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GALLERY: Banana Mafia’s inaugural Asian Street Market party

The Banana Mafia throwing up deuces (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Last night was the first gathering of the Banana Mafia crew at the Amsterdam Brewery. This alliance of chefs was brought together by the team behind the upcoming GwaiLo, and is made up of Nick Liu (GwaiLo), Robbie Hojilla (Ursa), Jeff Claudio (Yours Truly), Jonathan Poon (Chantecler) and Leemo Han (Swish by Han, Oddseoul). The idea behind the Banana Mafia started with Liu, who wanted to do a Singapore hawker-style event by bringing together some of the city’s brightest Asian chefs.

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The Dish

Opening

May 15, 2012 | 9:57 am

5 Comments

Introducing: The Bristol Yard, a bit of Britain down by Christie Pits

The walls are covered with photos of various British celebrities (Image: Gizelle Lau)

The Bristol Yard is a new British-style cafe (that’s pronounced “caf,” not “café”) which opened a couple of weeks ago halfway between Christie Pits and Fiesta Farms. The restaurant has taken over the long-dilapidated corner space at Christie and Pendrith Streets (you can still see it on Google street view), and aims to serve “working-class food for working-class people,” which means fish and chips and many varieties of meat pies.

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The Dish

Opening

May 14, 2012 | 12:35 pm

7 Comments

Introducing: Osteria 55, the rustic Italian successor to the short-lived Bowery

The Bowery quietly morphed into Osteria 55 a few weeks ago

A couple of weeks ago, The Bowery, which opened last year on Colborne Street with Tawfik Shehata at the helm, was quietly transformed into Osteria 55. Uniq Lifestyle Entertainment Group is still behind the space, but they’ve brought in a new front-of-house manager and consultant, John Chetti, of the always-packed Queen Margherita Pizza. With Chetti in charge, the space has gone from a somewhat nebulous “punk-meets-farm” concept to an unequivocally Italian osteria, open for both speedy corporate lunches and dinner.

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The Dish

Opening

May 3, 2012 | 1:25 pm

1 Comment

Introducing: SpiritHouse, King West’s new home for cocktail nerds

Brad Gubbins behind the bar, pouring a Toronto cocktail (Image: Gizelle Lau)

SpiritHouse, which opened last week, aims to bring a little cocktail cred to King West, a neighbourhood that’s often better known for the quantity rather than the quality of the booze consumed. A “spirit” bar rather than just a cocktail bar, SpiritHouse boasts a 400+ bottle selection, one of the largest in the city, including the Canadian Tag Vodka, Victoria Gin and Tromba Tequila. It’s also founded by Len Fragomeni, of the Toronto Institute of Bartending (they operate out of the same building at Portland and Adelaide), which means it’s quickly becoming the place to go for a thorough cocktail education.

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The Dish

Opening

May 1, 2012 | 4:15 pm

8 Comments

Introducing: Kitch, a new restaurant and club just north of the tracks at Dupont and Dufferin

Kitch’s bar is made out of a repurposed bowling alley lane (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Kitch bills itself as a place for “eats and beats”—the eats coming courtesy of Bryan Jackson, noted waffle lover and owner of Starving Artist, and the beats from Jose Rodriguez, talent booker for Charles Khabouth’s Ink Entertainment. The casual restaurant/bar/lounge is meant to be the kind of place where comfort snack food is paired with great music ranging from Nas to electronic to indie (with precious little Bieber or Top 40 here, unless, say, it’s a really cool remix). And unusually for a place like this, it’s nestled in among the auto body and plumbing supply shops north of Dupont and Dufferin.

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The Dish

Opening

April 26, 2012 | 11:48 am

4 Comments

Introducing: L’Avenue, a new modern bistro on Bayview

(Image: Gizelle Lau)

Opened recently on a strip of Bayview Avenue that’s best known for Satay on the Road and Hollywood Gelato, L’Avenue, a new modern French bistro, is quickly making a name for itself among locals. The face of L’Avenue is Otta Zapotocky (he co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Jenna Kang), who has worked as sommelier and manager at Nota Bene, L’Unita, Malena and Wildfire.

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The Dish

Opening

April 16, 2012 | 12:56 pm

Comments

Introducing: Bellwoods Brewery, Ossington’s new brewpub and snack bar

The view from the mezzanine, up above the main floor (Image: Gizelle Lau)

After a bit of a lull in new openings, it seems as though Ossington is in the middle of yet another restaurant and bar boom, with the launch of The Saint, Hawker Bar and now Bellwoods Brewery, the first new brewpub in Toronto after the untimely death of Duggan’s. Despite having opened just last Wednesday, the space was packed before 6 p.m. on Saturday night—in other words, the microbrewery is already a hit. Of course, smack dab as it is in the middle of hipster party central, we didn’t expect anything less.

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The Dish

Opening

April 9, 2012 | 5:23 pm

2 Comments

Introducing: Midfield Wine Bar, Dundas West’s laid-back spot for oenophiles

(Image: Gizelle Lau)

Midfield Wine Bar, which opened without much fanfare at the end of January, is the vision of two front-of-house vets: sommelier Christopher Sealy (Terroni, Mercatto) and Giuseppe Anile (Bar Italia and former owner of Marquee Video). Their shared passion for wine, food and hospitality brought the pair together to create a space that evokes old-world warmth on the rapidly gentrifying section of Dundas West around Dufferin.

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The Dish

Opening

April 9, 2012 | 11:32 am

9 Comments

Introducing: The Saint, Ossington’s long-awaited and oft-delayed contemporary tavern

(Image: Gizelle Lau)

When we first told you about The Saint back in 2009, we said it would open in April—and it will, albeit three years later than expected. After a long licensing battle with the city, during which time most of the Ossington strip was redeveloped, the restaurant is finally slated to open to the public today. We dropped by to get a look behind windows that have been covered for years.

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The Dish

Opening

April 4, 2012 | 12:08 pm

4 Comments

Introducing: Actinolite, one couple’s labour of love on a quiet stretch of Ossington

(Image: Gizelle Lau)

Nearly six years in the making, the long-awaited Actinolite opened last week on a quiet strip of Ossington at Hallam, just south of Dupont. Behind the restaurant are husband-and-wife team Justin Cournoyer, a cook with over 15 years of experience (including a four-year stint at Susur) and Claudia Bianchi, a culinary producer for Food Network Canada (Top Chef Canada, Cook Like a Chef) and food stylist. Out of a building that was once home to Our Place Café, the couple has created an approachable yet sophisticated neighbourhood restaurant.

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The Dish

Opening

April 3, 2012 | 4:51 pm

4 Comments

Introducing: Banh Mi Boys, Queen West’s shiny new Vietnamese sub counter

The view from the front entrance (Image: Gizelle Lau)

When Banh Mi Boys opened—from early December to mid-January—it was an overnight sensation. Cheap and delicious Asian street food served by a band of brothers? It was like catnip to the assorted hipsters, foodies, bloggers and Twitterers, who couldn’t get enough. The place reopened last week after a two-month renovation hiatus, and it saw over 400 customers on its first day. Not surprisingly, there were lineups out the door.

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The Informer

Gimme Shelter

March 2, 2012 | 3:05 pm

2 Comments

Introducing: Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto, the first Trump property in Canada

The new Trump International Hotel and Tower opened quietly at the end of January (though the official launch won’t take place until mid-March). The building stands tall at 65 storeys, and levels 11 to 30 are reserved for the hotel’s 261 guest rooms, including a 4,000-square-foot presidential suite (which is still under construction). The tower is also home to Stock, a glitzy new restaurant on the 31st floor from Inna and Levitan of Talon International, the developers behind the Trump, and Suits Lobby Lounge, a bar catering to Bay Street business types. We recently stopped by to take in the spectacle. Check out our photo tour of the ultra-luxe hotel and residences after the jump »

The Dish

Opening

February 24, 2012 | 1:56 pm

6 Comments

Introducing: Cube, Charles Khabouth’s newest incarnation of Ultra Supper Club

First there was Bamboo. Then there was Ultra Supper Club. Now: Cube. (Image: Gizelle Lau)

After nine years, Ultra Supper Club, the restaurant-cum-club that replaced Queen West’s long-time tropical standby Bamboo, has made way for something new, albeit from the same owner: Cube, Charles Khabouth and Ink Entertainment’s latest nightclub. “We did everything we could with Ultra,” Khabouth, who’s gotten a little sick of his “King of Clubs” moniker, told us. “And as time passed, the neighbourhood changed and I thought it was time we did, too.”

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The Dish

Opening

February 14, 2012 | 2:15 pm

11 Comments

Introducing: Stock, the glitzy new restaurant on the 31st floor of the Trump International Tower

Inside the main dining room (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Last week, the Trump International Tower’s much-anticipated flagship restaurant Stock opened its doors, and you’d better believe it’s as flashy as we predicted it would be back in December. Part of the “Talon Luxury Collection” (which also includes Quartz Crystal Spa and Suits Lobby Lounge), Stock is owned by Inna and Val Levitan of Talon International, the developers behind the Trump. We stopped by to check it out.

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The Dish

Opening

February 13, 2012 | 4:35 pm

8 Comments

Introducing: Come and Get It, the very temporary Spadina pop-up resto that’ll turn into a condo before you know it

Outside Come and Get It

Back in December, we told you about a mystery pop-up taking over the space once occupied by the Jamaican restaurant Ackee Tree. It’s not so mysterious anymore: Come and Get It opened about a week and a half ago, and is more than aptly named—the building, now owned by condo developers, will be cleared any moment now for the construction of a new condo. The man behind the pop-up restaurant is Jon Polubiec (Mistura, Windsor Arms, Prego, Moveable Feast) with friends Marco Deviato (Windsor Arms), Jay Repovz (Capitol Theatre) and Mark Jarvis (Mavrik Wine Bar) helping out.

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