Posted by Greg Clow in restaurant closings, restaurant news, restaurant openings on November 23, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Foodies have been looking forward to it for months, and it's finally almost upon us: the official opening of Mildred's Temple Kitchen (85 Hanna Avenue), the new restaurant from Donna Dooher and Kevin Gallagher of Mildred Pierce fame. Once their liquor licence comes through (expected some time this week), the restaurant promises to be one of the hottest spots of the season - assuming people can find it, that is. (Hint: Look for the GoodLife Fitness across from West Elm.) Watch their website for the grand opening announcement. And yes, there will be brunch!
Also in Liberty Village, Brad Moore's School Bakery and Café (70 Fraser Avenue) is set to open soon in the building where the Warehouse Grill did business until recently. For this new venture, the former chef and co-owner of Xacutti has partnered with Sean D'Andrade, and when asked by Martini Boys what sort of cuisine would be served, Moore said simply "good food". (MB also reports the opening date to be this Thursday, November 27th, although based on what we saw through the window when walking by this morning, that might be optimistic...)
A neighbour of both Mildred's and School is Atelier Thuet, the fine food emporium opened by chef Marc Thuet and wife/partner Biana Zorich in May, 2007, when half of the area was still a construction zone. Despite being a bit out of the way, the Atelier has been a success, and the duo are now attempting to replicate that success with Petite Thuet (1162 Yonge Street), a shop that will feature a similar assortment of meats, cheeses, preserves, prepared meals, and of course, Thuet's renowned bread and pastries.
Another gourmet food shop has just opened in the Distillery District, although this one has a specific geographic focus. A Taste of Quebec (55 Mill Street, Building 36, 1st Floor) features the best food from La Belle Province, with their website mentioning "the finest artisan cheeses, terrines, patés, gourmet oils and other epicurean delicacies". And with chef Jean-Pierre Challet (ex-The Fifth) on staff, there'll likely be some great prepared foods available as well.
Over on the northern tip of Roncesvalles Village, popular brunch spot B Café mysteriously closed recently, and there's now a sign in the window promising Simple Nosh Bistro & Café (2210 Dundas Street West) will be taking over next month.
Up on Yonge above Lawrence, the address previously known as Herbs Restaurant is being renovated for a January opening as a second location of high-end Mexican restaurant Milagro (3187 Yonge Street). A few blocks east of there, neighbourhood pub The Slippery Boot has been Restaurant Makeover-ed and reborn as Locavore (1552 Avenue Road). The transformation can be seen on the Monday November 24th episode of Restaurant Makeover.
In Leslieville, Hai Luke Tran's home furnishings store Hanoi Chic has finally finished months of renovations to be reborn as the second location of his North Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi 3 Seasons (1145 Queen Street East). A few blocks west, the former home of bizarre Mediterranean-Caribbean fusion joint Ghali Kitchen is now the equally bizarre Asian-Mexican fusion joint Chino Locos (4 Greenwood Avenue), where the burritos and tacos feature such fillings as chow mein, edamame and green onion ginger sauce.
A bit more info has been revealed about Vdara (735 Queen Street West), the new restaurant taking over the space where Satori and Habitat used to be. Due to open in early December, dinner service will feature a "unique upper bohemian menu" using many local and organic ingredients, while lunch will focus on unique sandwiches and wraps on house-made breads, alongside daily soups and stews. Manning the kitchen will be head chef Mani Binelli (Spice Room, Messis, Centro), sous chef Danny Griesdorf (Messis, Four Seasons, The Senator), and pastry chef David Kozicki (Vienna Home Bakery, Spice Room).
The approaching change of seasons means that menus are changing at a lot of restaurants around town, but one of the more unique new offerings comes from Signatures Restaurant (220 Bloor Street West) at the InterContinental Toronto Yorkville Hotel. Dubbed the "Crunch Lunch", the $20 prix fixe includes a choice of salad or soup; a selection of entrées including chicken, mushroom & asparagus crepe, seafood Cobb salad, Signatures club sandwich or the shitake mushroom quiche; and coffee or tea and cookies. Even better, it's all served in under an hour, making it a great spot to grab a quick and reasonably priced (by Yorkville standards, at least) lunch.
Speaking of Yorkville, renowned pastry chef Joanne Yolles is leaving Pangaea (1221 Bay Street) after six years of overseeing their well-loved dessert menu. Fans of her legendary coconut cream pie needn't weep, however, as she is returning to its birthplace, Scaramouche (1 Benvenuto Place), taking over her old position from Cora James who has decamped for MoRoCo Chocolat (99 Yorkville Avenue).
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.
