Food is the newest movie star --- Ratatouille, No Reservations with Catherine Zeta Jones morphing into chef. So you imagine the stars themselves, their agents, producers etc. are gourmets? Of course not. Remember almost every person in showbiz is dieting. Still, dining out is part of the schmoose at TIFF. Only their handlers know where George Clooney, Woody Allen, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Michael Caine, Michael Moore or Michael Douglas will be hanging out and even they can’t be sure because a star’s trajectory may be arbitrary even in the matter of eating. But thanks to Barbara Hershenhorn, aka “Party Barb”, TIFF’s event planner for the past 22 years, here’s a rundown of the places where you’re most likely to spot a star chowing down.

TIFF is a celebration of film as well as being a marketplace for new ones - and a platform for commercial films like Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream which will go wide the week after TIFF ends. As well, it pays homage to the classics which is how The Best Years of Our Lives gets into the lineup. If you’re wondering why they don’t make movies like that any more, slip into Bistro 990 (416-921-9990) for a booster shot of moviemania. If you don’t see a star, you may think you have seen one just by overhearing the conversation. Bistro 990 has the cozy varnished appeal of an Ardennes relais and serves just the right comfort food, roast chicken, steak frites, steak tartare and crusted sea bass – and Meg Ryan Chicken.

Is the sight of Brad Pit as Jesse James (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Richard Ford) too much for you, or would you like to see him again – well perhaps you might at Sotto Sotto (416-962-0011) Hollywood’s fave Toronto eatery, a cellar with ‘tude. Look for George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Matt Damon, flying in for charity. Make your reservation as a doctor, specialty: egomania. Food is Cinecitta cafeteria, chicken marsala, asparagus in a rose sauce. Service depends on whether you belong to the club.

After Max von Sydow’s finishes presenting Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, he may be taken to Opus (416 921-3105), darkly Bergmanesque décor with sleekly continental fusion. Roast Rack of wild caribou and and and smoked goats milk polenta with swiss chard, eggplant and caraway jus. If – and this I know is a long shot - you long to see Jonathan Demme’s Man From Plains, a documentary about Jimmy Carter's peace agenda in the years since he was U.S. president, you might catch the Carters at Opus which is beloved by studio suits so much so that it’s almost sold out.

The only place to go after seeing Young People Fucking is the Drake Hotel(416-531-5042), a northern riff on South Beach exotica which attracts louche filmmakers and perhaps perpetually protesting Michael Moore. Terrific roof action, deafening bands, and not bad food at all, if you can hear it, including a raw bar.

Hang at Park Hyatt Roof (416 925-1234) for the thoughtful star who isn’t saving the world personally. Janet Jason Lee (Margot at the Wedding) once played Dorothy Parker so she might groove at what still passes as a writerly watering hole. Alternatively Pangaea, which boasts the best maitre d’ in town, Peter Geary, attracts those stars who fall between extreme political views and DUI, and want to eat kind food like Pear and Endive Salad.

Anyone who survives Shake Hands with the Devil, the Rwandan genocide, will need strong drink: resto lounges are big among thirty somethings and violent filmmakers. Look to spot Viggo Mortenson of Eastern Promises, (David Cronenberg’s take on Russian gangsters), the folks behind Heavy Metal In Baghdad Allan Moyle, of Weirdsville at Flow (416) 925-2143) on Yorkville, at Lobby (416.929.7169) on Bloor opposite the ROM, The Courthouse (416-214-9379), Church and Adelaide, the Rosewater Supper Club (416 214-5888) which has a new chef Paul Boehmer. formerly of the resto lounge Ultra (416-263 0330).

So you’re drifting out of Cassandra’s Dream, another of Woody Allen’s films in a foreign idiom: English, and wondering where he could eat, he’s so thin. Perhaps breakfast all day at Flo’s Diner (416-961-4333) on Yorkville.

Last time Woody Harrelson came to TIFF, he made a point of eating hemp. Now he’s starring in Battle For Seattle, an account of a WTO protest. Stake out the vegan eateries. Will he go to 360 (416.362.5411) and eat Chef George’s homegrown herbs? Or perhaps Urban Herbivore (416-927-1231) for a brunch of hemp pancakes topped with maple-glazed plantains, grilled mango and kiwi salsa.

Prego della Piazza (416-920-9900) has a charming deep patio much in demand for edible therapy. “I do quite well” says owner Michael Carlevale who has learned to swing with the punches “They book sixty and l00 arrive, they book 100 and sixty come.” Stars? “I’m just the cook - I wouldn’t know a star if he fell out of heaven.” Even so, watch for Michael Caine (Sleuth - a remake of the Caine and Laurence Olivier original) Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) who’s also crossdressing as Bob Dylan (I’m Not there).Food is Boston Italian, lobster carbonara, prosciutto wrapped around a whole fish.

Stars do not a resto make. Last year Madonna went to the resto-lounge Nectar. It subsequently closed.

Confronted with the confounding issues of the day on film, many shun fancy food for tapas and cab it down to Queen Street West to Coca and Czehoski. Just don’t mention panhandlers.


Night Owl Beat. Most restaurants close around 11-midnight but Bistro 990, Rosewater Supper Club, Ultra, Flow, Courthouse,Lobby, The Drake Hotel are open until 4 am.