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Amber’s new bar is made from Calcutta marble (Image: Gizelle Lau)
For almost 12 years, Yorkville’s Amber has been the place to see and be seen. Having just finished turning his Cinq 01 into the new Briscola Trattoria at the end of February, it seems owner Toufik Sarwa has reno fever—he’s just completed another major renovation at Amber. We checked in with Sarwa to get the dish on the new digs.
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Nighttime entertainment vets Charles Khabouth of Ink Entertainment and Toufik Sarwa of Amber have announced a new collaboration that will take over the space of Sarwa’s former College Street bistro Cinq 01. The new restaurant, Briscola Trattoria, will be a casual Italian eatery, and is set to open next Friday, February 18 (Cinq 01 closed in January).
Parkdale's in, Leslieville's out: Parts and Labour makes the list (Image: Jon Sufrin)
With the film festival mere weeks away, Toronto is the focus of a recent T Magazine style map, which names a dozen of the shops, restaurants and hotels that put the “‘Tdot’ on any style-setter’s radar.” Other than the fact that all of the businesses are south of Dupont and west of Jarvis, it’s a good list, with fantastic smaller boutiques, like Chasse Gardée and Fawn, earning mentions, as well as new fashiony foodie destinations Parts and Labour and Cinq 01. Former NYT favourite the Drake Hotel is notably absent; The Thompson and The Hazelton are its hotel picks. The full list, after the jump.
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Cinq 01 awaits its brunchers (Image: Karon Liu)
Fresh from bringing the party back to College Street, Cinq 01 is now stepping up to continue the area’s brunch tradition. The resto-lounge’s first venture into brunch territory seeks to capture New York’s post–Saturday night vibe of which owner Toufik Sarwa is so fond. “I want it to be a nice, civilized brunch, something that would remind me of my New York Sundays,” he says. “I love New York on Sundays, and I find Toronto is sometimes too sleepy on Sunday.”
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Shinan Govani at the launch party for his book, Boldface Names (Photo by Jen McNeely)
Local gossip king Shinan Govani landed the cover of the premiere issue of In Toronto magazine this week (it’s like Xtra or Fab for the Yorkville crowd), and while we already know too much about the party pundit, the story revealed some tidbits that might be useful for amateur celebrity spotters. The highlights of the 1,400-word Q&A:
Govani’s picks for celebrity sightings:
Drew Barrymore was spotted at Sweaty Betty’s twice when she was in town for TIFF, Robin Williams once visited the Dora Keogh, Daniel Craig and Megan Fox have dined at Avenue Road’s L’Unità, and Toufik Sarwa’s Cinq 01 on College is the go-to place for local celebs.
His answer to the tired “will Toronto ever be like New York” question: Read the rest of this entry »
Up the population by one million. “Toronto is plenty engaging and glam—what we’re still lacking is scale,” he tells the magazine, adding that a Toronto party may have 10 “cool” people, but a New York or London party may have 100 “cool” people.
Rumours of College Street’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Just when it seemed like the west-end strip was hopelessly cluttered with mediocre Italian trattorias, generic pan-Asian takeouts and busloads of barely legals from the burbs, along came a few culinary jewels: Sidecar, Negroni, Grace, Cinq 01 and now LAB.
“I liked the vibrancy of the neighbourhood, and being about 90 per cent Italian, I thought it could use something different,” says co-chef and owner Howard Dubrovsky. Once located (there’s no signage yet), the two-week old boîte proves to be a welcoming setting with a soundtrack of indie and down-tempo electro more common to Queen West than College. Formerly Bite Noodles and Rice, the 32-seat room feels like a collision of urban street and Victorian apothecary, with graffiti tags by artist Darcy Obokata, exposed brick, rustic wood and sleek black granite.
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Cinq 01: Take the boy out of Yorkville, but not Yorkville out of the boy (Photo by Karon Liu)
After finding success among the socialites with Yorkville’s Amber, nightclub king Toufik Sarwa opened Cinq 01 to create a more grown-up venture—a place where the emphasis is on the food rather than the guest list. But no such luck. Since the spot opened last fall, it has been increasingly packed with the well heeled, making this the first time since the ’90s that the glitterati are partying on College Street (and this time, they’re not slumming it).
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Memo to 416ers: the 905 is not like the Jersey Shore (Photo via MTV)
They walk among us to learn our language and customs. They could even be in the next cubicle. They’re everywhere, and nothing can be done about it. That’s right; despite our best efforts, 905ers are infiltrating the city’s chicest restaurants and clubs unbeknownst to downtowners, writes Kim Izzo in her latest column for the Star, which chronicles her move from downtown to uptown.
Since November, Izzo has been documenting the pains of moving north as if she’s dealing with a terminal illness or moving to the other side of the world (Richmond Hill, to be exact). Now that she’s fully integrated into suburban society, she feels that 905ers get a bad rap from their downtown counterparts, who think people living north of Bloor have big hair, fake tans and souped-up cars. (When did Markham become Jersey Shore?)
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Parked on College Street: Cinq 01 contains elements from Toufik Sarwa's childhood (Photo by Karon Liu)
Lounge king Toufik Sarwa, owner of Amber, is branching out of Yorkville with the opening of a quaint bistro called Cinq 01 in Little Italy.
“When I set out at Amber, I thought I’d devote 10 years of my life to it. I had offers to be partners in other projects, but I turned them down,” Sarwa says. But last September, four months before his one-decade anniversary at Amber, the space formerly occupied by Arthur’s became available and Sarwa snatched it up. “It was just perfect timing; everything fell into place.”
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