A foodie summary of 2011 in Tdot

'Tis the season for year-end wrap ups.

The Grid has wrapped up some of the highlights of Toronto's year in food here.

Toronto Star food critic Amy Pataki lists her 21 (a week's worth) favorite meals of 2011 here.
And food editor Jennifer Bain's favourite recipes of 2011 here.

Dine.To's Alan Vernon dishes on his top 11 restaurants of 2011 here.

And stay tuned for my own picks for my favourite restaurants of 2011, as well as the ones I am most salivating over for 2012!

Best restaurants in Toronto listed!

Hi all,
Been super busy with all my holiday socializing, eating and drinking that I haven't had time to post about all this deliciousness. Will be back shortly with amazing recipes and reviews. But for now check out this list of 2011 restos in Toronto and see how many you've been to, or agree with. One thing-- I think the new Parkdale establishment Grand Electric I went to last night certainly deserves a nod---and am sure it will next year. Will post on it soon, off to #79, Country General tonight. Wanna weigh in? What restaurants do you think should be on this list?

http://www.postcity.com/Post-City-Magazines/Kates-2011/Top-100/index.php

U.S. Thanksgiving dinner at DBGB

The rustic open shelves display the copper pots used by famous chefs around the world

DBGB is chef Daniel Boulud's more casual of his renowned NYC restos. Named after the now shuttered CBGB, the soundtrack pay homage to the punky musical roots of its Bowery neighbourhood. A $60 prix fixe was well worth the price tag, and offered a lot of choice, considering it was Thanksgiving.

NYC Eats: Lunch at Tasty hand-pulled noodles Inc.

Why it is is "Inc" I can't say. I doubt this tasty hole in the wall is incorporated.

For lunch on our first day, I had remembered a noodle place that chef Guy Fieri described as the Best Thing (He) Ever Ate--- in a bowl. Tasty hand-pulled noodles is in a back alley (1 Doyers St) in Chinatown. It was a little crowded, and not the classiest--- and there's a bit of a strange smell in the air. But by the end of our meal (which cost about $30 for four of us), the only thing I was disappointed about was the fact that I did not get to see the cooks actually hand pull the noodles.

Eating my way through NYC

This is my mom posing very cheesily, reading Mario Batali's latest cookbook, in his restaurant. Grrroan.

For my mom's 60th birthday, we decided to do a good ol' fashioned family trip ---to New York. Going with parents is very different from my last trip there with girlfriends (i.e. far less shopping), we did all the typical tourist-y stuff, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, Staten Island Ferry (with $3 beers!) and a Broadway show.

But I also got to be in charge of where we'd eat.

And we had some amazing food --from cheap and delicious homemade dumplings in Chinatown, to Thanksgiving at one of Daniel Bouland's restaurants, lunch at one of Mario Batali's and possibly the best mac and cheese I ever ate!

Gourmet ice cream comes to ... Dufferin Mall?

Oh, the Duff, the mall closest to our house, is anchored by a Walmart, Payless and some other ghetto fab finds. So I was surprised when I read this Toronto Life article about a molecular gastronomic treat setting up shop there!