Already a notoriously tough industry, Canadian restaurants are expected to be under pressure in 2026. After a "bloodbath" saw 7,000 restaurants shutter in 2025, a forecast from Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab (AAL) predicts that Canada will lose 4,000 restaurants on a net basis this year, with closures outpacing openings due to rising costs, reduced demand and falling alcohol sales. Read More

Our cookbook of the week is A Kitchen in Italy by Mimi Thorisson. Read More

Welcome to the era of the "Donroe Doctrine" — a reinterpretation of a 19th-century foreign policy used to justify the United States' attack on Venezuela and assert dominance in the Western Hemisphere, encompassing North and South America and the surrounding waters. On Jan. 5, the U.S. Department of State posted to X, "This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened." A photo of U.S. President Donald Trump with a text overlay — "THIS IS OUR HEMPISPHERE" — was attached. Read More