For the Big Night Out….
Holy Eyjafjallajokull Batman! Word comes that the casual dining cloud now blanketing the city has buried the Grande Dames, the luxury tier of fine dining. You know the places where you dressed to code, splurged the plastic, celebrated anything, peddled influence, entertained those you feared, like your outlaws – retro heaven.
It’s ok, the Grande Dames are still here, core values almost intact. Dress code’s gone but service, décor, atmosphere, well padded rooms, a sense of entitlement survive. Food? think foie gras, caviar, tournedos, Dover sole…a fat wine bible. GD diners want to be cosseted – they don’t dine to be surprised but to be reassured. The tab average is high, round $200 for dinner for two – food and tax. Wine? The GD wine list can run into thousands: reasonable and good can be hard to find.
A guide to GD dining (alphabetical order)
Auberge du Pommier 4150 Yonge 416.222.2220 French provincial, pretty and charming is synonymous with GD dining, You leave North York behind when you dine under the yellow and white canopy, filtering Edith Piaf and caretaker service. Jason Bangerter’s menu has classic timelessness. Wild Bass poised on lentils dotted with foie gras $36 is a fixture along with delectable tournedos on creamed cauliflower $43, plus poached lobster in a citrus mousseline $40. Prime customers: people who want to go to Paris.
The Fifth Grill and Terrace. 225 Richmond W. 416-979-3005
On top of an old industrial building, accessed by the original hand-operated elevator, open only three days a week - The Fifth is unique Europosh. Funk morphs into elegance – fireside dining, a nostalgic piano player. The candlelit terrace bar is Muskoka downtown. Service is silky. Malossol (lightly salted) caviar with vodka is the signature $180 starter, a Chateaubriand for two $85, or slum with truffled Mac and Cheese, $24. Celeb magnate, a must see for visitors. ChefJay Suppiah is now offering a four course prix fixe (French lite) for $48 .
Harbour Sixty Steak House, 60 Harbour St 416 777-2111
Once a jock stop renowned for giant steaks, Harbour Sixty has made itself over into a darkly glamourous dining room with twinkling Edison bulbs, the only sound the quiet buzz of satisfied customers. A personal butler attends you. Steaks now vie with Chef Bruce Kowalchuk’s tender grilled octopus with fennel salad, Dover sole flown in Thursdays $69, Alaskan King crab/blue crab cakes $22,and an amazing banana bread/chocolate croissant pudding $11. Great for stargazing the likes of Wayne Gretzky, and dangerous liaisons – Rahim Jaffer was nabbed for DUI after dealmaking and dining with Cachet Ladies. Who says a Grande Dame can’t be risqué?
One at the Hazelton Hotel 118 Yorkville Avenue 416 963-6300
The dining room for Toronto’s most exclusive boutique hotel is favoured by marquee names like George Clooney, Jennifer Anniston, Tony Blair. Vanity Fair atmosphere, patronized by those who want to see and be seen, Queen’s Park pols, business enchiladas, those ladies who still lunch. Stunning décor, walls of grey cow skin – downside, the room is noisy. Sidewalk café is a summer must for people-watching. Attentive service. Andrew Ellerby’s kitchen has Canadian spin: Ontario grilled ribeye $58, Cocoa crusted Caribou $46. or the $29 burger with bbq pork belly.
Opus, 37 Prince Arthur, 416 921 3105
This is my first visit to Opus but it’s reputation for discreet splendour precedes it. Fave haunt of Hollywood bigshots at TIFF and buccaneering financiers. Welcome is warm. The room is prettily grey and muted. Service is caring. But Jason Cox’s food! Flavourless celeriac bisque $16, a soft shell crab $24, obliterated by peanut crust, dry chicken breast over a heavy tofu/chicken terrine $36. Then I get it. A young couple arrives, break out hand sanitizers, she gets on her cell, he buries his head in the wine bible (Opus was awarded the Wine Spectator’s 2009 Grand Award) and she says she’ll just have one thing. This is new GD core values.
Scaramouche, One Benvenuto Pl 416 961 8011
The Rosedale country club. Join the regulars in the Pasta Bar where you’ll be looked over as potential recruit, or you can take a seat on the upper level of the restaurant and bask in one of the city’s most scintillating views stretching over downtown Toronto to the lake. Service is smooth and Keith Froggett’s kitchen produces a reliably good menu of the usual GD suspects, foie gras terrine $26,1.5 lb lobster $46, 8 0z filet mignon $ 47. Save space for Joanne Yolles’ coconut pie $13. Perfect venue for Mother’s Day.
