Toronto Archives - Hungry Travelers

We met Lena as we were all marveling over the Greek theater in Taormina, Sicily (parconaxostaormina.com/en). Originally built in the third century BCE, the ruins perch high above the Ionian sea. Even after the Roman renovations (they took out the orchestra to make room for gladiatorial combat) and more than a millenium of decay, the old theater has a marvelously imposing presence. After chatting about Sicily's rich history and remarkable artifacts like Roman villas and Byzantine churches, our conversation inevitably turned to food. We had been spending a lot of time in the fresh food markets, after all. Lena had been born near Trapani and emigrated from Sicily to Toronto with her family when she was seven years old. She grew up eating her mother's...Read More

Meeting Magdalena Kaiser of Wine Country Ontario during our recent visit to Toronto was a real treat. She hails from Ontario wine royalty. Her father, Karl Kaiser, was a co-founder in 1975 of Inniskillin Wines, Inc. The first winery licensed in Ontario since 1929, Inniskillin was a pioneer in making world-class wines on the Niagara Peninsula east of Toronto. The area quickly became known for exceptional ice wines but has broadened out to a huge variety of table wines as well. We started visiting the Niagara Peninsula in the late 1980s. At the time, winemakers were shifting into European vinifera grapes from hardier French-American hybrids. They also launched Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), which oversees quality standards and certifies the origins of the wines in Ontario...Read More

Toronto

Ghiotta: A touch of Sicilian home cooking

Ontario wine country becomes a world player