Roncy restaurant revival
The Ace and The Westerly lead charge as centre of the culinary universe heads west
Category: Restaurants
Church Aperitivo Bar opens on Queen West
Though patrons may be tempted to tiptoe their way into Church Aperitivo Bar, the atmosphere is grounded — with a few heavenly touches. Taking over a Slavic Pentecostal church (as far as the owners know) longtime friends Sandra Cassaro and David Beddia wanted to open a social place that spoke to their Italian backgrounds.
Top chef ready to go it alone
As the old saying goes, coming in second is sometimes a blessing — just ask chef Rob Rossi.
Bust out the zoot suits: new Danforth restaurant pays tribute to a bygone Mexican-American subculture
If you miss the zoot suit-wearing bad boys of the Mexican-American pachuco subculture, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a fitting and delicious tribute on the Danforth, just east of Broadview. Bringing a bundle of new flavours to the city, sisters Eren, Jais and Mali Fernandez have teamed up to open Pachuco, a traditional Mexican restaurant with a contemporary spin.
A look at the east end’s new 7,000 square foot sports and southern-style barbecue extravaganza
No matter how mild January gets this year, Toronto’s winter weather is hardly conducive to thoughts of southern-style barbeque. For most of us, that is. But standing tall between a truck wash and a Mister Transmission at O’Connor and Sunrise, in the former Rock & Roll Heaven spot, Rally Sports Bar and Smokehouse serves up wood-smoked barbeque delights to sports-loving East Yorkers. Its grand opening is tonight.
New Queen West shop pushes the envelope on Vietnamese-inspired sandwiches
Queen West has a brand new spot to satisfy a Vietnamese sandwich craving. Just don’t go to Banh Mi Boys, situated in the old Ziggy’s Shawarma and Seafood House space, expecting traditional cold cuts between your bread. Go expecting better.
Claudio Aprile is expanding Origin with two new locations, including one in Bayview Village
Back in November, when we reported on the closure of the longstanding Sierra Grill, we had a feeling that the site would get taken over by Claudio Aprile. He had already announced that he was planning on expanding the Origin brand, including an Origin North. Today The Grid confirms that Origin is indeed headed to Bayview Village, and another location is slated for Liberty Village as well.
The decades-old House of Chan likely to be appropriated to make way for transit station
It’s a sad fact that construction of the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown, an upcoming underground transit line running from Black Creek Drive to Kennedy station, will require multiple properties to be torn down to make room. (The TTC likes to call this “property acquisition.”)
New players in Kates top 100
’Tis not a kind season for fine dining — in this slightly scary economy, diners are playing their cards close to the vest, only spending where they’re sure of value.
Brown baggin’ it just got cool: new sandwich shop opens on Church
Brown bagging it means something entirely different at the corner of Church and Granby these days. Brown Bag Sandwiches, a new sandwich joint by Matt Lai and Peter Lee, (both from, among other places, Pure Spirits Oyster House and Grill) opened up two weeks ago in the old Sandwiched spot.
The Burger’s Priest heads north
That The Burger’s Priest is expanding is not a huge surprise. Since it opened in 2010, the east-end hamburger joint has consistently impressed customers and critics alike: it’s number 20 on Joanne Kates’ 100 best restaurants list, while Toronto Life recently bestowed burger of the year to the Vatican City Burger. But where it is expanding to is somewhat unexpected.
New York-style pizzeria Bigabaldi’s is down, but not out
Less than a year into the pie-making business, Bigabaldi’s pizzeria has already closed its doors. Co-owner Bradley Davidson cites a lack of foot traffic in the area along with the plethora of cheaper chain pizza options nearby (there are four) as reasons leading to the closure. But New York-style pizza lovers fear not: Bigabaldi’s is preparing to return to the Toronto market in a few months.