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| - Ever wonder if Anthony Rose is gunning to colonize Dupont Street? The young big-shot hip restauranteur has already established a handful of joints on the rather dead and industrial road (and another one on the way, oy vey!), appealing to the various culinary inhibitions and trend-conscious tastes of the city's zombie hoards of hipsters and yuppies. And it all started with this Rose and Sons outlet after he left an exec chef job at the Drake. With such a pioneer independent gentrifying mentality, you'd better get your dibs in trying the foods before developers succeed in their evil plans of turning all the nearby industrial land into condos! But hey, Dupont station, the Tarragon Theatre, George Brown College and Casa Loma are all nearby, and the affluence of the Annex further south reeks barely, so...
Rose and Sons took over a greasy spoon burger joint on the street, signs of which are vaguely left behind like a stereotypical trophy prize. It aims to project a hole-in-a-wall greasy spoon diner atmosphere, which doesn't that effective given how much the place oozes of flashy shameless ironic hipsterness, and how friggin' tiny it is (very crammed and feels like an overcrowded bus; I'd say you can squeeze 25-30 people in here max). Most of the cooking takes place in a very tiny open kitchen. A mirror wall at the back gives the illusion of bigger space, shattering every time the bright headlights of a car pulling up on St. George Street reflects off of it.
But to admit, the food here is pretty decent. The pastrami reuben sandwich special was delicious and juicy, and the matzo ball soup was warming, just to give an idea of what dinner is like. Staff are personable and accommodating (I even get to see a new girl get trained in my visit, which was fascinating to me). I think it's a good idea to get dinner reservations to best secure a table (same advice goes for all other Anthony Rose properties, speaking from experience).
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