bytepusher's Profile
Airport dining?
No and no
(Ok there is a small museum just outside Terminal 1 domestic security where you can kill 15 minutes).
There are two terminals and each has an area outside security and complete separation between domestic, transborder and international departures so in all there are 8 separate areas where an individual restaurant might be located, you will have access to, at most 3 of these areas, more likely 2.
At present the dining options are universally poor and expensive, mostly chains like Casey's and Turtle Jacks and Fionn MacCools. A couple months ago Mill Street Brewpub opened a location in the terminal 1 domestic secure area so in that case you can at least get decent beer (provided you don't mind paying 9+ dollars a pint)
The airport has announced that they've signed a new deal with the same company that has redone the food at JFK to some acclaim and they've signed on a number of celeb chefs to put their names on them, nothing opened as of yet and it won't be fully in operation until the end of 2013 it remains to be seen if this will actually deliver on a quality improvement, it certainly won't help with the overpriced side of the equation.
New PC Insider's Report
You won't get more than a handful of berries off each bush this year, it will be 2013 or 14 before you have a pie's worth
David Chang on his TO Outposts
Actually the restaurant building and the hotel building are adjacent but physically separate.
Per Se and Momofuku Ko on Consecutive Nights?
The first time I went to Ko I had the lunch there (which is a bigger meal than dinner) went for a long walk and had a late dinner at Babbo. Two days in a row ought to be no problem at all.
Joanne Kates is leaving the Globe!
a petard is a small bomb, basically a grenade, "hoisted on ones own petard" means to be blown up by your own bomb.
Burger Stomper and Milkshake Bar - Danforth Ave
"Once we get to know you" translation: once we've seen the heath inspectors enough to recognize them
Ground meat safety (split from Ontario board)
Just to be clear when you grind meat you also break a percentage of the cellular membranes which provides more growth media for the bacteria. If you take a piece of raw meat, cut it in half and grind half of it and let them sit for a few hours the bacterial count in the ground stuff will be higher than the unground, even though they started at the same baseline.
Have pop-ups in Toronto run their course?
It took me a while to get what you were getting at there until I noticed the name of a certain restaurant "impresario" who's places usually get run down pretty hard here. I assume that's your point?
In other words hipster logic 101: "anything commercially successful must be, by definition, crap" with a dash of "one bad apple does spoil the whole bunch" and a sprinkling of good old anti-gentrification whinging.
Don't look too close at the corporate affiliations, current and/or past jobs of too many of the chefs who do some of the events you name, you might just discover that you've really enjoyed an innovative and engaging meal cooked by a guy who used to be the corporate executive chef of East Side Marios.
Critique my "must try" list for Toronto!
Was mentioned but didn't seem to make the list, Volos on Richmond for Greek
If you are into the tarte flambee thing, Elle ma dit on Baldwin
I think Buster's Sea Cove has upped their game and ought to be on the sandwich list
Burger Stomper and Milkshake Bar - Danforth Ave
We've been going, well, pretty much since it opened and at various periods it was our every Friday night dinner out. It's generally been great 99% of the time but every once in a while the wheels fall off completely. Last time it happened for us it wound up taking them 2.5 hours to serve a party of 6 a regular brunch. Patio season in particular seems to bring out the worst. I would say in two decades I've had three experiences so awful that, were any of them my first time in the restaurant I would have never gone back and when they get busy the service can sometimes be a little rattled, especially when Dora is hostessing. I can see how some people get a bad first impression sometimes.
Event Space
Malaparte at the Lightbox
Toronto Board of Trade
Arcadian Room
Carlu
Mars (if your org qualifies)
Toronto Momofuku set to open July 28th
Who knows if that's still the plan, that was months ago and if we know one thing about Mr Chang its that plans change.
I'm not sure why it would be a bad thing, frankly if I'm going to round up a big group of friends to do one of the "specialty meals" (bo saam, fried chickens, etc) I might prefer to have a private room.
Toronto Momofuku set to open July 28th
There will probably be a Milk Bar presence but is sure won't be a whole floor, if I was betting it will be something like the kiosk they have in the lobby at Ma Peche.
At one point the plan for one of the floors was to be "private dining rooms"
Toronto Momofuku set to open July 28th
And Toronto Life is now reporting that Momofuku's Toronto PR rep called to correct the date to "sometime in August 2012"
Toronto Momofuku set to open July 28th
My source says Aug 17th, has met a number of the people Chang has hired and was impressed.
Latest Charlie Burger
The first round of notifications has already gone out (friends got in, we didn't apply we're going to be out of town) there may still be more if there are declines from that list or cancellations.
Latest Charlie Burger
As a way to sum it up I think it's useful shorthand to understand where this chef is coming from cuisine and technique wise, I don't think anyone is suggesting it as a quantitative comparison.
What happened to Le Papillon on Front?
The original Le Papillion was owned by two brothers, at some point a dispute arose between them over the direction of the restaurant and they went their separate ways agreeing that they could both use variants of the name. I get the impression from others (I haven't actually been) that the one in the East end is the one to go to. Big green P lot literally beside the restaurant. 2 Minute walk from the 501 streetcar.
Critique my "must try" list for Toronto!
For Mexican, Frida on Eglinton W and Agave and Aguacate in Kensington
Greek, Volos on Richmond, skip the Danforth
I hear good things about Paramount for Lebanese
You might consider adding Bamiyan Kebab for Afghan
La Carnita finds permanent home on college st
My point exactly, Colin saw a unmet need took off to Chicago to get some hands on experience on how to execute it right, then came back here and opened in less than a month by taking over an existing restaurant and doing almost nothing to it. All while Andrew goofed around with a few popups. There's an advantage to being the first entrant, Now no matter what Andrew does he's going to be compared to Grand Electric, he can compete on quality obviously but can he carry off the other stuff? Frankly we watch this industry, you really think Colin is still going to be doing this in a year? He'll have cashed out and moved on by then, if the landlord doesn't kill the place completely with a huge rent increase.
La Carnita finds permanent home on college st
Put me down as skeptical too, I simply do not believe he will be successful in converting the pop up buzz people into a 5 or 6 night a week clientele that will be spendy enough to make money when someone else has already been burning down his trend for 6 months.
The Ballroom Bowl
Worth mentioning that since most of the early days pans here they've changed most of the stuff, different chef, different, cheaper and simpler menu, probably mostly different staff.
Back in Toronto -- Help me prioritize the new restos and eateries!
High-end & Hotel dining
- the Chang restos open in August
- Reviews of $tock have been horrible
- I think TOCA and Scarpetta have opened since you were here, mixed reviews
- Not much has changed in the non-hotel fine dining space except might consider the just open Edulis in this category
- Sandwich/Fast
- Everything you list worth a look
- not sure if it really fits the category but 416 Snackbar
- Burger joints galore. I think the Burgers Priest thing had just started, now add Holy Chuck and many other contenders
- Mid Range
Huge activity in this space, literally dozens of places worth a visit
- County General
- Acadia
- Woodlot
- Keirwa
- Gabardine
- Buca
- Gusto 101
- Campagnolo
- Enoteca Sociale
and others will suggest more
ISO - Buns for Smoked Brisket in GTA
The Caldense round sourdough bun has the right texture and taste but not the shape you are after
Broasted Chicken
There's pressure frying and there's pressure frying, Broaster and KFC have both patented versions of their pressure fryer, I believe the trick with the Broaster version is that they inject water into the chamber immediately after the lid closes to help raise the pressure faster. KFC's tech used compressed air for a similar effect. With Broaster if you want to use their name on the product you have to sign a contract that says you will only use their spices and recipes so what's in reality unique about the Broasted chicken vs any other pressure fryer chicken is the spice they use.
The primary advantage of pressure frying used to be that it was faster than traditional pan (float) frying (about half the time) but produced a less crispy skin but it was less greasy than deep fat frying. These days people have figured out how to do what they refer to as immersion frying in about the same time as pressure frying without the greasiness, arguably the best fried chicken joint in the world, Gus's in Memphis, uses immersion frying.
Broasted Chicken
Broasting is a process for cooking meat (usually chicken, but you can do other meats) using a particular version of a pressure fryer. Pressure frying is exactly like it sounds, like deep frying but inside a pressure cooker, you need special machines to do this. Pressure frying was the big innovation that was behind the early success of KFC, produces a result that is more like pan frying than deep frying in much less time. To be a "Broasted" chicken you have to use the machines made by the Broaster company and also use their marinades and recipes.
Broasted Chicken
Matty from Parts and Labour posted a picture of a Broaster Machine today, presumably that means they bought one.
Brunch Suggestions To Impress New York Guests
OK to be fair, it was actually probably the second worst meal I've had in a couple years, and the problems were limited to service and quality, it's not like I was served rotten food or bugs or something genuinely dreadful (happened, a long time ago, that place thank god is no longer in business although the "chef" is still banging around town).
Initially served a stone cold plate where a skin had formed on the Hollandaise, god knows how long it had been sitting in the pass and it took them 2 more tries to get a hot meal in front of me. There were other issues.
I'm prepared to believe it was just a bad day but the problems certainly were more than just a kitchen in the weeds. Thing is for every 2 or three good reviews I hear about this place I hear someone complain about similar issues. I'm not prepared to take the risk.
need hip, trendy, delicious resto recommendations please
No offense was taken and honest feedback is always welcome here, I was just pointing out a difference in the usual service culture here that was probably behind one of your observations.
