Restaurants › Spanish
Torito
- 276 Augusta Ave. (at College St.) • View on map »
- 416-961-7373
- http://www.toritorestaurant.com/
Before small plates became a cliché, there was Torito—the Kensington Spanish tapas hot spot that had creative types and suits alike lining up for one of a dozen candlelit tables. When chef Carlos Hernandez left in spring 2009, Luis Valenzuela, who had worked his way up to junior sous-chef at Mark McEwan’s Bymark, came on board. Although the cozy dining room may not be full on a Sunday night, it ought to be: Valenzuela deftly crafts dishes that are every bit as delicious as the ones that drew crowds four years ago. Among the simple, comforting salty-and-sour combinations: a wedge of queso fresco (fresh cheese) served with bread, olives and fiesta—festive pickled delights on wooden skewers. The flawless patatas bravas are rugged fingerling potatoes and crispy chorizo covered in velvety, dense tomato sauce and laced with house-made mayonnaise. Tender and textbook medium-rare flatiron steak is sliced and crowned with a fried peewee egg and spicy chimichurri sauce: when the yolk breaks and swirls into the latter, the resulting compound is butter-like in its richness. A server promises that the accompanying Gallega chips “taste like barbecue chips but a thousand times better” and that we’ll fight over the last one—and he’s right. Choose from 16 sherries to enjoy alongside made-to-order churros—thin, cylindrical doughnuts stuffed with dulce de leche, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served in a pool of raspberry and strawberry purée. Service is easygoing yet competent. Small plates $5–$16.
276 Augusta Ave. (at College St.)
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