GALA ANNOUNCEMENTS— Eater Toronto is pleased to announce that Nobu Adilman has joined the Toronto team as Editor. You may remember him from the Food Network Canada series Food Jammers or through his work founding the amateur choir choir! choir! choir!. Welcome Nobu!
REALITY TV— Food Network Canada viewers can't seem to get enough of the show, Chopped. The premiere of the reality-based show had the highest rated series premiere in the network's history. Perhaps viewers tuned in to see how Tori Spelling's husband, host Dean McDermott, would do on his own reality show.
BALDWIN— Chef Francisco Alejandri and Keyvan Foroughi's Agave Y Aguacate is officially open for business on Baldwin Street. When he was in Toronto, Chef Anthony Bourdain couldn't get enough of Alejandri's cooking.
SOUTH ANNEX— Shots! Games! Snakes & Lagers, the older drunker brother to the all-ages Annex games café, Snakes and Lattes, opened this week in the recently shuttered Smokeless Joe's spot on College Street. Cool. Play a board game over a pint.
RAMEN CHALLENGE— Love Ramen noodles? Yes please! beat the cold and step up to the MEGA KINTON RAMEN EVENT. The challenge is simple enough: if you can polish off a (mega) bowl of Kinton's Shoyu Ramen that includes two servings of noodles, six pieces of pork shoulder, four pieces of pork belly, a seasoned egg, one serving of nori, and three handfuls of beansprouts, it's on the house. Good luck.
SOUTH ANNEX— Now, for sushi fans. The new Windup Bird Cafe at Borden at College Street is offering sushi classes this month. On January 12th and 26th, Sang Kim, the restaurateur/writer powerhouse behind Blowfish, Yakitori Bar, and Seoul Food Co., launches "Sushi Making For The Soul" classes at Windup Bird Cafe, his latest restaurant project with partners Claudio Gaudio and Chef Yumiko Kobayashi.