The bar at Spice Safar (Photo by Renée Suen)
The recession may just be ending, but around King West, there are few signs it ever happened. Buca has just opened, The Roosevelt Room starts up in two weeks, and the Bell Lightbox is rapidly climbing into the sky. And now there are two new locations of Montreal’s Spice Safar to add a dose of the unexpected to the district.
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Rob Gentile hangs with his meats (Photo by Karon Liu)
The brains behind Brassaii, Jacobs and Co. and soon-to-be-opened The Saint are adding yet another restaurant to their empire, this one tucked away in the alley beside Cheval on the ritzy King Street strip. The week-old Buca is serving Italian fare by executive chef Rob Gentile, a former sous-chef at One, Bymark and North 44°.
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Gardiner gospel: Jamie Kennedy and his locavore philosophy roll with the punches
Having served the last à la carte meal at the Gardiner on June 7, local produce booster Jamie Kennedy invited professional foodies for a preview of the location’s new concept, which includes a weekly lunch series and Friday afternoon happy hour. In addition to the new Gardiner Café (which offers sandwiches and salads during the week), a $25 three-course lunch, available every Wednesday at noon (starting June 17), will soon be served in the formerly full-service Terrace Room. The prix-fixe meal will feature the wares of a different artisanal grower each week. Kennedy’s team will also cater events in the space, and the terrace bar will serve small plates for a scotch-soaked happy hour on Fridays, with three kinds of Balvenie single malt to keep workaholics giddy. Yet excitement about new plans (and giggles from swooning food writers) is accompanied by a sobering discussion and the news that he has decided to sell Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar.
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Hot off the grill: steak burgers, chorizo hotdogs and pulled pork sammies (Photo by Karon Liu)
When the publicist said the biggest name who had RSVP’d for the InterContinental’s SkyLounge patio opening last night was Rick Campenelli, we expected it to be a long evening—especially when said ET Canada host failed to show up.
No matter. The shindig gave us (along with a bevy of networking industry types and unnaturally tanned, unnaturally blonde recession/fashion/style-istas) the opportunity to sample the TIFF hotspot’s new recession-friendly Thursday grill menu.
Expect to see comfort food on Toronto menus year-round (Photo by Sifu Renka)
Comfort food staples usually disappear from menus around this time of year, but the city’s top toques are finding reason to serve the rich, wintry fare as temperatures rise. We spoke to three to find out what’s up. Read the rest of this entry »
Ultra Supper Club is attempting rebirth (Photo by Matt MacGillivray)
Recession menus and food giveaways are quickly becoming the norm for Toronto restaurants. It is in the midst of such bad-times ballyhoo that Ultra Supper Club has gone in a defiant direction, choosing to adopt a new look, a new name (“Ultra” instead of “Ultra Supper Club”) and a new menu (Asian fusion). Since its inception in 2003, the supper club has become known as a TIFF hot spot and the site of non-festival celebrity sightings. It hardly seemed to be in need of a facelift—so why now?
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