November/December 2012
5 recipes
FROM the city’s
hottest bartenders
serious about
COCKTAILS Classic or nouveau, everyone wants a stiff one — here’s why (p23)
Grant van Gameren’s new digs Holiday Whisky guide Jacob Richler’s new book (p5) Happy 25th, Sneaky Dee’s! (p34)
DAVE MITTON, THE HARBORD ROOM
Tastefully online at
citybites.ca Plus! WHITE FISH + COGNAC + DONUTS + BIG WINES + GIFT GUIDE
89
pts
“Gutsy, with a delectably bitter edge…. flavours of blackberry, eucalyptus and baking spices, all in fine balance, with a bit of grip from fine tannins on the finish. Good Value.” Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, June 10/12
Viña Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva A proven favourite. Always available. LCBO # 694208 Retail: $15.95
Proudly represented by Charton Hobbs
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contents
FROM the THE editor EDITOR From I was about halfway What a year we’vethrough had! beer expert Stephen
November/December 2012
Beaumont’s World Atlas ofmade Beer, There used tonew be abook time The when a properly co-authored writer Tim Webb, cocktail was awith rare U.K. thingbeer in Toronto. I remember
No. 45
whenthan I realized little I know aabout more once how having to explain drinkbeer. recipe it wasn’t mytofirst drink of choice to Now, a bartender, only receive a very weak as a young ne’er-do-well ripping off mybe parents interpretation in return. This would ten or (whiteyears wineago—and first, then Beefeater as I cocktail got older). more the state of our But I dohas recall my first sip ofsince a truly flavourful nation improved rapidly then. We’ve all beer. It wasto Bass from aof bottle, and itBooze benefitted, theAle, detriment our livers.
contents
openedAdam my eyes. Up to recounts that point, I’dwe slugged expert McDowell how got to back innocuous suds likecalls Molson Lightofand, where we are today, and out some our
November/December 2012
due to a beer heroes strike in a lot of local cocktail onNewfoundland, p. 23. Old Milwaukee (imported to thwart riots in the The last year was an exciting time for food streets). Bass became for hard and hospitality. Rules my werereward bent, broken orwork, like studying for high school or an sweeping abandoned entirely, and we’veexams enjoyed the kitchen And it launched my taste it for explosion of floor. creative interpretations of what more tasty brews, while my taste for our means to enjoy a bite out.ruining We decided to poll the characterless mass to beers to have friends in the business findthat out seem what worked ruledwhat the didn’t, last fewand decades. and give them the opportunity nigh, as you’ll see when you read to Salvation pick their is best eating experiences of 2012. our Beer beginning There areReport, some real surprises!on Seep.p.13. 20,We’ve then go sprinkled wholewe lotcouldn’t more beer throughonline foramore; fit musings it all in print. out this issue,give which we hopetoyou’ll enjoy.this Remember, generously the needy Toronto’s beer offerings justpretty keep lucky, gettingwhile better holiday (and always). We’re and better, andSee we you thought it was time to put it others are not. in 2013! on record. is no excuse for drinking Dick Snyder,There Editorreally • dick@citybites.ca tasteless beer anymore. Thank the gods. @citybites Dick Snyder, Editor • dick@citybites.ca city bites magazine @citybites
The Toronto Beer Report 13 Six Draught Picks A discussion a few nice pints. Grant vanGreat Gameren ponders his new space. Seeover p. 10.
17 16
The Case for Real AleConfused Bar Volo’s DaysDon’t celebration. Whisky Party Primer byCask whisky? be. Just lie back and think of drinkin’.
Features 16 Wide World of Beer Stephen Beaumont’s new beer atlas.
The Holiday Stuff Guide Cool things to make you look like a great The Winter Guide gift buyer. Even if you’re not.
18
20 To Market, To Market A few farmers’ markets. 20 The Best of 2012 In an extremely unscientific poll, we ask restaurant, Harvest Menus Toronto restaurants get their cooking. 21 booze and hospitality industry folks for take on the best and worst
of 2012. We like to dwell on the best. (But please: screw off, tacos!)
its mouth is, thanks to a phalanx of dedicated cocktologists. How to Savour Stratford The CityBites guide to a great fall fair.
21 The Apple Report What to expect in the orchards. 23 of the Cocktail Toronto 23 The Fall Year Harvest Events Foodie thingsgrows to do.up and puts its booze where
citybitestoronto
Regular Regular Bites Bites
Editor Dick Snyder/dick@citybites.ca Managing Editor Natalie Goldenberg-Fife/natalie@citybites.ca Art Director Craig Sinclair/craig@citybites.ca Editorial Assistant Kait Fowlie Editorial Assistant Kait Fowlie Wine Editor John Szabo Wine Editor John Szabo Director of Vinous Affairs Zoltan Szabo Director of Vinous Affairs Zoltan Szabo Contributors Stephen Beaumont, Kristen Bedard, Davin de KerContributorsDan Stephen Beaumont, Dan Donovan, Konrad gommeaux, Donovan, Konrad Ejbich, Maia Filar, Kait Ejbich, Fowlie, Maia Filar, Kait Fowlie, Marc Green,Motiwala, Sarah Hood, Marc Green, Kristin Kent, Sanober John Switzer, John Sanober Motiwala, John Szabo,Temkin Zoltan Szabo, Stephen Temkin Szabo, Zoltan Szabo, Stephen
5 5
Starters Jacob Richler’s Starters new book.The apple of Wanda’s eye.
6 Crumbs Read before you eat. 6 Crumbs Read before you eat. 7 Out&About Reds Wine Tavern. 7 Out&About Hop Bar takes Plus: Hot Spots! 8 8
on King West.
Grow Sprouts for winter. Grow Consider garlic.
Laura Berman, MalcolmBrown, Brown, Photography and illustration Ashley Capp, Malcolm Sanober Motiwala, Ross Spencer, Dick Snyder Steve Kean, Ross Spencer, Dick Snyder Publisher Paul Alsop/paul@citybites.ca Sr. Account Manager Wendy Lyall Gardner/wendy@citybites.ca Account Manager Alexander McCarthy/alex@citybites.ca
photo: ross spencer
Email info@citybites.ca or visit www.citybites.ca Advertising Inquiries sales@citybites.ca
26 Dalhousie Dalhousie St. St. Suite Suite 200, 200, 26 Toronto, ON, ON, M5B M5B 2A5, 2A5, Toronto, 647-827-1705. City City Bites Bites 647-827-1705. is published published six six times times is year by by City City Bites Bites aa year Media Inc. Inc. Media
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NewsBites Wine by the click.
9 Chef Beer Q&A Events What’s 10 Grant van brewing Gameren. 11 10 13
this fall.
Head to Head Bold winter wines. Chef Q&A The Feasting Room’s Noah Goldberg. Dining Out Make way for
doughnuts. 11 Head to Head Chardonnay. 14 The Scene Ascari Enoteca 26. 34 One Last Bite 34 One Biteget truckin’. FoodLast Dudes Sneaky Dee’s nacho power.
The Experts 28 Szabo on Wine
Szabo’sonfood John Szabo VQAepiphanies. bubbles.
Living on the Veg 29 Living
City Bites Bites Media Media Inc., Inc., City
citybites.ca
The Hottest Taps in Town How Bellwoods Brewery does it.
24
Art Director Craig Sinclair/craig@citybites.ca
Deliciously online at
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citybitestoronto city bites magazine
Editor Dick Snyder/dick@citybites.ca
No. 45
gourmet candy. Kait Fowlie on Brantford.
Fishmongering 30 Fishmongering
shrimp. Dan Donovan on white fish.
31
The Gourmudgeon talks brunch. Stephen Temkin pines for Miss Vickies. 32 The Ej Konrad 32 The Ej Ejbich toasts chardonnay. Konrad Ejbich’s benevolent wine. 33 Libations Stephen Beaumont on local beer. 33 Libations Stephen Beaumont on rare treats.
Cover photo by Malcolm Brown. Cover photo by Ashley Capp. Assistant: Melanie Baresic. Makeup: Amanda Blair Roberson.
November/December 2012
31
the starters By Dick Snyder
Honour thy Country Or its food, anyway, as long as it’s good. Jacob Richler says it is. What is your intent with this book, other than to make us hungry? Well, I had hoped to be entertaining, too. There are some very good recipes included. I shared some useful information about quality ingredients and how to cook them well. I aimed to convey some of my appetite for that, and my resolute belief that when you only get to eat three meals a day, you should never waste one on something second rate. And in the broader picture, I wanted to leave readers with a good sense of where Canadian cooking has come to be at its best.
There are some great “tips” in here, such as “never cook with plonk; always use what you’re drinking.” What else? Same goes for the rest of the product you put in the pot: you don’t have to buy organic, but stay away from factory chickens GOOD COMPANY Richler’s book and anything else that was intensively reared on a venerably displayed at Costco. horrible diet. That aside, the worst thing home cooks do is exactly the same as what bad restaurant chefs do—they try and impress people by cooking beyond their means. Don’t. Every chef I know would rather be served a great sandwich than a failed blanquette de veau. So keep it simple. And the next most important rule is that you should probably be cooking with more butter and salt. You write with reverence about hunting, and wild game. What is the average Canadian missing here? Just last week a chef served me a couple of wild ducks he had shot. One was a mallard and the other a ring-neck. He seared the breasts very lightly— the flesh was crimson. He made a jus with the bones, and added some pine mushrooms, and that was it. It was all so exceptionally tasty. Game always is. If you’ve only ever eaten farm-raised venison, elk, rabbit or duck it’s the same as thinking the best steak you ever had was at the Keg or on an Air Canada flight—and then finally trying a ribeye from some fat-riddled Angus-Wagyu cross that was dry-aged for nine weeks. That’s what people are missing. You’ve often written about the glories of Quebec’s food scene, as compared to Toronto. Are we catching up at all? Oh, I don’t know about that. Certainly Toronto and the rest of the country are indebted to Quebec for the great ingredients they send us. When I moved here from Montreal in the nineties Toronto had a far more varied and rewarding fine dining scene and Montreal had better mid-range bistros. The emphasis here was very much on doing flashy new things and getting attention. Nowadays the scene here is totally different. The best new restaurants are instead committed to getting extant cuisines right. Think Buca or Edulis or Ici Bistro. This is progress. And all MORE ONLINE in all I’m sure Toronto has a greater range of more interesting Visit citybites.ca restaurants. They just don’t have a fine dining restaurant quite like to read more of this interview. Toqué! at the moment.
The CityBites Team STEVE KEAN Steve is a commercial photographer who’s created tantalizing images of food for clients such as Marriott International and restaurants across Southern Ontario. He has also taught photography to artists with disabilities, and has showcased his work in several group and solo exhibitions, as well as calendars and books. Steve captured the wonders of the donut at Parkdale’s Glory Hole for the article THE ART OF DOUGHNUT on p. 13 and grabbed some lovely pics of chef Ryan Gallagher at the recently re-launched Reds Wine Tavern for OUT&ABOUT on p. 7.
NATALIE GOLDENBERG-FIFE Natalie thrives in the world of clinking glasses, the “oohs and ahs” of exotic tastes and the joys of tantalizing conversation. Her love of culinary experiences and fine wines comes from stints at bistros of Montreal and Toronto—and from continuous work on her sommelier diploma. A graduate of McGill University and Concordia’s journalism program, Natalie’s writing has appeared in Toronto Life and The Montreal Gazette. She also organizes exclusive client-focused dining experiences at top restaurants across Canada. CityBites welcomes her aboard as managing editor for its print and digital editions. She hounded and hassled all of the restaurant people for the year-end BEST OF 2012 on p. 20 and interviewed Crown Cook’s Grant van Gameren for the CHEF Q&A on p. 10. natalie@citybites.ca | @NatalieGF
Get in touch! Send emails to info@citybites.ca or snail mail to CityBites, 26 Dalhousie St., Toronto, ON, M5B 2A5. Letters may be edited for space and accuracy. November/December 2012
5
crumbs
By Kait Fowlie | @kaitfowlie
... Fine dining resto and lounge Centro (2472 Yonge St., 416-483-2211, centro.ca, @CentroTO) celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Good
on ya! ... Leslieville Cheese Market’s Queen and Augusta location closes its doors after three years. Their two other locations are still going strong—
News for eaters
... Chef Michael Kirkwood, formerly of Opus, Toro and Avalon, is taking the reins at Turf Lounge (330 Bay St., 416-367-2111, turflounge. com) after the departure of Chef Hans Vogels ... When chef Anthony Rose left The Drake Hotel back in April, he planned to start his own small empire under the name Rose and Sons (roseandsons.ca). A liquor licence application at 176 Dupont St. reveals he’s staked claim on his first spot (though his blog is down, so we can’t fact check!)
... Bagel addicts, keep an eye out for Nu Bügel (240 Augusta Ave., 647-748-4488, nubugel.com), a Montreal style bagel joint to open late
according to a hand written sign posted in the window, “until Loblaws moves there, too”
... Amsterdam Brewery partners up with the
Harbourfront Centre to launch a new brewpub May 2013. A building at
fall in the heart of Kensington ... Paintbox Bistro (555 Dundas St. E.,
647-748-0555, paintboxbistro.com, @paintbox_Bistro) breathes new life into Regent Park with its inclusive attitude toward culinary art
245 Queens Quay W. will be converted into a 450-seat dining room,
... Tattoo and piercing artists Will Nguyen and Lee Baxter just made
350-seat patio, event space, retail store and microbrewery
Queen West a little more gangster with their new takeout joint, Gangster
... Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport chefs Tony Fernandes and Chaminda Palihawadana just brought back three medals from the 2012 World Culinary Olympics in Germany, sufficiently boosting Toronto’s air cred
... Ex-Food Network chef and Dish Cooking Studio founder Trish Magwood
converts 150 recipes from her cookbook In My Mother’s Kitchen to iPad app form this month—so check out iTunes! ... Grand Electric adds a second floor to accommodate line-up-averse taco fans in winter (1330 Queen St. W., 416-627-3459, grandelectric.com, @grandelectricTO)
... Kensington’s new diner-style sandwich shop, Dr. Augusta’s
Samitorium, specializes in ’wiches made with ingredients from Sanagan’s Meat Locker and served alongside house-made sodas. Expect no frills, just market-fresh quality (602 Dundas St. W., 647-748-5522)
Burger (607 Queen St. W., 647-352-3375, gangsterburger.com). The burger list conjures the pre-prohibition era, with burgers named Capone and The Eliot Ness. Oh, and they have street cred: Drake was their first customer
... Sick of grilled cheese yet? Then head to Say Cheese
(337 Bloor St. W., 416-258-1938, @SayCheeseTO) for a fresh take. Owner Nigel Koo draws inspiration from his childhood comforts to make unexpected combos like Bulgogi and kim-cheese and pulled
pork and pasta ... You didn’t read it here first! Momofuku Toronto (190 University Ave., momofuku.com, @momofuku) opens in the Shangri-La Hotel. Four concept restos—The Noodle Bar, Nikai, Shōtō, and Daishō, are led by executive chef Sam Gelman.
Email tips, opening soons and discoveries to info@citybites.ca.
PASSION, POLITICS, PAINTING & DINNER! BOOK YOUR DINNER AND SHOW PACKAGE TODAY ago.net/FridaDiego Sponsored by: 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto
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City Bites.indd 1
CityBites
21/10/12 10:05 AM
OUT & ABOUT
By Kristin Kent
By Natalie Goldenberg-Fife and Kait Fowlie
A new vintage
HOT SPOTS... Feel Good Gurua This “hyper-local, super-awesome organic
The financial district staple re-launches as Reds WINE Tavern
plant-powered foods” store and restaurant doesn’t just cater to an uber-crunchy crowd. The selection of vegan and mostly raw lunch items, “baked” goods and juices
The Story
You work on Bay Street, you know Reds. With its extensive wine cellar and seamless in-and-out lunch service, it’s an established go-to with loyal patrons in the neighbourhood. But Reds just replaced its white tablecloths with communal tables in hopes of attracting youthful professionals who want comfortable and relaxed, yet still high end.
The Space
Bay Street collides with the Junction. Think rich browns, reclaimed woods and exposed ceilings, it’s a 180° flip from what it was. Wine bottles now double as chandeliers, hand-laid pages from a vintage French novel serve as wallpaper, heck, even grandma’s schoolhouse desk is now hall décor. And, there’s shuffleboard.
The Scene
Young and young at heart pack the place on Thursday nights. Though formalities may have loosened, service and wine expertise have Reds Wine Tavern grown. Sure, you can still spend $700 on a bottle. Or choose one 77 Adelaide St. W. of 77 by the glass. And as a tavern du jour should, Reds has craft 416-862-7337 redskitchenandtavern.com beers, a list of palette-pleasing Caesars, and trendier cocktails such @redswinetavern as a maple-bacon Manhattan.
photo: Steve Kean/stevekean.com
The Food
Shared, socially responsible and fresh—that’s executive chef Ryan Gallagher’s approach to food in a nutshell. He’s a playful guy—ex of Ruby Watchco and Bier Mrkt—and his menu is too. Soup, fish and curry switch up daily. Find traditional tavern-style fare with little twists like triple-cooked smoked chicken wings, sliders with painau-lait buns, guacamole and chips, but with lobster. There’s a choice of mussels, a selection of burgers and heavier “tavern plates” like chicken pot pie with foie gras gravy, lamb shank tangine, Canadian tenderloin and buttermilk fried chicken.
can satisfy all. If you happen to be looking for a post-yoga place to refuel, stop by for a wheatgrass shot at “happy healthy hour” any day at 10 a.m. You’ll be right at home. 917 Queen St. W., 647-748-5800, feelgoodguru.com [KF]
SpiritHouse There are a number of reasons to hit up the newish Adelaide Street West’s SpiritHouse besides not wanting to endure the table-wait at neighbouring Gusto101. The SpiritHouse digs are chic and spacious, and every seat is comfortable and private. Not to mention a list of more than 400 brands of gin, mezcal, bourbon and scotch. The bartenders have brains, and they take the time to educate eager patrons. The food is also pretty nosh-worthy. 487 Adelaide St. W. (entrance on Portland Ave.), 647-277-1187, spirithousetoronto.com, @SpiritHouseTO [NGF]
Hey! If you were a fan of Hey Meatball! in Little Italy, you’re in for a treat with Rodney Bowers’ second location in the West End. Hey! moved into the former Tinto Coffee House location in mid September, transforming the huge space into an 85-seater dining room, juice bar, bar and open-concept kitchen. Bowers’ menu offers a selection of “refined comfort food”: classic salads, pizzas, pastas and locally baked desserts. They’ve also got draught beer. If you’re looking for the signature meatballs, though, head to the College Street location. 91 Roncesvalles Ave., 416-530-5885
ALL ABOUT WINE Ryan Gallagher likes his wine Red.
CityBites_November_2_CityBites 12-10-24 2:25 PM Page 1
heymeatball.ca
Organic Leaders for 29 Years! Natural Food Market • 348 Danforth Ave. 416.466.2129 • www.thebigcarrot.ca info@thebigcarrot.ca • the_bigcarrot thebigcarrotnaturalfoodmarket November/December 2012
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By Marc Green
Green winter Easy-growing sprouts for cold bleak days November. All that lays ahead is the cold bleakness of winter, tempered for a few diehard gardeners who brave the weather to keep a winter garden. Others might maintain an indoor garden to keep in touch with their greener side, but this takes up space and requires sunny windows. An indoor yield is also never as bountiful as it would be under outdoor conditions. What to do to keep your thumb green and add homegrown freshness to your meals? Sprouts! A sprout is the early stem of any
A sprout is the early stem of any freshly germinated vegetable plant. freshly germinated vegetable plant. Some are ready to eat in as little as two days (mung beans) and others no more than a week (chickpea). They are also highly nutritious— full of fibre, protein and vitamin C. The most common sprouts are mung beans (Chinese bean sprout) and alfalfa, but almost anything can be grown as a sprout— peas, radish, soyabean, sunflower, clover, lentil, wheat, rye, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and more. Some require cooking
(sunflower, lentil, peas and soya), but most can be eaten raw. You’ll need a clean 2-quart jar, a screw-on ring or rubber band, and a piece of wire mesh or cheesecloth. As for seed, we recommend organic, as many commercial seeds have been genetically modified, and doused with chemicals designed to fight disease and increase shelf life. Yech. In the jar: soak seeds overnight (about ¾ of a cup for mung beans, 3 tablespoons for alfalfa) in water. Rinse and drain through the wire screen or cheesecloth, secured to the jar with a ring or rubber band. Drain extensively during last rinse. Place the jar on its side in a cool, dark place, covering it with a dishtowel. Rinse and drain twice a day. On the last day place the jar in a sunny window to green them up, thereby adding chlorophyll and vitamin A. Once ready, seed husks can be removed by floating the sprouts in a bowl of cold water and stirring gently. Finished sprouts can be stored in the fridge in the jar or sealable bag. Rinse occasionally to help them last longer. They can also blanched for about three minutes and plunged into cold water to stop the cooking process. Bag and freeze them for later use. CB Marc Green and Arlene Hazzan Green run The Backyard Urban Farm Company. Visit them at bufco.ca.
SPROUT TIME Broccoli sprouts ‘green up’ while alfalfa seeds soak before going into a dark place to germinate.
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CityBites
photo: Marc Green
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grow
Newsbites
By John Switzer
Click here for wine Startup connects consumers to wine agents Imagine an online wine shop where you can buy wines that aren’t available anywhere else… in Ontario? Look no further than a newly launched website called winewire.ca. This is a meeting place where agents post wines they wish to list and where consumers can browse and select the wines they choose to purchase. Winewire doesn’t sell wine. It forwards each customer order request to the listing agent who completes the paperwork and arranges delivery. This is an agent-driven portal where Winewire accepts all listings proposed by their agent partners, for a modest fee that’s paid by the agent. Customers are charged no fees to join or use the Winewire site. Wines offered cross the full spectrum of Old- and New World regions at prices that range from $12.95 to $85. About 200 wines from 17 agents are available now, with more to come.
This site is the brainchild of Nelson Abreu, proprietor of a small Toronto-based wine agency, 3050 Imports. Abreu was frustrated that his wines didn’t get more exposure to consumers, a market he found very expensive to reach. He was proud of the wines he found on his travels and believed they were underappreciated. He brainstormed the idea of a web portal with a wine-loving friend, Adam Bekhor. The site launched this fall. This site is about wine education as much as it is about selling wine. Informative and entertaining videos are a big part of the site, themed around grapes or wines from specific regions. A series of videos will be presented by local sommeliers, just as they might present a wine at your table in their restaurant. CB John Switzer is a Toronto-based wine educator and writer. Follow him at thewinesightsreader.com and @Santenay1er.
13TH STREET WINERY Your Home For Ontario's Best Sparkling Wines! Now Available for Direct Delivery
Grande Cuvee 2006 $59.95/bottle
93 Points
"...in the top league to be sure this is far superior to most grande marques champagnes and should be considered a solid value as such." "Certainly one of Canada's finest bubblies to date." John Szabo, MS
Premier Cuvee 2008 $34.95/bottle
90 Points
"13th Street has a long track record with serious, Champagneinspired, pinot noir-based sparkling wines." "Nicely refined... with a generous and complex nose of toasted almond, fresh straw, brioche and lemon" "Firm, dry and quite intense; with excellent length." David Lawrason Join us on Saturday, December 1st from 11am to 5pm
for our Holiday Open House & Release Event!
13TH STREET WINERY 1776 FOURTH AVE. | ST. CATHARINES L2R 6P9 | 905-984-8463 WINE ON A WIRE Catch WineWire’s Nelson Abreu and Adam Bekhor at the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo (Nov. 15-18).
13THSTREETWINERY.COM November/December 2012
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chef Q&A
By Natalie Goldenberg-Fife | @NatalieGF
Crown Cooks is coming Grant van Gameren goes Euro with 70-seat tapas-inspired eatery After making his mark at customer favourites The Black Hoof and Enoteca Sociale, Grant van Gameren is ready to hang out his own restaurant shingle. Inspired by a recent trip abroad, the 31-year-old chef is eager to move beyond charcuterie, and flex his culinary muscles at Crown Cooks, his tapas-focused 70-seater opening soon. Inspired by an absinthe bar discovered on his travels, Crown will demonstrate GVG’s non-interventionist approach—or what he likes to call “no-bullshit food.” What’s the inspiration for Crown Cooks?
I went travelling to NYC, Montreal and Europe. I ate at 100 different places in two months. Crown Cooks is a culmination of what I brought to the table at the Hoof, my new culinary experiences and the time off. Describe your cuisine. People often try to
How do you view the Toronto restaurant scene? It is a super exciting time with so
many people doing amazing things. But it’s also a transitional period in terms of identity. The scene is made up of thirty something chefs cooking with another bunch of 30-year olds. I don’t know if the new generation of leaders has shown up yet. You see a lack of discipline in the kitchen that guys like Susur Lee and Jamie Kennedy used to instill. They were all about paying your dues. I am certain in the next few years that you’ll see new young leaders step up.
CHEF’S CHALLENGE For Grant van Gameren, the menu’s the easy part. The electrical, not so much.
I get connected to people who put their personality on the plate. and he is going to be at the top of the list. I am super excited just for that. Toronto needs more people using their cultural background and putting that personality into the restaurant. I get connected to people who put their personality on the plate. How do you really feel about tacos? I love
tacos but I am surprised there are still new taco places and new taco pop-ups. Obviously, I love Grand Electric cause the guys are exHoof chefs and they’re doing great things. But Toronto needs to acknowledge tacos and burgers aren’t the only way to make it successful. It’s slightly depressing actually. I would like to see more creativity that will set Toronto apart.
What’s Toronto’s best-kept dining secret?
The restaurant I am most excited about is Nick Liu’s Gwailo. I think we are going to see a big movement to modern Asian cuisine
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CityBites
Speaking of cultural background, what’s yours? I have Dutch, Cuban and Jamaican
in me but I have never been to any of those
MORE ONLINE
countries. I have never had Visit citybites.ca for an extended a food background. I didn’t interview and grow up with a wonderful more photos. cooking story like making spaghetti in the kitchen with my nonna. Cooking came out of necessity. I was cooking when all my friends were going to school and I felt left behind in my early 20s. I made a choice to put 110 percent into cooking, learning and reading. What did your time abroad teach you?
Well, I ate a lot of shitty food as much as I did good food. But there is a certain amount of confidence in Europe and they don’t put bullshit things on the plate. That is what you will see at Crown Cooks—true and raw food. Not dishes with 10 ingredients on the plate. I generally don’t like to eat anything with 10 ingredients. CB
photo: Ross Spencer
pin point what food I do and end up saying “it’s Grant’s food.” To me, it’s a combination of Italian, French, Spanish and a touch of Copenhagen—with a focus on no-bullshit food. Which means, the food won’t be fixated on presentation or be a bigger version of the Hoof by any means. It’s going to be a balance of all my ideas and the way I like to eat. I will be using peasant-style ingredients that are underappreciated, like offal, cabbage and rutabaga. More veggies and a wider range of ingredients.
Head to head
By Zoltan Szabo | @zoltanszabo
Wines to curl up with Some tasty beauties to get you through a long winter’s night CLASSIC
BALANCED
CONCENTRATED
Classic apples, honey, wet chalk and warm brioche accents, generous over the palate with a persistent finish. Elegant. Vintages #0384529
Golden-coloured, chamomile, beeswax and savoury-toned, medium-weight and precisely balanced with a great, clean finish. Vintages #0179374
Cabernet sauvignon-based Bordeaux blend, full and concentrated with blackberries, Tuscan bush herbs and graphite accents. Thick, but with balancing tannins and warm torque. Vintages #0292391
AROMATIC
ROUND
UNCOMPROMISING
Bordeaux varieties with a dash of syrah. Blackberries, floral and mineral, with round tannins and warm spice; vanilla inflected finish. Perfect with autumn stews, or braised lamb. Decant. Vintages #0018879
Strawberry, dried shiitake and a sweet-and-sour aroma edge. But not too sweet due to an uncompromising and refreshing seam of acidity. Try with roasted game birds and cranberry jelly. Vintages #0306035
NV Special Cuvée Brut, Bollinger Champagne | $69.95
2004 Gran Reserva, Lan Rioja | $27.95
Full and well- structured with plums, chocolate, flavoured tobacco nuances and aromatic American oaktoned completion. Vintages #0928622
2006 Sweet Szamorodni Tokaji, Puklus Tokaj-Hegyalja, Hungary | $18.95
2008 19 Block Cuvée, Hess Collection Mount Veeder, Napa Valley | $44.95
2008 Sondraia, Poggio al Tesoro, Bolgheri Tuscany | $44.95
2010 Cabernet Franc Icewine, Tawse Niagara Peninsula | $34.95
November/December 2012
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Fall Flavor!
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Since opening our cellar doors in 1997, we’ve been called a lot of things: bold, innovative, gutsy, obsessive, quirky, unique – even culty, and surely a few things unfit to print. Yet our vision has never wavered and the recognition we’ve earned over the years is a testament to the importance of sticking to your grapes. Cheers!
Harvest time is our favourite. Experience the fall season with our crew at the winery and stock up on some fantastic wines, perfect for the bounty at your dinner table or those few remaining weekend patio feasts. Tastings daily 10 - 6, and scrumptious weekend lunches are served up fresh on the deck.
Can’t make it to the winery? No sweat! You can find us at your local LCBO.
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Serious wines from an irreverent bunch. Order online for delivery anywhere in Ontario! creeksidewine.com
Jordan, Ontario, Canada, Earth •
CEW
DINING OUT
By Sanober Motiwala | @SanoberM
The Art of Doughnut Purveyors of quality fried dough are filling a hole It’s been said before. Doughnuts are the new cupcake. There’s no denying the proliferation of gourmet doughnuts across the city, from east to west, adorned in bacon and blueberry balsamic glaze (thankfully, not together, though perhaps soon), and selling like hotcakes. But the jury is still out on whether this latest trend will become a staple on the Toronto food scene or see a fate similar to that of Krispy Kreme, the beloved American chain that debuted here with much fanfare back in 1996 and closed most of its Canadian outlets within five years. A few stragglers remain, but are strictly irrelevant. There’s a new trend in town. Doughnuts have been a prominent part of Canadian culture since the 1950s, when coffee consumption surpassed tea drinking for the first time. Coffee breaks replaced teatime, and the classic pairing of coffee and doughnut became a Canadian staple. Until recently, we satisfied our doughnut cravings at the likes of Tim Horton’s and other lowbrow mega-batch producers churning out doughy goop that deliver little taste pleasure other than a sensation of overwhelming sweetness. But now—and you knew it was coming—a new breed of “craft” doughnut makers is infiltrating the market. They offer fresh, house-made doughnuts in unconventional flavours. Take Glory Hole Doughnuts in Parkdale. Chef and owner Ashley Jacot De Boinod
photo: Steve Kean
You won’t see a guy buying a dozen cupcakes for hockey practice. makes two or three small batches of yeastraised doughnuts every day, tweeting loyal customers who come flocking in when a new batch is ready. Prices range from $3 to $4.50. While she does offer some traditional flavours like cinnamon sugar and maple glazed, her most popular offering is the Elvis. It’s not for the faint of heart—a pillowy ring of fried dough is topped with peanut
MORNING GLORY One tweet, and Ashley Jacot De Boinod’s customers come running.
butter cream cheese frosting, banana chips, peanuts, bacon (of course) and a toasted marshmallow. On the other end of Queen Street, Devin and Luke Connell (from the brood of Ace Bakery founders Martin Connell and Linda Haynes) offer Southern-style fried chicken and a rotating menu of cake doughnuts at Paulette’s Original Donuts and Chicken in Leslieville. Paulette’s daily selection ($2.75 each) includes seven flavours created by the Connells and chef Graham Bower through a process that begins with outside-the-box brainstorming and ends with recipe testing and refinement in the kitchen. The result: customer favourites like mojito, chocolate peppermint, and banana cream pie. Doughnuts have been popping up on restaurant dessert menus, too, and not just in their traditional ring shape. There are the Southern beignets, Italian zeppole, and Spanish churros, and some farther out
variations like a Glory Hole Doughnuts 1596 Queen St. W. deconstructed 647-352-4848 carrot cake doughgloryholedoughnuts.com nut recently @GHoleDoughnuts featured at Rob Paulette’s Original Rossi’s College Donuts and Chicken Street West restau913 Queen St. E. 647-748-1177 rant Bestellen. paulettesoriginal.com Devin Connell @Paulettesorig muses that “the newfound appeal of doughnuts might partly have to do with the fact that they are unisex. You won’t see a guy buying a dozen cupcakes for hockey practice.” But, perhaps artisanal doughnuts are just manly enough. Time will tell whether gourmet doughnuts are a fleeting trend or if they will endure. In the meantime, it’s hard to argue with Jacot De Boinod, who says: “You can’t really go wrong with fried dough. It’s just delicious. Period.” CB November/December 2012
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THE SCENE
By Kirsten Bedard
Monday night wine party Half-priced wine packs them in at Ascari Enoteca
If it’s delicious, pure, speaks of something, and has soul, I will sell it. Atcheva explains that some of the best, most interesting and affordable wines come from unexpected places. “If it’s delicious, pure, speaks of something, and has soul, I will sell it.” We order a bottle of the Assyrtiko. Atcheva began her wine career at Terroni, and was one of a handful of staff to visit Italy. These trips increased her thirst for the taste of a good glass, along with the history and hands behind it. She worked at the French-Cuban restaurant Delux on Ossington, where she forged relationships with wine agents and began exploring local wineries.
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BOTTLE SERVICE Sommelier Svetlana Atcheva shares her special finds
Then, as sommelier at Ruby Watchco, where star-watted celebrity chef Lynn Crawford churns out a different three-course menu every night, Atcheva rose to the challenge. “If you’re not thinking about food, don’t think about the wine. Just enjoy it!” When Ascari Enoteca opened two blocks down from Ruby Watchco, she came on board as sommelier and manager. Owners John and Erik, from Table 17—next door to Ruby Watchco—wanted a wine bar with delicious food. Atcheva tries to educate people on wine while encouraging them to experience it their own way. “I don’t want to tell you what you should think about the wine, I want to know how it makes you feel.” Recently, the list had an empty space beneath the Ontario-made Pearl Morissette Cuvee LPR Rosé. “It’s a very special wine. I want customers to fill it in with their own experience, so I ask the staff to give a pen to every table.” She laughs. “They think I’m nuts!” Atcheva started Monday’s half-price bottle deal to entice diners to experience wines they wouldn’t normally buy. “At such affordable prices people will experiment with new wines, ask questions they wouldn’t normally care to ask, because… hey, why not?” The bar turns into a wine tasting of sorts, with much sipping, savouring, sharing, comparing. For the sommelier, this is bliss. “The wine-
Enoteca Ascari 26 makers are coming now 1111Queen St. E. too, pouring their own 416-799-4157 wines.” The crew from ascarienoteca.ca Prince Edward Country’s Norman Hardie Winery “come around when they are not crushing grapes and make it even more boisterous than usual.” These are the dinner parties you’ve always wanted to attend. Drunken, delicious discussions, a late snack menu, and the sounds of classic hip hop pumping out of the kitchen-turned-DJ booth. As more bottles are poured, Atcheva swirls about the room, from table to table, reciting wine prose to thirsty diners. Every so often she darts over to the bar for a quick sip of the Pearl Morissette, the bright raspberry coloured rosé she loves. It is a new addition that she herself helped bottle at the vineyard at the end of July. Against better judgment—it’s a weeknight after all—we order a bottle, and she sits between us to assess the first sips. It looks like cream soda, tastes like berries, and has a dry, smooth finish. Trouble. She laughs when I ask how we went from two glasses to two bottles in under two hours.” This is what happens here on Mondays.” CB A nutritionist and personal trainer, Kirsten Bedard helps clients stay lean while indulging in Toronto’s food scene. For more, visit ladylean.com and winesngrinds.com.
photo: Kirsten Bedard
It’s 10 p.m. on a Monday night at Leslieville’s hot new Ascari Enoteca 26 and the bar is a scattering of wine glasses and bottles, multicoloured and half full. Every few minutes, another bottle is opened, sampled and sent down the bar. The place is packed, the wine flowing, and the fun is just getting started. Sommelier Svetlana Atcheva started “halfprice bottle Mondays” a few months ago. Parties of two and three cluster at the bar and around tables, sipping wine and slurping pasta as Atcheva, with her contagious laugh, moves about the room. “What do you feel like?” she asks, unfolding the list. It offers 78 bottles, 18 by the glass. The majority are Italian, intermingled with obscure bottles from Croatia, Georgia and Slovakia. Every description sounds like an ecstatic experience. Atcheva prompts us, trying to assess our desires. “Full body? Fruit forward? Mineral?” Yes, mineral... like the ocean. Bracing, steely, refreshing. She nods and points to the 2010 Assyrtiko, a wine from the small Greek Island, Santorini. Her description reads: “Utterly electrifying with its minerality, freshness and exotic citrus flavors—it makes your taste buds dance.” She describes how the vines grow in a spiral. “Like a basket,” she explains. “Because of the sun and wind, they curl around themselves for protection.”
XMAS SURVIVAL GUIDE / WHISKY
By Davin de Kergommeaux
Everything you need to know to make great whisky choices this holiday… or any time So, you are planning a party and you are having trouble choosing just the right whisky? Holiday entertainment means having fun with your friends, not stressing about what to serve. Here are a few simple suggestions to remove any mystery about what whisky to offer your guests and how to serve it. There may be neophytes and whisky snobs alike at your party but these notes will ensure success on all fronts. The whisky
Let’s start with the good news: spending more does not always mean getting better whisky. This is why narrowing your selection down is easy with a little information in your back pocket. Scotch can be very expensive, so let’s start at the higher
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end. Consider serving either of these two whiskies: the sweet, well-balanced Scotch malt Balvenie Doublewood ($72.45) or the smoky Laphroaig Quarter Cask ($69.95). Either one should have the Scotch fans covered. Bourbon drinkers will be equally happy to find Buffalo Trace ($39.95) or Maker’s Mark 46 ($49.95) on your bar. But why not make 2012 the Christmas of Canadian whisky? Big bold Canadian flavours are taking over the whisky connoisseur’s world this year as scrumptious, robust new releases flood into the market. Here’s a selection that taste great and are not expensive. Rye drinkers will thank you for serving Lot 40 ($39.95), made from a recipe of rye and malted rye that goes back seven-generations. Alberta Premium Dark Horse ($29.95) from the famed Alberta Distillers is another sure favourite, especially if you complement it by offering Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve ($28.45). Add Canada’s perennial favourite, Gibson’s Finest ($27.45) and you have something very traditional and for everyone.
photo: xxxxxxxxx
The whisky party primer
Great Canadian XXXmas Whiskies Alberta Premium Dark Horse $29.95 Luscious, rich roasted grain, dark fruits, wet slate, charcoal, dry orange rind, lilacs, vanilla, bourbon, gingery pepper, and grapefruit pith. Black Velvet Toasted Caramel $27.65 Luscious, buttery caramel cream, and fresh-made toffee gently ebb into gentle embers of gingery, peppery spice. Canadian Club Dock 57 Spiced $25.95 Sweet and spicy with hints of oak. A spiced whisky that puts the whisky flavours out front.
Wiser’s Legacy $49.95 Sweet, rich and very spicy with distinct rye notes. Cinnamon hearts, cloves, dark fruits, hot peppermint and cleansing citrus zest.
Lot No. 40 $39.90 Forty Creek Cream $28.95
Creamy rich vanilla and melting-soft milk chocolate with vague hints of coconut, torrefied caramel, and tingling spices. Gibson’s 100th Grey Cup
$34.95 Spicy, peppery rye, toffee, vanilla ice cream, and fresh dairy butter with real maple syrup and crispy oak.
Some of your guests will no doubt prefer white spirits. Delight your vodka-loving friends with the clear-as-water White Owl Whisky ($39.95). Wonderful in a cocktail, it delivers the rye and oak flavours of whisky without clouding the fluorescent colours that appear to have taken over martini glasses these days. Or surprise everyone in the room by tapping into this year’s newest whisky trend: flavoured whiskies. Your choices here could include Dock 57 Spiced ($25.95), Wiser’s Spiced ($27.95), Black Velvet Toasted Caramel ($27.65), and Forty Creek Cream ($28.95). Given the time of year, you’d better buy two bottles of the Forty Creek—it’s got Christmas written all over it. The ritual
Ice or no ice? Don’t let whisky know-it-alls discourage you from providing ice for the whisky you serve. It’s perfectly all right, so go ahead and buy a bag and let your guests decide
Hard Christmas candy, fragrant dark fruits, and caraway rye, in spicy hot pepper with a dash of sweet and sour. Pike Creek $39.90 Ripe red fruit, smidgens of toffee, hot ginger, portwood, citrus pith, and baked nut loaf. Soft and smooth.
what they prefer. Make sure you have a good supply of water, too, as adding a few drops will “open any whisky up,” making its aromas more accessible. A few small pitchers at room temperature will be most appreciated. And what about those specially designed whisky glasses? It’s a party! A standard wide-mouthed “on the rocks” glass will dissipate spirity smells while a simple white wine glass will help keep all the aromas in “focus.” A good selection of each will allow your guests to pick their favourite approach. And they are not being tested! Christmas giving
Now, what to buy the serious whisky connoisseur on your Christmas list? You can’t go wrong with any of the new Canadians described above. In addition, you can confidently add Collingwood ($29.95), Danfield’s 21 year old ($44.95), or Crown Royal Extra Rare ($179.95)—a limited edition that won’t last much beyond Christmas. CB
READ ALL ABOUT IT To accompany these great bottles, consider Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert ($24.99) by the author of this article. Happy holidays!
November/December 2012
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STUFF: THE HOLIDAY EDITION
By Kait Fowlie | @kaitfowlie
Quick Connoisseur
From the venerable Wine Spectator magazine, the WineRatings+ app delivers 270,000 wine reviews and editor recommendations, so your wine loving friend will never leave the LCBO without the right bottle. Each month, 1,000 new reviews are added. App free at iTunes store; $2.99/month for premium service. Holiday Treats
The plight of most Christmas-themed candy is it never tastes as good as it looks. At Nadege Patisserie, this is not the case. As of Dec. 1, their festive goodies, as lovely to look at as they are to eat, will be just a click away. nadege-patisserie.com
Bake Goods
A classic 5-piece steel and porcelain bake set that will take a baker back to their childhood. Disorderly bakers need not worry about chipping the enamel—it looks even better with a bit of wear. $90/5 pieces at Good Egg, 267 Augusta Ave., 416-593-4663, goodegg.ca Homegrown Goodness
Sure Shots
This charming mini cocktail shot sampler set comes in four classic shapes: wine, lowball, beer boot and martini. Yes, sometimes kitsch and booze do go together. $24.95/set of 4 at urbanoutfitters.com
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Treat the locavore on your list to a basket brimming with artisan foods from across Ontario. Hand selected by Ontario’s passionate purveyor of local artisan foods, Culinarium. $115 at Culinarium, 705 Mount Pleasant Rd., 647-430-7004, culinarium.ca
Winter Glow
Dehydration Station
These solar tea lanterns make great candle alternatives. Each is made with unique handblown glass and illuminated via a warm white LED. Stash by a window during the day to soak up the sun, and they’ll glow for 4 to 6 hours in the evening.
Admit it, you’ve already been captivated by the infomercials. There’s a reason the Ronco dehydrator is the most famous food dehydrator in the world. It comes with 5 trays so you can make unlimited fruit chips, jerky, dried herbs, etc.
$26/each at Moss, 544
$39.98 at ronco.com
Danforth Ave., 416-462-9898, mossgardenhome.com
Gone Chopping
Appetizer Patrol
These Halifax-made cutting boards have laser etchings of a carrot on one side and cow on the other, so the food prep artist can keep each side safe. Natural anti-bacterial and available in preconditioned maple or birch.
These guys won’t break up the party. Your patriotic entertainer friends will be happy to invite these members of The Force to join their festivities. $5 at the Drake General Store, 1144 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042 ext. 101, drakegeneralstore.ca
$90 at Scout, 405 Roncesvalles Ave., 416-546-6922, iheartscout.com
City Rediscovered
This dynamic read covers all the pleasures of the ancient and modern city as two native chefs rediscover them. The markets, landscape and diverse mosaic of peoples are brought to vibrant light—along with 120 recipes inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s families, friends, and favourite haunts in the city.
Glass or Bottle
Eco-friendly and stylish, these re-blown pint glasses made from iconic bottles aren’t just pretty conversation starters. They also hold beer! Lots of choice, including Steam Whistle, Mill St., Amsterdam, Big Wheel and Corona. $19/4 glasses at EcoExistence, 766 Saint Claire Ave. West, 416-652-0808, ecoexistence.ca
$39.95 at the Cookbook Store, 850 Yonge St., 416-920-2665, cook-book.com November/December 2012
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THE BEST OF 2012
By Natalie Goldenberg-Fife and Dick Snyder
A Highly Biased Our informal poll of restaurant people reveals the best and worst of the year, and the year ahead MATTY MATHESON Executive Chef, Parts and Labour | @mattydeathbro partsandlabour.ca Best Food experience 2012?
PATRICK MCMURRAY aka ShuckerPaddy Owner, Starfish & The Céilí Cottage | @ShuckerPaddy starfishoysterbed.com | ceilicottage.com Best experience 2012? Belong
Gwailo (opening soon)
JACOB SHARKEY PEARCE
@gwailo | @ninjachefnick
Owner/Chef, Ursa
Gwailo.ca
Ursa-restaurant.com
Best of 2012? Sushi Kaji. I
Best experience 2012? The
went with Chris Shiki who is family friends with Kajisan. The flavours were perfect, the creativity of his food mesmerizing, and the techniques he used were mind blowing. I witnessed incredible hospitality and was fortunate to have dining company that could act as a translator. At the end of the meal, the restaurant emptied out, Kaji-san poured us some sake, pulled out a cookbook, and showed us dishes he wanted to recreate. So cool.
Atlantic. Just because absolutely everything was executed perfectly. Zero pretension. A reminder to me about what food is supposed to be about. I had a trout with homemade pickled plum….
Favourite Trend? Tacos. Hated Trend? Tacos. Wishlist for 2013? New Asian
food is going to blow up.
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Hated Trend? First poutine, then tacos, and ramen noodles. And I am even starting to get grossed out by everyone purporting to be local. Any predictions for 2013? Nope! I have proprietary information about something interesting that’s going to happen, I don’t know how it’s going to affect the food world. I am working on project with a couple chefs who are trying to bring a new focus into light and change perceptions and perspectives on food.
Favourite Trend? The 2012 family-style table at Parts and Labour. I created communal dining in Toronto. I created at it 26 and perfected it at the age of 30. Wishlist for 2013? Death of the
Hated Trend? Least favorite is
calling anything a trend... why does food and dining have to “trend”? Eat what you like, not what is trendy... eat what the chef is putting out and is passionate for, and you will never go wrong.
taco, the Phoenix and Spanish cuisine.
Wishlist for 2013? With the
increase in small pop-up restaurants, everything is moving towards a local feel, not just in the menu items, but in the size and location of restaurants. Walkable distance from home means small restaurants. We will see chef-driven and smaller menu choices. Throw away the menu, let the chef choose your meal. Like at Glas, Ruby Watchco, Belong.
PHOTO: (MATTY) malcolm brown
NICK LIU aka Ninja Chef
Café with Brad Long. Chefs’ plates and communal dining is the greatest with friends, and the food was out of this world. Simple. Local. Flavorful and fresh. New ideas are coming out all the time from the chefs there. The location is beautiful as well.
At Per Se in NYC. It was a 23course tasting menu. The most perfect food I ever tasted and the best service. They were fucking ninjas. They knew everything about us. They called me Chef Matheson. The servers were three steps ahead of everything. People talk about serving being a ballet and shit and it was, but I have never seen anything done to that extent. It’s like Michael Jordan having sex. Probably best thing you ever seen.
Get to
citybites.cats n for more ra ! ve lo d an
Insider’s Guide CARL HEINRICH Chef/Owner, Richmond Station.
Favourite trend? Most local!
@richmondstn | @chefheinrich richmondstation.ca.
Hated trend? Dehydrating and
rehydrating... Best experience of 2012?
Rundles Restaurant in Stratford. Great food, impeccable service. Super professional
Wishlist for 2013? More
international recognition for Toronto restaurants.
HOWARD WASSERMAN
BERTRAND ALÉPÉE Chef/Proprietor, The Tempered Chef Catering and Consulting @thetemperedchef | thetemperedchef.com Best food experience? Per Se
in New York city. The entire experience was the best from beginning to end. I was there with my teammates from The Group of Seven Chefs and the chef took very good care of us. We had a 20-course tasting menu with incredible wine pairings. Each bite of food was full of perfect flavour combinations, then a sip of the pairing would take it to a whole other level. Amazing! Favorite trend? I don’t have a
favourite. I’m always looking for a great experience with great food. I’ll go back to a place where the food is amazing for 10 years in a row, even if it’s not or never was, the cool shit in town! Hated trend? That there is a food
trend! Wishlist for 2013? Deep fried
pulled pork taco served in a steam bun at the back door of a food truck.
DAVE MITTON Co-Owner, Harbord Room President, Canadian Professional Bartenders Association - Ontario @CPBAbarONT | harbordroom.com Best experience 2012? I work
most nights so I don’t make it out for dinner very often. Hands down one of my favourite places in the city has to be 416 Snack Bar. I love small intimate places with lots of energy, great atmosphere and music and of course good food and drink. My first time there I was on a first date. Right off the bat we were greeted with a warm welcome and were seated at the corner of a high top table, perfect for getting cozy and sharing plates. We started the night with a couple of perfectly made cocktails: a Negroni and a
Martini to go with some East Coast oysters, Village Bay, New Brunswick. After taking a moment to look around the room I noticed a lot of familiar faces, half of the guests were my peers. Some restaurant owners, chefs, other bartenders, servers, some wine makers from Niagara. The famous pork belly bun, which I had been hearing so much about, definitely lived up to its reputation. Then onto the lobster roll, which is still hands down one of my favourite dishes there. We had a few more drinks and finished up the night there, we were having such a great time. I’ve been back numerous times in the past year and 416 Snack Bar has never disappointed. It’s a great place to go with a buddy and try the entire menu in one sitting. Favourite trend? I like that we’ve been seeing an influx of good Mexican restaurants in the city. It’s long overdue. Hated trend? My old buddy [Harbord Room Chef] Cory Vitiello said it earlier this year and I have to agree with him: seeing bacon on everything is getting pretty old.
Owner, B&W Wines bwwines.com Best experience? It was definitely Hawksworth in Vancouver. Each dish was plated like a work of art and tasted even better. The service was the best I’ve experienced in a long time. It helped that the chef was there and kept checking on us. Also, I won’t soon forget the Bestellen whole roasted pig! There were 20 people there and the pigs were done to perfection. The food was so simple and delicious and the wines were rich, full-bodied and subtle. Everyone had so much fun—the whole experience was a blast—the sides were great and the conversation even better. A night to remember! Favourite trend? People are going back to basics and its all about the flavour and care that is put into the food. Hated trend? The attitude of some service staff. Some really great meals can often be “burned” by the people on the floor who forget they’re there to make the dining experience better. The kitchen is only as good as the people in the front of the house. Wishlist for 2013? We still
Wish list for 2013? The downfall
of the burger and taco craze in the city.
will not have world peace, and the Mayans were wrong so I shouldn’t drink all my wine. November/December 2012
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Best of 2012 Best dining experience?
JAMES CHATTO Food writer, restaurant critic for Zoomer @jameschatto | jameschatto.com
Dinner at a brand new Japanese restaurant on Baldwin called ND Sushi & Grill. It was the unexpectedness of the quality and the delightful value for money that nudged that evening so high on my list. ND is at the very end of the Baldwin Street restaurant strip, owned and operated by a dedicated young couple, Andy and Jasmine Chon. They do everything themselves, Andy in the kitchen and Jasmine in the front-of-house. We’d noticed they offer omakase (for $50) and ordered it in advance. The place had barely been open a week and we were the only customers in
the calm, ascetically decorated room. All so thoughtful and serene… Favourite trend of 2012?
A growing trend in favour of Canadian-sourced fish and seafood. Hooked has just opened a store in Kensington Market, where we shop, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Hated trend?
I’m getting terribly tired of tacos. And deconstructedcandy-bar desserts. Wishlist for 2013?
Posh food seems to be edging its way back into our thoughts. 2013 will be the year of the gourmet meat pie.
these places were called-out by our survey respondents as particular favourites of 2012 416 Snack Bar Belong Café Bellwoods Brewery Bestellen Carlos Cantina (St. Catharine’s) Cava De La Mer Glas Hawksworth (Vancouver) Hooked Memphis Fire Barbeque Co. (Stoney Creek) ND Sushi & Grill Fäviken (Sweden) Peller Estates Per Se, NYC (twice!) Ruby Watchco (twice!) The Atlantic The Feasting Room Favourite trends / 2012 “Lady” sommeliers Chefs embracing Ocean Wise Cocktails Foraged ingredients Local! Local breweries Little neighbourhood joints Good Mexican restaurants Pop-ups Tacos, tacos
Wishlist for 2013 Artisanal mayonnaise Aspic Beaujolais Death to burger and taco craze! Decline of small plates Gourmet meat pies More izakaya More “serious” restaurants Mutton Posh food Rustic, approachable food Sake-infused cocktails Smaller menus Surströmming World peace
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Photo: George Whiteside
Hated trends / 2012 ’90s hip hop and “ironic” classic rock “natural” wines that are just nasty Bacon on everything Cake pops Celebrity chefs in Toronto Deconstructed candy bar desserts Dehydrating and rehydrating Faux local Mason jars Not taking reservations (you know who you are!) Obsession with just “pork” Poor service staff “House-made” charcuterie that shouldn’t have been Poutine Ramen noodles Tacos, tacos, tacos, tacos, tacos, tacos Trends
COCKTAIL
By Adam McDowell
Make it a Stiff One Toronto’s cocktail scene is getting it together. So long sugary confections; hello big, bold and beautiful! If we’re going to declare 2012 Toronto’s year of the cocktail, Sandy De Almeida wants us to be clear about what we mean by the word. “I still wouldn’t consider a sour apple martini a cocktail at all, in the same way I wouldn’t consider a latte a cocktail,” says the tattooed bartender who makes strong, delicious drinks. De Almeida splits her working days between Unit, The Drake Hotel and Churchill. The menu at Churchill, a compact, hip neighbourhood bar near Dundas and Ossington, demonstrates what she means by “cocktail”: drinks that are bold, balanced and built around quality spirits that stand front-and-centre, never hiding behind sugary liqueurs. Brawny tequila and mezcal meet graceful Chartreuse and amaro in the cocktail De Almeida calls Coup de Grâce. In the Deliverance, the sophisticated European flavours of calvados and Fernet-Branca have a backwoods encounter with North American maple syrup and pine-infused Bulleit bourbon. The 21st-century cocktail can be daunting, and we may be unfamiliar with the ingredients and techniques employed in its making—but seldom is it dull. The city is suddenly mad for this hard stuff, and establishments capable of making a solid drink have proliferated rapidly over the past year or so. Recent arrivals include, in the categories of both restaurants and watering holes, include Weslodge, Museum Tavern, Bestellen, Cold Tea, Yours Truly and The County General. Restaurant reviewers often feel the need to mention the quality of the cocktail list; when did that happen before now? “This has definitely been the year of the cocktail,” says Dave Mitton, co-owner and head bartender of The Harbord Room. “I think it’s in full swing, and I think we’re safe now that it’s not a passing fad, where a couple of years ago we might have wondered that.”
photo: Ashley Capp
By 2003, a rebellion was afoot; a movement to restore cocktail purity. For the average customer, cocktails may be a mere curiosity or an old friend rediscovered. For bartenders like Mitton they’re the expression of a movement that has rolled like a wave of bourbon and bitters through the world’s larger English-speaking cities since the mid-2000s. Toronto’s better mixologists belong to a global army of bar folk who believe in cocktails done the old-fashioned way, which is to say properly. It’s true that the 21st-century mixology craze embraces new innovations such as barrel-ageing cocktails by the batch
THE REAL THING The Harbord Room’s Dave Mitton evangelizes for authentic drinks.
and “molecular” techniques like those famously employed at BarChef, Frankie Solarik’s funhouse of avant-garde mixology in Queen West. But at its heart, the contemporary mixology that is taking hold in Toronto involves reviving techniques and ingredients that were de rigueur on the eve of Prohibition. The movement has in large part been a rebellion against the downward slide of cocktails over the second half of the 20th century, a trend that saw sugary, juvenile, brightly coloured cocktails usurp the place of the more sophisticated and challenging old classics. The cartoon cocktail curse reached its nadir with the cosmopolitan craze that followed the 1998 debut of TV’s Sex and the City. By 2003, a rebellion was afoot; a movement to restore cocktail purity. Its working laboratory was (and remains) New York City. By the late 2000s, Toronto bartenders were visiting the newly established altars of Milk & Honey, Death and Company, and PDT to learn from the trendsetters. Back in Toronto five years ago, you could get a good martini November/December 2012
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or Manhattan at Barberian’s, or at the Roof Lounge at the Park Hyatt (especially if the long-serving Joe Gomes was working). That was about it—unless you sought out a pioneering coterie that was working to push the true cocktail’s reach into other corners of the city and into the hands of a younger clientele. Until 2006, Jen Agg was still running Cobalt, her nowclosed College Street bar. It made the best cocktails on the strip. She came back with The Black Hoof in 2008, followed it up with Cocktail Bar last year, and the rest is local cocktail
Cocktails outsell beer at The Harbord Room, and even surpass wine some nights. history. Nishan Nepulangoda immigrated to Toronto in 2006 and started wowing Blowfish customers with his elegantly balanced drinks. The Miller’s Rob Montgomery introduced Bay Street to his killer Manhattans at Vertical in the late 2000s before moving on to The Miller. Honest-to-goodness adult cocktails remained a tough sell in this town even a few years ago. Mitton recalls his efforts a few years ago at Czehoski on Queen West, which was his haunt before he opened The Harbord Room in 2007. “If anything the cocktails in 2005 were still cosmos and apple martinis and French martinis,” he says. Sugary dreck, in other words. “My God, every [real] cocktail got sent
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CityBites
Adam McDowell is the National Post’s booze guy. He blogs at ThatSweetBurn.com and his ebook Drink Different will be released Dec. 4.
photo: ashley capp
FORMIDABLE OPPONENTS Mistress for Christmas and Hot Gin Punch.
back in this city. The response to the old fashioneds and the Manhattans? People would look at us and go, ‘This is straight booze.’” But that is precisely the point, as many customers have realized over the past year or two. They’re embracing the resurgence of the flavourful cocktail. “They love it and they want to learn about it the same way they wanted to learn about Ontario wines a couple of years ago,” Mitton says. Cocktails now outsell beer at The Harbord Room, and even surpass wine some nights. “The average customer has one to start off the night, [maybe] one to finish the night, too,” Mitton says. “It has become part of the ritual.” Today Toronto still lags behind the great cocktail cities, and Vancouver is its rival within Canada. Jordan Powley, for one, says the culture is more developed on the west coast. He worked in Vancouver before landing at BarChef. “[Toronto] could be on the same stage as San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago or New York but we’re just lagging a year or two behind them,” he says. De Almeida agrees that Toronto has much to learn, and says dealing with the LCBO’s relatively restricted product lineup is a major obstacle. In Toronto, De Almeida says, “bourbon’s the hipster spirit right now,” whereas in other North American cities the bourbon trend was eclipsed years ago by mezcal mania. Mezcal is a Mexican spirit with similarities to tequila, and the LCBO carries all of three brands. “So we’re a bit behind, always. We struggle to catch up.” There is cause for hope, however. Today the first wave of quality Toronto bartenders is mentoring the next, and the second wave is keen to learn. On a recent weekday afternoon at SpiritHouse, about a dozen young bartenders prepped to make gin-based cocktails. They gathered at this subterranean temple to classic mixology, which opened off the King West strip this summer, for a qualifying round in a Beefeater 24-sponsored cocktail competition. The judges: De Almeida, Mitton and a representative of Corby Distilleries. As each contestant completed his or her entry, a glass was passed around like a communion chalice. Toronto’s bartending army grows through collaborative, instructive events like this. And the leaders continue to lead: Agg has taught classes for people in the industry at Cocktail Bar. Mitton has served as president of the local chapter of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association, which since its foundation a year ago this October has spread the word about events that will develop bartenders’ skills. As knowledge disseminates, the city’s drinking landscape evolves. A few years ago, Toronto was a cocktail backwater where you’d have a tough time finding a bartender who could handle a simple sidecar. Now, observes Megan Jones of Reposado, “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a bartender who can’t make a cocktail.” And if Toronto has the energy to change so quickly, who’s to say it won’t become a leader instead of a follower on matters mixological? CB
By Adam McDowell
HOT SHOTS Young gun bartenders fire off some killer recipes The new wave of young Toronto bartenders brings new ideas along with relatively unfamiliar spirits. Bye-bye bourbon craze—and don’t even mention vodka. Below, five up-and-coming local bartenders give us recipes that showcase calvados, Cognac, mezcal and more. NOTE: “Fine strain” means use a fine strainer in addition to a cocktail strainer. ROBIN GOODFELLOW // URSA The Dissertation 1 oz Courvoisier VSOP Cognac 0.5 oz Jaral de Barrio (Mezcal) 0.5 oz Benedictine liqueur 0.5 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur 0.5 oz Green Chartreuse 0.5 oz lime juice Method: Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Fine strain into a large chilled coupe.
Available now at the LCBO
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MEGAN JONES // REPOSADO Kentucky Orchard 1.25 oz Calvados 1 oz Kentucky bourbon 0.75 oz Amaro Nonino 1 sugar cube (brown if available) soaked in Urban Moonshine maple bitters apple slice for garnish Method: Dose sugar cube with bitters, muddle to a paste and add other ingredients. Add ice, stir until very cold, and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with apple slice. JAN OLLNER // REPOSADO Hawaii-XO 1 part Los Arango Reposado tequila 1 part Patron XO 1 part Aperol 2 parts pineapple juice 1 part lime juice Method: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake without ice for a few seconds. Add ice and shake again. Fine strain into a cocktail glass and serve.
photo: Malcolm Brown
SARAH PARNIAK // COLD TEA North Star 1.5 oz Jameson Irish whiskey 0.5 oz Drambuie 0.5 oz honey chamomile syrup 1 oz lemon juice piece of lemon peel Method: Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a coupe. Squeeze oils from lemon over drink and discard. JORDAN POWLEY // BARCHEF Smoked Solace 1.5 oz Leyenda Tlacuache Organic Mezcal 0.75 oz Rosemary Syrup 0.5 oz sweet vermouth 0.25 oz maple bitters atomized Islay Scotch Method: Stir ingredients in mixing glass with ice, strain into a chilled coupe glass. Spritz twice with atomized Islay Scotch, and garnish with a lemon twist.
November/December 2012
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experts // SZABO ON WINE
By John Szabo MS | @johnszabo
Ontario bubbles on the rise Get champagne quality on the home front Ontario bubbles have little to envy. After a big tasting of VQA sparkling wines, I’m convinced more than ever that Ontario has the potential to produce, and is already producing, quality wines of the caliber that should make the champenois quiver in their standard-issue vigneron coveralls. There has been a steady increase in the number of VQA bubblies available over the past five years, and critical mass is nigh. There was an astounding 200% increase in the number of sparkling wines approved by the VQA in 2011 over the previous year. Although sparkling wine in Ontario is still a niche category, representing about three percent of total wine sales in Ontario, it’s growing faster than the still wine category. But it’s not just savvy production strategy to gain market share; Ontario’s suitability for pinot noir and chardonnay, the two main
photo: Jeff Kirk/kirkimages.com
Becoming a great producer of sparkling wine is a long process. grapes used for traditional method sparkling, is firmly established. American Burgundy critic Allen Meadows of burghound.com commented very favorably on the potential for sparkling wine during his recent visit to Niagara. He noted that there are very few places in the New World that can fully ripen grapes at low alcohol levels, a critical attribute for making great sparkling wine. Niagara is one such place. Yet it’s not an easy game to get into. Daniel Speck of Henry of Pelham winery, which has been making sparkling wine since 1999, underscores the challenges. “Becoming a great producer of sparkling wine is a long process. The winemaking is complex, the financial risk is high and the market is still small, if growing. Since there are few overlaps with still winemaking, getting into the game is like starting another winery. It isn’t a side project.” In any case, here’s a primer on some of our best VQA Ontario sparkling wine. This holiday, you can explore some homegrown cheer with every toast.
Cave Spring
Winemaker Angelo Pavan and his team have quietly begun releasing a range of extraordinarily good bubbles, with a total of four cuvees now produced. Seek out the Brut Blanc de Blancs ($29.95; #213983) and the 2006 Brut Blanc de Noirs ($34.95). Henry of Pelham
Henry of Pelham has sewn up the premium category thanks to high quality and strong support from the LCBO and restaurants. The most recent bottlings of the Cuvée Catharine Brut ($29.95; #217521) and Rosé Brut ($29.95; #217505) and the newest addition, Carte Blanche Brut ($44.95), are better than ever. Hinterland
Hinterland, the small farm winery in Prince Edward County run by former sommelier Jonas Newman and his partner Vicky Samaras, decided from the outset in 2007 that they would specialize in sparkling, banking on the County’s potential with the style (Huff Estates in PEC also make a very good bubbly, the Cuvée Peter F. Huff). Look for the Traditional 2009 Les Etoiles ($39) and the fresh and lively charmat method 2011 Whitecap ($22).
Sparklers at the LCBO A few quick questions with Astrid Brummer, LCBO Product Manager, Ontario Wines. JS: How many VQA sparkling wines are available at the LCBO? AB: We have 15 regular products, and in 2012 we had 10 release spots for eight different sparkling wines in Vintages. In 2013 I anticipate this will increase. How is the VQA sparkling category performing? Sparkling wine in general is a growth area, coming from Prosecco, Champagne, California and Ontario VQA sparkling wines. VQA sparkling white is up 21% and rosé is up 7%, year-to-date (measured at Sept. 15, 2012). The Vintages VQA sparkling category is up 48% (measured at Oct. 13, 2012). What are the prospects for the future? This is a very exciting category for us. If we gauge the potential for the future based on the quality of the wines being produced and the tremendous value that they offer, then the prospects for growth are enormous.
13th Street
What price segment has the greatest potential?
Another fixture on the premium bubbly scene, 13th Street’s Premier Cuvée ($29.95; #142679) and Grande Cuvée ($59.95) are among Ontario’s most reliable. The latter should be counted among Canada’s best sparkling wines. 13th Street also plans to hire a consultant from Champagne to review the entire program from vineyards to production protocols, to push quality even higher.
Under $30 is the broad territory with the most
Trius (Hillebrand)
One of the original local bubblies, the venerable Trius Brut ($24.95; #284539) can be counted among the best value traditional method sparklers, as reliable and consistent as a Volvo, only more exciting. CB
potential. That includes two very different price points—the approximately $15 segment and the higher-end, typically traditional method $29 segment. How do you see VQA sparkling fit into the greater world of sparkling wine? Ontario sparkling in general offers great value compared to all styles of sparkling wines, but most dramatically compared to Champagne. The quality of Ontario traditional method sparkling is world-class. John Szabo MS prefers his wine straight up and natural, and tweets @johnszabo. Looking for the best wine buying club in Ontario? Check out sommelierservice.com
November/December 2012
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experts // LIVING ON THE VEG
By Kait Fowlie | @kaitfowlie
To Brantford with love Time to expand your palate with some veggie flavours
(93 Dalhousie St., 519-304-4568, thepistonbrokepub.com) is a fantastic
bar, not just because it has all the amenities of a student’s dreams (pool tables, live music every night, forgiving staff), but also because it’s a nice place to have lunch with your mom. However, I can still be a little perturbed that the only thing I can eat here is a salad. (Aside from the veggie nachos, which are admittedly awesome.) The experience would be much better if I could be as excited about the menu as my omnivore pals—because it is a great menu, just not for everyone. The reason I’m letting this slide at the moment is because Brantford is well on its way to being a really exciting place to
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visit in Ontario, for everyone. The Piston Broke is at the heart of the downtown at the edge of Harmony Square, a new gathering spot that has whipped the city into shape beyond my wildest hopes. Not unlike a pre-tofurevolution Toronto circa 1999, Brantford is experiencing the rumbles of transformation. Both long-standing and brand-new institutions are showing signs of promise.
TOWN CENTRE Around Harmony Square, a burgeoning downtown is coming alive.
The Farmers’ Market (79 Icomm Dr.,
Greek Italian fusion restaurant Gus and
519-752-8824), established in 1848,
Guido’s (245 King George Rd., 519-757-0088,
is welcoming many new and exciting vendors. My all-time favourite place to spend a weekend morning, to walk through the doors is to feel a sense of warmth like a slap on the back from your uncle. Grilled cheeses are being fried up behind a lunch counter, perusing shoppers chat with passionate vendors, and everyone has samples in their hands. Lately, every weekend I’ve visited, a rotation of different vendors seems to have something adventurous, from handmade chocolates to Mexican food.
gusandguidos.com) opened a few years ago, boasting a killer vegetarian platter with veg souvlakis and spanakopites. Would I ditch all the delish veg options in Toronto for the comforts of my hometown? Unless it was to open up my own sandwich joint, probably not now. But I certainly wouldn’t advise a vegetarian to pass over Brantford in their travel plans. It’s getting there. Just wait, the veg spots are coming. Myself and 3,600 Laurier kids won’t see Brantford fall short of its potential. CB
The Tipperary Bog (108 West St., 226250-3023, thetipperarybog.com), a new
addition to the market, is a cheese and gourmet shop that consistently has stellar meat-free soups and sandwiches. One relatively new restaurant in town is making some inspired meat-free moves.
kait fowlie is a freelance writer living in Toronto. She enjoys dive bars and park picnics. She also makes a mean vegan cornbread. Check out her Living on the Veg blog at citybitestoronto.tumblr.com.
photo: Laura M. Bailey
Lately I’ve been rekindling my love for my hometown. I say rekindling because it’s a process. It’s not easy to fall in love with your hometown as an adult. Especially when you’re vegetarian and your hometown happens to be lacking in exciting veg options. Where I’m spoiled in Toronto, I’m starved in Brantford. With a population of 93,650, it’s three times the size of Stratford, a city where vegetarian food consistently blows me away. So what’s Brantford’s problem, huh? For one thing, it’s easy to see your hometown as the same dive it always was when you were a kid. Now that I’m now over the whole “fiercely resisting everything in your path” thing, I’m able to see that Brantford rules. The Piston Broke
experts // fishmongering
By Dan Donovan | @hookedinc
Fish that is white As winter is the season of cod, halibut and haddock, learn how to choose wisely
photo: 123rf.com
Changes... as the leaves begin to fall and barbecues get covered and put away nature too is changing. The beautiful wild salmon of the summer are all gone now, and as temperatures continue to drop we are drawn to the comfort of steamed and poached fish and great pots of chowder. Often recipes will ask for whitefish. Generally the authors are referring to halibut, haddock and cod. Each of these fish is mild in flavour, with superwhite flesh that has a nice flake and good rich fat. As an added bonus, these white fish have no difficult bones and remain moist despite careless cooking. These characteristics are a dangerous combination that have landed some of these species on the endangered or threatened list. There are two related species of halibut—Atlantic and Pacific. The Atlantic fishery has been criticized in the past for quota violations and uses a more destructive fishing method than does the fishery on the West Coast. However, many operators use hook and line gear and respect the quotas established, and this year the two most influential
Visit Us Online Have questions about fish and seafood? Visit citybites.ca and read more of Dan’s columns. Ask questions and Dan will answer. Or email comments or questions to info@citybites.ca. Also visit hookedinc.ca to find out how to get more sustainable with your seafood.
agencies that assess the conduct and viability of specific fisheries have agreed to drop their “Avoid” rating and reassess Atlantic halibut. For you, the consumer, try to find fish that have been line caught. When in doubt, ask. You might have to keep asking…. Cod is, of course, the great tragedy of the commons—the incredible resource that was largely responsible for the creation of our country, and which we squandered despite good science and evidence that the result we now live with is exactly what was predicted. There are small stocks in Northern Europe that have been deemed sustainable, but there is little evidence that the stocks on the Western Atlantic will recover. Luckily for us, Atlantic cod has a cousin, Pacific cod, which has been treated better. Much smaller, and therefore less commercially attractive, the Pacific cod fishery has been well managed. Fish that are trapped or “pot caught” are harvested with very little damage to incidental bycatch and almost no damage to the marine environment. Haddock is a close relative to the cod and has a great, sweet flavour. It’s spectacular fresh. Haddock is a “ground fish,” meaning
COD DAMMIT Beware Atlantic cod.
that it lives mostly near the sea floor. Most ground fish are caught with either a hook and line or with a trawl. Try to avoid fish that are trawl caught as there can be significant numbers of fish accidentally caught and needlessly killed—the aforementioned bycatch—as well as physical damage inflicted on the ocean floor. One caveat when reading recipes for fish, always bear in mind the origin of the recipe, as fish names are notoriously fluid. For instance, almost every culture or jurisdiction has a “white fish.” Here in Ontario our white fish is Coregonus clupeaformis, or Lake Whitefish, which is a gorgeous sweet-fleshed fish that is wonderful smoked, pan-fried or oven-baked, but is not generally a good substitute for the white fish described above. CB dan donovan is a graduate of the Stratford Chef School and a veteran of the Toronto restaurant scene. He and his wife Kristin run HOOKED (hookedinc.ca), Toronto’s only seafood retailer 100% committed to sustainability.
Wine Cellars, Racking, Cabinets, Stemware and Accessories showroom 339 Olivewood Rd 416.285.6604 rosehillwinecellars.com RWC_CBA_2011.indd 1
26/08/11 3:33 PM November/December 2012
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experts // The Gourmudgeon
By Stephen Temkin
Remembering Vickie Chips never tasted so good, but may do so again Hi, my name is Stephen, and I am an addict. It began when I was just a kid. The stuff was given to me for free, mostly by adults. It was always floating around at parties, usually in plain view, right there for the taking. I was unwittingly sucked into the world of its pernicious allure. This is not about any of my usual daily doses, what I like to call the four major food groups: coffee, wine, cigars and pork fat. For me, this substance is more insidious than the narcotic powers of those delights combined, so much so that I actually have to avoid exposure to its presence. It’s the potato chip, my sultry mistress of salty, fat-soaked, lip smacking crispiness. (Seriously, I’m trembling as I write this.)
Yes, there really was a Miss Vickie, and she lived right here in Ontario. When I was young, the affliction seemed minor. The available chips were mostly humdrum brands like Hostess and Humpty Dumpty. True, as the old Lay’s commercials used to taunt, it was impossible to eat just one. But while okay, they didn’t penetrate deep into my psyche with that now irresistible mantra, “kettle cooked in small batches.”
I had never heard of such a thing. Then one day—it’s now twenty-plus years ago— at one of those big food-and-wine shows, I met a woman named Vickie. Yes, there really was a Miss Vickie, and she lived right here in Ontario. There she stood in her little booth, smiling and gracious, a vision of entrepreneurial vim and vigor, and really quite fetching in one of those simple, country-style, cotton print summer dresses. My heart began to sputter (or rather, spudder). “Oh my God,” I said to myself, “look at those chips!” Something happened to me when I bit down on Vickie’s offering. Sure, it tasted great, and who can resist anything that is mainly a vehicle for salt? However, it wasn’t really about flavour, but rather texture: these chips had uncommonly great shatter. I was severely hooked. Alas, Vickie’s chips turned out to be too appealing. Corporate raiders eventually swooped down and purchased the brand. I can’t blame Vickie—this is likely the ambition of every small fry in the megabillion dollar chip market. It is now owned by Frito-Lay, part of PepsiCo. The package of the plain chips still boasts the “original recipe.” But what does that mean—potatoes, oil and salt? The various details that give a basic chip its distinct character—type of potato, type of oil, thickness, cooking temperature, etcetera—are somewhat more nuanced. For example, Vickie’s chips were originally cooked in peanut oil, something I took note of at the time, figuring it was a crucial part of the subtle gestalt that made
DEEP CRAVINGS Anyone know where to find these Connecticut kettle chips?
them so good. Now the package simply lists vegetable oil, a meaningless catchall. So, while Miss Vickie’s potato chips are still pretty good, they aren’t quite the toothsome chomp of shattering carbogasm they once were. However, there is another chip out there, perhaps the most sinister ever created. It’s called Deep River. Made in Connecticut, it was available here for a time, but then the Canadian distribution somehow collapsed. I’ve been taking cold showers ever since. CB When not eating, drinking, or writing about eating and drinking, stephen temkin makes fedoras. stemkin@rogers.com.
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By Konrad Ejbich | @WineZone
A wine for good Samaritans Put your charitable dollars where youR mouth is It’s not unusual for wine producers to create products that support a cause, whether it’s saving bird habitats, planting trees or funding summer camps for kids. Now there’s a new twist to that idea. A marketing guy named Brett Preston started a project in memory of his father, who had leukemia. With a little help from his friends he founded a non-profit group called The Little Grape That Could. And with some more help from folks with wine know-how, they launched a pair of wines and 100 percent of the profits go to charity. The twist is that you get to choose the charity. Preston and his friends scouted for products in Argentina, a country that has developed a reputation for producing quality, low-cost wines. Master vintners there offered their expertise, and a volunteer tasting panel here (including this writer) helped select the blends.
THE LITTLE GRAPE THAT COULD
These charitable wines come in red (Cabernet Sauvignon) and white (Torrontés), and are available in more than 125 liquor stores throughout the province for $11.95. If you don’t see them on the shelf in your local store, ask your friendly LCBO staffer.
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS The past few weekends, I’ve made a point of starting the day with wine. Let me rephrase that. I start most days with wine: tasting and spitting samples while my palate is fresh. The past few weekends, I’ve made a point of starting the day by swallowing some wine. From time to time, I’ll crack open a bottle of Italian prosecco or Spanish cava and blend it with my morning orange juice. Preparing French toast is so much more relaxed... and so is the rest of the day. A few weeks ago, I poured Barefoot Bubbly Moscato Spumante ($13.20) for my yummy take on the Morning Glory, and paired it with pancakes and double-smoked bacon swimming in maple syrup. On a recent Saturday morning, it was Chateau des Charmes 2009 Sparkling Rosé ($28.95) with potato latkes. The wine was so good I couldn’t bear to destroy it with OJ.
GOOD CHEERS Matt McPherson (left) and Brett Preston make benevolent wines.
I had the privilege of naming one of the charities to launch this project and I chose Second Harvest, the organization that rescues perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste and distributes it to those in need. There’s a code on the back of each bottle of The Little Grape That Could. Enter that number on the website and choose the charity you’d like to support. Currently, it’s a long list, including War Child Canada, the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation and the Yonge Street Mission. There’s also an option to direct your donation to any other registered charity of your choice. There’s a bonus: the wines are good. And they’re affordable. CB
The idea behind imbibing in the morning is to kick-start my day, not to dull my senses, so lower alcohol beverages are recommended. Morning’s not the best time for a big Barolo or a muscular Merlot. That’s fodder for sipping at supper or when the sun is slipping and the chores are done. But a lighter semi-dry Riesling or even a refreshing glass of cider puts a better perspective on the day. I’m reminded of a line attributed to old blue-eyes, Frank Sinatra, who once said, “I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.”
Konrad Ejbich answers caller questions on CBC Radio’s Ontario Today the last Friday of every month. He is a member of the Wine Writer’s Circle of Canada and a prolific tweeter.
Celebrating 15 Years of Casual Fine Dining. The Monkey Bar remains North Toronto’s favourite neighbourhood bistro and destination dining spot.
3 3 5 3 Yo n g e S t . To r o n t o • 4 1 6 . 4 8 6 . 2 2 8 8 • t h e m o n k e y b a r. c a 32
CityBites
photo: Megan Melin
experts // the ej
experts // libations
By Stephen Beaumont | @BeaumontDrinks
Spirits gone wild Experience is priceless — and that can be worth paying for Last month, I was invited to sample a very old, very rare and ridiculously expensive whisky in a suite at the Trump Hotel. It was the Glenfiddich 50 Year Old Single Malt Whisky and it was deep hued, entirely un-Glenfiddich-like in its smoky character—my notes mention orange peels on campfire embers—and utterly fascinating. It’s also $26,000, if you now feel like picking up the lone bottle available at the Summerhill LCBO. Earlier this year, I also had the good fortune to sample another über-luxe spirit in the form of Rémy Martin’s Louis XIII Cognac, which I also found to be quite exceptional in its musty (in a good way), spicy, cigar box character, and which is a comparative steal at $2,800. Last year it was the dry chocolate and surprising fruitiness of L’Essence de Courvoisier,
If it’s not expense that does it to you, it’ll be the sense of drinking history no longer sold here but once priced in Canada at $3,200, and over the summer it was Hine Triomphe, a massively floral cognac that is currently available from vintages.com for a bargain $830. My reason for noting the above is not to brag—well, not totally—but rather to note that there is sometimes more
to booze than just aroma and flavour and alcohol, and that sometimes that something more is the entire point. Take the Louis XIII, for instance. It’s a famously rare cognac, but frankly not so rare that anyone would be tempted to buy it for later resale. (The sort of thing that happens with growing frequency in whisky circles.) So the person paying for a bottle is likely to be doing so for the express purpose of consuming its contents, giving rise to the question of whether said purchaser will be able to tell the difference between the Louis and a bottle a quarter the cost. My guess, in the vast majority of cases, is that they will not. So why shell out close to or even over $3,000 for a bottle? One word: Experience. You cannot disassociate the drinking of a 50-year-old whisky or a hugely pricey cognac—or any other stratospherically priced spirit—from the sensation of “Wow! I can’t believe I’m drinking this.” It’s simply not possible, even if you’re an emotionally detached drinks writer or someone with Bill Gates-ian wealth. If it’s not expense that does it to you, it’ll be the sense of drinking history. Of course, not all of us will get such opportunities, but that’s not to say we won’t have “experiential” drinking. That pint you had in Dublin; the special bottle of whisky shared with friends; the homecoming champagne: These are all drinks that likely tasted better than they
REFINED TASTE Glenfiddich 50 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, $26,000.
really were, all because of the setting, time, people or occasion. And whether you’re a billionaire or a hundredaire, that’s always going to be worth the price. CB Stephen Beaumont’s new book is the World Atlas of Beer, co-written with Tim Webb. When not tracking down new beers around the world, he’s content to sip from a $50 or $60 bottle of single malt at his home in Toronto.
How to Buy Wine from an Agent
Buying consignment wines from an agent is easy. Go online and get their list. Phone or email your order. Wait for delivery. Repeat.
B&W Wines 416-531-5553 www.bwwines.com
B&W Wines offers a portfolio of iconic and boutique wineries: Penley Estate, Lillypilly, Two Hands and Jansz from OZ; Darioush and La Crema in California; Argentinean Bodegas Weinert; Barolos from Brovia, Rhone-Ranger Jean-Luc Colombo and Douro producer Quinta de Ventolezo.
Lifford Wine Agency 416-440-4101 or toll-free 1-877-272-1720 www.LiffordWine.com
2010 Winner - VINTAGES Portfolio Award of Excellence Serving the hospitality sector and private consumers in Ontario since 1985 with a focus on family owned and operated wineries that are equally as passionate about great wine as we are. Maison Louis Jadot, Felton Road, Felsina and Hollick, to name just a few.
November/December 2012
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One last bite
By Maia Filar
Real food for real punks After 25 years, the King’s Crown at Sneaky Dee’s remains the gold standard for nachos
A quarter of a century of chicken wings and punk rock, with graffiti older than most of its customer, Sneaky Dee’s celebrates 25 years with irresistible street-cred charm. Makes you feel old, don’t it? And while they’ve hosted some of the best musical acts in the world, let’s be honest: It’s the Kings Crown nachos that’s really put the joint on the map. This is nachos turned up to 11: a corn tortilla bowl filled with refried beans and topped with chips, salsa roja, tomatoes, onions, peppers, ground beef, melted cheese, homemade guaca-
mole and topped with sour cream. All for a reasonable $16.50. “I can’t even begin to explain it. People took to it as soon as we opened,” says manager George Diamantouros, who is second generation in this family business. His father and uncles opened up in 1987 and stand proud that not much has changed since. “All of our nachos are popular, but these have taken on a life of their own. They stand apart from the rest. Whatever I have to say about them doesn’t compare what our customers have to say about them.”
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CityBites
photos: Ross Spencer
GOOD FOOD, STRAIGHT UP Leo Diamantouros preps a nacho platter fit for a king.
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