Posted by Greg Clow in restaurant closings, restaurant news, restaurant openings on July 16, 2007 at 2:34 pm

When Globe Bistro opened late last year, the locally-themed menu of chef Mark Cutrara was quickly praised by many, so it was a surprise when he left only a couple of months into his tenure in the kitchen (although his replacement, Ben Heaton, has kept things running smoothly). After a few months out of the spotlight, Cutrara is set to make his return with co-owner Karin Culliton at a new spot with the Christopher Walken approved moniker of Cowbell (1564 Queen Street West). In the same spirit his previous gig, he promises "fresh, simple food" made using "naturally-raised, organic meat and produce, sourced from local farmers." Cutrara will also be butchering his meat in-house, putting the knowledge from his post-Globe apprenticeship at The Healthy Butcher to good use. The opening date for Cowbell is set for Friday, July 20th.

Uptown fans of homestyle Italian classics will be pleased to know that 7 Numbers has returned to their area. After their original home on Eglinton was torn down by the landlord, 7 Numbers Danforth (307 Danforth Avenue) remained as their lone location, but now they're back in their old neighbourhood at 516 Eglinton Avenue West between Avenue Road and Spadina.

If you're looking for Italian closer to the core, the flagship location of casual dining and market chain Mercatto (15 Toronto Street) is reopening today after a remodelling. In addition to the renovations, the restaurant's hours have been extended (Mon-Wed 7am-10pm, Thu-Fri 7am-11pm, Sat 5pm-11pm), and they've installed a state of the art wine system that allows them "to offer 24 regional Italian wines by the glass, while delicately maintaining the ideal wine storage conditions, ensuring that every drop is as good as the day it left the old country". Mercatto's second location at 330 Bay Street remains open as well, and a third location is planned to open near College & University in 2008.

High Park Spicy House (3020 Dundas Street West) is a new place that's fittingly located near the top end of High Park Avenue in the Junction, and which equally fittingly serves spicy food - Indian, to be exact. Based on the menu on their circa-1997 style website (gotta love the animated mail box and letter icons!), it looks like they serve all of the standard curry house faves like butter chicken, vindaloo, biriyani and saag paneer. I hope for their sake that the food is good, as they're located smack dab between two well-established Indian spots: Curry Twist (3034 Dundas Street West) a few doors to the west, and North of Bombay (2996 Dundas Street West) just a bit to the east.

Less than a month after it had opened, French-inspired bakery La Petite Patisserie (263 King Street East) has suddenly closed up shop. Aside from some unsubstantiated rumours that the staff was not being paid, there's been no indication of why the doors were shuttered so quickly.

Also gone after over 25 years is Yonge Street mainstay The Living Well (692 Yonge Street). While most would agree that the food and service were never great, there are many of us of a certain age who have fond memories of wayward evenings at the Well back when that strip of Yonge was a bit more seedy and a lot more fun. Based on those (somewhat hazy) memories, it will be missed.