| rev:text
| - I've been to Lavelle twice since it opened - once for brunch and once on a Friday night.
Brunch
There were no reservations available online but when we arrived at 11am we were the first ones seated in the restaurant - it didn't start filling up until well after 1pm. The decor was beautiful - bright, white and spacious with four person tables and booths that face the pools. Our server was friendly and attentive. I wasn't expecting such good service however since we were her only table she had nothing but time to give us.
Brunch wasn't as expensive as I envisioned - approximately $15-$17 a dish. There was a big focus on eggs benny and creative ones e.g. pork belly, frittata benny. I got the avocado toast, an americano and a mimosa and my bill including tax and tip was just under $40. The avocado toast was fairly average and very small. I wasn't a fan of the red pepper aioli they used as it overwhelmed the avocado flavour. The presentation was nice on a wooden board (and my friends had skillets) but there should have been more toast and less fries. If they need some inspiration for avocado toast they can take a short walk down the street to Gusto 101, who far outshines them here.
The bathrooms are individual stalls on the side of the bar. They are well suited to those using the pool but a bit of a downgrade if you're dressed up and coming from the restaurant. They're a fairly tight fit and have decent toiletries in plastic bottles. I was expecting some swanky washrooms but I guess they wanted to save on space.
Friday Night
We looked at eating in the restaurant however decided not to for a few reasons. Firstly the dinner menu ramps up spend because many of the cheaper lunch options are removed. What remains are $25+ mains and a few cheaper apps and salads (that you know are going to be really small). Secondly they are completely inflexible on booking a table for more than four. I'm told that you need a pre fixe menu for a party larger than four. I also tried to work around this by asking if two tables of four could be placed next to one another. I was told absolutely no on multiple occasions. When we did arrive I noticed said restaurant wasn't even remotely full. This stubbornness and unwillingness to accommodate struck me as ridiculous. How hard could it be to make this happen?
As it turns out we ended up on the patio for drinks and scored a table that could easily fit eight people. The drinks were up there on price but not as bad as I imagined. A few friends and I split some $45 bottles of pinot grigio, which for the area isn't too bad at all. We also got some apps, including fries, edamame and corn nuts. They were on the small side but decent. Our server was also better than I expected once we got past the fact that we wouldn't be ordering bottle service.
The patio is lovely, sunny and spacious with good distance between tables. There are wonderful views of downtown Toronto and the CN Tower, i.e. many Instagram-worthy photo options. It definitely has a less classy vibe than the restaurant given some of their wooden table/bench style seating. I found it an odd contrast with their sun loungers, cabanas and high tables. When you first arrive you might feel intimidated because all the female staff are there in skimpy black semi sheer bikini/sarong combinations and there are bottle service buckets on every table. But have no fear - go and sit down at a free table and bypass their requests to bottle service you or break the bank to fit in.
The Cabanas
I didn't seek out a cabana but I enquired on their pricing out of interest. To secure one you need a $2000 minimum spend (before tax and gratuity) and they house about 12-15 people. This is one of the few ways you can access the pool (the other two being paying the $200 annual membership fee or being in the know with all the hookups). Apparently the cabanas can also be winterproofed - that would be interesting. When we were there a few people were using the cabanas but they didn't appear to be large parties. Perhaps they have had to relax the rules a little bit.
All in all Lavelle is a nice place to hang out on a sun-shiney day and a great location to make a drink gathering a little more special. You can dress up, enjoy fabulous city views and take lots of nice photos. It is also a lot more accessible for ordinary folk than equivalent rooftop bars in the city e.g. Thompson rooftop. I do wonder what kind of service I would receive if the place was really busy - I think that would be a true test of what Lavelle is all about. For now, I just hope they lighten up on their super strict table reservation system.
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