Narratives

Just as Kobe Desramaults announced the closure of In de Wulf in December 2016, closer to home, I received rather upsetting (though understood) news: my favourite restaurant in Toronto, Splendido, was closing. In an exclusive for the Globe & Mail last month (A Splendido run: Chef Victor Barry closing Toronto fine-dining institution), chef-owner, and industry friend, Victor … Continue reading →

Many years ago, when a cook by the name of Grant van Gameren took over the stoves of this tucked away space on Dundas West (gasp!) which didn’t take reservations (double gasp!), few would have guessed that he would lead the next wave of independent chef-owners in turning Toronto into a culinary destination. In no … Continue reading →

Earlier this week, the really nice people at CBC Radio’s Metro Morning reached out to ask if I could come on air to speak about a topic that had recently come to the producers’ attention. The crowd-sourced guide, Zagat, had taken to social media to ask whether followers thought Toronto was a world-class restaurant city. … Continue reading →

While chatting with chef Normand Laprise of Montreal’s Toqué recently about an upcoming trip I was taking to his hometown of Kamouraska, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, I was encouraged to take time to visit La Société de Plantes. Chef Laprise mentioned that I should … Continue reading →

Disclosure: I am the 2015 Vacay.ca Top 50 Restaurants in Canada Chair, which means it’s my responsibility to ensure that the voting guidelines are adhered to, help and manage our team of excellent regional chairs as they work with our judging team. I provide assistance to the Executive team in ensuring that this special project … Continue reading →

A tribute to trout farmer Sean Brady whose incredible ingredients are an inspiration to our kitchen. The life cycle of a trout starts with clay pepper spiced roe. The roe then becomes trout alevin that we have prepared “in Carpione.” The baby rainbow fillet has been treated in the style of an anchovy [or sardine], … Continue reading →

As one of the city’s great culinary treasures, Barberian’s Steak House isn’t just the oldest licensed white tablecloth restaurant (circa 1959), but also houses the largest of wines in the country. When Arron Barberian and his father, Harry, bought back their business in 1994, they were greeted with a general, 60-bottle wine list (and nothing … Continue reading →

Canadian food is not just the amalgamation of different ethnicities, nationalities, and cultures that settled here over the past 400 years – it is the evolution of the food that these people brought over here, driven by their need to adapt to indigenous ingredients. – Evelyn Wu Morris, co-owner Boralia, a restaurant that opened Toronto last December … Continue reading →

I was on an extensive book tour and someone said, “You know this book should be in the psychology section and not necessarily the cookbook section.” I was taken aback, and I thought ‘oh, I think that’s a compliment,’ because in many ways it is about expressing this basic message for me, which is basically: … Continue reading →

Even though my brother’s not involved, HANMOTO comes from our names. The TO is Leeto; the MO is me.  – Leemo Han, chef-owner of Oddseoul, Hanmoto, and recently shuttered Swish by Han. Han’s menus are clever modern, American-influenced twists of familiar Korean and Japanese izakaya flavours. La Bête sketch on Hanmoto’s Instagram: La Bête Introducing on TorontoLife: Hanmoto, a Little Portugal izakaya … Continue reading →

We live in a very divided city. One in three kids live in poverty. 145,000 kids live in poverty. There are 118,000 Millionaires in Toronto. That’s one example of how we live in two worlds. When you live in two worlds, you don’t know one another’s stories, which is a big problem to me. Rexdale … Continue reading →

2014 was a great year of discovering the lesser known (to me) areas of Canada, one of which was Saskatoon, SK. There were a few reasons, most all of them gustatory, including visiting Ayden Kitchen & Bar which had been generating plenty of buzz across the coasts. Although I might have come to meet, and see … Continue reading →

In summer of 2014, I had the opportunity to take part in a unique art-meets-food-meets-surprise-experience that involved Frédéric Morin and Kid Koala, both creative and well known Montrealers. The piece was slated for an online publication which has since closed its Toronto chapter, but the fun from that evening’s activities still live on in memories, a … Continue reading →

The cook has the same responsibility as a mother anywhere in the world: nourishing others in an appetizing and healthy way.  – Olivier Roellinger, former* chef/owner of three-Michelin-starred le Relais Gourmand, now chef/proprietor of Les Maisons de Bricourt, a 14-room Relais Gourmand establishment in the small Brittany port of Cancale. In an interview with chef Roellinger, in which he … Continue reading →

Where it all began… It only seems appropriate to launch this blog with my first milestone interview. Let me clarify. Up until this point in my budding food writing career I’d had the distinct pleasure of meeting, interviewing and writing profiles on a number of local talents who were all too kind to lend me … Continue reading →