20 years on, I’m Still a Fan of Charming Chef Jamie Oliver

May 25, 2020

This appeared as a longer feature article in the Toronto Star food section on January 26, 2000, after I discovered Jamie Oliver’s fledgling show “The Naked Chef” on TVO. I spoke to Jamie in the flesh a few months later when he was consulting at a London restaurant – the Toronto Star article appears below this one. Twenty years later, he’s had his ups and downs, and I am still a fan.

Jamie Oliver must have supernatural powers. He can make a person leap out of her comfy chair, run downstairs, fling open the freezer and act on an overpowering urge to roast a leg of lamb. I should know. It happened to me. Under slightly different circumstances, it also happened to Jody Read, acquisitions programmer for TVO. Read more…

I Ate Up These Delicious Food Memoirs and So Will You

June 19, 2018

“The table could sometimes breed violence and it could be the backdrop to the proscribed and the forbidden and the perverse … But feeding people made them happy; it made me happy, and grounded me.” From “Treyf” by Elissa Altman

From left to right in the photo above, here are my favourite food memoirs. All of them are beautifully written (in varying degrees) and all evoke the way food played a part in the author’s life. Some contain a bonus: recipes. Read more…

I Discovered Brilliant Anthony Bourdain Many Years Ago

March 13, 2017

In Memoriam: Anthony Bourdain – an inspiration to me and the huge number of devotees who followed his ground-breaking, intrepid and wondrous work – committed suicide while filming an episode of Parts Unknown in France on June 8, 2018. He was one of a kind. RIP dear friend. Read more…

Sistering Feast Raises a Lot of Dough

March 20, 2011

marion and chefs — Women who rule the roast cooked up a storm at Kitchen Sisters fundraiser (left to right): Anne Yarymowich, Lora Kirk, Lynn Crawford, Christine Bib, Colen Quinn, Donna Dooher, Maureen Watson, Joanne Yolles, and yours truly who spearheaded the event.

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Wow, talk about synergy! Read more…

Fiesta Farms is one Super Supermarket

September 28, 2010

For an intrepid, always-curious food sleuth, finding Fiesta Farms is a real coup.

It’s strange that it took many years of living in Toronto (the store opened 20 years ago) for me to make this discovery but I have and, naturally, I must share.

Billed on its web site as “Toronto’s largest independently owned grocery store,” this wonderful food emporium is just that – and much more. Read more…

Feasting in Quebec City

July 24, 2008

QUEBEC CITY – Paul McCartney has left the building.

Wrong. He’s about to arrive by limo through the statuesque gates of the Chateau Frontenac: the landmark Fairmont hotel where he’s about to stay and where hordes of fans and paparazzi have gathered this sunny afternoon to catch a glimpse of the man who is arguably the world’s most famous musician.

Nope. The latest buzz is that McCartney, whose free outdoor concert for an audience of 200,000 happens tomorrow on the famed Plains of Abraham, has surreptitiously entered by a back door. Read more…

Feast on the Beach

March 12, 2008

SOUTH BEACH, Fla. – Lee Schrager, the energetic fellow who founded the annual South Beach Wine and Food festival seven years ago, is one smart cookie.

After all, who, in his/her right mind would not move heaven and earth to attend North America’s biggest food event of its kind in February – a month when most of this continent is experiencing the worst of winter. I should know; I live in Stratford in the heart of Ontario’s snow-belt – one of the reasons I’ve headed south to Miami for this mammoth gastro-fest for the past three years. Read more…

Hot Tips for Cold Weather

January 26, 2008

In case you didn’t catch my chat with host Jeff Goodes on Fresh Air on CBC Radio on Saturday morning, January 27, here’s a list of places I mentioned during our discussion about eating out in winter:

Down the Street, Stratford, Ontario, especially for its warm welcome but also for the cozy decor and excellent food. Read more…