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| - Another in my personal tour of "Toronto's Top New Restaurants"
Reservation- tough to snag, and they have two official seatings, at 6/6:30 and then 8:30/9pm (ish). Anyone walking in the door was turned away on this busy Thursday night.
Arrival- My first impression is cool! Although it is a bit hipstery, the table and chairs are comfy. The bar area is gorgeous and I want one of those at home. There is a communal table at the front. We were seated near the front, but comfortable and not cold.
Bar/Drinks- there is a short wine list by the glass and bottles and beers. But the cocktails are where it's at! I started with the John Candy, a big, fat glass full of bourbon, orange twist and flavour. The smaller cocktails are strong and classy. I managed to have a glass of wine during dinner, which was great as well.
Food-Two menus are placed before you. The tapas style small plates menu and then the Chef's menu of either veg or regular. Our table of four shared 2 small plates and then moved on to the 5 course menu. The chef sent over two or three small bites of food before our menu items even started to come out. Food restrictions and allergies can be accomodated for. My favorite item- the mousse of squash and yogurt with quinoa. Mushrooms played prominently based on the season. They came out in a few different styles of dishes and I loved all of them. Some people who don't love mushrooms also enjoyed them. Dessert was pretty cool, but very light and I still had 'room left' for somehting a bit more heavy.
Service- Even though this isn't a white table cloth kind of place, I was awed that there were so many servers who brought the food for 4 people all at the same time. The chef came out himself to describe one of the courses. The waitress was not intrusive and very cool.
This place is new, like nothing else. Small food, so order plenty of small plates before the fixed price menu. I'd totally love to come back and hope they will add some wine pairings with each course.
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