Dear reader, Happy Halloween! It’s hard to believe we’re just hours away from Mariah Carey announcing the arrival of Christmas. The last couple of weeks have been that weird in-between time when fun-sized chocolate bars share shelf space with candy canes and Advent calendars. That explains how I popped into a certain big-box store the other day to grab a bag of candy for trick-or-treaters and walked out with a Santa-hat-wearing animatronic highland cow that dances to that classic holiday tune: “Milkshake” by Kelis. It was the impulse purchase of impulse purchases, and while it would make a lot more sense if it were a dairy cow, it still brings me more joy than it should. In short, it was $23 well spent. It was also devastatingly embarrassing when my festive bovine friend was inadvertently activated on the jam-packed bus I took home from work. It’s hard to feign Who could that be? ignorance when your tote bag is twerking. Not very demure, not at all mindful.
This week’s newsletter is all treats, no tricks. In it, you’ll find a food tour of Oakville courtesy of chef Claudio Aprile; the story behind Jaffna Street Food, a fast-casual Tamil kitchen inside the Village by the Grange food court; and what’s on the menu at Dopamina, a new downtown restaurant with a Michelin connection. For more of our food-and-drink coverage, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition. |
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| —Rebecca Fleming, food and drink editor |
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The food court inside Village by the Grange (arguably the best of its kind in the downtown core) has a new addition: Jaffna Street Food. The fast-casual kitchen is the project of father-son team Naveendran Tharmalingam and Nero Naveendran, who want to bring Tamil dishes to the masses. This is their story. |
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| Three years ago, chef and former MasterChef Canada judge Claudio Aprile moved from his Summerhill home to Oakville. Since then, he’s found favourite places to hit up for croissants, avocado bowls and chocolate chip cookies. He took us for a tour of his go-to cafés, restaurants and bakeries in his new hometown. |
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| Chef So Sakata, formerly of Thornhill’s Michelin-starred (but now-closed) Frilu, is cooking up a storm at Dopamina, a gorgeous new downtown restaurant with a menu that fuses Mediterranean flavours with Asian influences and boatloads of umami. “Every bite has to feel like an amuse bouche—even if it’s dessert,” Sakata says. |
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| In the latest issue: 20 Torontonians doing big things with small footprints. Plus, the ugly truth about Ontario’s reform schools, a Q&A with the city’s traffic czar, vintage cars retrofitted for the electric age and more. Still not receiving Toronto Life at home? Subscribe today. |
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