Someone’s in the kitchen with Twitter: The inescapable Web tool is becoming the next frontier of foodie news

Almost overnight, Twitter is everywhere. Celebrities and CEOs, moms and musicians, politicians and priests are all scrambling to tap into the zeitgeist and answer Twitter’s simple prompt: “What are you doing?” And foodies are no exception. The micro-blogging tool is rapidly becoming a key source of news on the Toronto—and the global—gastronomic scene. Like chatty John Mayer, who famously tweets almost as much on-line as he does onstage, Toronto chefs, restaurateurs and shopkeepers are no slouches on the techno trend. Here, a look at who’s chirping about what.

• If any Toronto chef can find fodder for hourly updates, it’s the industrious Jamie Kennedy. With his chefs de cuisine manning the stoves, Kennedy finds time to tweet daily about the happenings at his four hot spots. [Jamie Kennedy on Twitter]

• Vertical restaurant’s account, sometimes updated by its head chef, Tawfik Shehata, provides dispatches on new menus, the patio status and who ended up on dish duty. With a lonely 10 posts, though, it will have to be the thought that counts. [Vertical on Twitter]

• While the Drake Hotel’s feed is largely taken up by a catalogue of artsy activities, important food news comes through—like the post on April 2 proclaiming the patio open. A little birdie told us that chef Anthony Rose sometimes talks about his latest menu machinations, too. [The Drake on Twitter]

• The Gladstone Hotel also fuels the so-called food Twitterati with details on its daily lunch specials. And in keeping with the place’s community feel, The Gladstone encourages fellow tweeters to introduce themselves. Who says the Web is all about anonymity? [The Gladstone on Twitter]

• Chef Mark Cutrara of Cowbell, a Twitter newcomer, keeps meat lovers up to date on his exploits in and out of the kitchen. When we called Cutrara to ask if he was among the tweeting masses, he told us to stay tuned—now we’re tuned in, and waiting for more news on “raccoon salami.” [Mark Cutrara on Twitter]

• Distillery chocolatier Soma tantalizes the cocoa crazed with snippets about the latest batch of house-made goodies (their tweets can sound like soft-core food porn). The confectioners also give one-liner hints about the ongoing search for Soma 2’s location. [Soma on Twitter]