Anne Burrell sued for discrimination, picking the best rum, the Annex gets even more 905-friendly
• Although Amy Adams portrays her in Julie and Julia as a cute cubicle dweller wanting to escape, the real-life Julie Powell reveals in her new memoir, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession, that adultery and cybersex with strangers were part of the fallout of her fame. Wanting to escape the “pedestal” she was “undeservedly” placed on after her debut book got her a lucrative movie deal and a fan following, Powell followed in the footsteps of other great literati who tasted fame too young: she lived self-destructively and burned the people closest to her, then shoved aside the guilt and grasped for fame again by writing a book about her misadventures. [Globe and Mail]
• A lawsuit against spiky-haired Food Network star Anne Burrell alleges that, in addition to making mouth-watering meatball sandwiches in her West Village restaurant, Centro Vinoteca, Burrell relentlessly ridiculed her female front-of-house staffers. Burell allegedly told one bartender that she was a “ho” with “saggy boobs,” and another waitress that she “must be tired today from fucking all night.” The suit also claims that any employee who complained was dismissed. [Gothamist]
• Despite the conventional wisdom that older spirits are better than younger ones, The New York Times’ Eric Asimov thinks that youth has its advantages. After tasting 20 bottles of rum that had been aged for at least seven years, and with judgment and vision presumably still intact, Asimov notes that while aging always boosts a bottle’s price, leaving the rum too long in the barrel can make the spirit fussy, cantankerous and overly complex. Younger rums, by comparison, have a more luscious, purer taste. [New York Times]
• Rosie DiManno doesn’t care that hockey will return to Maple Leaf Gardens by way of the Ryerson Rams; the fact that one of Toronto’s most hallowed sites will also house a Loblaws makes her “extremely angry.” DiManno, whose “salad days” were spent reporting on sports at the Gardens, feels that the last thing downtown Toronto needs is another cavernous supermarket that will “suck up all the air and destroy the integrity” of the neighbourhood. Too bad for her, hungry condo dwellers in the core who are sick of picking up overpriced milk at Rabba and Hasty Market are thrilled, and no one wants to see the Gardens sitting empty any longer. [Toronto Star]
• A “nine-yard-long zebra-print couch” is moving into space once occupied by Mel’s Montreal Deli—further proof that the Annex is drifting from its bohemian roots. King West’s Hey Lucy Café will be moving into that corner at Howland Avenue and Bloor West, meaning that Annex locals will once again be supplanted from the strip in favour of 905ers and college kids looking for a “sophisticated” way to spend their parents’ money. [BlogTO]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/anne-burrell-sued-for-discrimination-picking-the-best-rum-the-annex-continues-gets-even-more-905-friendly/&title=Anne Burrell sued for discrimination, picking the best rum, the Annex gets even more 905-friendly&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Cleaving.jpg&description=• Although Amy Adams portrays her in Julie and Julia as a cute cubicle dweller wanting to escape, the real-life Julie Powell reveals in her new memoir, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession, that adultery and cybersex with strangers were part of the fallout of her fame. Wanting to escape the “pedestal” she was “undeservedly” placed on after her debut book got her a lucrative movie deal and a fan following, Powell followed in the footsteps of other great literati who tasted fame too young: she lived self-destructively and burned the people closest to her, then shoved aside the guilt and grasped for fame again by writing a book about her misadventures. [Globe and Mail]
• A lawsuit against spiky-haired Food Network star Anne Burrell alleges that, in addition to making mouth-watering meatball sandwiches in her West Village restaurant, Centro Vinoteca, Burrell relentlessly ridiculed her female front-of-house staffers. Burell allegedly told one bartender that she was a “ho” with “saggy boobs,” and another waitress that she “must be tired today from fucking all night.” The suit also claims that any employee who complained was dismissed. [Gothamist]
• Despite the conventional wisdom that older spirits are better than younger ones, The New York Times' Eric Asimov thinks that youth has its advantages. After tasting 20 bottles of rum that had been aged for at least seven years, and with judgment and vision presumably still intact, Asimov notes that while aging always boosts a bottle’s price, leaving the rum too long in the barrel can make the spirit fussy, cantankerous and overly complex. Younger rums, by comparison, have a more luscious, purer taste. [New York Times]
• Rosie DiManno doesn’t care that hockey will return to Maple Leaf Gardens by way of the Ryerson Rams; the fact that one of Toronto’s most hallowed sites will also house a Loblaws makes her “extremely angry.” DiManno, whose “salad days” were spent reporting on sports at the Gardens, feels that the last thing downtown Toronto needs is another cavernous supermarket that will “suck up all the air and destroy the integrity” of the neighbourhood. Too bad for her, hungry condo dwellers in the core who are sick of picking up overpriced milk at Rabba and Hasty Market are thrilled, and no one wants to see the Gardens sitting empty any longer. [Toronto Star]
• A “nine-yard-long zebra-print couch” is moving into space once occupied by Mel’s Montreal Deli—further proof that the Annex is drifting from its bohemian roots. King West’s Hey Lucy Café will be moving into that corner at Howland Avenue and Bloor West, meaning that Annex locals will once again be supplanted from the strip in favour of 905ers and college kids looking for a "sophisticated" way to spend their parents' money. [BlogTO]){kind=link}