Cheap Eats Toronto restaurant guide blog

Lex Screwed Up, You Get 25% OFF

I just got a note from someone trying to buy a copy of CheapEats Ottawa today.

He found a post on the Ottawa blog with a 25% discount code good until May 14th, and the code wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t work because it expired in 2008. 

However, there wasn’t a single place in the post that said that!  So, not only is he getting the 25% discount, you are getting the 25% discount too!

Lex Screwed Up Discount

• go to http://plethorapress.myshopify.com/
• buy a copy of CheapEats Toronto (2006) or CheapEats Ottawa (v2) – or both
• Do it today March 30th, 2010
• enter the discount code: YUM
• get 25% off.
• Teach Lex not to screw up!

It’s that simple.  But remember – this is one day only! 

CheapEats On Sale 'til May 14th.

Buy a copy of CheapEats online at http://plethorapress.myshopify.com by May 14, using the discount code "cheapeater" & you'll get

25% off & FREE CDN shipping

That means CETO for $9.41 or a CEOT for $10.19, or both for under $20 including shipping.

Just go to http://plethorapress.myshopify.com 
On checkout enter the code: cheapeater

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).

Canzine Rocked.

We spent yesterday at Canzine and it was a blast.  We met lots of great people (of course we did), chatted CheapEats (as usual), saw piles of cool 'zines and indie publications, and as usual, we were blown away by the creativity that filled the place.

In addition to selling books, promoting the blogs and handing out buttons, we held a draw for a couple of copies of CheapEats Toronto.

Winners of the Canzine draw:

• Tara-Michelle aka Lydia Lane - who won with her recommendation for Buddha's Vegetarian Foods (pg. 46 -- CheapEats Toronto 2006)
• Natalia - who won with her recommendation for Salad King (pg. 128 -- CheapEats Toronto 2006)

 Congratulations and thanks to everyone who dropped by, made recommendations and made the day so much fun.

Technorati tags: canzine, toronto

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

CheapEats on Amazon

Finally Amazon has both CheapEats Toronto and CheapEats Ottawa on their virtual shelves!  With their covers. Yay!

For those of you wondering about the cover design differences: it's because the CEOT (CheapEats Ottawa) depicted is the 2004/5 edition. CheapEats Ottawa 2007 (expected in bookstores spring 2007) will use the new Mondo Lulu cover design.

More Info:

• Toronto - CheapEats Toronto, CETOblog.com
• Ottawa - CheapEats Ottawa, CEOTblog.com

   

Who's Going To Word On The Street

I've just been invited to join in The Word On The Street's Blogging Toronto discussion panel being moderated by Matt Blankett of Spacing Magazine.  The panel is being held at 12:30 in the Wordshop Marquee stage.  Don't know where that is? Me either, but it looks like it's in the North East quadrant of Queen's Park.