With ongoing restrictions across the country due to the pandemic, the impact on the food industry continues, forcing some restaurants to reinvent their business models and others to close permantently. In Vancouver, many Chinese restaurants are transforming their parking lots into patios for dim sum service.
In other food-related trends, urban gardening is becoming exponentially more popular in Canadian cities as we learn more about its role in mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Here are five stories you might have missed in food news this week.
Toronto pastry chef Christopher Siu wins MasterChef Canada
In the exciting season seven finale, Christopher Siu was crowned the winner of MasterChef Canada: Back to Win, going home with a $100,000 prize, a “Chef’s Culinary Package”, and the coveted title of Canada's MasterChef champion.
Siu is a talented baker and owner of Daan Go in Toronto. His hopes of expanding the bakery were put on hold by the pandemic, but this win will support his dream of revitalizing his pastry business as he takes his passion for baking to the next level.
Read more at Toronto Sun.
Parking lot patios are popular at Vancouver Chinese restaurants
With the current ban on indoor dining in BC, many restaurants are repurposing their parking lots into outdoor dining spaces. Chinese restaurants in Vancouver are seeing an especially high demand for reservations and have customers lining up to eat on their parking lot patios.
Although dim sum is meant to be served hot and eating outside is traditionally uncommon, the restrictions have forced many Chinese people to change their cultural way of eating.
Visit CBC News for the full story
Toronto brewpub announces that it's closing permanently
Batch, a large brewpub in downtown Toronto run by the brewing giant Creemore Springs, has announced that it is closing permanently as a result of the pandemic. The multi-level, 2,500-square-foot restaurant and brewery on Victoria Street in the heart of the city operates for four years and was a popular lunch and after-work destination for downtown workers.
Find more information in the blogTO article.
Suspect charged in the murder of Calgary chef is granted bail
Calgary chef Christophe Herblin was murdered in March 2020 after being attacked near the restaurant he was on the verge of opening. Two suspects have been charged with second-degree murder–Tommie Boris Holloway and Anthony Archie Dodgson– and this week, the judge ruled that Holloway can be released on bail as he awaits trial.
Read all the details over on Calgary Herald.
Urban gardening can help cities adapt to climate change
Urban gardening experts are saying that backyard gardens can help mitigate the impacts of climate change and are highlighting the benefits of urban gardening, including flood prevention, greenhouse gas reduction, increased biodiversity, and local food production. Green spaces such as yards, community gardens, and rooftops can play an important role in urban communities, and a few Canadian cities have started to work on agriculture strategies to boost farming inside their city limits.
Learn more at CBC News.
