Restaurants › Continental
Canoe
- 66 Wellington St. W. (at Bay), Toronto-Dominion Centre • View on map »
- 416-364-0054
- http://www.oliverbonacini.com/
The $1-million renovation this winter freshened up Oliver and Bonacini’s landmark 54th-storey room with a shimmering patchwork of copper foil on the back wall, elegant, Saarinen-esque pedestal tables with walnut tops and a slightly hipper bar area that’s now backed by rows of antique canning jars that have been painted white and lit from within. The most exciting change, however, is to the menu: though it’s still rooted in refined Canadiana and led by executive chef Anthony Walsh, it’s more adventuresome and for the most part executed more skillfully than ever. It’s affirmation that Canoe is still among the very best restaurants in town. The “tongue to tail” duck is a standout and a brave step for a place that draws such a conservative, corporate crowd. The dish’s centerpiece is a round of screech-marinated foie gras au torchon. The rest of the plate is what grabs you, though: there is battered duck tongue (it’s chewy but intriguing), a tiny duck heart that’s been sliced in two (it’s dense, dark red, just barely gamey, and set on the plate so you can’t help noticing the tiny, vacant inner chamber), plus chunky, nicely seasoned duck rillettes, ably seared breast and buttery mousse. Even the caesar salad gets an offbeat treatment: there’s Japanese-style barbecued eel along with house-cured anchovies and the other usual stuff (including a rare misstep: cold, pre-made croutons). The less daring diner might try the duo of sockeye salmon: thin, intensely reddish-pink slices cured in maple syrup, plus a round of excellent tartare, garnished with translucent, almost spectral white peels of daikon, a perfect, peppery, red-stalked radish leaf and a smear of light pink radish purée¬—it all tastes fantastic, but the colours grab you almost as much; Gauguin could have painted this dish in his Tahiti period. The sturgeon is also superb: the fish is flaky and gently flavoured but as meaty-textured as pork, and set over a nub of short rib, braised green cabbage for balance and a hill of truffled potatoes that are so epically light they seem to have been extruded from a whip canister. Well-served wine and a beer list that’s packed with rare gems. Mains $37–$45.
66 Wellington St. W. (at Bay), Toronto-Dominion Centre | This location is wheelchair accessible
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