It was a brisk week for big restaurant openings both downtown (Cactus Club) and #NoBlo (Indian Street Food Co.). Also there is plenty to check out in the news section.
Just Opened
- The Bay St. suits got a new sit-down lunch option when Cactus Club Cafe opened just over a week ago.
- Last Thursday was opening day for Indian Street Food Co. at the Bayview address familiar to locals as Amaya The Indian Room.
- Khabouth and Harji, the dynamic duo of Toronto restaurant opening (and co-owners of Weslodge, Patria, Byblos and others), have a new Italian restaurant that is open for business on Adelaide West.
- No one orders chicken in a restaurant these days, right? That rule definitely does apply to the hyper popular, Taiwanese fried chicken chain, Hot Star Large Fried Chicken. The perpetual lineups have already started at their just opened takeout counter at 347 Yonge St.
Coming Soon
- Parcae, the new restaurant in the Templar Hotel, opens on November 11.
- As Toronto Life detailed, chef Doug Penfold and his partner Niall McCotter (both of Cava) have big plans for Chabrol, their French restaurant going into the old Le Trou Normand space in Yorkville.
Restaurant Coverage
- For our November taste test we got Daniel Boulud to taste ten different poutines in hopes of picking Toronto's best.
- The Sweet Jesus soft serve may be good enough to sell well even in November, but what about the dietary information numbers? Check out this month’s Kitchen Confidential.
- Suresh Doss has a First Look at Indian Street Food Co.
- It opens on Wednesday, but we have a First Look at Parcae.
- After 20 years in business, Joanne Kates feels that Canoe has hit their stride in her restaurant review.
- Shoushin is the new omakase-only sushi restaurant in midtown Toronto and Jason Finestone gets a First Look.
- Our food profile from the November issue is on the one and only Mark McEwan.
- Hakka cuisine combines influences from China, India and the Caribbean and Super Hakka, this month’s focus for Strip Mall Gourmet is one of Toronto’s best.
- I have (almost) lost count of the BC chains that have opened outposts in Toronto. This month, Cactus Club joined the list and we have a First Look at their downtown location.
- Toronto gets location 28 for Rob Feenie's Cactus Club Cafe.
Changes and Other News
- Guu, the first truly successful izakaya in Toronto, is changing its name to Kinka Izakaya. Apparently, the licensing deal ended so the holding company (which also owns JaBistro, Kinton Ramen and Kintori) is reverting to using their name instead. The boisterous greetings for every customer will remain unchanged.
- As the Globe & Mail reported this weekend, Mark McEwan's company has taken over the kitchen at Diwan. Pat Riley left the Aga Khan Museum's restaurant earlier this year after they ended their deal with Compass Group.
- Just when it was looking like everything was coming up aces for dessert menus in Toronto, one of the city's best pastry chefs, Farzam Fallah of Richmond Station is decamping for Hong Kong.
- They added Chris McDonald to the kitchen team as consulting chef in June and Barsa Taberna has rejigged their menu again under the guidance of executive chef Guillermo Herbertson. The new menu builds on the tapas concept to include larger plates, share-able items and hints of chef Herbertson's New World roots.
