Four restaurants capitalizing on latest culinary trend - exotic meats from venison to rabbit

Brickworks Ciderhouse is located in Riverdale, within close proximity of the trendy Broadview Hotel.

Toronto downtown favourite, Buca, has set up shop a little bit further north in the Yorkville Four Seasons Hotel with Buca Osteria & Bar. The concept for the menu is still very much rooted in the Italian tradition but made with Canadian ingredients, thus the menu changes somewhat often depending on the seasonality of ingredients.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a foodie in this town that hasn’t heard of Rob Gentile. It’s safe to say that the chef-restaurateur is one busy guy, palling around with Jamie Oliver, plotting foodie retreats in Umbria and heading up a food company in addition to holding exec chef duties at a handful of restos.

When it comes to fighting off biting cold temperatures this time of the year, a visit to Toronto’s Koreatown at Christie and Bloor is always the perfect solution. When the mercury drops to -15 degrees, just hop into one of a handful of restaurants like Owl of Minerva, Tofu Village or Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu and you’ll find hordes of hungry students, local residents and even tattooed hipsters all huddled over hot bowls of Korean dishes like pork bone soup, kimchi stew or bibimbap.

The menu at the new Buster Sea Cove location ranges from classics like their lobster roll to a variety of taco options.

Meet Mark McEwan’s fine dining restaurant, Bymark, in the heart of the financial district in the atrium of the TD Towers. The space’s main dining room boasts a floor-to-ceiling wine cellar but there are also private dining rooms, a spacious patio and a modern bar. The kitchen is headed up by executive chef Brooke McDougall

The food now is classic bistro with a luxurious twist. There’s plenty of personal Boulud touches (the beignet de calamar include deft Southeast Asian flavours) and nods to Toronto (the quenelle de brochette is made with Ontario-sourced pike.) In short, the rethink worked and Café Boulud is in a class by itself.

More than a quarter of a century in, Canoe remains a critical darling and a place where people still want to be seen. Located on the 54th floor of the TD Bank Tower, the restaurant serves up striking views of Lake Ontario and the cityscape, and has long been considered one of the city’s most

Cantina Mercatto is the newest addition to the Mercatto family of restaurants (Taverna, Locale, Trattoria and College) that started some 20 years ago on Toronto Street. Close to both the St. Lawrence Market and the Financial District, the new space is meant to be a one-stop shop for lunch meetings, special occasions as well as

The purple velvet banquettes and colourful pop art line the walls of this industrial building. Once an old TV studio and underground club space, the interior of Carbon Bar is still reminiscent of a ’70s discotheque but has definitely been revamped and influenced by the movers and shakers of today. When you walk in, someone

Since the dim sum downtown has sunk in a slough of grease, dumpling-seeking Sinophiles have few alternatives. At first glance, Casa Imperial is an unlikely candidate: a baroque mansion loaded with gargantuan crystal chandeliers, ersatz British hunting scenes and musty brocaded draperies. It’s about as Chinese-looking as Casa Loma, but the dim sum is quite

Walk by this Parkdale space after dusk on a weekday and the scene recalls something you’d see in a nostalgic flick starring Cate Blanchett. With floor-to-ceiling windows opened up, the bistro’s insides feature a wraparound bar and teeny kitchen. Since chef Jon Poon went off to focus on his fancy bars, Jacob Wharton-Shukster, the other

Clandestino Wine Bar is a no muss, no fuss Italian restaurant that wants you to come hungry and leave happy. Tucked away under a big red sign and with floor-to-ceiling front windows, Clandestino Wine Bar is serving authentic Italian cuisine to the people of Parkdale. Using local and fresh ingredients and allowing its food to

In honour of the Fairmont Royal York’s 90th anniversary, the Toronto landmark rolled out two new venues to mark the occasion. With Reign, the hotel brings a new French brasserie concept lead by executive chef jW Foster to life, and with Clockwork, a new champagne and cocktail bar in the lobby. Rockwell Group’s design is

A dazzling display of sparkling bubbly, oysters, caviar and café au lait await at the aptly named Coffee Oysters Champagne (COC), but there’s more than meets the eye.

Congee Queen is a multi-location Chinese food restaurant with six restaurants across the GTA. Its flagship store is located in Thornhill, although its most popular is in Mississauga at Dundas Street and Highway 427. Congee is a type of rice porridge which tends to be served alongside protein and other side dishes. At Congee Queen,

Opened on Ossington earlier this week is the long-awaited Côte de Boeuf, a project from Chasen Gillies and Teo Paul of the nearby Union restaurant. The store, previously a flower shop, bills itself simply: “select grocer, butcher, meals.”

To avoid the humidity of a July afternoon, summer weekends are best spent heading into cottage country and feasting with views you can’t find in the urban jungle. And 102205 Mix all this with an ever-changing curated cocktail menu, and a spacious, open patio — Crossroads was meant for summer adventures. And if you’re looking for

Yorkville’s own D|Bar was revamped in 2018 making it one of the hot spots for Toronto’s elite. Located in the swanky Four Seasons Hotel, chef Daniel Boulud reimagined the menu and transformed the space to become an intimate but elegant lounge. Here celebrities and mere mortals can exchange niceties over cutely named cocktails like the