One of the biggest stories in the local restaurant scene in 2007 was the falling out between restaurateur Hanif Harji and chef Claudio Aprile. After success working as partners at Colborne Lane, the pair planned to open the hotly anticipated Bar Crudo in a large space along the Drake-ified region of Queen Street West, but a disagreement of some sort put the kibosh on that venture.

Aprile remained at Colborne Lane and is planning to open another restaurant without Harji’s involvement in the spring, while Harji retained the lease on the new location and will be opening Nyood (1096 Queen Street West) there later this month along with new partner Terry Tsianos (Palais Royale, The Miller Tavern). According to an employment listing for the place, the menu will “focus on fresh and simple food prepared for a tapas style food service. Flatbreads, ceviches, grilled fish, charcuterie, cured meats, and broiled meats fill the menu. Menu will change seasonally and will be driven by our well recognized chef.” (Just who that “well recognized chef” might be has yet to be revealed.)

Another of Hanif Harji’s setbacks in the last year was the closure of Doku 15, the Japanese resto-lounge at the Cosmopolitan Hotel that he opened in 2006 with his Blowfish partners Zark Fatah and G.Q. Pan. The hotel will be relaunching the space this month as Eight Wine Bar (8 Colborne Street), with a menu overseen by executive chef Derek Kennedy.

The last few weeks of ‘07 saw a couple of other closures, including Xacutti (503 College Street) and Ninth Gate Korean Bistro (11 Jarvis Street East). The address of the latter is soon to become the new home for the co-owner/chef of the former, as Brad Moore is soon to open the aptly named Eleven. And up in the Annex, Ros McCurdy (ex-Smalltalk Bakery & Restaurant) is about to open the doors at Cibo Cucina (328 Dupont Street).

Heading back to the west end of downtown, the hot Ossington strip has welcomed yet another happening hangout. LeVack Block (88 Ossington Avenue) is the first venture from owners Adam Baguley and Amber Honor Elson, and they’ve scored quite a space for it in a proposed heritage building (circa 1890) a couple of blocks north of Queen Street. The front room houses a bar/lounge with exposed brick walls and ornate bar fixtures, while the back room is a more spartan space intended for DJ nights. With eight microbrews on tap, a small but well-selected wine list, and a menu of fresh and reasonably priced salads, sandwiches and “Toronto’s best chicken wings”, the odds look good for this place to be around for a while.

If you have a scoop to share about the local food & restaurant scene, please let us know so we can include it in a future edition of T.O. Tidbits.