Dinnerreviews.com - National Reviews

“Why is this Florida food critic writing a story about Toronto?” As Dinnerreviews.com© embraces its growing global appeal, it is inevitable that traveling will again become a part of my restaurant reviewing and consulting “work”. 14% of our readers are now coming from Canada. Thank you to all our Canadian readers! One of the first international destinations on my plate is Toronto, Ontario Canada. I have not been to TO yet, but researched their restaurant scene and learned Canada’s largest city has a myriad of diversified dining choices! Is this Canada’s best kept secret? Any residents of or frequent visitors to the Toronto area are encouraged to correct, comment and / or add to anything you read here. Hit me up at editor@dinnerreviews.com

Toronto, Ontario Canada
Toronto’s Culinary Crescendo
Written by: Tom House

Located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Toronto (TO) is the largest of Canada's vibrant urban centers. It's considered the hub of the nation's commercial, financial, industrial, and cultural life, and is the capital of the Province of Ontario. Toronto is home to the world's tallest tower (CN Tower at 553.33 m) and the world's longest street starts at the City's lakeshore called Yonge Street at 1,896 km. Not enough to get you there? Well if you are a foodie, and you probably are if you’re reading this, then check out the rest of this gastronomically compelling concoction. These are the restaurants I want to go to. The Dinnerreviews.com© Toronto Top Eleven …In no particular order.

Apparently a Culinary Crescendo awaits lucky travelers to Toronto! TO’s turned up the volume! Let’s start with Chef Massimo Capra, Chef and Co-Owner of Sopra Upper Lounge and Mistura restaurants in Yorkville (is that still Toronto?). He has got to be considered a “Celebrity Chef” in Canada, no? Check out this charismatic chef and his handlebar mustache too, eh! His decidedly Italian restaurants are first on my list! I like his energy!

Octopus Salad at Sopra

Sultry Mistura Restaurant

Good luck getting a dinner table at locally famous and trendy Buca, featuring a sampling menu of regional Italian cuisine by Chef Rob Gentile. How about lunch? I have heard tell of a Buca dish called Cervello – A pair of creamy lamb’s brains served in a fried prosciutto and sage shell. Wow! You want more variety? Look up Chef Susur Lee’s European-styled cuisine at Madeline’s, or for classical French cuisine there’s Chef Didier Leroy’s Didier Restaurant, where only the finest organic Canadian ingredients are used. First class comfort food is waiting for you at Nota Bene, where a gifted young chef named David Lee performs his magic. Nota Bene was named Toronto’s Best New Restaurant by Toronto Life and En Route magazines in 2009, and in November 2009, David won top honors at the Gold Medal Plates competition in Toronto.

Chef David Lee of Nota Bene

What’s that? You want to hang out with celebrities…and even be treated like one? One Restaurant looks like the place to be seen “making the scene”, where Chef Andrew Ellerby’s food creations come highly recommended. Located in The Hazelton Hotel, the only 5-Star hotel in Toronto, I can see why One would be a hangout for the stars, real or imagined.

The dim sum Toronto residents allegedly talk about most are to be found at Lai Wah Heen There are many interesting stories among the chefs and ownerships of my list of Toronto restaurant choices, some very colorful and some quite simple. I like the back-to-basics story of Head Chef of Lai Wah Heen, Ronny Lam. With more than 26 years of culinary experience, Chef Lam began his career in 1984 at Golden Bull Vietnamese Cuisine in Hong Kong before coming to Toronto to work at Lai Wah Heen, under the tutelage of noted chef, Sam Ma. Chef Lam returned to Hong Kong, garnering even more experience at Ap Lei Chau Fishing Village and Golden Palace. He traveled back to the USA, then England, continuing to hone his culinary skills to perfection. What a journey! The result for this dedicated chef is his successful La Wah Heen restaurant in downtown Toronto, ranking high on my list of restaurants to visit. Dreams are real!

Head Chef of Lai Wah Heen, Ronny Lam

Toronto’s quietly flourishing restaurant scene has many establishments offering a customer friendly variety of dishes to share “family style” instead of the more mundane three-course meals of old. According to my research, ten years ago Toronto’s dining scene was dominated by high end fine dining establishments, of which only a few of the very successful ones still remain. Check out North 44, where Chef Mark McEwan’s Canadian colorful versions of various international foods still shine.

Picturesque Cuisine at Auberge du Pommier

Perhaps the best of the best “old world” cuisine is to be found at Auberge du Pommier, a fabulously French restaurant featuring the classic food of noted chef Jason Bangerter. Another choice is Trattoria Sotto Sotto, “one of Toronto’s most magical hideaways”, located in the heart of the city. Sotto Sotto’s website promises a sensory feast for all who enter its domain, from locals to international jetsetters like me! Featuring a great wine list presented by a certified Sommelier, you’ll think you have walked off the streets of Toronto and into an old Roman wine cellar! Note: There is also Sotto Sotto In The Village, a slightly more casual restaurant from the same Chef / Owner Marisa Rocca. As stated earlier, chefs in Toronto and Canada in general seem to be less about ego and more about food! U.S. Chefs take note! Chef Rocca of Sotto Sotto lets her food do the talking at both of her eateries! You don’t believe me? You won’t even find her name on either of her restaurant’s websites!

In summary, some of the appeal for me to review restaurants in TO is the relaxed approach Canadian chefs take toward the concept of celebrity-ism, the syndrome that has permeated American culinary culture! In Canada, is it more about the pure soulful love of food and “the biz”? Do Canadian chefs have a deeper respect for the art of cooking that may have become lost in the saucy pomp and circumstance here in the USA? Perhaps, but in all probability, I think Canadian chefs and American chefs have a lot to learn from one another. Canadian chefs could be more flamboyant and American chefs could be less egotistical! Either way, everyone is probably mad at me now! I can’t wait to visit Toronto and get to “work”!

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	Thursday July 29 2010





Toronto's Culinary Crescendo
		= Scary = Pathetic = Good = Excellent = Flawless





“Why is this Florida food critic writing a story about Toronto?” As Dinnerreviews.com© embraces its growing global appeal, it is inevitable that traveling will again become a part of my restaurant reviewing and consulting “work”. 14% of our readers are now coming from Canada. Thank you to all our Canadian readers! One of the first international destinations on my plate is Toronto, Ontario Canada. I have not been to TO yet, but researched their restaurant scene and learned Canada’s largest city has a myriad of diversified dining choices! Is this Canada’s best kept secret? Any residents of or frequent visitors to the Toronto area are encouraged to correct, comment and / or add to anything you read here. Hit me up at editor@dinnerreviews.com Toronto, Ontario Canada Toronto’s Culinary Crescendo Written by: Tom House Located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Toronto (TO) is the largest of Canada's vibrant urban centers. It's considered the hub of the nation's commercial, financial, industrial, and cultural life, and is the capital of the Province of Ontario. Toronto is home to the world's tallest tower (CN Tower at 553.33 m) and the world's longest street starts at the City's lakeshore called Yonge Street at 1,896 km. Not enough to get you there? Well if you are a foodie, and you probably are if you’re reading this, then check out the rest of this gastronomically compelling concoction. These are the restaurants I want to go to. The Dinnerreviews.com© Toronto Top Eleven …In no particular order. Apparently a Culinary Crescendo awaits lucky travelers to Toronto! TO’s turned up the volume! Let’s start with Chef Massimo Capra, Chef and Co-Owner of Sopra Upper Lounge and Mistura restaurants in Yorkville (is that still Toronto?). He has got to be considered a “Celebrity Chef” in Canada, no? Check out this charismatic chef and his handlebar mustache too, eh! His decidedly Italian restaurants are first on my list! I like his energy! Octopus Salad at Sopra Sultry Mistura Restaurant Good luck getting a dinner table at locally famous and trendy Buca, featuring a sampling menu of regional Italian cuisine by Chef Rob Gentile. How about lunch? I have heard tell of a Buca dish called Cervello – A pair of creamy lamb’s brains served in a fried prosciutto and sage shell. Wow! You want more variety? Look up Chef Susur Lee’s European-styled cuisine at Madeline’s, or for classical French cuisine there’s Chef Didier Leroy’s Didier Restaurant, where only the finest organic Canadian ingredients are used. First class comfort food is waiting for you at Nota Bene, where a gifted young chef named David Lee performs his magic. Nota Bene was named Toronto’s Best New Restaurant by Toronto Life and En Route magazines in 2009, and in November 2009, David won top honors at the Gold Medal Plates competition in Toronto. Chef David Lee of Nota Bene What’s that? You want to hang out with celebrities…and even be treated like one? One Restaurant looks like the place to be seen “making the scene”, where Chef Andrew Ellerby’s food creations come highly recommended. Located in The Hazelton Hotel, the only 5-Star hotel in Toronto, I can see why One would be a hangout for the stars, real or imagined. The dim sum Toronto residents allegedly talk about most are to be found at Lai Wah Heen There are many interesting stories among the chefs and ownerships of my list of Toronto restaurant choices, some very colorful and some quite simple. I like the back-to-basics story of Head Chef of Lai Wah Heen, Ronny Lam. With more than 26 years of culinary experience, Chef Lam began his career in 1984 at Golden Bull Vietnamese Cuisine in Hong Kong before coming to Toronto to work at Lai Wah Heen, under the tutelage of noted chef, Sam Ma. Chef Lam returned to Hong Kong, garnering even more experience at Ap Lei Chau Fishing Village and Golden Palace. He traveled back to the USA, then England, continuing to hone his culinary skills to perfection. What a journey! The result for this dedicated chef is his successful La Wah Heen restaurant in downtown Toronto, ranking high on my list of restaurants to visit. Dreams are real! Head Chef of Lai Wah Heen, Ronny Lam Toronto’s quietly flourishing restaurant scene has many establishments offering a customer friendly variety of dishes to share “family style” instead of the more mundane three-course meals of old. According to my research, ten years ago Toronto’s dining scene was dominated by high end fine dining establishments, of which only a few of the very successful ones still remain. Check out North 44, where Chef Mark McEwan’s Canadian colorful versions of various international foods still shine. Picturesque Cuisine at Auberge du Pommier Perhaps the best of the best “old world” cuisine is to be found at Auberge du Pommier, a fabulously French restaurant featuring the classic food of noted chef Jason Bangerter. Another choice is Trattoria Sotto Sotto, “one of Toronto’s most magical hideaways”, located in the heart of the city. Sotto Sotto’s website promises a sensory feast for all who enter its domain, from locals to international jetsetters like me! Featuring a great wine list presented by a certified Sommelier, you’ll think you have walked off the streets of Toronto and into an old Roman wine cellar! Note: There is also Sotto Sotto In The Village, a slightly more casual restaurant from the same Chef / Owner Marisa Rocca. As stated earlier, chefs in Toronto and Canada in general seem to be less about ego and more about food! U.S. Chefs take note! Chef Rocca of Sotto Sotto lets her food do the talking at both of her eateries! You don’t believe me? You won’t even find her name on either of her restaurant’s websites! In summary, some of the appeal for me to review restaurants in TO is the relaxed approach Canadian chefs take toward the concept of celebrity-ism, the syndrome that has permeated American culinary culture! In Canada, is it more about the pure soulful love of food and “the biz”? Do Canadian chefs have a deeper respect for the art of cooking that may have become lost in the saucy pomp and circumstance here in the USA? Perhaps, but in all probability, I think Canadian chefs and American chefs have a lot to learn from one another. Canadian chefs could be more flamboyant and American chefs could be less egotistical! Either way, everyone is probably mad at me now! I can’t wait to visit Toronto and get to “work”! Dinner Reviews Internet Magazine© is going Global. Reviews and advertisers from all over the world are coming next! An All New, ultra-modern, interactive sIte is being built for your entertainment! Stay Tuned. It's going to be FOOD-TASTIC! Important Note: Advertising on www.dinnerreviews.com web site will in no way influence or affect, positively or negatively, dinner reviews written about a particular establishment at any time prior to, during, or after the culmination of an Advertising Agreement between Dinner Reviews Internet Magazine and prospective or existing Clients.		Receive Our Newsletter
		*Tom House* *Editor in Chief*