Fresh plates and final courses – Andrew Coppolino reports on new ventures, evolving menus, and notable closures in Canada’s dining industry
New opens, new configurations, new focus on food and beverage
Amid much hype, September saw the opening of a massive Greek ode to seafood on Bay Street in Toronto’s financial district. Estiatorio Milos Toronto is a multi-restaurant global brand from Las Vegas to Singapore that began in Montreal in 1979. Boldly calling itself “the world’s premier Greek restaurant,” Milos Toronto flexes its Herculean strength to fly in fresh-caught Mediterranean fish and seafood within 24 hours.
You’ll find vaulted ceilings, arched columns the size of a trireme, and a chorus of weathered amphorae used for storing olive oil within the 7,000 sq.-ft. space – as well as a fish marketplace, a cheesemonger’s section and a family-style menu.
“Toronto is the ideal city to continue this journey, and I hope everyone will enjoy the authenticity and heart of our cuisine and our experience,” said owner Costas Spiliadis in a press release.
The atrium dining room at Toronto’s new Estiatorio Milos (Photo by doublespace photography).
Now open for 10 years, Bar Raval has been synonymous with creative cocktails that garnered the Little Italy venue a place on best North American bars a couple of years ago. Hailey Burke, Raval co-owner with Grant Van Gameren, says bespoke cocktails are their hallmark, but with that in mind, the bar has recently shifted its hours and its focus onto their food programme.
With Luke Haines as executive chef, Giorgio Vaillant has now moved from Van Gameren’s and Burke’s Martine’s Wine Bar as Raval CDC. Then, in early October, the Barcelona-inspired pinxto bar changed its hours to 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., opening a couple of hours later, according to Burke.
“We’ve always been noted for cocktails at Raval, but with the hour change we’re focusing on our food more. We’re going to be introducing more seasonality to the menu, including produce from Grant’s farm, and we’re looking forward to leaning more into that late afternoon and night-time vibe with our food.”
Staying with cocktails, Botanist Bar in the Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver is, at the time of this writing, about to head to toney Knightbridge, England (where you’d find Harrods and the Victoria and Albert Museum) for “London Cocktail Week.” During a mixological “bar takeover,” Botanist beverage director Grant Sceney collaborated with staff at the Berkeley Hotel’s Blue Bar for a one-off evening of knowledge-sharing and delicious drinks – and presenting some of the flavours of the Pacific northwest to Londonites.
Bar Raval photo by Alexa Fernando.
Upon his return, Sceney set about to create Botanist’s new “experiential” cocktail menu, one structured, interestingly and fittingly, around the hydrologic cycle around the Pacific Ocean: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and so on, corresponds to “mountain + meadow” and “coastal + oceanic” cocktail categories, including “Raincouver” with vodka, cherry blossom, yuzu, pine, fennel pollen and an edible “rain cloud” that pays homage to the cloud-and-rainforest climate that characterizes “Vancouver’s unique beauty.”
Langdon Hall Executive Chef Jason Bangerter.
This year, chef Jason Bangerter celebrated a decade at Langdon Hall, the newly Michelin-Recommended Relais & Chateaux country house hotel and spa near Cambridge, Ontario. As they returned to offering a fuller calendar of tasting menus, Langdon has reconfigured their main dining room for a new “Grand Tasting Menu” that is served only three days a week and only for a limited number of guests – 16 to be exact.
“It’s literally as if another restaurant was dropped into the Terrace section of our dining room,” said Bangerter. “With special china, tableware and linens amid an elevated level of service, it’s something very different, and we like being able to offer that. Each dish has a local or national story.”
It has only been recently that the Michelin Guide has recognized venues outside of Toronto and that includes a recent Recommendation for Quatrefoil Dundas – and chef-owner Fraser MacFarlane. That means the Sydenham Street restaurant has been noted for food that is “above average” – and is perhaps a mere brunoise away from a Michelin star?
We should note that Quatrefoil is among the VineRoutes “Top 25 Restaurants in Ontario.” You can read our interview with MacFarlane here.
“Closing time, this room won’t be open” (apologies to Semisonic)
Another VineRoutes top 25 in Ontario, Ruffino’s Pasta Bar and Grill of Niagara-on-the-Lake abruptly shuttered at the end of September. A beloved farm-to-table establishment for many, Ruffino’s chef and owner Ryan Crawford, et al., found themselves in an irreconcilable situation with their landlord. In a Facebook farewell that neatly summarized his two decades in the industry to this point, Crawford thanked everyone for their “kindness, love and support.”
“Sadly, we will soon be extinguishing our restaurant fires,” he wrote. “We won’t be opening a restaurant soon but plan to farm and run our little farm-stand as we figure out what the universe has handed us.”
His summary captured both the history and the current status of the region as well: Crawford, noting the constellation of culinary all-stars including De Luca, Picone, Parsons, Treadwell and the Olsons, wrote that these cooks “pushed each other and shaped Niagara into one of the greatest culinary destinations in the world.”
Read Also: 4 Canadian hotel lobby bars elevating the food and drink experience
A Smoked Maple Whisky, courtesy of Artist in Residence Distillerie.
According to a social media posting in late September, Pearle Hospitality brand Bardo James is closing its James Street, Hamilton, location (Bardo is a re-brand of their Bread Bar restaurants that turned out some very good pizza over the years). The post states that Bardo Locke and Bardo Guelph will continue to operate, at the same time it hints somewhat elliptically that they look forward to serving customers at “future locations to come.” Bardo James operated for about five years.
Longtime chef and Vancouver culinary icon Pino Posteraro has plans to close his beloved Yaletown Italian restaurant Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill and Enoteca before Christmas. If five years is quite a good run for a restaurant, what do we say about the quarter century that Cioppino’s has served the community?
In Montreal and part of the Prime Restaurant Group, Bier Markt René-Lévesque Ouest has been shuttered, but the Sparks Street Ottawa and The Esplanade Toronto locations – offering live music, lots of beer, and food – remain open for now.
National culinary cookoff, space food and other Ottawa news
In late January, ten chefs who have won local competitions from coast to coast to coast will gather in the nation’s capital for the Canadian Culinary Championship. Judged in three competitions by a panel of chefs and culinary experts, the title of Champion goes to the winner of a Mystery Wine food pairing, a Black Box and a Grand Finale challenge.
According to their website, the competition is touted to “inspire the next generation of culinary talent and help shape the direction of the nation’s cuisine for years to come.” Ottawa chef Lizardo Becerra, owner of the unique Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine, has qualified after winning Ottawa’s edition of “Canada’s Great Kitchen Party” at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier.
Marc Lepine, chef and owner of Atelier and soon-to-be La Petite Sauterelle. (photo by Miv Photography)
Marc Lepine, acclaimed chef-owner of modernist Atelier (and twice a Canadian Culinary Championship winner) is about to open La Petite Sautrelle, (a sautrelle is a grasshopper), his second restaurant, on Somerset Street West later this year. The 20-seat restaurant will feature a year-round indoor garden that will grow unique plants under unique light conditions – that’s after Lepine’s obviously illuminating visit to the University of Guelph’s “Canada GOOSE” (Growth Options for Outer Space Environments) project.
Sister venue to its successful distillery in Gatineau that has multiple best-selling spirits, Artist in Residence Distillerie has just opened an impressive 25,000 sq.-ft. distillery in Hawkesbury, just over an hour away from both Montreal and Ottawa. Their first batch of smoked maple whisky, released October 2, sold out at area LCBOs in 24 hours.
Jordan Sabourin takes care of the wine list at Beckta – where there is a new executive chef, Kyle Wilson – and their sister restaurant Play: he says this year they’ve finally been able to get back on track with their full food-and-beverage program following Covid-19.
“It’s been nice to return to wine dinners with special menus, and we’ve done four since April. It was a big part of what both restaurants had been doing previous to the pandemic,” said Sabourin, who adds that the pending return of more office work for federal employees will be a benefit to the downtown’s businesses too.
Beckta Dining and Wine.
“They represented a lot of business for lunches, after-work drinks and business meetings. That had fizzled out, so we hope it returns,” he said.
Over the past couple of years, Beckta and Play have donated a portion of their bread sales to community groups: last quarter it was to Shepherds of Good Hope; this quarter, it’s the snowsuit fund in cold Ottawa for children in need.
Food icons, beer knights and other new opens
Matty Matheson has partnered with downtown Detroit cocktail bar Standby in developing the new menu for this member of the 50 Best Bars in North America. Matheson is well-known as Neil Fak on “The Bear” television series (see our story about the show here), and earlier this fall, he also took some Chicago beef inspiration for a pop-up food cart, “Detroit City Beef at the Skip,” to the Motor City. A fan of classic old diners and hotdog stands, it’s Matheson’s first food-operations foray south of the 49th.
Serial restaurateur with an industry memoir that takes no prisoners and boasts a small catalogue of Toronto restaurants to her name – Le Swan, Michelin-recommended Bar Vendetta (where Black Hoof once was) and Bib Gourmand Grey Gardens to name a few – Jenn Agg has recently opened General Public on Geary Avenue in Toronto.
A fashion of a hybrid between an English pub and a brasserie – “in terms of vibe, the main floor is ‘everything’s gone green’” their website says – dishes are shareable, but it’s not necessarily a small plates affair: there’s a curried lamb tartare, baked oyster rarebit and, perhaps redolent of Fergus Henderson at St. John, a tongue-and-tail pie. If you’re early, there’s a breakfast sandwich in what is described as a restaurant that’s “a peachy 80s dream.”
Ciao Bella.
Oakville’s Catch Hospitality opened Ciao Bella in the first week of September, preparing pastas, osso buco and Sicilian- and Neapolitan-style pizza; they also opened La Bodega by Por Vida at the end of August. At the latter, you can shop and take away prepared foods such as burritos, tortas and taco kits.
Waterloo Region-based Charcoal Group has purchased Uptown Waterloo’s long-standing Sole Restaurant and Wine Bar from the Cerny Group. These are two restaurant groups that, combined, have 120 years of hospitality experience in Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge.
Last year, Jody Palubiski, Charcoal managing partner, was made an honorary member – a “beer knight” – of the Belgian Brewers Guild, given Beertown’s connections to that country’s industry. He’s one of only a few Canadians to be so honoured with the hoppy adoubement. And … stay tuned: the Charcoal Group has plans to expand their very popular Beertown brand – now ten venues strong – into Ottawa, already a vibrant craft-beer market.
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