In this week’s roundup: Stuffed sheep stomachs fly off shelves, and the ongoing mayoral sideshow is great news for at least one business.
1. Bent Susur Lee’s popular Dundas West restaurant is about to get some competition from Luckee, his soon-to-open Cantonese dim-sum spot at the Soho Met. In the meantime, Bent’s weekend Winterlicious tables are nearly sold out.
2. The Healthy Butcher For some, Robbie Burns Day wouldn’t be complete without a savoury mess of slow-simmered animal organs encased in a sheep’s stomach. Of the 1000 pounds of haggis prepared by the midtown butcher, only a few measly loaves are left (the processional door-to-door delivery service may have been part of the draw).
3. Canoe Couples hoping to ring in V-Day at the granddaddy of Winterlicious spots will have to eat unfashionably early—like at 5:00 p.m., which is the only remaining seating. Meanwhile, exec chef Michael Bonacini’s Masterchef Canada judgeship has officially begun, with delightfully awkward results.
4. Hudson Kitchen Valentine’s dinners are also fully booked at this Dundas West restaurant, which the Globe’s Chris Nuttall-Smith recently gave a somewhat-qualified thumbs-up (we imagine “haute generic” wasn’t the tagline they were going for).
5. Edulis People are getting excited about the packed bistro’s newest entrée: canard à la presse, a hand-strangled duck chopped into pieces and served in a sauce made out of its own blood and organs. Yum?
6. Noodle Bar Chili-cheese-dog buns and cheeseburger ramen are on the menu at this weekend’s extreme mash-up meal with guest-chefs from La Carnita and Home of the Brave. Tickets have been sold out for weeks, but some walk-in spots are still available.
7. Steak Queen The racially insensitive rant heard round the world earned the Rexdale diner a review in the Star. (Apparently the onion rings are pretty good.)
8. Rhum Corner Jen Agg’s Haitian stews and tropical erotica were a winning combo for Toronto Life’s Mark Pupo.
9. Bar Isabel Grant van Gameren’s tapas room may not be serving cut-rate Winterlicious meals, but it has been making a tentative foray into vegan cuisine.
10. La Cubana Customers are torn between the Roncey diner’s two bestselling sandwiches: the straightforward cubano and the heftier, breadier medianoche. The Star’s Amy Pataki calls the latter “the more contemplative experience.”
Honourable Mention: Origin’s Claudio Aprile also made his Masterchef debut; and the Leafs’ six-game winning streak means hockey hangout Real Sports has been rowdier than usual on game nights.
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