Stuck at home in Singapore with a hankering for grilled king crab legs with garlic butter from Michelin-starred Burnt Ends?
No problem: put an order in online and they’ll soon come knocking. Stranded in LA, feverishly peckish–but only a little something from 2-Michelin star Sushi Ginzo Onodera will do? Don’t fret: they’ve hitched their hand-carved chopsticks to the takeout wagon, too. Frankly, it’s increasingly difficult to find a fine restaurant anywhere that hasn’t.
Take for example my go-to Toronto restaurant, Dandylion. A place I favour not just because I like its unpretentious conviviality, but because owner-chef Jason Carter is quality-obsessed and applies his personal touch to every plate that leaves his kitchen. Which is to say exactly the wrong skillset for takeout–until now.
“It pained me to see my space idle and empty,” chef Carter told me on Wednesday. “So we just started a pilot takeout project. Just simple family meals. But it’s so good to see some life back in the place, with chicken stock on the stove, and those other simple things we used to take for granted.”
That night, Dandylion started sending out roast chicken with honey glazed chorizo, garden salad, brownies, and wine–with sommelier Susan Beckett handing it out to waiting customers, curbside. Just as was happening in Montreal, where l’Express–another go-to restaurant of mine from long ago–was marking its fifth decade in business with its own new takeout operation (soupe de poissons, poulet au morilles, boudins noirs). In Vancouver, you can dial-in to Toptable Group for a miso-sake glazed sablefish from Bluewater Café or a 20-oz charcoal-grilled ribeye from Elisa. To each their own comfort foods So while obviously the year will be remembered for other things, as we see it 2020 is also the start of the Golden Age of Takeout.
Stay safe–and don’t stop eating well.
Jacob Richler
Editor in Chief
(GOOD) FOOD NEWS
Montréal Plaza’s Charles-Antoine Crête and Cheryl Johnson have been busy, as Crête puts it, “with what we do best–losing a whole bunch of money!” In this case that means helping redesign the food program for residents of the Royal Victoria Hospital. And then using their kitchen at Plaza to turn out 4,000 sandwiches a week for Accueil Bonneau to distribute to the homeless. Finally, they launch takeout at Plaza this weekend. 👏
Nice cape, Grocery Hero. This Toronto platform uses postal codes to hook up medical staff with volunteers who will deliver groceries to their homes.
Instagram‘s new profile buttons allow restaurants with business accounts to link to their delivery apps and fast-track buying gift cards or donations. Bonus? No commission fees.
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