(Images: Renée Suen)
Chantecler announced in December that it was dropping its à-la-carte menu and expanding its popular lettuce wrap Sundays to rest of the week. Although the move helped attract diners, it also meant that chef and co-owner Jonathan Poon was no longer able to cook the sort of inventive Asian-Canadian fusion dishes that had started to attract attention—which is why, like Yours Truly and Actinolite, he followed through on plans for a new tasting menu last Friday. “I love cooking things like crispy, soggy calamari,” Poon told us, “but I also have a desire to cook food that’s more refined.” The $40, four-course menu alternates between small bites and larger composed plates (which means that about 10 dishes come out in total), and is limited to two seatings a night on Fridays and Saturdays, which must be booked at least four days in advance. For an extra $45, co-owner Jacob Wharton-Shukster will pour a series of natural wines paired with each course. Here’s what Poon served for the menu’s first run.
Each year, some of the food industry’s most influential minds descend upon Toronto to speak at the Terroir symposium, which takes place today. We had the chance to speak with three of the event’s speakers. On Friday, we brought you 
