TORONTO — No stranger to tense, gruelling, dare we say, punishing situations, Bob Blumer, host of Food Network Canada’s Glutton for Punishment, turned his attention to slinging pizza pies during Toronto’s Corso Italia Festival on Sunday, July 4.

The ambitions Blumer was there to take a run at breaking a Guinness World Record for the most pizzas made in one hour by an individual.

As the crowd hungrily cheered him on, Blumer smashed the previous mark of 142, set in 2008, by making an impressive 168 cheese and tomato pizzas in just 60 minutes, which translates to approximately one pie every 21 seconds.  

TORONTO — If you work in the Toronto hospitality industry, you’ll likely know that the time-honoured convention of tipping has sparked some interesting debate this year.

First, at the fourth annual Terroir Hospitality Symposium — hosted in March at Hart House on the U of T campus in Toronto — event organizers assembled a breakout session in the guise of traditional debate, where the issue of the day was tipping, and whether or not the hospitality world would be better off abolishing it, in favour of mandatory, built-in gratuities.

TORONTO — While Toronto’s King West fills with hip, urban nightclubs, a bar of a different variety has just opened for those who eschew red velvet rope lineups. Just in time to save the casual pint fan, The Firkin Group of Pubs has unveiled its new flagship location: The Firkin on King Street in Toronto at 461 King Street West.

"With all the planning, meetings and construction logistics we've worked through over the past few months, it is exciting that The Firkin on King has finally opened for business in such a thriving urban community," says Dan Targonsky, general manager of the full-service British-inspired pub. "At Firkin, we're all about good food, good pints… so we're especially excited to be able to bring the full Firkin experience to the King West neighbourhood."

TORONTO — Food Network star David Rocco took a break from traversing Italy to impart a bit of the dolce vita on a restaurant full of foodservice operators and media yesterday, June 29. Rocco was charged with introducing Joseph’s Gourmet pasta to the community on behalf of the Nestlé Professional family at Toronto’s Distillery District eatery Archeo.

An outgrowth of Joseph’s Bakery, established in 1979 by the Faro family, Joseph’s Gourmet pasta was reborn in 1991 when, Joe, the Faros’ only son, aimed to create an upscale variety that took centre plate. His vision materialized in five gourmet flavours, now available to Canadian operators: ravioli with braised beef, ravioli with North Atlantic Lobster, ravioli with Mediterranean vegetables, ravioli with roasted mushrooms and — a favourite of many who took part in the five-course luncheon — the striped quattro formaggi agnolotti.