Press
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Plates of prog rock
Among all of Rush's super-complex songs, there exists one so damnably difficult, it's like the Mount Everest of rock. La Villa Strangiato, from 1978's Hemispheres, is a nine-and-a-half-minute instrumental in 12 parts, based on a nightmare suffered by guitarist Alex Lifeson; its arrangement is so intricate that he, bassist Geddy Lee and drummer Neil Peart themselves couldn't record it all in one take, despite their redoubtable technique.
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Chefs take over Toronto Star cafeteria to serve classy junk food
Chefs Matt Kantor and Anthony Rose took over the Toronto Star cafeteria last night to cook up a five-course, junk food–inspired meal.
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Sweetbread Double Down
Inspired by KFC’s infamous Double Down sandwich, Kantor came up with this gourmet version using sweetbreads, an increasingly common menu item at top tables across the country and a perennial crowdpleaser at his supper club affairs. You can buy sweetbreads at most high-end butcher shops, although you may need to order them in advance.
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Snapshot: Muskoka Brewery’s secret BBQ
Chef Matt Kantor and competitive barbecue champ Jason Rees cooked up a secret feast last night on Ossington.
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New doc tells the story of Secret Pickle Supper Club
A new documentary by Brilynn Ferguson delves into the world of Secret Pickle Supper Club, a travelling supper club in Toronto that shuns expensive bottle service and other pretentions, focusing instead on creating an original and top-notch dining experience.
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Three Ontario chefs show off the best of Aussie cooking at the epic Toronto Down Under dinners
Here in Toronto, three Ontario chefs—Matt Kantor (Secret Pickle Supper Club and Ghost Chef), John Placko (culinary director of Maple Leaf Foods) and Kingston wunderkind Luke Hayes-Alexander (Luke’s Gastronomy)–banded together to host three nights celebrating Australian cuisine, complete with Australian wines, beer and whisky pairings at the Cookbook Store and Studio Kitchen, the site of last year’s El Bulli Imitació dinner... Read More -
Bits: Toronto Down Under, Aussie Dinner
In celebration of Australia Day (January 26th) a trio of chefs have come together to host a series of dinners this week, featuring a 15-course tasting menu that plays on classic and modern Australian dishes. There are three #torontodownunder dinners taking place this week; I managed to grab a seat at the first one, which took place last night. Read More -
The Year in Food : 2011
From pop-up taco shops to fancy food courts, $100 burgers to deep-fried cola, here's our all-you-can-eat buffet of local food news from 2011.
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Shinan: From Kelly to Kohler
That one of the hottest chefs in town doesn’t even have a restaurant … but might soon enough, as the new Post City magazine reveals! Read More -
TO's secret chef ready to go public
Matt Kantor on Secret PIckles, Chost Chefs and where he plans on opening his own place already...Read More -
Bain: Chef cooks in unusual places
Chef Matt Kantor doesn’t need something as formal as a restaurant to do his work. He’ll turn anything — a jewellery shop, a cookbook store, a butcher shop — into a place where food happens. Read More -
A visual tour of El Bulli Imitació, Matt Kantor’s epic 22-course homage to Ferran Adrià
If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Ferran Adrià—chef and co-owner of the now shuttered El Bulli, a restaurant on Catalonia’s Costa Brava that reigned as the World’s Best for many years—must be feeling the love right now. Read More -
How to eat a 23-course dinner
I’ve never been to elBulli, Ferran Adria’s famed (but now defunct) restaurant in Spain. I’m too scientifically challenged to understand molecular gastronomy. I don’t enjoy the formality of fine dining. I’m more than happy with a one-course meal. So when Matt Kantor invited me to one of his 23-course elBulli Imitacio tribute dinners at the Cookbook Store this week, I almost said no. Read More -
El Bulli Toronto by Matt Kantor
The year is 1970 and The Beatles just broke up. Around the world, other rock groups pay homage to the band, selecting tiny venues for one-off shows, covering their favourite songs: Hendrix playing Hey Jude, Pink Floyd playing Rocky Raccoon and I’m Only Sleeping. Last night was kind of like that, but for the culinary world. Read More -
26-course menu for Matt Kantor’s El Bulli tribute dinner released
Now that Ferran Adrià has shuttered El Bulli, it seems that the dishes and techniques he pioneered at the World’s Greatest Restaurant are now fair game. Matt Kantor, the chef behind the Secret Pickle Supper Club pop-up venture, has just released the menu for the three-night-only El Bulli Imitació. Read More -
CBC Radio One – Here and Now
"Ghost Chef" : Laura DiBattista discusses the Ghost Chef and tips for Thanksgiving. Listen Here -
The Globe and Mail
"El Bulli tribute dinners: culinary flattery – or theft?"
...What makes tonight’s dinner stand out is that Mr. Lepine, who ordinarily is one of the country’s most original chefs, will have stolen – or “borrowed” if you’d rather be diplomatic about it – every last one of the recipes from another chef. The event at Atelier will attempt to replicate the cooking of el Bulli, the groundbreaking modernist restaurant in Roses, Spain, that served its last meal this past July.
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The GridTO
"The $6 Gourmet"
No other food defines “broke ass” more than a $1 box of elbow pasta and powdered cheddar, but that doesn’t mean it can’t make for a classy meal. We gave four chefs a $5 bill and a box of mac ’n’ cheese (President’s Choice Deluxe White Cheddar, naturally) and asked them to impress us. We imagine the results will also impress the thousands of dorm-room dwellers currently eating cereal for dinner.
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The GridTO
"How to make ... Onion Ice Cream?"
Even though it seems like a new gelato or ice-cream shop opens every week, they tend to stick to tried-and-true flavours in favour of more experimental ones. Enter Matt Kantor, chef of the Secret Pickle Supper Club, who dropped by The Grid’s office with some leftover onion ice cream he made for a previous dinner.
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Good Food Revolution : Jaime Drummond
"A truly stellar meal....Highly Recommended...FLOORED by the Pork Belly and Peach Tart. Seriously so." Read more -
1010 NewTalk Radio
"Ghost Chef, Jewishness, and Covert Ops" Listen Here -
Macleans
"How to pretend you're an amazing cook: The Ghost Chef makes dinner, then slips out and lets you take all the credit" July 25th 2011 -
The GridTO
"Secret Pickle Supper Club hosts a peculiar Saturday-night tea party" Read More -
Toronto Life
"Check out liquid nitrogen–poached doughnuts and other molecular miracles from a recent Modernist Cuisine demo" Read More -
CBC Radio One – Metro Morning
"Unique Dinner Party" : Matt Galloway spoke with Matt Kantor. He is a local chef, and the creator of a supper club called Secret Pickle Supperclub Listen Here -
The Grid, First Edition
"I'll eat what I like, thanks"
Secret Pickle Supper Club's Matt Kantor tells us why he rarely worries about local or organic - so long asit's tasty.
I don't get too caught up in the local thing. You can buy something that's grown in Ontario, but it might not be grown in good dirt. Or worse, it could be grown in a greenhouse without soil - or much flavour. Same goes for organic foods. It's hard to tell what you're really getting. Nobody likes eating pesticides, and organic helps wiht that, but even a crop that' raised organically and loaclly can get screwed up as soon as it leaves the farm.
Consider this: if you have a small pickup truck filled wiht a couple baskets of onions versus a plane carrying 30 cases, which one is worse fo the the environment? now consider the plane was probably heading here anyway, but the truck is making the trip into the city just to specifically sell those onions. See the problem?
There are occasions when local is better. Corn is great example because the longer it takes to get somewhere, the more he flavour degrades.The best tasting corn is right off the stalk and you get it the same day or the day after. But it's about understanding what your options are and not assuming that because it's local, it's good. The question is, "What's more important to the diner?" Is it a reduction in carbon footprint or getting something that tastes better? Depending on the time of year, the answer may differ or the difference may be negligible.At the end of the day, I'm going to give my diners the best of what's available. -
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1010 NewTalk Radio
"Ghost Chef, Horsemeat, and Toronto Down Under" Listen Here -
