TORONTO LIFE FOOD GUIDE
2003

There I am, busy with pencil, clocking the goodies in the little retail space - Fred's Breads, exquisite flavoured French honeys from Miel de Chez Nous, hemp seed flour, fleur du sel, loads of French jams, candies and chocolates - when out comes Daniel Megly, one of the eponymous Dans.

We chat about his life as one of the city's most accomplished caterers; he and partner Daniel Clairet have been at it 23 year, currently catering between 25 and 40 events a day; with 60 people hard at work behind the innocently-looking kitchen door at the rear of the shop. Retail is only 11 per cent of the business, but what they do, they do very well. Check out cakes, mousses, flans and croissants, scrumptious bûches de Noël, croquembuches and quiches.

A selection of savoury dishes is always on display, from famous pissaladière to chicken chimichangas, maybe lamb shank braised in red wine with root vegetables. Gourmet dog biscuits sit in a jar on the floor by the door.