WINNIPEG — Age rules at Toad in the Hole’s new whisky bar in Winnipeg, where patrons 24 and under aren’t invited.

“There are lot of people that used to come here that quite frankly don't go out anymore, because there are a lot of men and women in their 30s and 40s that don't want to hang out with a bunch of 18-year-old kids,” owner Michael Monk told The Winnipeg Free Press of the age requirement.

VICTORIA, B.C. — Gingerbread season is coming a little early this year as Victoria, B.C.’s Inn at Laurel Point announces plans to open Canada’s National Gingerbread Showcase to bakers across Canada.

“For years, Inn at Laurel Point, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Victoria, has highlighted the talents of Victoria’s professional and amateur chefs while, at the same time, rais[ing] awareness for the incredible work carried out by this local charity,” said Ian Powell, managing director of Inn at Laurel Point. “By extending the reach and increasing the exposure of this event, we hope to put Victoria on the culinary map and generate even more funds for this important cause.”

Set to run from Nov. 24 to Jan. 1, the event will see professional and amateur bakers battle, while building gingerbread creations made from edible ingredients. A panel of judges will present the first-, second- and third-place People’s Choice Awards in January.

VANCOUVER — Dale MacKay, last year’s Top Chef Canada winner, has dished up his last meals at his two Vancouver restaurants.

Vancouver’s high rents were too high for the chef to maintain. “I’m pretty sad but at a certain point you have to make emotional decisions if the numbers aren’t working, and you don’t have enough capital. I’d never put myself in a position where I couldn’t take care of my staff,” he told The Vancouver Sun.

VANCOUVER — Blair Rasmussen of Vancouver’s Convention Centre, Sebastien Le Goff of the Cactus Club Cafe as well as Jim Treliving and George Melville of Boston Pizza, are among a list of honorees being inducted into the British Columbia Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s (BCRFA) 2012 B.C. Restaurant Hall of Fame in October.