Creativity the key to the success of George
George’s secluded patio seats 60 people, and the full menu is available outside.
If one were looking for an intensely romantic restaurant for a date with a foodie, George is it. The place looks like a dream world, thanks to silvery brick walls, crystal chandeliers and sconces, and fabulously floral wrought-iron grace notes. In summertime the patio is an outdoor urban delight. And chef Lorenzo Loseto matches the grace of the dining room with food that often feels like art in the mouth. Few Toronto chefs are as creative as Loseto, his every plate a complex creation. Because his opus is market-driven, the menu changes often. But expect the likes of lobster rolls with lentils and curried mascarpone, black cod with egg yolk cannoli and fresh artichoke, pork belly with Meyer lemon and smoked clams, and beef tenderloin with pumpkin perogies and chestnut caponata.
George is located at 111C Queen St. E., 416-863-6006.
Financial district’s little place in the sun
Bymark’s patio seats 50 people, and the full menu is served.
Masters of the universe frequent the impeccable Bymark restaurant for its unfussy luxe, the service that says that you really matter and a menu based on the best ingredients flown in from the four corners of the globe. Bymark is also where the thousand-dollar suits go to kick back after work, for the bar is an elegance of stone and wood. After a few $12.50 to $14 cocktails, they own the world, and a $35 Bymark burger in the bar goes down like a bear market on the run. Eight ounces of US prime garnished with ultra crisp onion rings and unimpeachable French brie, it makes those 80-hour work weeks feel worth it. As does the ridiculously delicious $27 grilled cheese sandwich with lobster, pancetta and more of that upmarket French brie. But the most fun at the Bymark bar (other than pretending you’re richer than you think) is the $27 poutine — perfect fries with juicy sweet butter–braised lobster and fabulous bearnaise sauce strong with tarragon scent.
Bymark is located at 66 Wellington St. W., 416-777-1144.
New York style arrives in Toronto
Scarpetta has two patios, seating 80 people. Full menu is available outside.
Toronto would love to hate Scarpetta because who wants to like a resto brought to us by a globe-trotting New York chef for whom we’re just an extension of his brand, a little frisson of franchising? But dinner at Scarpetta is a deluxe delight, deeply layered complex Italian cooking in a glamorous room with fine and formal service. Nowhere in this town do we find polenta as smooth as here; how cosseted does one feel when the waiter spoons our fragrant truffled mushroom stew onto the silken polenta? The short ribs are more moist, more high-flavoured, more elegant than such a homespun cut of meat has a right to be. Even the simplest of Italiana — tomato basil spaghetti — has deeper flavor than one imagined possible. There are superb complex constructions like sablefish with roasted cherry tomatoes and lightly caramelized fennel, and duck breast with Sicilian spices and preserved orange. Small wonder the Thompson Hotel copped the wunderkind of New York Italiana.
Scarpetta is located at 55 Wellington St. W., 416-601-3590.
One of the most original restaurants in town
Origin’s patio seats 60, and includes an outdoor bar. Full menu available.
Superchef Claudio Aprile of Colborne Lane and molecular gastronomy fame opened Origin in March 2010 to instant hyper-popularity. In the hot months foodies love the big patio on Church Street, and when it’s cold, the best show in town is the 120-year-old reclaimed wooden counter around the open kitchen where five cooks create yummy small plates at warp speed. Loud music, artsy chandeliers and a graceful restoration of one of the oldest buildings in Toronto make Origin a fun destination. Best eating is miso-glazed black cod in mushroom broth, sweetly fresh bufala mozzarella on grilled Calabrese bread with poached pear, rosemary oil, toasted pine nuts and fragrant honey, and every dessert. Caveat emptor: They turn the tables as fast as they cook.
Origin is located at 107 King St. E., 416-603-8009.
Charming throwback continues to impress
La Palette’s mini patio seats just four people. Full menu is served.
In a world where rustic Italiana rules, and the likes of French onion soup and coq au vin are from when dinosaurs walked the earth, La Palette is a charming throwback. Yes, you can still make us happy with great lashings of butterfat — in unctuous sauce on pasta, in the compound butter on the steak with sweet frites. There are the expectable bistro stalwarts of confit and pate, foie gras and escargots. It’s unclear how slow-cooked venison ribs in perfectly judged BBQ sauce are French, but they taste great. The room is classic inexpensive bistro all the way, from the Provencal print tablecloths to the paper napkins.
La Palette is located at 492 Queen St. W., 416-603-4900.
The epicentre of cool Queen West
The Drake’s Sky Yard patio seats 125 people. Full menu available.
When I grow up, I wannabe cool. Until then I settle for the occasional foray to Toronto’s epicentre of cool, the Drake Hotel, where skinny 30-somethings in lots of black perennially pack the dark downstairs bar and the rooftop bar in warm weather. On a good day, eating in the dining room helps you get past the bar gatekeepers. The Drake distinguishes itself from other resto/bars by serving credible bistro food — with good strong flavours: Burgers, some sushi, steak frites, ribs, mac ’n’ cheese, brisket.
Drake Hotel is located at 1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042.
