First heard on Twitter then confirmed in person, Le Pain Quotidien is closed – bankrupt. Now where am I going to get my bread?

Earlier this year, Dynasty on Bloor St. closed. It’s being remade into a bistro. The good news is they found a new location – the “cursed” upper floor of 69 Yorkville. I say it’s cursed because restaurants have come and go from that location many times in the past few years. However, I predict that the owners of Dynasty will have a successful run out of it. It opens December 18, 2010.

Koko Share Bar opened in Yorkville a few weeks ago. The reviews have been positive and I put it on my list of places to try. On a random afternoon I poked my head in and tried lunch at the new restaurant. The lunch menu differs from their dinner menu but I was offered both to take a look at. I tried a beef tenderloin sushi roll and the Maguro role of tuna and ‘kimchee’. The dishes shortly arrived and both were quite tasty. Both sets of rolls surprised me by being quite bite-sized – I’ve found many new sushi places make very complex rolls with so many ingredients it makes the rolls almost too big to eat.

The beef tenderloin roll surprised me by it’s freshness. By using an outer layer of beef and a very thin layer of rice, they allow the veggies like the garlic stem to come through when eating. It tasted crisp like a salad. The Maguro roll had a tiny star shap of okra on top, I don’t recall okra being part of Korean or Japanese cuisine, but it looked great. This reminded me of a “spicy tuna” roll but it got it’s spiciness from the kimchi and not from a mayo-hotsauce concoction.

The quiet lunchtime hour allowed me to talk with the owner about many of the dishes. Each one is carefully crafted and you can tell he put a lot of thought into creating some unique dishes – taking a bit of Japan and Korea in each dish. I was very happy with my meal at Koko and will be back.

Koko Share Bar
81 Yorkville Ave.

Kitchen Confidential is the book that made Anthony Bourdain famous. The TV host of food and travel show, “No Reservations” got his start in the self-described “dark underbelly” of New York’s restaurant kitchens. It’s a very raw look at the life of a chef and insightful look at the man on TV.

The book, now almost 10 years old, gives a look into a much younger and much bolder Tony Bourdain. It’s entertaining and filled with colorful stories. If it was a movie it would probably be rated ‘R’.

On a different note, I learned of an episode of No Reservations that I have yet to see on TV. It was an episode filmed about their trip to Beirut. On the second day of the trip, the 2006 Lebanon War broke out and what started as a food documentary turned into human drama. The episode focuses much on what it was like being in the middle a war in the relatively safety of their hotel/safehouse while waiting to be evacuated by the US Government. It was probably the best episode of the series – and won an Emmy.

This friday was the grand opening of the new MBCo location. A great place for a gourmet, culinary sandwich (chicken and brie pictured). The new location is bright and airy. Anchored near the “five theives” it should do well. It’s open on Victoria Day!

Yesterday was a perfect day to check out Caren’s back patio. With the cooler afternoon wind, the secluded patio offered us a respite from the gusts but still a nice outdoor patio scene. Caren’s is a small wine and cheese bar on the west part of Cumberland. The patio is nice and comfortable, and each table was decorated with nice, bright pillows and fabric giving a little life to the wood deck decor.

Caren’s offered a great wine selection (we had the Masi Ripasso) and a large selection of cheeses. The selection was a bit too big, so we chose the chef’s recommendation and were presented with three generous portions. The menu suggests wine pairings for each cheese platter.Caren’s also offers a full menu that can be taken advantage of.

Caren’s Wine and Cheese Bar
158 Cumberland St.
Toronto, ON
416.962.5158

The warmer weather has allowed me to go out and explore the area near my new office at noon. This Friday I went down to Ravisoups near Peter and Adelaide. I’ve heard about it before – it got great press when it opened – it was also mentioned on the office list of “recommended places to go” that sits in our lunchroom.

Ravisoups is a nice and cozy spot. It has a back area for a patio but it wasn’t open because it was still pretty brisk outside. Two of us ordered the corn chowder and it was delicious! A lot more filling than I would’ve though but the crab meat piled nicely in the middle of the thick broth fills you up. Each soup came with a biscuit. The others tried different soups, that I forget, but one of us also ordered the lamb wrap which she said was quite good. Ravisoups is definitely a place I will go back to.

Ravisoups
322 Adelaide St. W.
647-435-8365

Yuzu is a new sushi restaurant on Adelaide street. I went last week with friends and it was quite good. The make rolls were great with spicy sauces not overdone or too “mayonaissey”. Sauces are also put on the plate to avoid too much sauce on the maki.

We started with tempura and edemame, and moved on to dynamite and spider rolls, an assorted set of sashimi and a dragon roll. All were really good.

Here’s a set of reviews on Yuzu:
Now Magazine
Chowhound
Martini Boys
Toronto Life

Yuzu Sushi and Sake Bar
236 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, ON
(416) 205-9808

For the past year or so, there has been a Black Camel near my place. Just outside the Rosedale subway station, this place bills itself as a cafe and sandwich bar. These sandwiches are fantastic, my favorite bounces between the pull pork and beef brisket sandwiches. They have many condiment and topping options but caremalized onions are my favorite.

They used to have another location downtown but it appears as this is the only one for now.

Joanne Kates from the Globe and Mail wrote about her top 10 in 2008. Her list is:

CAPLANSKY’S

GRACE

HARBORD ROOM

LOIRE

MADELINE’S – Susar new restaurant

MENGRAI

NOTA BENE

NYOOD – Roger’s restaurant

OMI – One of my original favorite sushi places, now moved to a new Cabbagetown location

SIMPLE BISTRO