You have to get cold to go to the hottest new restaurant in Toronto — and that may be its undoing. The suits who work in the financial district don’t like going outside. They do like walking to drink and dine. They also like expensive booze, fancy food, a snazzy room and waitstaff eye candy. The Chase has all of that, but for one thing — it’s not on the PATH. You can’t walk there underground. Which was fine in the fall, when it opened, but is no longer fine. If one were to map all the super-successful upmarket restaurants in the financial core, this fact would be clear: No winter coat needed. Suits walk there underground.
If The Chase were, let’s say, as good as Frank’s Kitchen or Acadia, that maybe wouldn’t matter. It’s sure way better looking than either of those, but the suits have pretty highly trained taste buds. The room is divine decadence, a penthouse built on top of a heritage building. You take the elevator to the 5th floor, to a bespoke space lit by grand chandeliers and tall windows. Luxe banquettes and generous tables flank the wine cellar, whose prices befit the expense-account crowd.
Chef is Michael Steh, formerly of Reds Wine Tavern — so he knows what suits eat. I’m just not sure that a $21 app makes sense — it’s lovely sweet poached crab with something creamy under it and fragile gnocchi. But a $21 app? Perhaps I underestimate the depth of Bay Street’s pockets. The other app whose grandeur matches the room is called, simply, avocado (a pretension that permeates the menu). It’s chef’s nod to dragon rolls, avocado draped over a roll of shrimp and smoked onion with grapefruit and shaved celery. I’d have these two items and a drink, and go home.
Because the mains are a) too expensive and b) fussy like a room with too many tchotchkes. Parsnip (yes, that’s its name) is perfect pink roast venison and small motherlode of fab foie gras. But good luck finding it, ’cause there’s a lake of pureed parsnip, parsnips glazed in quince and maybe some quince too (the waiter doesn’t know). For $45. Even more confusing are scallops (slightly burnt) with red quinoa, mediocrely roasted cauliflower, bland tasting pulled ham hocks and lemon almond relish. Too many elements on one plate.
As with the lime dessert, a tower of toasted marshmallow cladding white cake with lime curd and coconut cream. Good idea, needs restraint — halving the size would help.
Restraint is what The Chase needs. Simpler food, tighter focus on what they do well — meat, seafood and eye candy — and lower prices for when the suits wake up and smell the coffee.
THE CHASE, 10 Temperance Street, Toronto
Joanne Kates trained at the Ecole Cordon Bleu de Cuisine in Paris. She has written articles for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Maclean’s and Chatelaine.
