Posted by Jesse Ship / DECEMBER 17, 2012Competition was fierce this year at Caplansky‘s third annual Latkepalooza, with a number of repeat competitors vying for the greasy apple sauce and sour cream-laden crown. The contest saw seven contestants, with 36 latkes each, duking it out on the eighth crazy night of Hannukah, the Jewish festival of lights.The event was hosted by Zane Caplansky, owner and restaurateur of Caplansky’s Deli, and it’s actually part of a larger series he calls the “Battle of the Bubbies” (Yiddish for grandmother) where the traditional foods of Eastern European Jewry are judged. “It’s a way of showing people who may or may not be Jewish what our cuisine is all about,” Zane explained.

If you’re not sure what he’s talking about, you just have to think of traditional deli foods like Matzah balls, Gefilte fish, borscht, and such. While the event was sponsored by the National Post’s Gastropost, the real judges were a packed house of fans who graded entries on scorecards based on appearance, flavor, texture and overall likeability.

The 2012 entrants came from all walks of life, from 30-something Andrew Cohen who presented a traditional crispy batch of latkes adapted from a NY Times recipe by Mark Bittman of the NY Times using ingredients you’d expect from your average family Hannukah party (olive oil, potatoes, and onions), to a variety of pro chefs and caterers like Jason Rees of the sacrilegious Pork Ninjas BBQ team who, instead of just using traditional olive oil, improvised with duck fat and beef tallow stock thanks to a prime rib catering order he received that morning. Added to the potatoes were beets and carrots, and in a final coup de grace, they were imbued in cherry smoke.

Other standout entrants were Rossy Earle of SupiCucu catering who was inspired by her Panamanian heritage, adding plantains to the mix. Surprisingly, hers were not the only latkes with Latin flare. Amateur chef David Kruger created a Mexican latke, which was more like a hefty brisket-inspired puck, loaded with cumin, beef jus, sweet potato, coriander, and chipotle, then accessorized with roasted jalapeno, lime juice, sour cream and a Mayan habanero apple sauce.

From Central America, we were taken to Korea of all places thanks to amateur giant pumpkin grower Marc Levy, who did it all for “the love of latkes,” replacing standard potatoes with Korean golden Yams found in the Korean supermarket he frequents. His Jewrean (Korean and Jewish) blend came out flat and crispy, with tendrils of green onion seen in the yellow flesh, emulating the traditional Korean Gahmja Jeon.

And then there was Ellie Callahan (manager of Thundering Thelma, Caplansky’s roving food truck) who whipped up her very first batch of latkes especially for the event, improvising on a recipe she found in a cookbook (actually an early Christmas present).

It seems like the spirit of Tevya (of Fiddler On The Roof fame) was present that night because despite the many new school entries, it was tradition that won in the end. Professional caterer and real life bubbie Phyllis Grossman of Grossman Catering took home the golden trophy with her purist rendition of the classic recipe. “They’re just flour, onions, olive oil, salt, pepper and matzah meal. You squeeze the shredded potato to drain off the starch, and that’s it! We were up at 6 a.m. frying latkes today because we had an order for 200,” she told us.

“It was kind of heartwarming to see that happen,” said Zane, who was also a bit surprised by the conservative win. “You’ve got the new guys with their newfangled latkes, but it was the tried and true that actually took the day. It was a classic, simple, latke recipe.”

May could be the answer to the rampant gentrification that’s been hitting Toronto’s urban western corridor between Bathurst and Ossington. While revitalizing a former Vietnamese underworld karaoke bar (formerly Café May, now simply running as May) counts as neighbourhood revitalization, there is still a distinct air of un-pretentiousness to the establishment.

Outside, a worn out sandwich board advertises $9.99 wings and beer from 3-6 pm, and suggests coming in to warm up with a cup of Viet coffee (I haven’t tried theirs but it’s hard to go wrong with a stiff cup of Trung Nguyen). If you were to peer into the now untinted windows on any given night, you’ll see a variety of up and coming bands singing their hearts out to fans and friends on a smallish elevated stage nestled into a corner in the front.

We ordered a pitcher of Amsterdam ($15, or $6 for a pint) and settled into a smallish bar table towards the back to watch a hodgepodge of local and touring bands, brought together by Newfoundland’s award-winning sax-driven rock funk band, Bay Town.

Not much has changed yet since the bar has switched over to the new owners. It still has a “quality dive bar” appeal with dim lighting, dirty wood floors, haphazard ceiling lamps with exposed wiring, and off-kilter wall hangings. The air vents that line May’s ceiling are a remnant from its underworld days, used not for A/C but to suck out the copious amounts of cigarette smoke from when Vietnamese gangsters would smoke and drink the nights away, and sometimes settle disputes in their own fashion.

Since the bar was just acquired as a ‘fixer-upper’ with numerous renos scheduled, there’s no sense in critiquing too harshly for the jumbled décor or bar set up offering tall cans of Stiegl ($6), Amsterdam beer ($6 pints,) a variety of bar rails ($6.00-$6.50), and premiums like Old Label Premium Gold, Remy Martin, and Crystal Skull Vodka ($10-$20).

Their new owner David, has big plans for May which involve turning it into a community entertainment hub, hoping to host board game nights that would run into the wee hours of the night, with a 24 hour kitchen. As a local hangout space, they are definitely winning with the living room/South East Asian hostel vibe with random plates of chips and candies scattered around the bar.

“We still have Viet customers who come for karaoke, and of course we don’t allow smoking anymore, but you can stay until 5 am if you want to. I envision people coming to study here, use our WiFi, dance, watch bands, play board games or play foosball — I want this to be a public entertainment space, however, we still want to hang on to the notoriety. People have been arrested and shot here. It has history and we think that’s kind of cool!”