Giving Credit When Credit Is Due

I wish we could do it more often......

Dining out on success
By SUE-ANN LEVY

Of all the special events and promotions cooked up at Toronto City Hall, I've got to give the Winterlicious and Summerlicious programs a four-star rating.

Who knew that in the dying days of the Mayor Mel Lastman regime -- even as SARS raged through the city -- such a promotion would not only see the light of day but capture the imagination of local residents five years later?

After all, this is the same mayor who came up with such whacky schemes as tarted up fiberglass moose prominently displayed at key city landmarks and Mel-coins to mark the start of the new Millennium.

The city's special events marketing manager Marilyn Nickel said Winterlicious grew to a two-week, 129 restaurant, 14-day prix-fixe menu program from a pilot project with 35 restaurants in the winter of 2003.

It was meant to be part of the winter festival the first year but after SARS hit (and Toronto's restaurants took a beating), it was expanded to Summerlicious as well, she said.

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