My friend Guu's got a new debut: Masaru Ogasawara is overseeing the Toronto opening (Photo by Renée Suen)
“Patience is a virtue” is an axiom that Toronto fans of izakaya have been repeating to themselves since we first reported that Guu, the west coast’s popular Japanese restaurant, would be coming to town in 2009. Recently, we met up with Masaru Ogasawara, the chef at one of the Vancouver locations (Guu in Gastown), who gave us the lowdown on the opening date (early December), the cause of the delay (the municipal strike) and the location (398 Church Street, near Carlton).
Right away, he tells us that Guu’s new home will be in a strip mall close to the Ryerson campus. The middling Sushi Plaza restaurant that once occupied the space has been gutted, leaving barren walls and ceilings, and kitchen equipment shoved into one corner. The 76-seat Guu will fill the space with long communal tables—think Salad King, but with more wood than chrome—designed by Bennett Lo, veteran of Spring Rolls. Come summertime, 20 more seats will be added on a patio.
The opening will bring the current chef at Guu With Garlic (on Vancouver’s Robson Street) to man the open-air kitchen, with Ogasawara taking a managerial role. Instead of the bar atmosphere familiar to some of the chain’s B.C. patrons, expect a casual restaurant-style ambience and a menu of fusion dishes. But that’s just to start; Ogasawara promises that as Torontonians’ palates become more receptive to dishes like oden—a Japanese stew with an assortment of braised fish, tofu and vegetable products—Guu will bring in more traditional izakaya fare.
Ogasawara will be moving to the city next month to look over the last stages of the construction. He tells us there’s still much work ahead (the kitchen and front of house still need to be staffed), but he promises to keep us up to speed with the impending opening.
Stay tuu’ned.
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Not sure about the non-bar like atmosphere, but the prices for the place in Vancouver are incredible! Definitely key in an enjoyable izakaya experience. Been to some nice spots in NY, but way too expensive for what the quality of the food is.
Best news of the day! Guu in Gastown is one of my favorite places to eat in Vancouver! Cannot wait for the Toronto location to open!
[...] izakaya Guu lands in [...]
Super excited to have Guu on the east coast
Guu rocks. After spending 7 years in Vancouver…Guu and Japanese food in general is what I miss most!
Anyone know when the opening date is?
Guu is guuud! – Check out our meal (and comments on it) on opening night! — http://bit.ly/6OTHJl
Oh, Guu opened two nights ago!! (December 18)
I was thrilled to read online months ago Guu was coming to Toronto. Having lived in Vancouver for 7 years Gyoza King, Hapa Izakaya and Guu were places I loved and frequented once a week. When I called to see IF they took reservations I was told no (as per usual) So we arrived early and sat in the car from 4:20. We watched car after car pull up and park on the street, but no one was getting out. And then at 4:55 like clockwork the car doors flung open and out tromped a heard of diners. We were the first in line and last to be seated for some reason but who cares we were there and good eats were on the horizon.
We were presented the menus and clearly told we had a two hour limit, no problem right? WRONG!
We ordered a good bottle of sake and tea We didn’t receive our tea until 5:35 and by the time our first item of food arrived if was 5:45 Surely they would take the slow start into account. But just to be safe I got up and asked the manager if we needed to really rush because of the two hour limit? “we want to respect you time limit but its kind of hard since we started so late” I said. He replied “don’t worry we never gonna kick our customers out” bowing profusely and smiling. I congratulated him and his team for finally bringing a proper izakaya and told him how thrilled we were to be here and thanked him for his understanding. At this point there is a line up inside the restaurant that snakes its way between tables all the way back to the washrooms. Btw Im sure the fire Marshall will fix the overcrowding problem
By this time we were speaking to single diner next to us sharing plates and having a great time. We asked our waitress for two more orders of black cod. “No I’m sorry your time is up!” “Im sorry there must be some kind of misunderstanding, I spoke with the manger about it” said I
So I went back to the manager and explained the waitress was kicking us out. His reply “well did you get everything you ordered?” Mine was “Well yes we did but we didn’t know we only had one shot at it but besides you knew we started late and we agreed we got our first item at 5:45. So what’s the problem”?
Now here where it goes really pear shaped. He walks us to the table looks at the start time on the bill and concludes “ITS TIME TO GO!” Bows and smiles We have half of our $60 bottle of sake and a full beer on the table and now we are getting kicked out? I implored him. My wife implored him. The lady next to us implored him with “please you don’t understand they are having a great time here, they love it here, your making a mistake” I explained you cant kick customers out mid meal. I eventually told him he was being greedy and he should take care of the customers he has before accepting new ones.
This is now when I raise my voice and get everyone attention including one drunk Japanese guy who is all too eager to stick up for his brethren. Now he’s yelling at me across the table. My wife is speechless thinking “can this be happening are we getting kicked out of a restaurant”??? I regret paying the bill including the sake we weren’t allow to finish. And then we were flanked out the door like some unruly customer that had been violent. I cant recall ever being so humiliated or wronged in my life.
If you were there, yes I did raise my voice and so would you if you were in that situation. If the disruption ruined your dinner I know how you feel I am genuinely sorry for my contribution but I have never been evicted from a restaurant mid meal before and I doubt neither have you.
For me this was an especially painful slap in the face because I have proudly worked in the restaurant industry for over 20 years. So when we go out for dinner (which is far too much and never enough) Its rare for me not to know someone I have worked at some point and consider family(those in the industry will know what I mean by this) But this time you disgraced the industry I love. You cheated and abused the patronage of one of you own, one of the best potential customers you could wish for. I congratulated you sincerely from the heart. I tried to respect you rules when many wouldn’t bother. Then you kick my wife and I out on OUR ANNIVERSARY!
I wont forget, and I will tell EVERYONE what greedy bastards you are.