May the best dish win: Dish Duel heats up in Toronto

It isn’t uncommon for a restaurant to boast a signature dish, but how is an unsuspecting public to know who really has the sweetest pasta sauce or the tenderest filet mignon? With a head-to-head battle royale, of course. Food blogger Jacob Younan is orchestrating just that by putting Toronto restaurants to the test with Dish Duel.

Younan, who began his food blog Restos in TO a mere three months ago, had the idea to challenge popular restaurants in Toronto to see how their best compared to the rest.

The next step was to recruit other judges, whom he’d met through Twitter and other social media: food bloggers Stella Yu, Amy Lu and Jess Wan. The four set out to create the ultimate taste test, and Dish Duel was born.

“At first it was difficult to get restaurants into it,” says Younan. “Ascari and Table 17 were the first ones to commit, and then it was easier to get the rest.”

The contest began on Feb. 18, with 16 of the city’s best restaurants — including Cowbell, Cava, Beast, Acadia, George and more — putting out their best dishes. The judges have already tried each dish and foodies around Toronto now have the option to go to the competing restaurants and vote for their favorite dish on the Dish Duel website.

Once the voting is complete, the judges’ scores are amalgamated with votes from the public to come up with a final tally. The winning dish then moves on to the next round in a bracket-style tournament, with the winner being announced on March 17.

Voting for the first round of Dish Duels closes tomorrow.

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO