Last month, Toronto hosted the 7th annual Terroir hospitality and food industry symposium. This year’s theme was stories, memories, and culture that surround food. Invited speakers included renowned chefs Rene Redzepi of Denmark’s celebrated Noma and Mangus Nilsson of Sweden’s Faviken. Redzepi’s restaurant has claimed the top spot for the past three years on San Pellegrino’s list of the World’s 50 best Restaurants. He often refers to Nilsson as his “successor.” Needless to say, both Noma and Faviken have taken the culinary world by storm, reinforcing the pillars of what is fashionable in modern food:... | Continue reading article

Last week we urged you to make reservations at pubs and restaurants, participating in this year’s A Taste For Life fundraiser. In total, there are almost 50 dining destinations, including one caterer (dinner-to-go), signed on. Each will welcome patrons, host volunteers, and donate 25% of sales to causes that support and house persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Proprieter Dave Loan announced ZenKitchen (634 Somerset Street W.) will even serve a special cocktail, a “Frozen Pineapple Daquiri,” $2 from the sale of each going to his restaurant’s donation. Eight hours ago, organizers of A Taste for Life... | Continue reading article

Our wine blogger, Claire, spending a tortuous morning judging eleven confections prepared by some of Ottawa’s more gifted chocolate artisans, I made do. I spent time on the floor, marveling at the professional photographers’ gear and chatting with the competing chefs. Some were dedicated pastry chefs. Others, multi-talented catering chefs. Having covered the Carefor Health Chocolate Competition and Brunch for two years from the judging table (2011 and 2012), it was refreshing participating as a camera wielding attendee. As for why I recused myself from participating as a judge, I followed Chefs Jason Laurin of... | Continue reading article

When the foodiePrints team was asked, once again, to be a judge at the Carefor Health Chocolate Brunch and Competition, we were understandable hesistant. Having been judges the two previous years, we knew that we were in for a morning of torture: a full hot buffet brunch, the company of noted Ottawa chefs, a room full of our fellow citizens, great live music, fun items on auction, followed by a dozen or so chocolate desserts from some of Ottawa’s finest restaurants and caterers…. Can you blame us for hesitating? In all seriousness, it really is... | Continue reading article

Emmy Award-winning Chef Ming Tsai, owner of Blue Ginger Restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts, once described American Chinese food as “adapted … to be blander, thicker, and sweeter for the American public.” Accordingly, if a menu serves “chop suey” (“fried vegetables and ‘some protein’ in a thick sauce”) and a multiplicity of seemingly regional Chinese cuisines (Hunan, Szechuan, Cantonese, etc.), you are dining in a North American Chinese restaurant. Dishes are likely not “authentic.” North American Chinese dishes seem optimized to be prepared quickly with just a wok, either stir fried or deep fried. Many can... | Continue reading article

Christmas presents have been exchanged. The New Year has been toasted with bubbly. By now, most have returned from their holiday excursions. Many took down the Christmas tree on the first, carefully packing away the ornaments. Ours came down after we returned from a brief escape to Toronto, but more on our respite in the Big Smoke in another post. Loyal readers will recall, our recommending two local food events to gift foodies for Christmas: Carefor’s 9th Annual Chocolate Competition and Harmony House‘s Red and White Event. With a week to go before three chefs,... | Continue reading article

To our readers who grew up in North America, if you think back to your high school years, what stands out? First date? First kiss? First taste of beer? Learning to drive? I remember the cliques. I grew up before the proliferation of the World Wide Web (www). The Internet was limited to the military and academia back then. There were no social networking applications. Cell phones were enormous and exclusive to drug dealers and teenagers of extremely wealthy parents. There was no “data,” only voice. For music, we carried big yellow Sony or sleek... | Continue reading article

Now that the music charts have been invaded by the likes of Psy and his mega-hit single Gangnam Style, there is a renewed interest in Korean pop culture. Producers around the world are betting on K-Pop (Korean pop music), breaking into the American music scene. Girl-band Girls Generation tried last year, running the talk show circuit, starting with David Letterman. Hyun-a, who makes a cameo in Psy’s Gangnam Style music video, is presently the fore-funner to try again. Her duet version of Gangnam Style and newly released single Ice Cream have proven popular on YouTube... | Continue reading article