Having spent the holidays away from home, I missed out on family dinners and all festive platefuls of comfort food that come along with the season. Feeling incomplete, I called up a couple friends I still had undelivered gifts for, and suggested we check out Country Style, a little Hungarian diner in the Annex. Surely, a big Eastern European meal would hit the spot.

Read the full review of Country Style Hungarian Restaurant in our restaurants section.

Having heard such great things about Novecento, a European-style corner cafe along St Clair's Corso Italia, I decided to put it to the real test by bringing a local area expert along on this visit: my Tuscan mother. She's pickier than I often have the patience for, loves fine desserts and is known for responding to, "So, how do you like it?" by telling it like it is.

Read the full review of Novecento in our cafes section.

Out gift shopping this weekend, I stumbled upon the Artisans' Gift Fair at the Tranzac Club.

The fair, which is on again December 15-16, is free to attend and features dozens of artists, crafters, knitters, jewellers, designers, etc, all showcasing their hand-crafted creations while making the Tranzac a really cozy place to hang out on a winter afternoon.

After turning down a string of Hanukkah "Latke Party" invites last past week due to work committments, I was craving those greasy taters so badly come Sunday night.

Walking along College Street at this point, a couple emerges from the Free Times Cafe and I can smell the latke take-out order in their hands from half a block away. Considering it a personal calling, I ring up a friend to join me and settle in to a booth at Free Times to satiate this craving once and for all (well, for the season at least).

Read the full review of Free Times Cafe in our restaurants section.

A row of greasy spoons and the legendarily loud Sneaky Dee's have, until recently, made the corner of College & Bathurst a haven for the rowdy. Not that I mind really, but sometimes it's nice to have an escape option nearby.

That escape has materialized in the form of Nirvana, a new restaurant/lounge now open now open in the old Picadilly location across from Sneaky's. A clear re-incarnation of the Red Room (444 Spadina), Nirvana offers up that same eclectically furnished and dimly lit bohemian hideaway, only with a more polished and upscale feel.

Read the full review of Nirvana in our restaurants section.

I've mentioned Terroni in other reviews on the site, but when it comes to doing a review of this authentic Italian eatery itself, I've never managed to get any co-diners to hold back long enough for photos. Most everything on this menu is so delicious that everyone just wants to sink their teeth in.

This time though, I've convinced a few friends to give me a second for a picture, only to have the waiter inform me that they prefer people not take photos of the food. I'm annoyed, but decide to get this listing up without more photos -- the food is worth it.

Read the Terroni review in our restaurants section.