Restaurant Reviews

It’s hard not to think of a festive feast without thinking of your festive beast. Most holiday tables feature fowl (turkey, goose, duck) as the centrepiece of a meal, or perhaps a prime rib or lobster. But what to do if you’re vegan? No dining on animal products, including dairy and honey—so much for the […]

If the thought of Christmas cookies immediately brings a picture of you standing in a kitchen surrounded by bags of flour, pounds of butter, and little dishes of candy sprinkles to your mind’s eye, you might be dreading the upcoming Christmas social round. It can take hours to work your way through the pile of […]

“Eatin’ good in the Neighbourhood” goes the Applebee’s slogan, and despite the grammatical awkwardness, it’s a catchy phrase. The latest chain to hit Metro, its shtick is that it celebrates neighbourhoods—each outlet is decorated with pics and memorabilia reflecting the ’hood in which it sits. I’m always up for “eatin’ good” and I’m “in the […]

The bûche de noël, or Yule log, is a show-stopping Christmas dinner finale especially popular with people who aren’t crazy about the traditional Christmas dried-fruit-and-booze-laden cakes and puddings. Made of cream-filled sponge cake, covered with chocolate icing and fancifully decorated, it’s sure to impress—and to taste much better than the original wooden version. Historically a […]

The SuperCity’s wine palate is finally starting to catch up with its exploding culinary scene. No longer confined to “house red” and “house white,” wine menus are expanding, wine bars are opening and local wineries are beginning to get the respect they deserve. Education has been the key to unlocking our new grape love. A […]

Get out your pudding basins and your double boilers; find your parchment paper and your string; soak your dried fruit in Guinness and your loonies in Coca-Cola; it’s Christmas pudding time. Less like a creamy mousse and more like a fruitcake, Christmas pudding has long been a staple of English holiday tables, and it’s a […]

I live near my favourite pizza place in the world, home of the Best Donair Sub Ever, the kind of donair a girl could marry and live happily ever after with. It’s an independently owned joint, not part of a chain like the ones that fill your mailbox with flyers touting Family Specials. I’ve been […]

Bread is one of the mainstays of the culinary world. Whether you call it baguette, naan, pain, brot, focaccia or pita, it is found in almost every culture in the world. Unfortunately for North Americans, bread is often an unnaturally soft leavened mass and not the chewy, golden domes and loaves of Europe. Last year, […]

It’s visitor-from-away time for me, and with it, sightseeing and shopping in places usually off my beaten track. We’re in Historic Properties, browsing in the many tiny shops. As we come out onto the Granville Mall and into the lower level of Barrington Place Shops, I’m thinking ahead to an eatery somewhere between a pub […]

I have wonderful memories of my mother bottling pears from the tree in our backyward. The thick treacly smells of sugar syrup boiling in pots, the kitchen counters covered in green pear peelings and my mother and father coddling warm mason jars filled with goodies for the winter. Inspired by these memories, I go looking […]