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Posts Tagged ‘Restaurant Makeover’

Opening

Brassaii’s relaunch comes with new design, new menus and new chef

The new dining room at Brassaii

This week marked the long-awaited reopening of King West institution Brassaii, and judging from the extensive menu redesign, the place is looking like more of an upscale dining spot than a Friday-night hangout for the mini-dress set.

The new one-page menus were designed by chef Bruce Woods, who left his five-year stint at Centro last year to join Brassaii, and seem to ensure that diners never need to leave the property: breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, dessert and late-night snacks are all covered. Expect breakfast and brunch staples, as well as sandwiches and burgers for lunch. As for dinner, it’s continental fare with hints of Asian influence: miso cod ($29), spaghettini with kobe beef meatballs ($20), chicken with a panko crust ($25).

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| 1 Comment » March 12, 2010 | 1:36 pm | Karon Liu

Restauran-TO

Lynn Crawford’s new Riverdale restaurant to open in March

Celebrity chef and Restaurant Makeover star Lynn Crawford’s much-anticipated Riverdale restaurant, located in The Citizen’s former space, is set to open in March after its renovation is complete. The name, Ruby Watchco, comes from a 13-foot sign co-owners Cherie Stinson (a Restaurant Makeover interior designer) and husband Joey Skeir found at the Junction decor shop Cornerstone a few years ago. They immediately knew that the odd moniker would be the name of their dream restaurant.

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| 11 Comments » January 22, 2010 | 11:00 am | Jon Sufrin

Restauran-TO

The rumours are true: celeb chef Lynn Crawford is taking over The Citizen

Restaurant takeover: Lynn Crawford moves into The Citizen (Photo courtest of Google)

Restaurant takeover: Lynn Crawford moves into The Citizen (Photo courtesy of Google)

After weeks of tongues wagging over the future of The Citizen, the Star has confirmed rumours that Restaurant Makeover stars Lynn Crawford and Cherie Stinson are taking over and revamping the Riverdale bistro. “Lynn had been hounding me for a full year to sell,” said former Citizen chef and proprietor Rod Bowers, who also owns Queen West’s Rosebud restaurant. Crawford hasn’t released her spot’s new name, or confirmed whether her former Truffles protégé Lora Kirk will be coming on board. “The food will be about sharing the table, supporting local,” she says. “It’s about me working with the growers, the farmers, the fishermen.” Cherie Stinson, who works for the international interior design firm Yabu Pushelberg (they did Canoe and the Hazelton Hotel), plans to complement Crawford’s socially conscious food by creating “a relaxed neighbourhood restaurant with communal tables and eclectic design.” The restaurant is scheduled to open in March 2010, managed by Stinson’s husband, Joey Skeir, who is also a partner.

• A restaurant makeover of their own [Toronto Star]

| 1 Comment » November 25, 2009 | 11:11 am | Matthew Hague

Opening

Brad Long’s new spot in Bloor West Village will have four floors, luck and tourtière

Go Long: celebrity chef Brad Long is opening a pub in Bloor West Village

Chef and Food Network star Brad Long has a quick answer when asked what will be on the menu at his new Bloor West gastropub: “Canadian food.” He pauses. “What the hell is Canadian food?”

Long has been trying to answer that question for a while, from his days at the CN Tower’s revolving restaurant, 360, to his current gigs as executive chef at King East’s Veritas and sometime-guest on Restaurant Makeover. The quest will continue when the new joint, officially named My Place: A Canadian Pub (subtitled “like a bad movie,” says Long), opens in early September. It will be the pub yin to Veritas’s bistro yang, but the grub will still hinge on Long’s stock-in-trade: seasonal, local ingredients.

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| 44 Comments » August 28, 2009 | 11:44 am | Kate Allen

Deathwatch

Restaurant closures roundup: now is the summer of our discontent

Photo by James Cridland

Steel for some heartbreakers. Since our last roundup of restaurant closures, three of Toronto’s hoariest dining institutions are no more. These and several other fallen eateries, after the jump.

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| 10 Comments » August 25, 2009 | 3:08 pm | Kate Allen

Restauran-TO

Follow the Tweeter: More Toronto chefs, bars and restaurants hop on the Twitter wagon

The mighty T: Increasingly, Twitter is everywhere (including Toronto kitchens)

More T?: Twitter gains popularity among T.O. foodies

Chefs and restaurateurs across the city are heading into the Twitterverse in a big way. Since our last roundup of Toronto foodie feeds, the popularity of the on-line service has exploded, with Grant van Gameren, Anthony Walsh, Dufflet Rosenberg and many more joining the fray. We find ourselves addicted to the culinary dispatches from these local epicureans (unlike most inane tweets that detail what’s for dinner). Here, our latest guide to who’s tweeting what.

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| 1 Comment » July 3, 2009 | 1:57 pm | Karon Liu

Aprons & Icons

David Adjey cooks up a series that will save new dining spots from disaster

David Adjey: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

David Adjey, the beaming and bronzed saviour-chef of Restaurant Makeover, goes back to basics on his new Food Network series Restaurant 101. The seasoned entrepreneur (formerly of Nectar, now head of his own consulting firm) will play guidance counsellor to troubled upstarts that can’t get their doors open for business. The chosen spots are located throughout Canada and the U.S., with about three in the GTA. One episode has already been shot at a Thornhill Italian–Middle Eastern fusion eatery called Mideastro, where a partner pulled out at the last minute. When we ask what’s in his bag of tricks this time, he responds, “I have been making mistakes in the industry for 27 years.” Enough said.

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| Leave a Comment » May 4, 2009 | 12:24 pm | Davida Aronovitch

Read All About It

Missing restaurateur, Obama’s new brew, a Winterlicious countermeasure

Missing: George Koutroubis was last seen on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.

• Police are searching for George Koutroubis, co-owner of Restaurant Makeover-ed Six Steps Restaurant and Lounge, who was last seen on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. [National Post]

• Timothy’s is preparing for Barack Obama’s visit by introducing blend number 44 in honour of the United States’ 44th president. We can’t help but notice that there is no Harper-adoring blend number 22. [CNW]

• An antidote to disappointing Winterlicious menus: Stop for Food, running from February 23 to March 28, will feature $50 prix fixes at 26 Toronto restaurants, Czehoski and The Citizen among them. [Martini Boys]

• Toronto Public Health is considering going one step beyond the federal voluntary Trans Fat Monitoring Program by regulating the trans fat in food at they city’s restaurants and grocery stores. [IP Address]

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| Leave a Comment » February 19, 2009 | 2:34 pm | Chloe Ellingson