malcolmjolley
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Posts posted by malcolmjolley
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Is a good restaurant a matter of money? No way. Montreal has homegrown talent, superb locally produced ingredients, an excellent hotel/cooking school, signature dishes, and plenty of young chefs opening wild and wonderful restaurants.
Can you even name one up-and-comer in TO. Think not. It's all Mark McEwan, Jamie Kennedy and Susur, Susur, Susur. Don't even get me started on those Rubino brothers!
You want million dollar restaurants that serve the same high-end food you'll find in any major city, head to TO. You want Asian food, no question, head to TO. You want something unique, head to MTL.
End of story.
(and, hey, I didn't even touch on the whole Montreal sommelier scene)
Ouch!
Maybe it IS money, though. Cheaper rents, costs, etc encourage young chefs to go off on their own.
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I, for one, am very pleased with the nominations and not just because it's affording me the following shameless plug.
They happen to include two recent Gremolata contributors. Gina Mallet who's Last Chance to Eat is up for "Writing on Food" and (eGulleter) Natalie MacLean who has two nominations for "Magazine Writing on Spirits, Wine, or Beer" for 'Waiter, There’s a Flaw in My Wine' in Ottawa City Magazine and "MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award" for 'American Idol' at www.NatalieMacLean.com.
Very pleased, indeed.
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It does look good, but they're running it at 4PM on Sundays on my local! That's ridiculous!
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Mais, pourquois pas?
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One doesn't hear much about the French dropping dead of cow consumption or listeria. I think I'll take my chances on a good stinky raw-milk cheese.
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Do e-zines count? And do they count if they're Toronto/Southern Ontario-centric?
If so, then I'd like to shamelesly plug Gremolata
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Jacob Richler had a piece on their choucroute garnie in Saturday's Nat'l Post. Not really a review, rather a homage to Thuet and the dish. Perhpas this is indicative of what Nondoctor said about a "soft opening".
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Susur's tasting menu is the city's most interesting and celebrated.
Perigee pretty much only serves a tasting menu, and it is fantastic, in my limited experience.
These two compete for the best and most interesting meals I've had in Toronto.
Splendido is very very good, too, though. And their chef David Lee continues to get better and better press.
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How about The International Olive Oil Council? In particular, this document probably has more information than you could possibly want. I am given to understand that terms like "cold pressed" and "first pressing" (etc.) are completely unregulated terms that are used nowadays mostly for marketing.
Thanks! This has saved me valuable time. I found the IOOC site, but no that doc.
Perhaps you're right about cold and first pressing: that they're terms of art, rahter than science.
I was tempted to agree, except, in Sautrday's National Post, Gina Mallet had an article on the Spanish producer Hacienda Queiles, where she writes, "The term cold-pressed may only be given to oil heated at less than 38C". I bet this is an EU standard (hard to believe they wouldn't have one).
I'll ask Gina where she got the info...
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Yesterday I went to a Manni Olive Oil tasting and am writing it up for gremolata.com (will post when done).
For some background on the piece I'm looking for an independent source of definitions for olive oil (i.e. cold presssing must be done at no higher than x degreees, etc.).
Any web sources out there I could tap into?
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The Harvest Wagon is one of the "Five Thieves" (a.k.a. as part of "Robber's Row"), which also includes the fishmonger Pisces, the gourmet deli/bakery All the Best, the butcher Oliffe and the patisserie Patachou. All of these are outstanding purveyors and all them are far from cheap. By way of example, Oliffe famously refuses to display their prices (if you have to ask...)! They also benefit by being next door to the largest Liquor store in Canada, Summerhill LCBO.
There are lots of other, much cheaper grocers around the city. What are you looking for? A one-stop-shop? Or a neighbourhood with a variety of samll boutiques?
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That's certainly a commercial/office tower address, in Yorkville - downtown Toronto - the building is still there (assuming mappoint.com is right).
Perhaps he had an office there and the wharehouse and/or the distibution/fulfillment co. he used was in Don Mills?
This is really silly, but have you tried Canada411.com?
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Fascinating stuff! You have me hooked! We'll get to the bottom of it!
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Don Mills was Toronto’s answer to Levittown; our first post-war suburb. It’s been long incorporated into the city proper, but it has retained its mix of residential and commercial zoning.
In the 1970’s and 80’s it was a regular P.O. box address for 1-800 direct marketing ads on TV. Precisely the sort that the SmartPot might be sold from. Could that be the origin of your last address?
I have a friend who, among other things, is a bit of a connoisseur of “as seen on TV” products and I’ll enquire with him about this M. de Serres and his SmartPot. I will also put something out in our next Gremolata.com newsletter.
Nothing like quite like a Canadian Crock-Pot Caper!
M.
PS. Weirdly and wonderfully enough, before I checked the forum my wife and I were thumbing through the Slow Mediterranean Cookbook for a good New Year’s Day dish. Haven’t decided yet.
PPS. Don Mills was famously the site of the indigenous Four Seasons Hotel Chain’s Inn on the Park, which was the height of mid-sixties to late-seventies Toronto suburban chic – there’s a great article on it n this month’s Toronto Life.
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Good point: there HAS been a lot going on. Not just Bourdain, but Jamie Oliver and Nigella have blown through Hogtown in the last three or four weeks, plus a few food and wine shows, plus all these new restaurants. Maybe it's too much and we need a pause to take it all in.
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I didn't see that, but I'm old enough to remember his finger slicing incident on the Gzowski show when he was trying to tell everyone how good the Cuisinart was!
Excellent anecdote! I knew of the incident, but couldn’t remember where/when it happened.
He and his wife Janet were also cookbook authors. We stuck a quote from their Canadian Food Guide (1974) on Gremolata, which I found in the OCF under the “Canada” entry.
Not merely a Great Canadian, but also a Great Gourmand.
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No, THANK ALL OF YOU! And thank eGullet! We would never have got this campaign off to a start without eGullet and our great community here.
I hope this shows that silly food laws can be reversed with enough political pressure. And I hope this galvanises gourmets in all jurisdictions to fight for what's on their plate!
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I have been told from 2 reliable sources - one in the sushi supply business and one in the press - that the raw sushi ban has been suspended indefinitely.
I haven't seen anything on the record from the ministry, so I'm holding back from a total declaration of victory, but it sounds pretty damn good.
- Malcolm
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Rhodes is gone? Had no idea. Too bad, that was like stepping right back to 1985. I will miss the eggs benedict with frites.
Must be Didier LeRoy.
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Embros on Yonge across from the Summerhil liquor store is a wonderful shop, but not cheap. Outfiiters to the kitchens of Rosedale, I'm sure.
Alternatively, the Kitchen and Glass store on Yonge two doors south of the Cookbook Store is great and consistently well priced. The staff there is excellent. They'll order anythng not in stock.
Marlene: maybe you mean the restaurant supply at Queen and Bathurst? A great place, too. They seem to encourage their patrons to haggle!
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...the cheese selection in Kingston kind of sucks.
I seem to remember the old cheddar at Cook's being quite good and no too expensive.
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Alex farms also has a great new(ish) store in the ManuLife Centre - in the basement, not far from one of Toronto's better Vintages boutiques. Perfect for a bottle of Rhone (incredible values lately in Ont.) and a big wedge of Pied-de-Vent.
The BEST cheese boutique in Toronto - maybe in North America (I've never been to Murray Cheese in NYC, so I'm not sure) is the Cheese Boutique.
Fatos Pristine is a cheese fanatic - his cellars are legendary. This man loves the stink and purveys it enthusiastcially. If it has been affinaged, it's probably there.
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We have a page at Gremolata that lists pretty much all of them:
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Sorry: where to get US? Or just where to get very good beef? Or where to get good beef cheap?
Toronto is full of excellent butcher shops. Where's he based? Or where is he doing the balance of his shopping? We could find the best in his neighbourhood.
Toronto vs. Montreal-who's got better restaurants?
in Eastern Canada: Dining
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Montreal was the commercial and financial centre of Canada for 200 years and, without question, the top city in all matters, including gastronomic.
That there would even be a rivalry between Toronto and Montreal in anything other than hockey is only a 30 year old phenomenon.
If the best dish in Canada is plated in Montreal, it's probably because the city has retained its cosmopolitain character and sophistication from those glory days. Toronto (and I'd venture Vancouver) are still relatively young rubes learning how to be big cities.