For this week’s Be Our Guest we interviewed busy (and hungry) food writer for The Grid, Karon Liu. Every Thursday we salivate over his latest news and reviews, so we thought, why not ask him about the experiences behind those stories?
What made you want to become a food writer? How long have you been at The Grid? Did you write about food before you landed your current gig?
I graduated with a journalism degree from Ryerson University and had some experience with general assignment reporting (crime, city hall, etc.) at newspapers. I fell into food writing when I started as an intern at Toronto Life in 2008. The web editors just started a food blog called The Dish and I elbowed my way in there with zero knowledge of Toronto’s food scene but I was eager to learn. I had a lot of fun with it and stayed on as a freelancer for about a year-and-a-half before I got hired at The Grid in 2010 as a staff food writer.
What is your favourite food trend in Toronto right now? Least favourite?
Restaurants are taking a more easy-going approach in that a lot of newer places aren’t cranking up the music as loud or making it seem like a place that’ll only serve tattooed people under 35. The whole movement away from fine-dining’s table linens and silverware got a bit out of hand and it went from stuffy to sloppy. Lately there are a lot of places where the staff uphold standards of a fancy restaurant but in a casual, neighbourhood friendly setting. Least favourite trend? So-so barbecue.
What has been your best experience at a Toronto restaurant so far? Either for a column or not.It’s hard to single out one experience as the best but I always have a great time at Edulis. The service is warm and attentive, the food is magnificent, and the plates come at a pace that doesn’t make me feel rushed or wondering when the hell the next course is coming. It’s also in a neighbourhood area that’s just off the King West strip, and the dining room decorated like someone’s house. It’s just a really comfortable but elegant experience. I also like ordering the lettuce wraps at Chantecler at the end of a stressful week. Walk in, take a seat at the bar, order a cocktail, and for $21 you get a platter of food enough for two.
Macaroni soup with spam is a very distinct Hong Kong breakfast item that I make whenever I’m sick or jetlagged. It’s a pretty trashy dish that’s basically macaroni cooked in chicken broth seasoned with soy sauce then topped with a slice of seared spam and fried egg on top. It’s something I’ve been eating as long as I could remember. There aren’t a lot of diners where I am in North York. Instead I get my late-night congee and beef brisket rice fix atCongee Queen near Lawrence E and Leslie, which is open till midnight. I also go for bubble tea at Go For Tea in Markham, which is open till 3am. I don’t particularly enjoy bubble tea, which is essentially sugar water, but my best friend from junior high and I have been making it a monthly ritual for years.
All food writers should have some fundamental kitchen skills if they’re going to analyze other people’s cooking. Through my job of talking to chefs and breaking down restaurant dishes, I learned a lot about ingredient pairings, blending spices, cooking techniques, regional cuisines, and how to make a lot of this stuff at home. I consider myself a stronger baker than savoury cook and I have a notebook filled with recipes like green tea shortbreads, dark chocolate-orange brownies, and scones. But cookies are my favourite thing to make. Once you perfect a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe that you can practically make while blindfolded, you can experiment with whatever you want. I have variations like espresso-chocolate, apple-cinnamon-walnut, and peanut butter-pretzel with butterscotch drizzle.
Thoughts on the crookie vs. cronut?
I think the world can accommodate more than one hybrid croissanty thing. The Crookie actually originated from a challenge we gave Clafouti owner Olivier Jansen-Reynaud for a feature in The Grid in June. He was one of four pastry chefs we asked to create a new dessert by mashing up two existing ones, and he chose to combine an Oreo and his croissants. I’ve only eaten the Crookie and I never had Dominique Ansel’s Cronut. I’m sure the Cronut is good but I’m not going to line up two hours for a pastry. I actually read in an interview with Fox News that Ansel wanted to try the Crookie, so it’s cool that Jansen-Reynaud got so much worldwide attention for it.
https://www.thegridto.com/life/food-drink/double-bake/
If one restaurant doesn’t take reservations, accommodate a dietary restriction, or seats large parties, the next restaurant down the street will and probably has just as good food. Relax. Going out to eat should be a treat and not a harrowing ordeal. If a new restaurant is packed, wait a month or two for the crowds to die down. The food and service will probably better anyway because the staff now know what works and what doesn’t. It’s not the end of the world if you’re not there on opening week.
Also, there are so many great restaurants in Toronto that have been around for years, if not decades, but they often get overshadowed by the flashy new restaurants that everyone is Instagramming from. Check out some of the places that survived the trends, the economic downturns, and have a loyal clientele like Joso’s, Scaramouche, Didier, and Foxley. Those are the places that inspired some of the younger chefs dominating the current food scene.
There’s a Haitian restaurant called Rhum Corner slated for a September opening in the former Raw Bar space at Dundas and Bellwoods. It’s by the same people who run the neighbouring Black Hoof so you know the bar will be set high. Haitian food is really underrepresented in Toronto right now, so it’ll be interesting what comes out of that kitchen.
Photos Courtesy of Karon Liu and The Grid.
