November bites
Toronto restaurant news, openings, and where to eat now
The other day, someone asked me what my hobby was, and without thinking I replied, “restaurants,” as if it were a verb.
Nothing brings me more joy than going out to eat. I also love how much you can learn about someone’s culture, history, and story through food. Now, technically a hobby is something you do in your leisure time. My toxic trait is that my hobbies (writing, restaurants, writing about restaurants) end up becoming something I do for work, which can sometimes suck the fun out. Perfectionism creeps in. The lines become blurred. And I wonder if I’m ever really off.
So, for once, I want to do something just for fun, which is why we’re both here right now. This is the first dispatch of my new monthly BITES series, where I highlight what’s good in Toronto restaurants.
Here, you’ll find a mix of thoughtful recommendations, reviews of restaurants I wasn’t hosted at, what’s new (overrated or worth the hype?), and where I’m currently dining and drinking. I may even include some musings on the restaurant industry, or what I’m cooking right now (this ridiculously easy and flavourful Keralan prawn curry), but mostly I want to keep things light, honest, and for me, but maybe also for you. I hope you’re hungry.
good night,
Mere
The hit list: Toronto’s coziest restaurants
It’s “Am I anemic?” season! I want red meat, red wine, and a table here:
Parquet - sexy French bistro on Harbord
The Wood Owl - nice wine, nice food, nice digs on Danforth
The Ace Hotel: Alder / Evangeline - wood-fired Mediterranean on the bottom, hot cocktail bar on top, all inside one of the city’s most impressive buildings
Enoteca Sociale - Iconic Italian on Dundas West; get the amatriciana pasta, I beg
The Keg - you heard me
Taverne Tamblyn - classique French + homey neighbourhood spot
Mother’s Dumplings - the Goat
Bernhardt's - roast chicken dreams at dreamy prices
The Oxley - a proper pub
Edulis - impossible to get a reso (seats like three people), but a masterpiece of a restaurant. No phones at the table. Your name printed on the menu. Heard their lunch service is dope too
Zitto Zitto Taverna - underrated Sicilian spot on College
Cumin Kitchen - my fave for Indian in the East
Danny’s Pizza Tavern - go for the pizza, stay for the burger
Toronto restaurants: What’s new
General Public (review)
Like all of Jen Agg's restaurants, I'm very attracted to General Public. The new Geary Ave gem is her most ambitious project yet, and you can tell how much creativity, heart, and hard work went into every thoughtful detail.
The two-floor space is STUNNING (my iPotato photos won't do it justice). Custom warm wood, plush banquettes, an adorable guinea pig mascot that haunts coasters and bathroom soap dispensers. Oh, the bathrooms. Never in my life have I purposely checked out every single bathroom stall just to stare at the fixtures and vintage wallpaper. My socks were soaked.
Photo credit: Jenna Marie Wakani
I don’t know how Agg did it, but each seating area (first floor, bar, mezzanine) offers a totally different vibe while still feeling connected to each other. It’s a British pub with dress pants on meets old-school steakhouse, plus pastel-pink Palm Beach glam sprinkled on top. It’s magnificent. The kind of place that makes you want to drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open, or at least forget about that strongly worded work email for the night.
The service was excellent and personable. The cocktails, elite. The wine list, huge and impressive but not pretentious. And in a city of carbon copy menus, General Public’s feels exciting. When was the last time you saw a Nordic shrimp trifle on a menu? Exactly. The prices skew higher-end but far from I-will-never-financially-recover exorbitant.
We started the evening on a high with the Bubbles and a Bump—a tiny spoon (the “bump” if you’re my mom) of sturgeon caviar and a shot of Henriot Champagne. I love caviar. No, I will not apologize, and I will gladly pay $15 again for that elite experience.
Next up was the kampachi crudo, a refreshing acid fest with pickled jalapeños, kumquat, and red onions. The kampachi sopped up the citrus flavours for a buttery-textured punch that became our fave bite of the night.
The curried lamb tartare was a flop, which was disappointing but also fine—let’s normalize things not being perfect!! The raw meat lacked seasoning (surprising because the tartare at Agg’s Le Swan is arguably the best in the city) and although the accompanying poppadoms were deliciously airy, they shattered the moment we stuck ‘em into the bland tartare.
Our craving for salt was met with the perfectly briney roast chicken served with a baby leek vinaigrette and pickled mustard seeds. Be warned if you’re intending to share as this beauty bird (a juicy, fancy-schmancy Chantecler variety) is itty bitty and doesn’t come with sides.
Given razor-thin margins, I understand why many restaurants are moving away from including sides, however I did think this portion (a leg, wing, and thigh of a tiny bird) was on the small side for the price ($45). Was it delicious? Absolutely. I just wish I had known it was smaller when we ordered, not for any other reason than to temper our expectations … and not share. Get your own bird, bish.
Any shred of chicken envy I felt quickly faded into a ramekin of beef fat mayo, as I dipped a malt vinegar chip (french fry) into its drool-worthy dollops. The chips are proper English style: Thick-cut. Crispy outside. Fluffy centre. Immaculate. They’re $13, but that’s showbiz, baby, and General Public is certainly one to watch.
Belle Isle
Usually new bars or restaurants feel new. The servers are getting their sea legs, the space still vaguely smells of wet paint and tears, the vibe is like going to your crush’s place for the first time: you’re excited and hopeful but not entirely relaxed. Well, not at Belle Isle. I went during their second week of opening and it felt like I was posting up at the ol’ neighbourhood watering hole.
The whole space was electric, buzzing with the sound of tipsy people conversing and cackling and talking shit over candlelit tables. Maybe it’s the jello shot that spells “FUCK IT” in squiggly letters, or the “shitty olives,” or the Coney dog with mustard so yellow you could paint the road with it, but not a single soul in there seemed like they were taking themselves too seriously.
If you want dinner, go to its sister spot Lake Inez next door, if you want dope cocktails in a deeply horny space, a laugh, and wacky yet wonderful small-ish plates with funny names served by equally funny and friendly people, go here.
Yan Dining Room *hosted
Just when I thought I couldn’t love Hong Shing more, I heard chef Eva Chin had become their new culinary director. Then, I heard she’d launched her passion project within its walls!! Yan Dining Room is Eva in her truest, most creative form. Inside this not-so-secret space, the immensely talented chef shows off her culinary skills through dishes that intersect with her culture, culinary journey, and the stories she’s collected along the way.
She describes her locally sourced, 8-10 course tasting menu (available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) as neo-Chinese cuisine, and it’s fucking delicious. It’s also insanely good value: ~ $88 per person (the private dining room is fully booked until 2025, but check their IG for last minute reso’s).
The offerings will change monthly, depending on what’s in season or what’s inspiring Eva. Maybe it’s a daikon soup in memory of the comforting bowls her grandma would prepare, a scallop with a refreshing and tingly "Szechuan verde,” or sea bream in preserved Ontario cherry sauce inspired by Chinese sweet and sour sauce. My mouth—and mind—is still buzzing.
Linny’s
How do we honour the ones we love after they’re gone? Some write heartfelt captions, others get tattoos, David Schwartz builds a restaurant—and a spectacular one at that: Meet Linny’s, a swanky new steakhouse mixed with old-school deli vibes named after his late mom, Linda.
I haven’t eaten here yet so I can’t give any form of review, but I do know how special and gutsy a restaurant like this is. It takes courage to open anything but especially yourself—to your past, to food that feels acutely personal, to the possibility of failure. But, like all of Schwartz’s restaurants, there’s so much passion and precision behind every dish, every single detail, that I can’t imagine a world where it doesn’t all work out.
Photo credit: Daniel Neuhaus
Wynona’s new shared set menu
The ever-evolving menu at Wynona is as fresh as their pasta, and it just got more exciting. The romantic and homey Italian restaurant recently launched a 5-course shared set menu (two apps, a pasta, one main, and a dessert) for $75 per person. A fricken steal if you ask me. I was told there are no modifications, and you need to be dining with at least one other person to partake, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find a date or mate who’d happily split that bill.
Mimi Chinese new menu series
This upscale regional Chinese restaruant (one of my all-time faves) just dropped another reason to take a seat at one of their plush red banquettes: a new rotating, regional-specific menu series. For the month of November and December, the tasting menu will focus on Cantonese-inspired food from Southern China. Expect seafood-forward dishes like steamed garlic vermicelli scallop, and yusheng (raw fish salad) with blue fin tuna.
Grape Witches second location at Waterworks Food Hall
For my natural wine hoes, you can now find over 250 organic, biodynamic (I’m still unsure wtf this actually means), and natural vinos tucked inside Waterworks Food Hall. The second Grape Witches location is part wine bar, part bottle shop, and community hub.
If you’ve been to their OG spot on Dundas West, you can expect a highly aesthetic space with curated selections of non-boring wine that’s far from your aunt’s Toasted Head Chardonnay (a crime, tbh). They’ll also host curated tastings, events, and educational hours so you can tell me what TF biodynamic really means, k?
Toronto Restaurants: What else
I had the best shawarma of my life at Wanas Shawarma on the Danforth. It’s Syrian-style, so it’s dipped in the meat drippings before getting blitzed in the fire to seal the wrap nice and crispy. I don’t know how I lived before, truly.
I celebrated my birthday at the end of October, and I’ve always wanted a vintage-style heart cake. Butter and Spice bakery came through for a last-minute custom cake order and it was a huge hit. Marchelle is such a talented baker who puts so much heart into her business. Her brownies are next-level, too.
Deal of the month: Every Tuesday, Jules Bistro offers half-price côte de boeuf at both of their locations (Leslieville & Trinity Bellwoods). That’s 24 oz. of AAA ribeye with fries and a salad for like 59 bucks (before tax and tip). Catch me there every week unless I get gout.
Thanks for reading. See you next month!
Food & beverage friends and brands, you can get in touch at meredith.a.hardie@gmail.com