All posts under ‘Restaurants’


Shopping

Sharlene Chiu’s guide to shopping and eating in NYC

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Dan and I in Central Park

Whenever I’m in Manhattan for a few days of shenanigans, it usually goes down like this: brunch, shop, eat, drink…and repeat. Whether it’s a couple of days or a couple of weeks, it’s just never enough to conquer all the shops and restaurants New York has to offer. You can drive yourself nuts trying to hit every new “hot spot”—for me, I prefer to sprinkle in a few places that I’ve never tried before (whether or not it’s in the latest New York Times) along with my tried-and-true standbys.

As any serious shopper/eater knows, the key to a successful day relies heavily on efficiency and stamina. So, by neighbourhood, here are some of my favourite shops and the delicious pit stops I make to refuel.

Read Sharlene Chiu’s NYC guide now »

Jump to: East Village | Lower East Side | SoHo | West Village
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Toronto: Our favourite new spot for a (healthy) power lunch

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A working lunch is all too often an exercise in indulgence, crammed with cream and butter and overly salted. Four (187 Bay St., Toronto, 416-368-1444, fourtoronto.com), in Toronto’s financial district, is a subterranean spot with the same frenzied lunch-hour crowd and cookie-cutter décor as your typical tower eatery, but its menu offers a different take that’s both good and good for you. Every dish on the menu is 650 calories or less, achieved by grilling or steaming instead of frying, and cutting down on unhealthy fats and sugars. Read more »


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Vancouver’s top 5 new restaurants

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Vancouver is constantly touted a foodie city, and the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. So even as we complained and zipped up our jackets in breezy June, then stripped and hunted down the city’s last electric fans in early July, we all schlepped out to scope out the slew of new restaurants. Click the images below to see our top five picks, plus a few others worth checking out. Read more »


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Books: A portable taste of Brooklyn

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I was in beautiful Brooklyn last weekend, feeling like a Real Live New Yorker for a story you’re going to see in our October issue. Turns out Brooklyn is REALLY REALLY big–a fact that somehow escaped me even though I’ve looked at it on that map thingy in the Manhattan subway a million times. Thank god I had a copy of the Food Lovers’ Guide to Brooklyn by Sherri Eisenberg ($17, Globe Pequot Press) to help me pick restaurants or I would have been wandering the backstreets of Williamsburg begging hipsters for dining advice, which never goes well.


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The culture club: Our 6 favourite Toronto restos right now

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Gus Giazitzidis and Peter Tsebelis' Italian spot, Buca

We can’t help smiling lately with the advent of so many wonderful new restaurants springing up (or old favourites refreshing their menus). When putting together a recent reco list for visiting friends, we felt spoiled for choice. Here are some of our favourites right now:

With years under his belt as a successful bar owner–does a little place called Amber ring a bell?–Toufik Sarwa recently exploded onto our radar with the launch of Cinq o1 (501 College St., 416-964-1555). We love that he is always around to greet his guests with a warm handshake or a kiss kiss.

David Minicucci and Sam Kalogiros are no strangers to the Toronto restaurant world. The owners of two of our fave local hangouts, L’Unita (134 Avenue Rd., 416-964-8686) and Malena (102 Avenue Rd., 416-964-0606) know how to create  a neighborhood bistro–a killer combination of amazing fresh food, great energy and inviting, cozy nooks. Read more »


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The Culture Club: Top 6 laid-back dining spots in Brooklyn

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Clover Club restaurant

Brooklyn’s gentrification in recent years has led to many great things, including ones to satisfy our hunger pains. If you’re in New York this summer, hop over the East River to check out one of these spots for a low-key nosh. Read more »


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The Culture Club: Our top 6 spots for late-night grub

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Get late night eats at Grace on College Street

From authentic Italian at 11 p.m. to steak and eggs at 3 a.m., our favourite Toronto spots for late-night eats.

Grace (503 College St., 416-944-8884, gracerestaurant.ca) On a recent late-night dining hunt, we were thrilled to find that the kitchen at this farm-fresh neighborhood joint is open til 11 p.m. Read more »


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The Culture Club: Toronto’s top 6 Sunday-brunch Caesars

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The menu at School

Whether you like yours with an extra spicy rim on the glass or easy on the Tabasco, we’ve found the Toronto spots that make a Bloody Caesar worth getting out of bed for on Sunday.

1. School (70 Fraser Avenue, 416-588-0005, sbcto.com) This hopping joint always does the trick for a Saturday or Sunday brunch fest. We usually start with a healthy smoothie and then move into the Caesars. Very counter-intuitive but somehow makes us feel like we’re keeping our health in check. Read more »


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