Million Dollar Critic

Episode 1

Toronto

Thu, Feb 5, 201544 mins

Giles admits that he knows little about Toronto, Ontario, beyond it being a big North American city and that it has a notorious mayor. Beyond quickly learning that it is also a cold city in the winter, he will learn about its diverse food scene narrowed down to Julia's five choices. The first restaurant he visits is Opus, a high end restaurant with an extensive wine collection (some in the tens of thousands of dollars). It has been losing business with a downturn in the economy as it is perceived as being too expensive and outdated with 1990s sensibilities. Giles finds that everything about the place is old school in its good and bad, but it may be a trip to the wine cellar that will decide if Giles will give them his review. The second restaurant is King Place, a low end "affordable" Indian Pakistani restaurant whose owner struck out on his own after leaving a partnership at similarly named King Palace restaurant. Something about the restaurant has to be exceptional to get over Giles' notion that it is not a restaurant but a catering business with its pre-prepared food sitting out on steam tables. Giles has a special side-by-side test to judge the quality of the food. The third restaurant is Small Town Food Co., whose owners, two small town boys, want their customers to have that friendly, intimate dining experience they find is more common in small towns. They are betting that neighborhood residents are looking for a more challenging menu than the largely casual places of the area, such as taco stands and barbecue joints. With it being a meat heavy menu, how they handle a vegetarian request and the quality of what Giles' unusual in his mind entrée will determine if they get his review. The fourth restaurant is Agave y Aguacate, which started out as a food stall in Kensington Market. Whether they get Giles' review will depend largely if Giles believe they have made the successful transition from stall to restaurant, with Giles admitting that Mexican cuisine is not his expertise. The final restaurant is The Atlantic, basically a one-man show in its chef owner, who has no concept beyond what is going through his mind at any given time. There are no reservations, and no menus, with the food and beverages served at the owner's discretion in discussion with the customers. That food will often contain items at the bottom of the food chain, such as insects. No menus also means no prices or bills, as each customer pays what he/she feels the dining experience was worth to them, which could also be services or items in return. This business plan makes cash flow planning difficult. Whether they get Giles' review will largely depend on the quality of the unusual food items, and how much Giles buys into the non-concept. In-between his meals, Giles has a taste of the local food truck scene. And he finds out what it is like to hang out with the notorious mayor from a media perspective.