Brewer’s Plate pairs Toronto's best chefs with local breweries for a good cause 
By Maia Filar 
A self-proclaimed celebration of all things slow, local, wild and sustainable, Brewer’s Plate is an annual charity event that convenes local food, chefs, farmers, brewers, musicians and artists for a good cause. “This is not your typical beer event with sawdust on the floor,” says founding director Chris Lowry. “It’s an elegant feast and celebration.”

Snapping fingers and stealing glassware are just some of the moves perpetrated by the true jerk customer
By Adam McDowell   Illustration by Randy Cameron
The Harbord Room has but 22 seats—32 if you include barstools. So when 30-plus diners simply did not show up for their New Year’s Eve reservation, it was devastating to the bistro’s bottom line on a night that should have been a guaranteed win. 

Your best bets for delicious food, a few flavour surprises and change on a twenty dollar bill
By Sarah B. Hood
Are we really so insecure of our dining judgment that we need the reassurance of a 30-person queue outside an establishment to make us feel it’s okay to eat there? Be not afraid! Here’s a list of ten great but untrendy places to go in the east end if you can’t get into the latest burger joint, wood-oven pizza purveyor or noodle spot of the moment. 

By John Szabo MS | @JohnSzabo
Privacy Commissioner ruling reveals weakness in government-run liquor store’s mandate and could pave way for demise of monopoly. 
In an abusive display of regulatory authority, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario has decided unilaterally to suspend all wine club purchases. The decision follows an order handed down by the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario last week, which negated the LCBO’s policies on the collection of personal information.

Top quality brandy is more than just a cold-weather friend
By Stephen Beaumont  | @BeaumontDrinks
Here’s an interesting statistic: 83% of all the cognac consumed in Canada is purchased between December 1 and March 1. That’s a lie. But you bought it, didn’t you?
The reason my fake stat is so plausible is because cognac—brandy in general, really, but especially cognac—is such a quintessential cold-weather drink. 

Parkdale’s inventive bistro/bar invites guests into the kitchen
By Natalie Goldenberg-Fife | @NatalieGF + @CityBites    Photos by Rick O'Brien
When Chantecler was still just a gleam in they eyes of its soon-to-be proud owners, 26-year-old whiz kids Jonathan Poon and Jacob Wharton-Shukster dreamt of opening a tiny nine-seater in a funky foodie-infested neighbourhood. Economic realities eventually set in and they’re now the proud parents of a 26-seat unified bar/kitchen-style-restaurant named after Canada’s only heritage breed of chicken. 

Chefs and diners take adventurous dining to a whole new level
By Natalie Goldenberg-Fife
It’s certainly a killer time to have an appetite in this city. We’ve seen food truck parties in parking lots (à la the Food Dudes), special evenings of chummy chef collaborations (The Group of Seven Chefs and Banana Mafia), and food-and-drink festivals galore (Soupstock, Slurpfest, Icewine Festival, Fortuna Mezcal Week). Not to mention the plethora of palate-altering joints devoted to ramen, doughnuts, tacos and izakaya that are causing line-ups across the city. 

There’s a new pizza joint in town, and (shocking!) it’s not Neapolitan
By Marco Bresba    Photos by Rick O'Brien
Pizza as a casual dining option has become, dare I say it, pretty serious business in Toronto. It’s an all-out, competitive quest for authenticity fueled by a slavish devotion to all things Neapolitan.

There’s more than one way to enjoy your sake
By Michael Pataran | @MichaelPataran
There are two things everyone knows about sake. One, it should be served cold. Two, warm sake is plonk. Well, everyone is wrong.

Master distiller Fred Noe on the bourbon craze, tradition and seven generations
By Adam McDowell 
If Fred Noe looks vaguely familiar, it could be that you’re drinking a little too much bourbon these days. (But then, so is everyone in Toronto.) As the great-grandson of Jim Beam himself and the seventh member of the extended Beam-Noe family to serve as the company’s master distiller, his face adorns the side of the Jim Beam bottle.