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All stories relating to Samovar

The Dish

Opening
March 8, 2011 | 4:43 pm

7 Comments

Introducing: Winchester Kitchen and Bar, a new Cabbagetown restaurant with a storied past

Winchester’s orange-scented ricotta gnocchi ($15) (Image: Signe Langford)

“Al Capone used to sit right here.” Well, not exactly, admits Michael McRobb, co-owner—along with Anesti Tsiourantanis (Canoe, Tomi-Kro, Nota Bene)—of the Winchester Kitchen and Bar, which opened last week. “The stool is new, but this was his spot at the bar.” During the Prohibition Era, the gangster is said to have made the Winchester Hotel his home away from home—booking the whole third floor, according to McRobb—while he built his rum-running empire with Canadian rye whisky, brewed just down Parliament Street at the Gooderham and Worts distillery (now the Distillery District).

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The Dish

De-licious
January 22, 2010 | 8:57 am

1 Comment

Backlash menus: some Toronto restaurants go rogue during Winterlicious by serving up their own prix fixe

(Photo by Alpha)

(Photo by Alpha)

Summer- and Winterlicious are divisive topics among those in the restaurant biz: some enjoy the increased business, while others hate working within the city’s rules. This year, however, there seems to be a surge in non-Winterlicious events—or, as it’s known in the Twitterverse, Antilicious.

The Samovar Room, for example, is holding Vodkalicious, with a three-course vodka-inspired menu for $30. “It was simply too late to apply to be a part of it,” said Samovar’s Rumen Dimitroff, whose vodka bar opened in late August (the deadline for this year’s applicants is August 10). “Winterlicious is a great event, and I still wanted to do something special around the same time.”

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The Dish

Bottoms Up
August 24, 2009 | 12:32 pm

4 Comments

Just opened: Samovar

samovar

In Soviet Russia, fire eats you (Photo by Karon Liu)

It’s oddly appropriate that a Russian-themed bar has opened in Cabbagetown. But instead of borscht, Samovar served crudités (sprinkled with salt rather than dipped in ranch), skewers of meat, house-made blinis with caviar and, of course, plenty of Stolichnaya during Thursday’s opening night.

Thankfully, the decor is less Yakov Smirnoff and more an homage to the Soviet era. Clips of old Russian cartoons are projected on the wall, a copy of War and Peace sits on the coat check counter, and two collages of propaganda posters adorn the sides of a small stage at the end of the bar. Not so subtle are the fur hats and officer’s caps worn by the staff.

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The Dish

Opening
June 19, 2009 | 11:11 am

1 Comment

East meets east at Samovar: Another Russia-themed bar from the owner of Pravda and Rasputin

From Russia with Love: Rumen Dimitroff opens another Russia-themed drinking house

From Russia with love: Rumen Dimitroff opens his third drinking house in Cabbagetown

The city’s ambassador of Russian chic, Rumen Dimitroff (Rasputin, Pravda), brings another vodka-inspired nightspot to the east end—this time at 51 Winchester Street. As with his other tributes to the motherland (Rasputin pays homage to czarist Russia; Pravda plays on Soviet communism), Samovar is loaded with cultural shout-outs. The bar unites centuries of Russian cultural history, starting with the titular antique teapots from which classic eastern European drinks will be served. Dimitroff, who has been steadily colonizing the east end, is trying to break the region’s reputation as a second-fiddle destination. “I’m trying to make the east end a little more attractive.”

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