. You can check out the updated gallery for those (scroll to the bottom!). It’s ultra-girly in the daylight vs. plain girly in evenings. Finally got around to trying Negroni’s fare. While the card is pretty much just sandwiches, I thought their white anchovy crostini was extra yummy. I went on a Sunday night and it was a quiet space frequented primarily by couples. Would think it’s a nice third-date place. Not enough distractions for a first-date though. Had a celebrity-chef sighting at the most unlikely place – Cho Sun Ok, up in Thornhill. Chef Marc Thuet and company was up there for what I think is the best cold noodle in the city. And I believe his party was to be seated at the table I had just vacated. There was definitely a double-take in the parking lot as we left the restaurant. So, the Black Hoof has this Wild Boar Belly with Rhubarb jelly and pistachios on the menu right now. This is a great mix of salty, sweet, smokey, crunchy, chewy, and toasty. This also qualifies as dessert to me after you drench a delicious morsel of boar in the jelly and coat it in pistachio. So I did a re-order when it came time for sweets. So good. So stuffed. As usual. For me, Splendido’s desserts always pale in comparison to their mains, but not so this night. Ordered the apple cobbler and it was really just that perfect. Crunchy and crumbly topping over a just-soft pile of apple swimming in its cinnamon bath. Also, Splendido’s European Retreat returns. This is the five-course Friday lunch that I missed out on last year. I also spied their foie gras parfait in baby canning jars at About Cheese for $19.95. Went for a weekend lunch/brunch at Simple Bistro a couple weekends ago. Decent local lunch spot. But what really got my attention was their Black Forest Cake. I have bad memories of trying grocery store versions, with their dry and stale chocolate cake topped with terrible cherries and oily cream. But Simple Bistro’s version is moist with with just enough chocolate. Elegantly draped with a thin piece of marzipan, this dessert was sided with burnished dark cherries (not LED red!). Really good. Patisserie Sebastien joins the other patisseries in the area and has a couple of desserts that I don’t usually see. The St. Honoré was one (not pictured), a pile of cream puffs coated with hard caramelized sugar. It’s like a baby croquembouche. And the other – the Religièuse – makes me think of Boston cream pies in the shape of Russian orthodox churches. You might have heard about a wall falling down in downtown Toronto a couple weeks back. Yeah well, that shut down a couple restaurants, including the popular Thai restaurant, Salad King. I manage their Linda website (and the temporary Salad King one too) and was told it would be closed for several weeks at least. Glad no one was hurt! Anyone else got anything interesting to add or good eats recently?

I don't actually think the boudin noir tart is on the menu any more, sadly. However, I do really enjoy their pasta + morel + pea dish they do. Always tasty, especially if the pasta is papardelle (my personal favourite)! French style onion rings are tasty and good to share. The pulled crab and buckwheat pasta wasn't my favourite, but my DC's really enjoyed it. I had wanted to order the Local burrata. It's not as nice as Italian burrata, but I'm sure it was tasty anyway. Plus, it came with asparagus. I also enjoyed their salted caramels for dessert. Ramps are in season, so if they have that on the menu, you may wish to try that. If you go for a drink, I'm rather fond of the Sauternes Cask Glenmorangie scotch. Tasty stuff. I don't have my recent vist up, but I have past ones in my flickr.

I'd give the edge to Splendido. NB is nice, but I've had more "wow" dishes at Splendido than I have at NB. Been to both a fair amount of times in the last year.

I took advantage of the recent good weather and snapped some shots of these places around Leslieville on my eating radar (goes to post w/more photos + map). Great Burger Kitchen 1056 Gerrard East, Toronto Opened up at the end of March 2010, touting locally sourced, free-range, and naturally-raised burgers. I’ve got a more detailed post in the works, but in short: the burgers are fine, but their poutine is the real draw. A good neighbourhood choice. Grinder Coffeehouse 1021 Gerrard East, Toronto Grinder used to be the second Mercury Espresso location (in the Upper Beaches) before an amicable owner-split. Their second location, referred to as Grinder II, is kitty-corner to Gerrard Square. The papers haven’t come down from the windows yet, but this will be a welcome addition to the Jones ‘n’ Gerrard crossing. And Grinder peeps? Addresses on your website please. What Are You Looking At Bar And Lounge 996 Queen Street East, Toronto Taking up the space of the old Carlaw Carburetors, I’d been peering through the papers every now and then during my walk-bys. Somehow, this opened mid-March and I totally missed it. I haven’t yet had an opportunity to go and check out the vibe of this bar, but hours are posted in the events section of their site. Of course, there’s nothing else on it. Not even an address. What’s up with this no-address thing on websites!? Majesteas 950 Queen Street East, Toronto I’m hoping it’ll be a good place to stop by, grab a cuppa, and buy some loose leaf teas. Considering what’s next door, I suspect I’ll be here often if the goods are up to par! Where Come Como used to be. Café Florentin 948 Queen Street East, Toronto Right next door to Majesteas, this is like a match made in heaven for me. Tea! Pastry! And coffee-lovers can hie across the street to Mercury. But you know, Florentin had me at pâtisserie. In the former Salon Blu spot, this is their second location – the original is in the beaches. Hope their pastries are really good. It’d be nice to have a conveniently located bakery. Less nice for my waistline though! Ruby Watchco 730 Queen Street East, Toronto Lynn Crawford, of Restaurant Makeover fame and former executive chef at the now-closed Truffles at the Four Seasons, returns to Toronto. Recently opened in late March and serving one prix-fixe each night. Would like to stop by and try this out eventually. But please – put an address on your website!

I think that's the whole point. Despite the fact that he most certainly won't sway everyone, he just needs to sway a few and start the seeds of thought necessary in everyone to be - even if it's just a bit - more conscious of what they eat, what they buy, how they consume. The show is a bit heavy on the "shock value" (maybe not quite the right descriptor), but motives and money aside, if it can help get the ball rolling for people to actively control their intake, this is a good thing.

Looks like Guava - 番石榴 Can't read Chinese though. That's just guess-n-google.

I'm on episode 2. Dear god, he dressed up like a pea.

It's available on abc's site to view and ctv's site in canada if you missed it. US > http://abc.go.com/watch/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/250784/254757/episode-101 CAN > http://watch.ctv.ca/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/ (watching it now)

ugh. A Hoops? Really? ...sigh. thx for the update!