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Toronto food trends

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Photo of Kat F.
11/15/2009 from Yelp for iPhone Kat "don't get me started!" F. says:

What are some recent trends in Toronto food? I have definitely noticed an explosion in MEAT. New burger places opening on a near weekly basis - so hard to keep track of them anymore - as well as smoked and artisan meats. And butchers.

What else?

  1. Photo of Christine C.
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    11/16/2009 Christine "Meat. Sleep. Pray." C. says:

    Could probably add burritos to that list.  As well, I think coffee (fair trade, organic) & tea spots.  In addition the cupcake craze I believe is also picking up steam.

  2. Photo of Amanda A.
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    11/16/2009 Amanda A. says:

    Brazilian places - I bet we'll be seeing more and more Brazilian Barbeque places in the next year or so. I noticed the Tapas trend is kind of on its way out, that seemed pretty big for a while.

  3. Photo of Helen L.
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    11/16/2009 Helen "will travel for food" L. says:

    I definitely noticed the explosion of meat and the tapas trend fading away.  Fast food done well is so popular right now:
    poutine, burgers and burritos.  Also, tea is making a comeback!  Lots of specialty tea shops opened up.  In addition to cupcakes, I've noticed there are more and more places to get French macaron too.

    Local food is also getting much more mainstream.  I see it on menus everywhere.  and Prix Fixe - everyone is doing it...probably due to the recession.

  4. Photo of Karl R.
    11/16/2009 Karl "Kid Don Cornelius" R. says:

    Korean BBQ, of course. Although that may be a trend that peaked a few years ago. Whatever happened to mongolian food (meat buffet + bowl full of veg + cook it on a big thingy) ? Did it ever hit Toronto?

  5. Photo of Carolyn L.
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    11/16/2009 Carolyn L. says:

    It all sounds so good; it gives me a reason to hit up TO more often! :D

    I've heard a lot about burritos being a new trend in TO, as elsewhere (starting to hit Buffalo pretty big).

  6. Photo of Jonathan W.
    11/16/2009 Jonathan W. says:

    I agree with Kat that their is a decidedly carnivorous trend these days....the whole locavore thingy is just starting to annoy me. I read something where a fella tried to get friends to fedex him his favourite dishes from around the world...just awesome.

  7. Photo of Kat F.
    11/16/2009 Kat "don't get me started!" F. says:

    @Amanda: Yes! Churrasquerias (however you spell it - I've seen no fewer than four acceptable versions) are opening up all over the place. I'm going to make a list of them!

  8. Photo of John F.
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    11/16/2009 John "underpaid civil servant" F. says:

    @Karl - I like "mongolian" barbecue, which in fact has really nothing to do with the country (their diet, I've read, consists mostly of boiled lamb, gruel and fermented horse milk).  We had a good chain in Chicago called Flat Top grill.  It was a great place to fill up cheaply and if you avoid selecting pork and beef, healthily.  I miss it here.

    Ottawa had a similar chain but the sauces were boring and they charged by wait - much, much more expensive.  The Chicago place gave you a choice between one bowl and unlimited, with the latter priced not all that much more.

  9. Photo of Karl R.
    11/17/2009 Karl "Kid Don Cornelius" R. says:

    Yeah I suspected mongolians don't really eat like we'd eat at a mongolian grill restaurant. I have to laugh when I see a Himalayan restaurant serving rich spicy Indian food. Hmmm. Don't get many exotic spices growing on the side of a mountain, do you? But an all you can eat mongolian place with a bowl you can load up with shaved lamb and then grilled and keep going back for more... mmmm.

  10. Photo of Alex R.
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    11/17/2009 Alex R. says:

    I heard one of the new trends is Latin fusion food. My friend went to a private tasting of a new restaurant opening up soon in Toronto. She said the food is delicious apparently the chef is from USA, I'm kind of interested in seeing what this will be all about.

    Does anyone know of any Latin fusion food restaurants in Toronto they could recommend?

  11. Photo of John F.
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    11/17/2009 John "underpaid civil servant" F. says:

    I know weight and wait are different things but wondered why I typed the wrong homonym - been doing that a lot lately -- perhaps dementia is setting in.

  12. Photo of Andrea L.
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    11/17/2009 Andrea L. says:

    Hey John and Karl,
    There is a Mongolian BBQ place. It's called Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill (here's someone else's review for it) http://www.yelp.ca/biz....  I've been there.  It's okay, but not as good as the one I used to go in London.

  13. Photo of Min min T.
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    11/17/2009 Min min "Not Just Anypony" T. says:

    I'm suprised there isn't an obsession with frozen yogurt here!

    It's super big in Cali and in Korea.

  14. Photo of Karl R.
    11/17/2009 Karl "Kid Don Cornelius" R. says:

    Good observation Min Min. Yeah Frogurt 2.0 like Red Mango:

    http://en.wikipedia.or...

    You get a dish of frogurt and then get to go mad topping it with everything from gummy bears to bacon (this is Korea). Okay I lie about the bacon. But I don't lie by much.

  15. Photo of Chris P.
    11/17/2009 Chris "How quickly can I hit 4 digits?" P. says:

    Fro-yo is coming, just wait.  New places are opening up like Blush Berry*

    *Tasty Fro-yo place in my profile pic.

  16. Photo of Alex R.
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    11/18/2009 Alex R. says:

    I could use some good frozen yogurt, I usually go to yogen fruz, but definatly interested in trying someplace new.

  17. Photo of Karl R.
    11/19/2009 Karl "Kid Don Cornelius" R. says:

    Artisan donuts... I noticed Korea (bastion of all things Dunkin' Donuts) started to get these high end donut places serving really exotic donuts, a kind of artisan or craft donut thingy. I'd like to see that here.

    http://mewmew.tistory....
    http://pds7.egloos.com...
    http://cfs6.tistory.co...
    http://www.flickr.com/...

  18. Photo of Kat F.
    12/6/2009 Kat "don't get me started!" F. says:

    For comparison, here are some of next year's food trend predictions in New York:

    "Asian-Latin fusion, craft beer, eggs as ingredients, retro desserts, locavore liquor, coal-fired pizza, high tea, gluten-free foods, off-the-bone cuts of lamb, and a return to canning, smoking, curing, and pickling."

    http://newyork.grubstr...

  19. Photo of Shari M.
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    12/6/2009 Shari "is blowing in the wind" M. says:

    i love high tea

    another road trip to add...one of my first reviews so super short...but amazing, and reasonably priced, high tea http://www.yelp.ca/biz...

    they all sound great kat - thanks for sharing!!  looking forward to the next wave (although, nothing is as good as new wave...)

  20. Photo of Christine C.
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    12/6/2009 Christine "Meat. Sleep. Pray." C. says:

    @Kat....retro desserts?  Does this mean the return of the Jello mold with canned fruit cocktail in it?

  21. Photo of susan c.
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    12/6/2009 susan "My hat is not filled with marzipan" c. says:

    Already pretty ubiquitous in trendy NYC restaurants, I'm seeing kimchi pop up in non-Korean restaurants in Toronto: as a burger topping at Burger Bar, in cocktails at Ame

    Chorizo is now the new bacon.

    I also see rabbit on more menus outside of French and Italian restaurants.

  22. Photo of Shari M.
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    12/6/2009 Shari "is blowing in the wind" M. says:

    @Christine - if that is true...then the dirty shwa is a trend setter

  23. Photo of Kat F.
    12/30/2009 Kat "don't get me started!" F. says:

    One thing's for sure, cupcakes are a thing of 2008/2009...but over now.

  24. Photo of susan c.
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    12/30/2009 susan "My hat is not filled with marzipan" c. says:

    Will donuts be the new cupcakes?

  25. Photo of Jessica C.
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    12/30/2009 Jessica "Sesquipedalian" C. says:

    For some reason I see poutine everywhere, charcuterie (fancy pants deli meats), burritos... I'm praying that the macaroon trend goes big and we finally get some decent ones in T.O.

  26. Photo of Richie S.
    1/6/2010 Richie "Food Slut™" S. says:

    Being a meat-inhaler...wait, that sounds so wrong...I was pleased to see the charcuterie take off in 2008/2009 - Black Hoof even opened up another place across the street. Staying with meat, I'd like to see more game used - bison was a hit a couple years ago, but more ostrich, I did see some kangaroo lately too.

    I've noticed craft-beers in the states and a few place in TO trying to make a comeback (Queen and Beaver, for one).

    I predict that there will be an increase in seasonal menus and "artisanal" plates - more rustic, family-style plates

  27. 1/6/2010

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