Almost halfway through the year, and Toronto’s got a resto surge underway. The foodscape’s changed in a month. No less than four new and good restaurants have opened. Add ‘em to other 2010 newbies and to some longrunning faves and the LIST is NOW.
Serious Shared Plates Origin107 King E 416-603-8009 - Claudio Aprile’s splendiferous new place on King at Church with a huge patio. Style, prime exotica, bufala mozarella flown in, elegant flavour-meistering, another exploding dessert….
Haute Veg: L.A.B. 691 College 416-551-5025. Toronto’s first haute veg place, co-owned by blogger Howard Dubrowsky and Chris Scott, who does most of the excellent cooking. Sousvide vegetable bouillebaisse and irresistible “calamari” made from snippy roots.
Chef’s Daily Choice: Ruby Watchco 730 Queen E 416 465 0100- Food Network hits Riverside ,Four Seasons’ diva Lynn Crawford goes barnyard with city’s first five-day-a week-daily prix fixe sourced locally. Cooking full of grace notes.
Ossington goes glam: Bohmer. 95 Ossington Ave 416-531-3800.Open to everyone not just local fauxbos. Hang right out of New York’s Soho. Eco food with original spin.
Spiffy Korean: Koko !81 Yorkville 416-850 6135 Eat Bossam, lettuce sandwich stuffed with pork belly, spicy chicken, Korean pork bbq…..
Party time Guu Izakaya. 398 Church St 416-977 0999 Singalong supper
Let’s Lunch: Ciao l33 Yorkville Ave. 4l6.925.2l43 Great drop in place with reliably good food. A bowl of arrabiata penne and a glass of wine for twenty bucks. Stylish staff in distressed gear.
Excellent Mexican: Chimichanga at 70 Yorkville 416-546-1246 - at last a perfect chile relleno!
Longrunning hits
Lee 603 King W. 416-504 7867- Susur Lee’s mothership with visionary cooking, now open for lunch. Don’t miss Lee’s take on hot and sour soup amo
ng others…
Cava 1560 Yonge St, 416-979-9918 – Spanish uber tapas with a twist — paella and foie gras toasts.
Avant Gout 1108 Yonge Street416 916-3681- Rosedale’s sleeper bistro with eclectic menu, knockout grilled calves liver
Authentics – Classic French Didier 1496 Yonge Street (416) 925-8588 and Classic Italian Zucca 2150 Yonge Street
(416) 488-5774
Gina, Thanks for this list. Surpisingly none of your “COLLEAGUES” seem to have figured this out. I wonder if preparing for Summer Camp slows down reviewing.
oooooooops! Did I say that?