Posted by Greg Clow in restaurant closings, restaurant news, restaurant openings on June 11, 2007 at 7:32 am
It's starting to look like one of the big food trends in Toronto this summer will be upscale Indian. Indus Junction (811 Queen Street West) has been open for a few weeks and is already wowing diners with modern twists on subcontinental classics. Heading uptown, you'll find Jaadu (1415 Yonge Street) serving the spicy goods near Yonge and St. Clair. And later this month, the location that formerly housed JOV Bistro (1701 Bayview Avenue) will be reopened by Lynn Stimpson (ex-Cava) and Derek Valleau (ex-Crush) as Amaya, where they'll be specializing in north Indian cuisine.
Walking the dogs along Wellington Street during Woofstock this past Saturday morning, we noticed a sign in the window of the former Brack Electronics showroom (44 Wellington Street East) saying that Pravda Vodka Bar was coming soon. This begged the question: What's happening with their current location just a few doors away at number 36? Well, thanks to the Saturday food pages and James Chatto's blog, we found out that Simon Bower, who previously owned YYZ and Mercer Street Grill, has teamed up with chef Scot Woods (ex-Habitat) and will be opening a yet-to-be-named spot in that location in August. No word on what style(s) will be coming out of the kitchen, but Woods will be putting in three weeks at Chicago's Mecca of molecular gastronomy, Alinea, between now and then, so that may be a hint. Or not.
Also about to see a changeover in, well, everything is The Sparrow (92 Ossington Avenue). Owners Pol and Selena Cristo-Williams were ahead of the curve when they opened up on the now trendy Ossington strip 18 months ago, and even further ahead when they opened their bar Sweaty Betty's (13 Ossington Avenue) a year or so before that. While Betty's will remain, the Sparrow is about to fly and will be replaced in the fall by a spot headed by owner/chef Corinna Mozo, who promises a brasserie-style menu drawing on her mixed Cuban and French Canadian heritage.
People may still be in mourning over the closure of well-loved Vietnamese restaurant Lalot, but their location just off Queen West has already been taken over by a decidedly different establishment. With a striking pink and black motif and an 80s/90s hair metal soundtrack, Rok Boutique (200 Bathurst Street) feels like a glammed-up cousin to around-the-corner neighbour the Bovine Sex Club, but with the added bonus of a kitchen headed up by an experienced chef who last worked at 360 Restaurant at the CN Tower.
East-end folks aching for a fix of the sweet stuff will be happy to know that the Beach location of Dufflet (1917 Queen East) will be opening this Friday, June 15th, with the usual assortment of cakes, pies and other treats available. Still in the "not open yet" file, however, is Paul Boehmer's BBQ house Cluck, Grunt & Low (362 Bloor Street West). While their voicemail message claims the opening will occur "mid-June", word on the street (or rather, on Chowhound) says that the manager in charge of hiring and training staff and other pre-opening prep work recently left due to things moving too slowly for her liking.
Finally, if you've got an extra few thousand bucks burning a hole in your pocket, you might be interested to know that Jamie Kennedy has teamed up with tour operator Worldwide Quest to host a series of food and wine tours called "Gastronomads: In Search of the Perfect Meal". The first trip will bring 18 travellers on a 10-day tour of cities and wineries throughout Chile and Argentina, and future excursions will visit India, Vietnam and Cambodia. For more information, call 416-633-5666 or 1-800-387-1483 or email Lewie Gonsalves at lewie@worldwidequest.com.
