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Eat It Up... Summerlicious in Toronto

by Jordan Yerman | July 16, 2008 at 08:46 am

486 views | 2 Recommendations | 8 comments

Hungry for culinary adventure? Yeah, of course you are... Toronto's annual Summerlicious is underway, in which participating restaurants open their doors to a wider public with special prix-fixe menus. For many, it's a chance to branch out from the usual haunts and try a new place, lured by their signature dishes. For some (i.e. me), it's a chance to eat at establishments that are normally out of their (i.e. my) price range.

Participating restaurants keep separate reservations for their Summerlicious offerings, and these reservations get snatched up with alarming speed; indeed many participating eateries are already full, though some spots remain.

Foodies obsess over the online menus, often knowing what they want before they're even seated at the actual restaurant. Indeed, one can see overeager gormandizers sneaking peeks at other restaurants' menus via Crackberry or smartphone, presumably to avoid overlap from night to night- it just wouldn't do to order the chicken tonight if tomorrow's reservation looks better on the poultry front.

My girlfriend got busy with the reservations, gleefully informing me that we have a dine-namic dinner schedule for the rest of the week. We started out the other night by checking out a Moroccan scene called Le Maroc, which is part of The Sultan's Tent.. The food was delightful, though the service was rushed, even though very few tables were occupied, and the back was nearly empty (the sultan must've been lonely). Since everything was tagine-cooked slowly throughout the day, courses could be served at Burger-King speed, and some of them were. The mint tea was awesome. (Hey, I'm not a food journo, just a guy who likes to eat) The highlight item for me were the maftoul: thin pastries stuffed with spiced beef.

If you're in the Greater Toronto Area, check out Summerlicious- your stomach will thank you.

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jessica.lam

at 09:28 on July 16th, 2008

dine-amic. I like it. This isn't unlike Dineout Vancouver. The only trouble is - the restaurants have such high volume that it might not be as good as it usually is. not to rain on anyones parade...

Jordan Yerman

at 10:42 on July 16th, 2008

Yeah, and they'll offer dishes that are easier to prepare in volume. Then again, the lowered price is quite tempting... New York has something like this as well, with prix fixe menus set at whatever year it is, i.e. $20.05 in 2005.

Amy Judd

at 10:56 on July 16th, 2008

I love this idea - that way we get to try different dishes for a cheaper price and sample things we may not be able to do before.

I always take part in Dineout Vancouver.

julianw

at 10:59 on July 16th, 2008

Thin pastries stuffed with spiced beef. tell me more.

rpshen

at 11:16 on July 16th, 2008

Mmmm.... sounds delicious. Too bad it's ending on the 20th. so soon.

theunderminer

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:40 on July 17th, 2008

Yum yum yummalicious.

milligan087

at 14:14 on July 17th, 2008

Watch out for Winterlicious during december/january too!

milligan087 has contributed a photo to this story.

Bokchoi

at 07:33 on July 19th, 2008

Summerlicious/Winterlicious has slowly gone down hill since it began and I unfortunately no longer look forward to making those frantic phone calls when the lines open. I hope restaurants take the critiques to heart and try and make a good impression. Besides, the reason why I went back repeatedly to Celestin, and other restaurants such as Canoe and Bymark, during regular, non-licious periods in the first place was because of their fantastic Winterlicious/Summerlicious menus during their first year participating in the events. It's a great opportunity to win new clients and to show off to Toronto what you've got up your sleeves. Cheers guys, and happy eating.

Bokchoi has contributed a photo to this story.