Hot ingredient to try this month: Bread

Jack's Grill, Edmonton, 5842 111 St. N.W.

Housed in a nondescript suburban strip mall, Jack's has been an Edmonton favourite for two decades.

The chef: Ryan Hotchkiss keeps the tradition alive.

The dish: Bread pudding with rum sauce. The name of this signature dish couldn't be simpler: Jack's Bread Pudding. Eggy, creamy and buttery, it's day-old bread bits and raisins baked with vanilla, smothered in rum syrup and broiled for a caramelized effect.

Italian Kitchen, Vancouver, 1037 Alberni St.

In the heart of downtown, this popular spot serves the classics with a New World twist.

The chef: Shaughn Halls paid his dues working up the ranks at Toronto's Pangaea.

The dish: Panzanella. At first glance, this looks like the standard Tuscan salad, in which stale bread soaks up olive oil and the juices of ripe tomatoes, but closer inspection reveals sweet grapes and a rich buttery bomb of burratta cheese from Apulia.

The Grove, Toronto, 1214 Dundas St. W.

Named last year's best new restaurant by Maclean's magazine, the Grove is hitting the spot.

The chef: Ben Heaton brings the British gastropub revolution to Canada, tackling old English classics with local ingredients.

The dish: Venison and Mulled Broth with Red Currants and Bread Sauce. Heaton braises venison, then makes a broth with warm mulling spices and currants, which he reduces to give off their juices. He serves it all with a silky bread sauce: yesterday's loaf mixed with onion, cloves and bay leaves steeped in boiled milk. A British blast from the past.

Acme, New York City, 9 Great Jones St. 

Shortly after opening in NoHo last year, Acme rose to the top of many critics' lists.

The chef: Mads Refslund is being hailed as the chef who brought the new Nordic cuisine to North America from his native Denmark.

The dish: Beer and Bread Porridge. Light-rye bread is soaked in Guinness and worked into a thick consistency that tops a scoop of salted caramel ice cream. Click here for our tasty challah recipe.