A healthy strike of the taiko drum greets each customer (Image: Gizelle Lau)

When we first told you about DonDon Izakaya last summer, it was slated for an October opening, but as such things go, it wasn’t until early January that the Japanese restaurant opened quietly after nearly 10 months of renovation. Located on the second storey of an unassuming building at Bay and Dundas, DonDon took over the space once occupied by One Up Restaurant & Lounge. Despite the slightly inauspicious upstairs location, it’s already drawing customers (the big wooden entranceway probably helps), but not quite the mad lineups of its izakaya forbear, Guu—a least not yet.

The team behind DonDon includes Tony Wong, Kazu Maruyama, Mitsuaki Nagasawa and head chef Daisuke Izutsu, previously chef and owner of Kaiseki Sakura. The predominantly Japanese ownership and staff aim to offer a truly authentic izakaya experience: a haven where local office workers and residents can unload after a long day. When each guest enters the bar, the hostess strikes a traditional taiko drum, which sets off a chorus of greeting in Japanese (the staff have a warm-up before each service to get their voices going). Inside, the walls are made of long interconnected bamboo stalks, while Japanese murals adorn private zashiki-style rooms for larger parties of eight to 20. Behind the bar, you’ll find dozens of giant sake barrels as well as bottles displaying DonDon’s long list of 60-plus sakes, shochus and plum wines. Hard-to-find sakes like Nanbu Bijin Ginjo are offered by the bottle, and nearly 20 types are offered by the flask. The bar also offers traditional Chu-Hi shochu cocktails like honey lemon sour, grape fruit or aloe ($5.50).

The menu offers typical izakaya foods like skewers of grilled chicken, quail’s egg or asparagus and bacon ($3 for two skewers). There’s also a range of Japanese food you’d more commonly find at home, like a black croquette with potato, shrimp and cod ($7) or the DonDon-style Caesar salad with pie crusts instead of croutons and runny egg yolk ($7.50). The sashimi and sushi are made warayaki-style, i.e., smoked over the flames of burning hay (from $11.90). Shabu-shabu ($7.20) and homestyle hot pot ($25) round out the menu, along with Tokyo-style hot dogs ($5.20) for west-coasters looking for a Japadog fix. Oh, and perhaps in anticipation of Momofuku’s arrival, there are pork buns too ($8).

DonDon Izakaya, 130 Dundas St. W., 416-492-5292, www.dondonizakaya.com

(Image: Signe Lanford)

The duo behind the popular Table 17 has just opened another restaurant with a number in its name, Enoteca Ascari 26. Chef John Sinopoli and business partner Erik Joyal, at 35 and 37, respectively, already have three restaurants under their belts. During their 20s, they opened Front Street’s Izakaya (which they later sold; it’s now Le Papillon on Front). In 2008 they charmed Leslieville with Table 17, offering rustic French fare with local Ontario ingredients. Their new wine bar feels like a boy’s dream come true: a pasta restaurant named after a fallen hero, famed Italian Formula One driver Alberto Ascari.

Ascari’s face is everywhere in the new restaurant: on the sign, on the menu, on the coasters. And why not? He brings a kind of La Dolce Vita vibe to a space that’s otherwise understated, with a grey-on-grey palette courtesy of J. Gibson Design. The 30-seat room has high charcoal banquettes, dark grey quartz tables and a white marble bar surrounding the open kitchen, with accents in black here and there. Joyal and sommelier Svetlana Atcheva (Ruby Watchco, Delux, Terroni) will take care of the front of house, including the constantly evolving wine list. Expect about 20 options by the glass as well as a healthy roster of Italian and Ontario bottles.

Sinopoli’s menu is designed to respect the Canadian seasons while honouring the cuisine of his homeland. “I’ll be using a lot of local products—100 Km Foods, Kawartha Ecological Growers, Ontario wines, Ontario kiwis—but I’ll also be bringing in imports of Italian specialities,” he told us. Some of the cured meats on his salumi platter, for example, are made by the artisans at Loconte Meat Market, in Woodbridge, while others are hard-to-find imports. Appetizers that encourage sharing include the baccala fritti ($11), crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside orbs of deep-fried salt cod, potato and béchamel, served with a lemony basil and black pepper mayo. And while the menu jumps around Italy, Sinopoli plays particular homage to his Abruzzan mother, with a traditional spaghetti alla chitarra ($15) (spaghetti cut on a guitar-like contraption), which he serves in a homemade tomato sauce with pecorino di Sardegna. Oh, and in case you’re dying to know: 26 is the number of Ascari’s car.

Enoteca Ascari 26, 1111 Queen St. E., 416-792-4157, ascarienoteca.ca

DonDon’s logo, which says “DonDon” in Japanese

The runaway success of Guu, first on Church Street and then in the Annex, highlighted a demand in Toronto for Japanese food that went beyond the ubiquitous cheap (and not-so-cheap) sushi joints. When DonDon Izakaya, a new restaurant at Dundas and Bay, opens in late October or so, it will attempt to meet some of that demand, albeit without Guu’s general boisterousness and no reservations policy. Instead, owners Tony Wong and Anthony Phang, of Sushi Time on Queen, and Kazu Maruyama, editor of the Toronto Japanese website Bits, hope to provide a quieter atmosphere and a lower price point.

The 150-seat restaurant will be open for both lunch and dinner, and the open kitchen will pump out izakaya-style dishes, specializing in yakitori (Japanese skewered chicken) but also serving sashimi and vegetarian dishes. Like any good izakaya, DonDon—which is apparently slang for “more” in Japanese—will boast a large selection of sake and several Japanese beers. It’s reassuring, then, that the restaurant will offer something that might be a first in the city, even if it is “a common feature of izakayas in Japan,” as we’ve been assured—a chauffeur service for patrons who’ve had too much to drink.

DonDon Izakaya, 130 Dundas St. W.

Guu Sakabar’s open kitchen (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Despite rumours last week that the opening of Guu Sakabar (a.k.a. Guu 2) would be delayed due to the lack of a liquor licence, we’re happy to report that Toronto’s second Guu location opened this weekend. (Sakabar was originally set to open a couple weeks back, but was delayed due to a broken water tank). After almost a year of renovations, owner James Hyun-Soo Kim and Sakabar manager Natsuhiko Sugimoto, an eight-year veteran of Guu in Vancouver, are both eager to begin serving the Annex clientele.

Inside, the restaurant that was once a Burger King has been completely redesigned by Bennett Lo of Dialogue 38 (Guu Izakaya, Spring Rolls). The low-key exterior and main entrance of the Sakabar feature slate, barnwood and tiny boxed windows, just like the Church Street location. Inside, bare Edison light bulbs hang from the ceiling in the main dining room over six large wooden communal tables, complete with bench seating. Bar seating is also available for those who don’t mind the famous yelled greetings that the kitchen staff offer to patrons as they enter and exit. Unlike the original Guu, Sakabar also features a zashiki room, with a raised pine floor and tatami mats imported from Japan. The tables are lowered into the floor, providing ample space for your legs. Guests are required to remove their shoes and are offered a pair of indoor slippers.

Also setting itself apart from its sister restaurant, Sakabar is helmed by Japanese chef Ippei Iwata, who offers new dishes like the kushiage, Japanese-style deep-fried kebabs that come in seven variations—ham, bacon, quail egg, lotus root, potato, onion and mushroom ($1.90 each, $7.80 for five choices). A handful of new udon styles are available, including the unlikely carbonara udon, featuring bacon, onion and a half-boiled egg ($8.30). Another new dish straight out of Japan is the rice burger: a pair of rice patties sandwiching ginger pork, cabbage and garlic mayo ($5.80). To finish things off, the menu includes more extensive dessert selections, including sake tiramisù ($5).

In true Izakaya fashion, the drinks menu is extensive, including a house Gekkeikan sake ($5 small, $8.50 large), as well as a more extensive classic sake menu by the glass ($9.50–$10) or bottle (from $22 for 375 mL).  Other offerings include shochu, Guu original vodka soda, cocktails (like a sake mojito), plum wine and Sapporo on tap. Beers like Asahi, Kirin and even Mill Street Tankhouse Ale are also available.

The thing we love the most about Sakabar? There’s now an indoor corridor at the entrance so you don’t have to wait in the rain, sleet or snow for a table at Guu. And, in case you’re wondering, “Yes, there’s still a no reservation policy,” says Natsu, adding cheekily, “for now.”

Guu Sakabar, 559 Bloor St. W. (east of Bathurst St.), 647-343-1101, guu-izakaya.com

(Image: Renée Suen)

This old school, expat-filled izakaya elevates the traditional bento box ($8.50-25). Instead of generic teriyaki and tempura, our hexagonal lunch box arrives full of unique, bite-sized treats. From the grill come bacon-wrapped baby asparagus spears, juicy savoury gyoza and buttery miso cod with a caramelized crust. A pair of shrimp—one whole, the other shelled and battered, and topped with a sliver of jalapeño—emerge greaseless from the fryer, along with a nugget of almond-encrusted chicken thigh. The remaining compartments are artfully packed with short-grain rice dusted with ume salt (from floral Asian plums), mild Japanese pickles, neatly trimmed snow peas, tender soy-braised cod cheek with broth-soaked daikon radish and slices of salmon and tuna sashimi. The compact feast also comes with miso soup, a simple soy-dressed salad and green tea. An elegant take on the North American Japanese restaurant cliché.

The cost: $21.50 for the medium-sized bento box, before tax and tip

The time: 33 minutes after being seated

Ematei, 30 St. Patrick St. (at Queen), 416-340-0472

A few bucks won’t fulfill your caviar dreams—if it does, you need to dream bigger—but it’s possible to taste the best of the city’s food for next to nothing

Inventively flavoured macaroons are perfectly pillowy treats worthy of a patisserie in Saint-Germain-des-Près. $2.10 each. Nadege, 780 Queen St. W., 416-368-2009.

(Image: My Yen Trung)

The always-packed Church Street location (Image: snowpea&bokchoi)

For some time now, we’ve been crossing our fingers that a second iteration of the absurdly popular Guu would make its way to the Annex. Finally, we’ve got some solid news. James Kim, general manager of the Church Street restaurant, confirmed for us that a new Guu will indeed be taking over the former Burger King at Bloor and Bathurst. Ever-vigilant Chowhounders recently speculated that the new location would open later this month, but Kim says construction has been slower than expected. A more realistic opening date would be late February or early March. He also dished a little on what customers can expect: a bigger space (albeit without a patio), a different menu (with “some more interesting fish dishes”) and a traditional Tatami room with low tables, mats and no shoes. We’d like to think the new location might help out with the restaurant’s legendary queues, but who are we kidding?

The King is dead: this Annex property may be the next Guu (Image: Google)

Torontonians have been salivating over the possibility of a new location of Guu, rumoured to be located in the Annex. Well, word got out via the Compendium Daily’s Twitter feed last week that the second iteration will likely be at 559 Bloor Street West, former home of a Burger King. A quick call to Guu owner James Kim confirms it. Well, sort of: “It’s coming, but we’re still working on the paperwork for the lease and going over things with the head office. For it to be 100 per cent confirmed, it’ll take some time,” he said, to be on the safe side.

• Guu’d news? The jam-packed izakaya may be opening second location in Toronto [Toronto Life]

Toronto the Guu'd: the Church Street izakaya may be expanding (Image: Gabriel Li, from the torontolife.com Flickr pool)

Our appetite for Japanese food spiked today after hearing the rumour, via Chowhound, that Church Street’s Guu Izakaya is planning on opening a second location at Bloor and Spadina in the fall. Since the Vancouver import opened up in Toronto last December, it’s been packed to the rafters (a two-hour wait for a table is not uncommon). A new Annex counterpart would suit Guu’ casual-yet-authentic Japanese offerings, but Vancouver office manager Yoshi Negishi says they haven’t officially decided where they’re going to open a second location. “The first one is pretty good,” Negishi says. “In the future, if it’s possible, we would like to open up a second.”

This time last year, the future looked awfully grim. We braced for restaurant closures and recessionary menus, but 2009 was surprising. Though we lost some good places (Perigee, Truffles, Alice’s and Gamelle, in particular), and mac-and-cheese quickly wore out its welcome, it was an exciting time to dine out. Anxious restaurateurs dropped corkage fees and slashed wine markups, while chefs cooked up imaginative prix fixe menus. It suited our mood as well as our wallets: these days, Torontonians want informality. We’re still hungry for local produce and nose-to-tail dining, chefs are once again finding inspiration in Italy and Japan, and the city is finally beginning to develop a serious cocktail culture. Most encouraging of all is the number of new restaurants opening. Here, the best of the vintage.

By James Chatto, Photographs by Brendan Meadows and Ryan Szulc, Illustrations by Jack Dylan

Guu's salmon natto yukke (Photo by Jen Chan)

Corey Mintz thinks Torontonians need to get a grip—at least on our obsession with Guu, the city’s offshoot of the Vancouver-based izakaya chain that has everyone from Ryerson students to West Coast defectees lining up for hours to get a seat.

Although the Toronto Star food writer is a fan of Guu’s Japanese pub grub (fried, salty fare that’s perfect with beer), he laments that we have not been “cool” about Guu’s arrival. “We have lined up, kvetch-blogged and snapped iPhone pictures, capturing all the lustre of Nick Nolte’s mug shot… In short, we have spazzed out over Guu.”

Pointing to comments on this blog by one unhappy customer who, after being forced out by management for not adhering to Guu’s strict two-hour seating policy, got into a fight with another customer, Mintz writes, “Japanese people should be laughing at us. Imagine queuing for hours and punting a stranger in the schnutz because a Finn McCool’s opened in Tokyo.”

While we hope Mintz isn’t suggesting Toronto’s best pub export is Finn McCool’s, we think the problem with Guu isn’t so much our lack of cool but rather a lack of supply. Maybe if more watering holes in Toronto offered delicious salmon natto yukke and reasonably priced Sapporo (instead of bland shepherd’s pie and overpriced Guinness), we wouldn’t all be jamming Guu’s door.

• Japanese comic ode to food deserves a suitable farewell [Toronto Star]

My friend Guu's got a new review (Photo by Jen Chan)

Toronto Life’s March issue hits newsstands on Thursday, but we’ve got a preview of the nine new restaurant reviews contained therein, including ones for Guu and Hoof Café. Click on the links below to read the reviews and see how many stars the establishments earned.

• Read the Toronto Life review of Hoof Café »

• Read the Toronto Life review of Agostino Ristorante »

• Read the Toronto Life review of Earth »

• Read the Toronto Life review of Etsu »

• Read the Toronto Life review of Guu Izakaya »

• Read the Toronto Life review of Miga on Bloor »

• Read the Toronto Life review of the Roosevelt Room »

• Read the Toronto Life review of Swish by Han »

• Read the Toronto Life review of the Wine Bar »

• The Star’s Corey Mintz extols the virtues of brining, which promises juicier meat and uniform seasoning. The capon—a castrated rooster prized for its tenderness—Mintz cooks for guests gets a 24-hour bath in a solution of salt, brown sugar and water, which produces a near-perfect bird. In talking about the emasculated chicken, Mintz ends the article with the observation that “we all have a tendency to get soft and juicy once we no longer have chicks on the brain.”  [Toronto Star]

• In a series of Q&As with noted Canadian chefs, The Appetizer’s Brad Frenette talks with Masaru Ogasawara, chef of the wildly popular izakaya chain Guu (a location recently opened in Toronto). Ogasawara worships his customers, saying he considers them to be “like God,” although he thinks Canadians might not understand Japanese food. He says there’s no such thing as California rolls in Japan, and notes that it can take 10 years to become a good sushi chef. [National Post]

• Professor David Nutt, former British drug czar, is working on a synthetic solution that will mimic the effects of alcohol without the nasty hangover. The hope is that the colourless, flavourless liquid will eventually replace the alcohol in Britons’ favourite drinks. His team is even working on an antidote pill to mute the effects of the serum, so police could give it to drunkards who’ve run afoul of the law. Where can we volunteer for the experimental trials? [Daily Mail]

• A marine biologist in Taipei claims to have discovered a new species of crab off the coast of southern Taiwan. The crab, a mere one inch wide, has a red clam-shaped shell with white bumps, making it resemble a strawberry. If these things prove to be edible, soft shell crabs—much to their relief, we imagine—might have some competition. [Chicago Tribune]

Get inside: Guu's interior mixes comfort and modernity (Photo by Renée Suen)

The year 2009 was an offal one in Toronto. The success of The Black Hoof, Buca and Local Kitchen showed that are many adventurous diners left in this city. December’s most anticipated opening shares that adventurous spirit. Tonight, doors officially open at Guu Izakaya, the first Toronto location of Vancouver’s intensely popular Japanese watering hole. Will the diners that embraced the offal trend take to Guu’s fusion of Japanese flavours?

The izakaya concept basically boils down to a Japanese version of a pub. Guu is casual and affordable, loud and infused with energy—staffers shout out greetings and orders. Expect a crowd of Ryerson campus dwellers, office workers and Vancouver expats. The charcoal-grey storefront and heavy wooden doors block out the garish strip mall surroundings, sealing in the sake bar, open kitchen and four long communal tables. Come summer, there will be patio seating on its northern exposure. Vintage signs and posters imported from Japan add colour and character.

Chopped salmon natto yukke, a “seven friends” mixture wrapped with nori seaweed (Photo by Renée Suen)

For drinks, Guu offers competitively priced beers (Sapporo on tap from $4 a mug) and an extensive selection of sakes, shochu (Japanese vodka), chu-high (Japanese vodka sodas), ume-shu (plum wine) and original cocktails featuring Japanese soft drinks. Chef Natsuhiko Sugimoto, who comes to Toronto from the original Vancouver Guus, prepares an array of hot and cold bar food; such favourites as edamame ($3) and karaage ($5.80) are listed alongside non-standards like kakimayo (oysters grilled with spinach, garlic mayo and cheese, $6.80), gyu tangue (grilled beef tongue, $6.30) and chopped salmon natto yukke ($8.30). Although yakitori finds no place on the seafood- and mayo-laden menu, palates will be stimulated by such hearty fare as oden (slow-cooked hot pot, $1.50 a piece; six for $7.50), udon noodles ($6.80–$7.80) and bi bim bap rice bowls with kimchee and pork ($8.50).

Guu Izakaya, 398 Church St. (at Gerrard St. E.), 416-977-0999, guu-izakaya.com.

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.