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Posts Tagged ‘Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar’

Weekly Lunch Pick

Where to eat lunch this week: Hank’s (redux)

We revisit the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood café to see how it fares in the post-Kennedy era.

The place: No, it’s not déjà vu. Yes, Hank’s has been featured here before. But since then, chef and owner Jamie Kennedy has abandoned ship (along with the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar next door) and kitchen power couple Scott Vivian and Rachelle Cadwell have taken the helm, giving the downtown café their own culinary spin. The most obvious improvement is the interior. The dining area has doubled, with the stunning sepia-toned mural now a commanding backdrop. The rustic look is carried throughout, with old pews for seating, mason jars for water glasses, and chunky wooden tables.

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| Leave a Comment » February 22, 2010 | 8:30 am | Andrew Brudz

Restauran-TO

Tracking the changes at the Wine Bar and Hank’s

Out with the old: the former sign in front of the Wine Bar (Photo by 416style)

Out with the old: the former sign in front of what is now the Wine Bar (Photo by 416style)

It’s been four months since foodie power couples Ted and Mary Koutsogiannopoulos (Joy Bistro) and Scott Vivian and Rachelle Caldwell (Jamie Kennedy Kitchens) bought the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and adjoining Hank’s café. Their rebrand is evident everywhere: Hank’s now has table service and dinner (a barbecue-inspired evening menu debuted this week), but the big change that has locavores squealing like whey-fed pigs is that the Wine Bar now takes reservations. “I got a lot of shit about it,” says Vivian about the old policy, “especially from people like Joanne Kates.”

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| 4 Comments » February 5, 2010 | 9:02 am | Davida Aronovitch

Restauran-TO

Jamie Kennedy starts serving dinner again, this time at a re-dubbed Gilead

Jamie Kennedy is in his Corktown kitchen tonight as the Gilead Bistro—long home to the Gilead Café—serves its first dinner menu. The space seats 40 and will offer dinner Tuesday through Saturday, complete with servers (the Café only has counter service) and a multi-course menu. Unsurprisingly for a Kennedy project, the food will be seasonal, switching over to spring options towards the end of March. But that’s months away; tonight, there are hearty winter dishes like chicken noodle soup with confit gizzard ($8), gratin of agria potato ($7) and pork ragout with noodles and goulash paste ($20). All wines are from Ontario and offered by the glass, and a $20 corkage option is also available.

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| Leave a Comment » January 7, 2010 | 3:44 pm | Fraser Abe

Opening

Just Opened: Cinq 01

Parked on College St.: Cinq 01 contains elements from Toufik Sarwa's childhood (Photo by Karon Liu)

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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| 1 Comment » November 2, 2009 | 12:01 pm | Karon Liu

Opening

It’s official: Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar soon to be just the Wine Bar

Earlier this week, we reported that the sale of Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar was close to official. Well, the ink has dried sooner than expected. A press release today confirmed that Jamie Kennedy has sold the restaurant to long-time protégé Scott Vivian, partnered with his new wife, pastry chef Rachelle Caldwell. Backing the pair are restaurateurs Ted and Mary Koutsogiannopoulos, formerly of Joy Bistro, which they sold last June. We’re assuming the quartet lost little sleep while choosing a new name—the spot will be known simply as the Wine Bar.

As for Kennedy, he is leaving to focus on some newer ventures: the Gilead Café and his Prince Edward County farm and event venue. Look for the Wine Bar to change hands and phone numbers (the new one is 416-504-9463) in early October.

• Read the original post about the sale of Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar>>

| 6 Comments » September 23, 2009 | 2:57 pm | Fraser Abe

Rumours & Rumblings

Closing in on the sale of the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar

Bar none: Jamie Kennedy's sale of his Wine Bar appears to be near completion (Photo by Kate Allen)

The much-anticipated sale of the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, which has been in the works for several weeks, is slated to close mid-October. Two foodie power couples are poised to take over the hot spot, which is not expected to retain Jamie Kennedy’s name. Former Joy Bistro owners Ted Koutsogiannopoulos and his wife, Mary, have teamed up with newlyweds Scott Vivian and Rachelle Caldwell (former executive chef and pastry chef of Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner, respectively) to breathe new life into the downtown classic.

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| 3 Comments » September 21, 2009 | 3:18 pm | Davida Aronovitch

Aprons & Icons

Cookbook fracas: Susur Lee, Marc Thuet and other Toronto foodies displeased as Canadians left out of 100 Emerging Culinary Stars

Shut out: Canadian chefs have been left out of COCO

Backcountry bias: COCO: 100 Emerging Culinary Stars Chosen by 10 of the World’s Greatest Chefs snubs Canuck chefs

The country’s top chefs and food writers are outraged that an upcoming book profiling the world’s 100 most promising chefs does not include any Canadians. The 448-page book titled COCO: 100 Emerging Culinary Stars Chosen by 10 of the World’s Greatest Chefs will also contain recipes by these young, non-Canadian chefs. When Toronto writer Shaun Smith learned that there is still one slot left in the book, he promptly started a letter-writing campaign to the COCO’s British publisher, Phaidon, making the case for squeezing in some CanCon.

The letter (full text below) explains how disappointed the signatories are with the list. It’s an impressive collection of names: 24 of Canada’s top chefs and food writers have thrown their support behind Smith’s campaign, including Susur Lee, Jamie Kennedy, Marc Thuet, Anthony Walsh, Guy Rubino, Anne Yarymowich, Lucy Waverman and Toronto Life’s own James Chatto.

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| 9 Comments » July 29, 2009 | 12:38 pm | Karon Liu

Aprons & Icons

Jamie Kennedy sets the record straight on the Gardiner, the debts, and the Wine Bar sale

Present indicative: Jamie Kennedy is evolving his restaurant empire to suit the times (Photo by Davida Aronovitch)

Trim the fat: Jamie Kennedy is scaling back his restaurant empire to suit the times (Photo by Davida Aronovitch)

Last month, Jamie Kennedy called a press conference to talk about the transformation of his Gardiner restaurant from a fine dining destination to a café lunch spot—but that was only the beginning of the story. Kennedy is also facing crippling debt, bailout bids and the sale of his signature Wine Bar.

Kennedy says he will sell the Wine Bar, but only under the right circumstances. “I’m in no hurry,” he says, “This is not a fire sale.” In a Splendido-style hand off, Kennedy has offered the place to the next generation: senior staff Jamie Drummond, Laura Cleland, Aron Mohr and Scott Vivian. If the new JK cohort can scrape the funds together, the founder favours a clean break, though he’s conscious that his managers may want to keep up the association. “The Wine Bar was a beautiful thing and it should continue,” he says, “It occupies an important niche in the landscape of Toronto as a meeting point for local food.”

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| 2 Comments » June 23, 2009 | 11:40 am | Davida Aronovitch

The Downturn

Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner to close on June 7

A place setting and the soon-to-be shuttered Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner (Photo by StudioGabe)

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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| 7 Comments » May 20, 2009 | 3:02 pm | Davida Aronovitch