Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich are adding a new outpost to their empire, just as they close the dining room at Atelier Thuet. The second location of Petite Thuet will open at 1 King Street West in two weeks. The new bakery-café in the financial district will offer pastries, bread and coffee in a 900-square-foot space that’s directly across the street from a Starbucks. There has been little buzz about the opening thus far, but Zorich assures us that it is no secret—rather, she says, “It’s so small, should we even bother to do a press release?” Read the rest of this entry »
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Thuet opens one, closes another
Name that Saloon: West Queen West gets a new bar by the Harbord Room boys
Tail end: Still with its old sign, the space at 1168 Queen Street West gets a reno (Photo by Name our bar and drink for free)
In a powerhouse collaboration to rival The Saint’s roster, the Harbord Room’s owner (David Mitton, also of Czehoski), chef (Cory Vitiello) and designer (Brad Denton, of Petit Castor) are teaming up with West-coast hospitality import Jeff Salvian (Kicking Horse Resort) to open a bar on Queen. Though their spot—1168 Queen Street West—is sandwiched between two buzzing hipster hives (the Drake and the Gladstone), the yet-to-be named tavern will aim to replicate the laid-back feel of its former incarnation, The Cock and Tail. Says Mitton: “It’s going to be a nice little dirty dive bar.”
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Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner to close on June 7
A place setting at the soon-to-be-shuttered Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner (Photo by StudioGabe)
Having opened two café-style eateries in the past year, the once-unstoppable Jamie Kennedy will shutter one of his original haute-cuisine headquarters, Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner. Whispers were confirmed today in a letter from the Gardiner’s chef de cuisine, Scott Vivian. After being stationed there for two years, Vivian will serve up the restaurant’s last lunch to woebegone locavores on June 7.
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Cluck, Grunt and Low silenced: The carnivore’s paradise closes rather abruptly
Quiet, you: Cluck, Grunt and Low gets its plug, not its pork, pulled (Photo by Alexa Clark of CheapEatsToronto.com)
The meat lovers among us were surprised and saddened by today’s unexpected news: Cluck, Grunt and Low—the Annex’s go-to ribs palace—will be shuttering for good tonight. Morale at the barbecue pit has been low since Monday, when the staff was notified that the restaurant was closing; but they were not told by either owner Wesley Thuro or the general manager. “I think the owners no longer want to play,” says a frustrated and shocked server who declined to give a name. “Given the way the economy is, April was going quite good. In fact, we were making back the money that we didn’t make during the winter months, when business tends to be slower.”
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RIP, recession-struck restaurants
Gone but not forgotten (Photo by Jasoon)
The market may be slowly rebounding, but restaurants are still going belly-up. Diners who live by the “eat, drink and be merry” mantra—whether that means drowning sorrows in a pint of beer or a piece of chocolate truffle cake—can’t fill enough tables to keep some of the city’s eateries from shuttering. Here, a farewell to the few that fared well but have fallen.
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Tip of the Isberg: Coca’s fate is in the hands of its one-time chef
Nathan Isberg ponders his future (Photo by Renée Suen)
When we asked whether Coca’s surprise shutdown signalled closure or reincarnation, we didn’t know that its management was wondering exactly the same thing. The now-shuttered restaurant will either reopen as an entirely new enterprise, or not at all. But there is some good news. If the spot has gone downhill since losing its signature chef, Nathan Isberg, it might make hipsters swoon again: estranged from Coca since an unceremonious split from investors back in November, Isberg was surprised to get a call asking him to come back and shape an entirely new venture in the same space. Burned by bad politics and immersed in new endeavours, though, the young chef now faces a dilemma. His choice may decide the project’s ruin or renewal.
