Whenever we can afford to, Sarah and me like to try out a new place to see how well it sits with our delicate culinary sensibilities.

And, truth be told, we are actually pretty snobby about food. Now that I’m thinking about it, we’re fairly uptight about our drink too.

And for good reason, I figure — now matter where you go, you’re paying for what you get, so why not get the best deal for your money?

When it comes to food, cheapest is hardly the best, but neither is the most expensive. It’s those in-between gems that manage to put together a tasty, filling meal at a great price that we focus on — sensible satiety.

Every once in a while we manage to get a few words in with the owner, or the head chef, or whoever has just delivered a meal worth writing about. Most of the time, though, we sit back unmolested and are thus able to bring you genuine reviews.

Hence the new link at the top of the site ↑↑↑

Just not all the time, cuz that gets expensive.

So for his most-hated pick for his “Toronto’s Worst Buildings” list, the Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume chose the soon-to-be-completed Trump Tower, the be-lidded one’s contribution to our skyline and, apparently, the upcoming record holder for the tallest eyesore, erm, building in Toronto.

According to The Don’s typical hyperbolic pronouncements, the staggeringly priced units (starting at just under $1 mill. and going as high as $20 mill.), are “superior” by virtue of the fixtures (your choice of faucets makes you a better person), and by the sheer height from which you can look / spit down on the common rabble from on high.

I get the impression that Chris had made up his mind about this “Worst Buildings of Toronto” selection a long time ago. The sore-thumb slab that Humie affectionately refers to as “condominiums”, however, doesn’t jump to mind when I think of Bloor and Lansdowne. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I was out in that area; now I don’t care to remember.

“I don’t know what to say in its defense except that, I guess, that it provides housing for a large number of people”, is the only positive comment that the Chris offers. I would only add a voluminous barf sound of some sort to round off that review.

Chris doesn’t pull many punches with his third-worst Toronto building, Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management. Among the building’s most admirable traits he includes the facts that it’s on a busy downtown corner, it’s above a Canadian Tire, and has a parking garage. To me, this does not a good building make. In fact, this would barely qualify as a worthy parking lot.

However, Humie’s commentary describing the building as “a dog’s breakfast” is a little unfair, only insomuch as Ryerson is known for acquiring existing locations, usually individual rooms within buildings like Chris’ other favourite, the Toronto Life Square building. What I mean is that Ryerson’s not 100% responsible for the shape of the building, though their lack of follow-up aesthetic is something we can collectively laugh at. Or weep.

Contentious is a good word to describe the Toronto Life Square Building, a.k.a. 10 Dundas East. Typical lamentations include descriptions like “ugly”, “awful”, “disappointing”, and “my grandmother wouldn’t take a crap on this thing, and she wears diapers!”

The fact that Chris Hume chose this particular building for the number five slot in his “Worst Buildings of Toronto” list is kinda like saying, “I don’t like Hitler”, or “that Bin Laden guy was a jerk” — most people would tend to agree.

For me, the Toronto Life building isn’t the affront on North American culture that some people insist it is, but its thin, crowded interior with its centerpiece of narrow escalators is a total letdown after walking under that massive facade. I don’t know that this building would’ve made my own top-five-worst list, but Toronto could certainly do a whole lot better.

Yawn!

Seriously, Chris? The RBC Dexia building?

Okay, I admit that at first it was kinda neat to see those irregular angles but, Wellington Street still feels pretty much like a back road (hint: all the other buildings are still facing the same way). And if asymmetry is what yanks your crank then I’m sure we could find nicer examples. Basically, if this is your top pick then I need to severely start doubting my ability to predict the five worst. Or five whatever, for that matter.

Ugh … Humie’s kinda right about this one, his fifth pick for Toronto’s Worst Buildings: the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The fairly new structure (built in 2006),  is an unsightly grey box sitting across the street from the relatively ornate and welcoming Osgoode Hall; even the documentary about the building of the Four Seasons Centre (Raising Valhalla, 2007), has more appeal than the structure itself.

While I haven’t actually been inside the thing — I’m told that it’s a bit of an engineering / acoustic marvel with the performance hall being isolated from the outer shell with giant damper supports; a building on stilts within a building — the spectacle inside doesn’t nearly match the drab outside. One day soon I’m planning to take advantage of the $12 standing-room-only admission, but I can assure you it won’t be because I’m drawn in by the architecture.

Did I mention “ugh” already?

I’m pretty surprised at how much I agree with The Star’s Chris Hume in his evaluation of Toronto architecture. With yesterday’s exception, of course. Perhaps it’s because we both see modernity as forward-looking rather than the total destruction of all we hold near and dear. Maybe we’re both able to see change as a progression rather than a personal attack.

I still reserve the right to be a crotchety old fart when I arrive at the appropriately ripe age, but for now I gotta give Chris his props for his number two “Best Buildings of Toronto” pick, Maple Leaf Square. I love the giant screen looming over the Air Canada Centre’s western entrances, and I like it even more when the square is filled with gawking event attendees — the thought of all those suburbanites surrounded by mighty, erect Toronto towers and majestic, sexy architecture gives me a special feeling.

The Toronto Star’s Cristopher Hume continues his assault on modern sensibilities with his number three pick from his Toronto’s best/worst architecture list, the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal building that juts out from the northern end of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Chris took it upon himself to preempt our collective vitriol and disgust for this building by reassuring us that he’s well aware of just how much we hate it. He picked it nonetheless, pointing to its 21-century styling as the determining factor for his choice. Far be it for me to question his assertions about how all Canadians feel, but personally, I kinda dig this building. It’s an incredibly stark yet beautiful (especially in the right light), extension of the stalwartly historic ROM building, and I’ve yet to read about anyone taking an eye out on the thing, so I guess I’m the one lone Canadian that disagrees.

A.K.A. The George Brown College Chef School, this is Hume’s second pick for his best buildings of Toronto list. I would’ve thought that, maybe, it had something to do with its association with Susur Lee, or maybe some kinda proud culinary tradition or some such junk, but instead Hume likes the building mostly because aspiring chefs can have their kitchen failures ogled by random pedestrians passing by outside — the front is all glass.

Personally, I think Chris is out to lunch with this pick. Maybe he’s simply bit off more than he can chew. Or, if you want, chalk it up to a difference in tastes.

Enough awful food-oriented punnery? Let’s watch the video: