Suresh Doss takes a look back at his 2018 food adventures

Toronto's dining scene has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. The world is at our finger tips when it comes to food. There's never been a more exciting time to explore the various corners of our city than now.

One milestone for me is the opening of restaurateur Jen Agg's The Black Hoof on Dundas Street West. We were in the middle of a recession, fine dining establishments were quickly biting the dust across the continent, and we quickly saw a shift to smaller chef-driven establishments. It stripped away much of the bulk and fine tuning of high-end dining to present an edgier form of eating. 

Sweetbreads became a supporting actor on menus and suddenly odd bits became more exciting. A decade later, Toronto's dining scene continues to evolve. As the modern dining age of the city approaches its teen years, we've become more confident in embracing our diversity as a city.

There is a striking difference between the menus of today and the menus 10 years ago. With social media (especially because of Instagram), chefs have a direct line to the creative conduits of their counterparts around the world.

First, we see more international influences on menus today than ever before. Particularly for me, I think this is the year where chefs unabashedly fell in love with channeling Asian ingredients and influences. From low-end snack bars on Queen West to tasting menus, you would spot uses of katsuoboshi, dashi butter and Korean pickled radishes (takuan). Diner House 29 is a good example where Asian influences and specific ingredients are used to accent dishes.

I think it's an exciting marriage, in many cases where you'd spot Asian influences the final dishes have a "pop", flavours that jump out. In some cases, it's something acidic, spicy, or presents a fermented taste.

We're finally seeing a rise in modern interpretations of Middle Eastern, Israeli and regional Mediterranean cuisine. Parallel  continues to be one of my favourite new restaurants in Toronto. Every meal reminds me of Tel Aviv's bustling restaurant culture.

I can easily think of a dozen places that have opened in the last year, beautifully decorated restaurants that are bringing modern interpretations of Middle Eastern cuisine that we haven't seen before. Mississauga restaurant, Masrawy is included in that list. 

2018 has also been the year of the food hall in Toronto. It's an evolutionary step up from our tumultuous food truck industry where food courts have become a sandbox for chefs that want to experiment with street food menus. In this year alone, we've seen food halls open from Newmarket to Downtown Toronto in all shapes and sizes. Campo Food Hall still continues to be one of my favourite places. It's now called Labora, and they still have the best paella dishes I have had in town.

Things are also a lot brighter inside restaurants these days. We've grown up from our dark-decor eating establishments, we've been inspired by LA's west coast flair and pastel palate.

My intent with this series is to introduce you to places outside of your regular radar of eating, maybe places that are in remote corners of the GTA or on street corners that you would otherwise pass. I feel that as diners we have become more adventurous in our own backyard, more and more I hear about food enthusiasts that make a point to eat through the burbs with a few friends. Chefs are doing this too and nothing makes me happier.

Here's the current CBC Food guide map:

Grab a friend or two and go explore the GTA.

We have lots more to come in 2019. Happy holidays and happy eating.