Toronto's food scene not world class?

All the foodie buzz in Toronto these days has been centred on the transplant of New York staple Momofuku to our fine (?) city.

David Chang, the chef behind that famed restaurant and its sisters in NYC (one of which has two Michelin stars), sounded off on what other Toronto restos are doing wrong --- even comparing them to the deplorable Toronto Maple Leafs.

Cupcakes have how many calories? Nooooooooo...

Source: Prairie Girl Bakery

So the Toronto Star's  Dish column, which has already condemned many of my faves from Pho to Pad Thai, now sentences my beloved cupcakes to the same fate. And it chose my favourite place, within a stone's throw and a longing window glare from my desk.

Awesome foodie website

Aside from spending hours re-pinning my favourite recipes onto my Pintrest page my favourite new foodie pastime is browsing through Punchfork, this awesome aggregator of recipes from some of my favourite foodie bloggers (unfortunately I have not risen to the ranks yet), but it offers a comprehensive and tantalizing overview of some of the most popular recipes on the web. There's even a facebook group to follow, in which awesome recipes will appear in your newsfeed. Check it out, but be warned, you may spend a lot of time browsing.

I'm back! (with a Top Chef Canada update)

These look like some sad deconstructionists! Source: Food Network Canada

Oh my bloggies, I am so sorry to have neglected, I hope you haven't forgot about me and my recaps, reviews and recipes. I was on  vacation in sunny (and rainy) Mexico last week --- prior to that, I suppose just from my blog, sigh. But I have returned with a ton of new restaurants to check out and a new found love of true Mexican food. Had the best street vendor tacos and Mayan made mole that I can't wait to recreate! Also know what true Latinos say corn tortillas are much better than flour.

But first, let me give you my two cents on the recent episodes of TCC.

Top Chef Canada 2: Episode 2 recap

Chef Elizabeth is a little intimiated by the exacto, as Mike Holmes creepily stares on. Source: The Food Network Canada

If you missed Monday's episode and want to catch up before reading my spoilers, click here.

Is it me or was Mike Holmes -- Canadian pseudo-celeb status notwithstanding -- the entirely wrong choice for a judge on a gourmet cooking show? Case in point: he thought the losing dish was completely improved by dipping it into gazpacho.

The dude did make for some pretty hilarious commentary though, a nice contrast against Lisa Ray's attempts to be THE MOST SERIOUS JUDGE EVER.

Food News: Did you miss the premier of Top Chef Canada 2 on Monday?

My hometown boy Gabiell Cruz cooking away on Top Chef Canada 2.  SOURCE:Food Network Canada

So you missed episode one of the highest rated series on Food Network Canada, ever!?

Not to worry, here's a recap.

Food News: A charming little Tuscan restaurant just opened, maybe you've heard of it...the Olive Garden?

So the big news in the foodie world right now is an 85-year old Grand Forks N.D, columnist's earnest review of an Olive Garden in her town that went viral. See the original article, as well as some of the fallout in mainstream media here.

Just in case you're drunk and looking for some Super Bowl food to eat...

Randomly on Gawker, I found these really funny Super Bowl recipes.

http://gawker.com/5882189/super-bowl-recipes-for-the-already-drunk

Walking through a Winterlicious wonderland...

Hooray! It's Winterlicious, the time of year to try out some of  Toronto's best restaurants at a fraction of their usual prices. Prix fixe menus run either $25, $35 or $45 per dinner, and $15, $20 or $25 for lunch. That gets you at least three choices for three courses. Designed to draw in diners during the SARS crisis of 2003, Winterlicious, and younger sister Summerlicious, have become Toronto foodie staples that help boost restaurant sales during down times in this lacklustre economy.

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!

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!

Fresh may be detox food, but it certainly is NOT diet food

OMG! Toronto Star's The Dish recently analyzed the Buddha bowl at Fresh (check out my recent review) as part of its weekly calorie review of popular Toronto take out meals and found it has more calories than six Subway vegetarian subs!

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/dietfitness/thedish/article/1084826--the-dish-the-buddha-bowl-from-fresh-not-as-healthy-as-it-sounds

Mmmm deep dish. Wait $40?

Okay maybe it's because I know I absolutely can't have it but this deep dish looks amazing. However,  feel like I'd have food/ budget guilt over load at $40 a pie.  Maybe it was better when Toronto didn't have deep dish, leave it to Chicago?

http://www.thegridto.com/life/food-drink/toronto-gets-deep-dish-pizza…-and-it-costs-40/

More food trucks in Toronto!

Based on the gist of this Toronto Star story by Corey Mintz, doesn't look like we're going to get our act together any time soon...