blogTO | Posts by Frank

The Best New Restaurants in Toronto, 2011

Frank — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:26:11 EST

The best new restaurants to open in Toronto in 2011 are a varied lot to be sure with
everything from tacos to Thai, 'cue to Guu making an appearance. Since timing is everything in these kinds of end-of-year things, some places made it in by the skin of their teeth to qualify for this year's list (I'm lookin' at you Grand Electric & Yours Truly).

Low-key appears to still be the flavour of the moment as diners flock en masse to neighbourhood joints offering up tasty grub at a reasonable price-point in relaxed digs. Jen Agg's ears must be burning with the constant mention several of these restaurants as the next Black Hoof. Time will tell, but for now we've got some eating to do.

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A Toronto gift guide for the food-obsessed

Frank — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:33:21 EST

Still wondering what to get the food-obsessed person in your life this holiday season? I asked some local authorities on food and drink to give me their wish lists as to what locally produced or locally available gifts they'd be thrilled to receive this year. Here are ten ideas.

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Does second Libretto location measure up?

Frank — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:58:27 EST

Rocco Agostino and Max Rimaldi have made the pilgrimage east, opening their second Libretto outpost at Carlaw and Danforth. More space, two ovens, but the same solid VPN pizza already have customers lining up out the door.

Read my review of Pizzeria Libretto Danforth in the restaurant section.

How to cook the rest of the animal

Frank — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:21:57 EST

Jennifer McLagan is a woman with a lot of guts. In town supporting her latest work Odd Bits at the Cookbook Store at Yonge & Bloor on Tuesday night she stood behind several trays of it. Flanked by Kensington Market butcher extrordinaire Pete Sanagan, the affable Aussie ex-pat and local author known in food circles for her previous culinary works Fat and Bones took the audience through a fun, hour long tour of the fifth quarter in an attempt to demystify the often intimidating world of offal.

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A fiddlehead throwdown at La Palette

Frank — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:50:46 EDT

Fiddlehead season will be indefinitely delayed. At least that's the impression I get from this crazy cold snap that's settled on the GTA recently. Normally, locavore thoughts turn this time of year to visions of gobbling up heaving plates of the local delicacy, (the young, unfurled fronds of the ostrich fern) though this year you'll be waiting a while longer yet for them to poke through the semi-frozen dirt on farms and in forests around the golden horseshoe.

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A real French bistro opens in Liberty Village

Frank — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:14:36 EST

The humble bistro is as much philosophy as food: a small, local joint, serving comfort food at a reasonable price. It's a place where you feel at home instead of on parade. Simple enough in theory but the name is misapplied to joints these days flogging everything from pinchos to sushi. Thankfully, this new spot in Liberty Village had got the bistro thing mostly right.

Read my review of Liberty Belle Bistro in the restaurants section.

The carnivore's fantasy tasting menu

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:29:51 EST

I've seriously enjoyed the prevailing nose-to-tail wind that's lately swept Toronto's dining scene up like the Gale family farm in a Kansas twister, plopping eaters deep in a magical country surrounded by such terrible beauty and inhabited by a revolving menagerie of wondrous creatures that inevitably get popped, ground up, and stuffed in sausage casings then cold smoked.

That's why this year, as yuletide approached, finding myself in a particularly giving mood I decided to give myself a gift. But what gift to get the guy who's eaten everything? Why the gift of meat, natch!

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New Thai restaurant is a Real Taste of Thailand

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:29:16 EST

One of Toronto's newest Thai restaurants has all the hustle and bustle of its namesake neighbourhood in Bangkok. Already inspiring line-ups longer than the queue to see a reclining Buddha, this hotspot (in more ways than one) from the Chef/Owners of Sukhothai is far from a tourist trap, it's some of the most authentic Thai food in the city.

Read my review of Khao San Road in the restaurants section.

A new downtown dim sum

Frank — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:50:18 EDT

There's a new member of the dim sum royal family in town and it's not in Chinatown. Eating here is as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the palate so hungry diners should come prepared to be overloaded with opulence and occasionally charmed by the small details at this downtown temple of Cantonese cuisine.

Read my full review of Crown Princess in our restaurant section.

Real Italian food now on Dundas West

Frank — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:28:35 EDT

The guys behind Pizzeria Libretto have finally opened their much anticipated new Italian restaurant on Dundas West and a visit there last week proved both the food and the service didn't disappoint. Everything seems to be clicking here like the beads on Nonna's rosary during a prayer service.

Read my review of Enoteca Sociale in the restaurants section.

Where to find some of the best pizza east of Ossington

Frank — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:40:14 EDT

There's a new pizza contender in Toronto that just might make the best pies in the east end. It has been compared to Libretto (as they too make their wares according to exacting Neapolitan standards) but so far the line-ups aren't quite as bad. But that could change in a hurry.

Read my review of Queen Margherita Pizza in the restaurants section.

The Best New Restaurants in Toronto, 2009

Frank — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:45:26 EST

The best new restaurants in Toronto all have a few things in common. Kitchens for one. These restaurants also apparently share a common thread of lunacy in their restaurateurs. I mean you'd have to be madder than a March hare to open a restaurant at the very bottom of the current economic trough, in a year more notable for restaurant closures and downsizing operations than for new places to nosh.

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The Finest Fish North York Has to Offer

Frank — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:33:47 EST

Located at Sheppard and Leslie, Taro's offers some of the freshest fish available for retail in the city, something that a growing number of restaurants in the downtown core have picked up on. But beyond supplying commercial establishments, this store is a veritable culinary wonderland, filled with treats to eat on site or to prepare at home. Those who crave a little authentic Japanese flavour and who take their fish seriously will not be disappointed.

Read my profile of Taro's Fish in the Grocery Stores section.

Nose-to-Tail Brunch on Dundas West

Frank — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:55:53 EST

The following pixels are a fragment. They may, like Kafka's castle, or Sein und Zeit, remain unfinished indefinitely since brunch is not the only reason to shade the threshold of Hoof Cafe and sadly, an evening visit just isn't in the cards at the mo'. But if you need a new brunch hangout I can't think of many better ones than Grant Van Gameren & Jen Agg's take on booze 'n' fast breaking.

Read my full review of The Hoof Cafe in our restaurants section.

The Breakfast Club at School Bakery and Cafe

Frank — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:14:05 EDT

School? More like a zoo. Sunday noontime means throngs of famished folk loosely queued and snaking back out the entrance waiting to get a seat at School Bakery and Cafe - a bright, lofty, Liberty Village cafe.

Fortunately, mere moments before tempers get unmanageable and threaten to get our contingent thrown into detention, a tray of hot, deliciously crumbly cranberry scones pulled fresh from the oven makes its way through the buzzing crowd taking the edge off. Suddenly the nearly 20-minute wait for a seat seems a little more bearable and the quickly devoured pastry is hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Read the full review of School Bakery and Cafe in the restaurant section.