Cheap Eats Toronto restaurant guide blog

Would You Glow For Sushi?

In a today's New York Times article "Warnings Don't Deter Lovers of Sushi", New Yorkers are quite cavalier about lab results showing that tuna samples from 5 New York sushi restaurants - Gourmet Garage, Nobu Next Door, Sushi Seki, Sushi of Gari and Blue Ribbon Sushi - all had  unusually high levels of mercury.  Some of the people quoted chose non-tuna items, some chose tuna anyway and Roberta Berman of Staten Island was reported to have shrugged and said :

“If I become iridescent from it, I become iridescent from it.” She added. “I’ll glow in the dark.”

What would you do if the craving for sushi hit?

Technorati Tags: sushi, new york times, mercury, warnings, gourmet garage, nobu next door, sushi seki, sushi of gari, blue ribbon sushi

Shout out from BlogTO

The CETO Facebook Group just got a shout out from BlogTO in their 50 Essential Toronto Facebook Groups.  

Cheap Eats Toronto - The Facebook Group companion to the Cheap Eats Toronto restaurant guide. Administrator Alexa Clark keeps members up to date with links to Toronto food news and events.

Tim has done a great round up and the count increases as people are adding their own essentials in the comments.

As shameless aside, did you know you can also find Cheap Eats Toronto on Flickr?  CheapEaters are sharing photos of their CheapEats meals and fun from all around town.  We've also set up facebook and flickr groups for Cheap Eats Ottawa.  You know, just in case you are on the road and need a nosh in the capital.

Technorati Tags: blogto, link love, facebook, facebook groups, ceto, ceot, cheapeats ottawa, cheapeats toronto, cheap eats, 50 essential toronto facebook groups

Typepad Features CETOblog

Woo Hoo!   The CETOblog.com just got featured as part of Typepad Tour: Toronto:

Join us in a tour of five Typepad blogs that capture the energy, creativity, and humor of Typepad customers in Toronto.

Let's start this tour with a great meal. The Cheap Eats Toronto blog offers a veritable treasure trove of reasonably priced restaurants, extending the reach of the book by the same name (published by Plethora Press).  Keep reading...

They did a great write-up on our blog and the other four featured: Amber Mac, Booklust, Mommy Blogs Toronto and Toronto Real Estate Blog.

Thanks to Sean & Kate for the heads-up, and thanks Typepad for noticing.

Technorati tags: cetoblog.com, typepad, typepad tour: toronto, blogs, toronto, amber mac, book lust, mommy blogs toronto, toronto real estate blog

Giller Prize Founder Needs Our Short List

Jack Rabinovitch's remarks championing CanLit at the 2006 Giller Prize ceremony left me a little shocked.  In a show of support for CanLit and all the finalists, Mr.Rabinovitch, the Giller Prize Founder, said (and I paraphrase here...)

"... for the price of dinner for two in this town, you can buy all the books on the Giller Prize short list.  So eat at home and read the books!"

Jack, while your heart is in the right place, your stomach isn't.  You're obviously eating in the wrong spots.  So we're forwarding you a copy of CheapEats Toronto.  That way, you can have your dinner and CanLit too.

We congratulate the Giller Prize Nominees and suggest everyone hit their nearest indie book store and pick up the full list, which comes in at $106.75 (before taxes), so you'll definitely need CheapEats ($11.95).

Jason Turner's Cartoon Profile

In August I was approached by Lindsay Gibb, the Editor of Broken Pencil, asking if I would consider being a guinea pig for a new feature in the magazine. Each edition, starting with the one you see on the right, they will be inviting an illustrator to create a profile of someone they think is "profile-worthy".
   
Since this is The Food Issue, they thought I would be a likely candidate.  And since I'm always open to shameless self-promotion I agreed. Besides, it sounded fun.

Lindsay hooked me up with Jason Turner, the illustrator, who proceeded to grill me with challenging questions like: "Do you cook as well?" "How is the Ottawa book coming along?" and "what is your earliest memory of eating out."

Jason has done an excellent job, but it's still kind of odd seeing yourself in a cartoon strip.  Cool, but odd.  Especially when someone hits the mark as well as Jason did. Hey, he even caught me delivering CheapEats on my bike.

With Jason's permission  I've posted this frame, but you'll have to check out Broken Pencil: The Food Issue to see the whole strip. But make sure you pick up the right edition. Many of the Chapters/Indigo chain still have the last edition on their racks. (Which is also good, but not as food centric)  I picked up my fresh copy at Pages on Queen W.

As always, I have a couple of quibbles when profiles show me doing this alone. In real life, a huge team of people across North America work really hard to make CheapEats guides possible. I'd love to see a profile of the team, showing all the hard work everyone involved invests in CheapEats. But I guess I'll have to find a CheapEats illustrator to get that rolling   Hummm...

Tags:  CheapEats, CheapEats Toronto, alexa clark, broken pencil, cartoon, jason turner

The First Word on Food

Sunday October 22nd, that's tomorrow, will find me chatting about food with Lisa Moskaluk on CIUT's The First Word. [Listen online between 1pm-3pm]

The theme for the show this week is food and while I don't know who else they've got scheduled in, I suggested a handful of other guests who I know have something to say on the subject. 

Who'd I suggest? 

• Anne Pieponen - a CheapEats contributor who is opening a new bar/resto on College Street West just west of Dovercourt;
• Gurth Pretty - who just published Canadian Artisanal Cheeses, how cool is that?
• Johan Maes - the chef behind le Petit Dejeuner, yum yum yum!
• Stephen Chan - the managing director of the Bright Pearl who is pretty active in promoting Chinatown West and has helped with a couple of guides on dim sum.
• Karen Viva-Hayne - owner of Viva Tastings a small but growing catering company that has just opened a storefront.
• and since the Diwali-Eid celebration at the Gerrard India Bazaar, I thought it might be cool to have someone in to talk about the food of the season.

Reading this?  Think YOU should be on this list?  Tell me why and what your favourite food topic is.

Tags: ciut, lisa moskaluk, cheapeats, gurth pretty, canadian artisanal cheeses, le petit dejeuner, bright pearl, johan maes, stephen chan, karen viva-hayne, viva tastings, gerrard india bazaar, food  alexa clark

Eating Out Has Never Been So Inexpensive.

Thursday's Metro included a little article on CheapEats Toronto. On the same page is a phone of Jude Law, lots of Cadbury chocolate and an ad for My Name is Earl. That puts us in pretty good company if you ask me.

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Eating out has never been so inexpensive

Jo Ann Dias for Metro Toronto

Want to eat out without the breaking the bank? Well there’s a new restaurant guide, CheapEats, that will help you do just that.

Based on recommendation from readers, 15 contributors investigated more than 365 eateries rating places on price, food, cleanliness and style.

Local celebrities’ picks can also be found in the book. Metro’s own Enza Supermodel Anderson’s pick of, Studio Restaurant gets a mention, along with the picks of Mayor David Miller, Gord Martineau and others.

CheapEats can be found at all major bookstores.

Bon appétit!

Lex on Street Meat

Yes it's true, I'm going to be CBC 1 discussing Street Meat with Jian Ghomeshi on Sounds Like Canada Friday. (unless something more interesting causes us to be rescheduled.)

I'm hoping the conversation will expand beyond just Street Meats since the hotdog cart is the strongest representative in Toronto's Street Meats category.  However there are plenty of other Street Treats to be had - empanada, puri, doubles, pupusas, roti, roasted corn and even waffle fishies filled with bean paste.  And I'm willing to wax poetic about all of them!

Jian & I will be joined by Mark Busse a food blogger (In The Kitchen) from Vancouver and Matthew Gibbon a donair & dog aficionado from Halifax.   (did you like that "Jian & I..." part? I did.)

One of the most interesting pre-interview questions that arose was "How do you define Street Meat?"

My response, initially, was that Street Food (and by extension Street Meat) is food that you buy from street vendors.  Street Meat in Canada generally being in one of three forms: meat-on-a-stick, meat-in-a-tube, or formed-meat.

But then the question then arose: do you define Street Food based on the venue or the food itself.  Is a hot dog still street meat if you buy it at a fast food joint? If you buy Coq Au Vin from a chip truck is it Street Food?   Do Bangkok Street Noodles stop being street if you get them at a sit-down restaurant in Toronto?

So, I'm forced to expand my definition of Street Food/Street Meat to food that is typically available from a street vendor in a make-shift or portable kiosk/stand in it's country of origin. Fast and portable, it's the original fast food. 

But what about the experience inherent in buying Street Meat? The joy of watching roasted corn being rubbed down by spice-dipped limes?  The calculated risk when chosing which cart to go to?  How can that be separated from the whole?

I'm looking forward to an interesting conversation about whether places like Ghazele's, Ghandi's & Narula's count.  Personally I'm torn since they are full establishments with a front door and a chair... but I'm willing to debate whether you judge "street food" based on the food or the nature of the place you get it.

Sounds like Canada?  Sounds like CheapEats to me!

Photojunkie spotlight on CheapEats' editor Alexa Clark

Have you ever wondered where this whole CheapEats concept came from? How it got started? Why was Ottawa our second city? Why there aren't more Scarborough restaurants in the book?  Where else are we going?

Well, Rannie over at Photojunkie.ca asked these questions and more when he interviewed me for the Spotlight section of Photojunkie.ca.

Alexa Clark serves up some Cheap Eats

If you leave a comment on Photojunkie.ca spilling your favourite CheapEat you might even win a copy.

Tags: cheapeats, cheapeats toronto, alexa clark, photojunkie, rannie turingan

CheapEats on The Ted Woloshyn Show

Yup, this morning at 6:50am, CheapEats Toronto editor Alexa Clark is on air talking to Ted and Jane about cheap and delicious places to eat around the ciy.

Link: The Ted Woloshyn Show | CFRB 1010.

Best Seller for February!

WOO HOO!

I just found out that cheapeats toronto 2006 is the February #1 best-seller at the Cookbook Store.  Pretty damned impressive when you remember they only started selling it on February 24th, and the month ended 4 days later.

Here's their blurb on the book:

Best Sellers for February 2006

1.Cheapeats Toronto
2006 edition
This latest edition of the best selling guide sends the reader to neighbourhood hidden gems that are also gratefully, inexpensive. Breakfast, lunch and dinner - no stone is left unturned in the quest for good cheap eats. You will delight in finding new places to spend your hard earned dollar; indexes are organized by neighbourhoods as well as cuisines. Also included celebrity favourites, Olivia Chow's fav? Bright Pearl Restaurant on Spadina. Rick Mercer? The Detroit Eatery on the Danforth. Softcover, $11.95.

Link: The Cookbook Store: Best Sellers.

You're Invited!

Finally, the books are here and we're having a party!

Join us at the Rivoli on Wed. March 1st and help us celebrate the latest edition of cheapeats toronto 2006.  Talk about restaurants, food and Toronto while you sample some of the Riv's great appetizers and sip Pelee Island Wine with our contributors, celebrities, friends and restaurateurs.

It's going to be a blast, and you're invited. So come!

cheapeats toronto 2006 Book Launch.
Wednesday March 1st, 7-9pm
The Rivoli Pool Hall
334 Queen St. West

Book Launch FAQ

• Yes you can bring a guest, or two, or five. It's a party after all!
• Light snacks and Pelee Island wine will be served, along with a cash bar.
• cheapeats toronto 2006 will be on sale ($11.95) at the book launch.
• Yes the date has changed to Wednesday MARCH 1st, 7-9pm.

Please RSVP

Proudly Sponsored by:

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Can't Make the Launch?

Pick up your copy of cheapeats toronto 2006 for $11.95 (about what you'll save on 2 meals out) at the Cookbook Store, Book City, Pages, This Ain't The Rosedale Library, Indigo, Chapters, or Coles.  Or buy it online before March 2nd and Plethora Press will pay the shipping.

PreOrder Your Copy of cheapeats toronto 2006

Hi guys,

cheapeats toronto 2006 is coming!  (And is a big part of why there was little to no activity on this blog for the last couple of months.)

It will be available in most independent bookstores on February 24th like Book City, the Cookbook Store, and Pages. Indigo, Chapters and Coles will have it on their shelves sometime in March. (They are slower to get independent publications.)

However, we thought we'd give you the opportunity to preorder your copy of cheapeats toronto 2006 directly from Plethora Press.  Plethora will pay the shipping on any copies ordered from February 8-15th.

CETO'06 Gets It's First Press

2006 guide names new spots for frugal gourmets.

Even before cheapeats toronto 2006 hits bookshelves, Anisa from The Bulletin knew it was coming and started twisting my arm to let her share some of the over 100 new cheapeats in this edition with her readers.

I caved and gave her the following new cheapeats to publish: the Rex, Ruchi, Mr. Jerk, Focaccia Italian Sandwiches, Indochine, Keating Channel Pub & Grill, King Palace Restaurant, Pete's Open Kitchen, Petite Marché, and Morning Glory Café.

You can check the rest of her article The Bulletin's Urban Pleasures.

The new look of cheapeats toronto.

Cover Design: Mondo Lulu, Cover Photo: Michael Visser

Introducing the new look of cheapeats toronto 2006:

Yes, after months of collecting recommendations, visiting hundreds of restaurants, checking the details, writing 365 restaurant profiles, and then just before going to press calling every single restaurants to double check all the details are up to date, cheapeats toronto 2006 is done.

The book is being printed as I type this and we expect most independent bookstores across Toronto will have copies on their shelves by February 15th.

Check with the Cookbook Store - who usually has a waiting list for upcoming cheapeats editions, Book City or your local independent bookstore.

In a couple of days we will be offering advanced purchase through the blog to the friends of cheapeats. If you are reading this, that means YOU!

Thanks for all the great recommendations, we've got some seriously great new restaurants in the 2006 edition.

Have fun and see you at the launch party! (details TBD)
lex

Bring My Own Wine now on the menu.

We're pleased to announce that Sandy at BringMywine.ca has agreed to allow us to syndicate her BYOW newsletters as part of the cheapeats toronto and cheapeats ottawa blogs.

That means that starting with the Bring My Wine Alert #22, we will be keeping you up to date on the Ontario restaurants that support BYOW. 

Sweetspot.ca features cheapeats toronto

Cheap and Cheerful

SweetSpot.ca - July 22, 2004 -- As many of you have probably noticed, our Friday Sweet Nothings usually focus on food. That's because we at Sweetspot.ca like to eat. A lot. We especially like to eat out. But dining out - all the time - is expensive.

That's why we're pleased to introduce to you Cheapeats Toronto, a cute guide book that shares Toronto's reasonably-priced hidden gems.

Keep reading on sweetspot.ca...

cheapeats toronto a 2003 Best-Seller!

Toronto's Cookbook Store has just announced that for the second year in a row cheapeats has placed the Cookbook Store's annual list of top sellers.

cheapeats and BOLDstreet add WIFI to the menu

cheapeats restaurant guides and BOLDstreet Wireless Internet Add Wi-Fi to the Menu in the cheapeats Restaurant Guides

Ottawa, ON - November 12, 2003 - BOLDstreet Wireless Internet, Canada's premier wireless Internet service provider, and cheapeats, the best-selling restaurant guide series published by Plethora Press, today announced a partnership to place wireless Internet or Wi-Fi on the menu for cheapeats ottawa. Wi-Fi access was added to the guide due to the growing number of BOLDstreet Wi-Fi locations throughout Ottawa, and the increasing interest in Wi-Fi access among business executives, entrepreneurs, travelers, hipsters and consumers.

The cheapeats team of Ottawa-based restaurant insiders, writers and serious eaters are looking for recommendations from Ottawa and Gatineau locals for restaurants, from greasy spoons to bistros, including Wi-Fi enabled spots. Recommendations are wanted for restaurants that are good quality and meet the cheapeats price range - breakfast under $5, lunch under $10 and dinner under $15.

Ottawa restaurants are considered only if they have been recommended through the Website (www.cheapeatstoronto.com), by word-of-mouth or by a cheapeats reader, contributor or celebrity. No restaurants pay to be in the guide, and the researchers and reviewers pay for their own meals.

"cheapeats guides recommend good quality, interesting, high-value restaurants. Ottawa is the perfect second city for our guide, because it has more restaurants per capita than almost any other city in Canada, with a growing range of cuisines to reflect the diversity in the city," said Alexa Clark, cheapeats ottawa editor. "Working with BOLDstreet to highlight Wi-Fi hotspots in Ottawa restaurants will give our readers more options and flexibility when selecting a cheapeat."

Ottawa is the second city for the best-selling restaurant guide series, which started with cheapeats toronto, which is currently available in Ottawa at Perfect Books on Elgin Street. cheapeats ottawa will be on bookstore shelves by early 2004.

Tom Camps, CEO of BOLDstreet, said, "BOLDstreet's mission is to establish hotspots where people want to be, not just where they have to be. Our partnership with cheapeats is another step in delivering this value to Wi-Fi users and increasing the overall value of the hotspot locations in our network. There are hotspots all over Ottawa, but not everyone is aware of how many BOLDstreet locations are available to them. This guide lets people eat well and connect in convenient, everyday places, whether it's for an hour or a minute, for work or for fun."

cheapeats restaurant guides
have been featured in Food Services & Hospitality Magazine, CP24's consumer report, CBC's Ontario Today, Metro Morning, Here & Now and Information Morning, the Halifax Herald, Toronto's NOW Magazine, FAB magazine, CityTV's Breakfast Television, CFRB, and ABC's Dining Around with Gene Burns.

cheapeats restaurant guides are now in their second year in Toronto. cheapeats toronto 2003/04 is #1 best seller at Toronto's Cookbook Store, and last year's edition was a 2002 best-seller.

About BOLDstreet
BOLDstreet is the dominant national wireless Internet service provider in Canada offering true high-speed wireless Internet access to mobile professionals while they are away from their home or office, and at the same time, provide BOLDstreet business partners with unique opportunities to increase customer loyalty and revenue. A complete list of BOLDstreet HotSpot locations is available at www.boldstreet.com.

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For more information contact

cheapeats ottawa - pr@cheapeatsottawa.com

BOLDstreet
Cathy Caldeira, LNS Communications
1 617-577-9777
ccaldeira@LNScom.com

cheapeats on CBC

cheap eats' Alexa Clark recommends great spots to eat cheap and well on CBC's Here & Now

Toronto, ON – June 10, 2003 – Listen to editor and publisher Alexa Clark on CBC's Here & Now every day this week as she discusses the newest edition of this best selling guide. Alexa and CBC's Marichka Melnyk visit and discuss 3 very different cheapeats across the city.

Tuesday

Grand's Seafood

Wednesday 

The Coffee Mill

Thursday

El Trompo
Akram's
Jumbo Empanadas
Moonbean Coffee

cheapeats toronto on Summer Bestseller List

MEDIA ALERT - For Immediate Release

New Toronto Restaurant Guide on Summer Bestseller List

Toronto, ON September 25, 2002 --- Torontos new independently published guide to over 300 good inexpensive restaurants, Cheapeats Toronto 2002, is on The Cookbook Stores summer bestseller list and its selling off the shelves at independent bookstores across the city. Over 800 copies of Cheapeats Toronto 2002 have been sold in the two months since the books mid-July launch. The reasons for the book's high sales are straightforward: "Cheapeats Toronto is selling so well because it's good and accurate," says Mika Bareket, manager Book City (Annex store). She adds, "No one is adverse to a good, cheap meal!"

New Restaurant Guide Features over 50 Queen Street Eateries

by Lucy Taylor  -- first published in: What's on Queen -- July/August Issue

Connoisseurs of quality cuisine on a recession budget are in for a real treat.  Now in bookstores, cheapeats toronto 2002 is the first restaurant guide of its kind in Canada.  Restaurants are reviewed not just by professionals, but by patrons throughout Toronto who have added their critiques and praises.  Additional recommendations were made by celebrities, including Pamela Wallin, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Mike Bullard.  Submissions were contributed through the Cheapeats website (www.cheapeatstoronto.com) and through contacting the publishing house directly.

The brainchild behind this innovative "frugal food guide" is publisher Alexa Clark.