Culinary team behind the Trump Tower’s new Stock restaurant is suitably well-stocked

Culinary team behind the Trump Tower’s new Stock restaurant is suitably well-stocked

When Stock, the flagship restaurant in the Trump International Tower, opens its doors next year, it will be one of the highest in the city: both in metres above the ground (it’ll be on the 31st floor) and almost certainly in price—after all, the logo is a fork struck through a dollar sign. The Trump brand is known for sparing no expense and charging appropriately, and it’s hired a suitably pedigreed staff, featuring alums of some of Toronto’s top restaurants, to run the place.

Stock’s culinary equivalent of the Super Friends will be led by executive chef Todd Clarmo, who brings experience from stints at the three-Michelin-starred La Maison Troisgros and Hotel Le Prieuré in France, Langdon Hall, Auberge du Pommier and Canoe. Under him will be chef de cuisine Paul Benallick, who worked short stints at Pronto, Canoe and Auberge du Pommier before moving on to Truffles in the U.K. and opening the Chef’s House at George Brown; executive sous-chef Paul Hoag from the old Imperial Room at the Royal York and Canoe; sous-chef and Toronto native Tommy McHugh, who worked at a number of lauded restaurants in the U.K., served under Prince Charles’ royal caterer and put in time at The Spoke Club and Nota Bene; and lastly pastry chef David Chow, who opened a resort in the Bahamas after leaving the Drake Hotel.

Stock’s wine list is being covered by master sommelier John Szabo, with several bottles exclusive to the venue. “In order to provide the impeccable dining experience that we have long envisioned at Stock, we needed a team that we knew could deliver just that,” restaurant owner Inna Levitan said in a release. “We can’t wait to set a new standard for fine dining in Toronto.” Part of that new standard will include an open-air patio up on the 31st floor and a dedicated kosher kitchen. Plus, Chow, who’s described as something of a “chocolate alchemist,” will preside over a chocolate lab (not that kind), where he’ll produce custom confections and showpieces. Individuals of wealth and taste can begin exercising their patronage on January 31.

Stock, 325 Bay St., stockrestaurant.com