Saturday
Bent
777 Dundas W, at Markham, 647-352-0092, bentrestaurant.com. Don’t come to superstar Susur Lee’s latest resto-lounge expecting salad followed by meat ‘n’ with two veg and dessert. If, however, your tastes run to inventive tapas-style dishes with a preponderance of seafood meant to be shared over exotic cocktails, have we got the boîte for you! Best: sake-cured salmon gravlax over blocks of tamago over horseradish crème fraîche showered with a julienne of toasted nori, a stack of buckwheat blinis on the side watermelon and tuna ceviche dressed with slivered chilies and lime a spin on Lee’s signature Singapore slaw, duck salad with crackling, kohlrabi and crispy taro ribbons finished with exotic sprouts and edible flowers buttery foie gras and chicken pâté with tapenade-spread brioche, ice-wine syrup and onion marmalade. Complete tapas-style dinners for $60 per person, including tax, tip and a cocktail. Average tapas $16. Open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday 5:30 to 10:30 pm. Bar till close. Closed Sunday, Monday, some holidays. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN
Chantecler
1320 Queen W, at Brock, 416-628-3586, restaurantchantecler.ca. Jonathan Poon and Jacob Wharton-Shukster’s cozy 26-seat trat is the most revolutionary thing to hit Parkdale since Bacchus put cheese on a roti. An inspired carte with subtle Asian tweaks, engaging service and a relaxed vibe make this one of the most exciting new restos around. And they take reservations! Best: pillowy ricotta gnudi with lasagna-like zucchini in garlicky smoked tomato sauce blood-rare bavette sided with kale sautéed in bone marrow seared wild boar in syrupy prune sauce laced with coffee Sunday and Monday nights, Korean bo-ssam-style lettuce wraps stuffed with slow-roasted Asian pork reconfigured banana splits with house-made buckwheat ice cream tossed with Froot Loops and Reese’s Pieces. Complete dinners for $60 per person, including tax, tip and a cocktail. Average main $22. Open Wednesday 6 to 11 pm, Thursday to Saturday 6 pm to midnight, Sunday and Monday 6 pm to 1 am. Bar nightly till close. Closed Tuesday, some holidays. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN
Ursa
924 Queen W, at Shaw, 416-536-8963, ursa-restaurant.com. No other resto since Susur Lee’s Lotus invented East-West fusion in 87 or David Crystian’s Patriot went locavore in 00 has radicalized the downtown scene as much as this health-conscious bistro in the former Bar One. Using methods usually associated with raw vegan cuisine – dehydration, fermentation, sprouting – as well as state-of-the-art sous-vide technology, chef Jacob Sharkey-Pearce reinvents the concept of dining out. Best: from a constantly evolving carte, spectacularly plated starters like wild venison tartare coupled with fatty foie gras cured in blueberry vinegar, finished with medicinal Icelandic moss on buttered rye toasts mains like apple-cider-glazed Niagara pork loin ‘n’ belly over du Puy lentils and decorative kale in apple skin reduction locally raised Rhode Island White chicken two ways, first as a roulade of thigh, then as a pan-seared boneless breast over polenta coupled with sprouted lentils to finish, Milk & Honey, a warm bowl of made-to-order ricotta dressed with bee pollen and sided with honeycomb, pomegranate and raisins fashioned from dehydrated grapes still on the vine, the whey left over from making the fresh cheese served in two tiny milk bottles. Complete dinners for $65, including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $21. Open for dinner Saturday 6 to 11 pm. Reservations recommended. Licensed. Access: two steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN
Sunday
Bestellen
972 College, at Rusholme, 647-341-6769, bestellen.ca. Top Chef Canada season one runner-up and ex-Mercatto toque Rob Rossi parlays his TV game show near-win into one of the most meatcentric restaurants in town. His dinner menu features the likes of $98 house-aged steaks and whole suckling pig platters, and the brunch carte is only slightly more veggie-friendly. Best: to start, complimentary banana bread straight from the oven dolloped with crème fraîche and crushed walnuts bags of cinnamon-dusted doughnuts classic croque madame with house-cured ham, mornay sauce and a pair of runny fried eggs old-school southern-fried chicken doused in maple syrup sided with jalapeño cornbread muffins, both with organic greens in lemony vinaigrette massive 8-ounce breakfast burgers on house-baked English muffins dressed with crispy fried onions and bacon jam. Complete brunches for $30 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $13. Open nightly from 6 pm. Brunch Sunday 11 am to 3 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN
Emma’s Country Kitchen
1108 St Clair W, at Northcliffe, 416-652-3662, emmascountrykitchen.com. Ex-Stockyards head cook Rachel Pellett and partner Heather Mee parlay a successful catering business into what’s quite possibly downtown’s best new weekend brunch spot. The café’s minimal weekday lineup’s not too shabby either, most notably the exemplary retro baked goods and not-to-be-missed $1 bags of potato chips. Foodie fact: the site of the original Pusateri’s circa 1963. Best: to start, those fabulously flaky biscuits sided with blueberry peach preserves and whipped honey butter the same biscuits as eggs Benedict with house-smoked peameal, poached eggs and a hollandaise infused with whipped cream the Hangover burger, a sage-spiked patty made of ground Beretta Farms pork sausage dressed with local cheddar, house-cured bacon and a house-baked bun and sided with skinny thyme-flecked frites worthy of Jamie Kennedy a breakfast poutine of said terrific frites topped with bacon, cheddar, hollandaise and two poached ‘n’ deep-fried eggs peach-compote-swirled French toast topped with glazed Ontario peaches. Average main $12. Open For Sunday brunch 9 am to 3 pm. Closed some holidays. No reservations. Unlicensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN
White Brick Kitchen
641 Bloor W, at Euclid, 647-347-9188, thewhitebrickkitchen.com. After a stint in the barbecue pit at the Stockyards, former Beretta and Rowe Farms butcher Stephen Howell and company transform a Koreatown café into one of the best new brunch spots around. Informal room, friendly, casual service, modest prices. Best: to start, a $4 grapefruit mimosa made with 2 ounces of Spumanti Bambino, followed by pastry chef Haley Franklin’s buttery English muffins spread with Ontario blueberry compote exceptional mains like crisply battered Southern-fried chicken coupled with a brilliantly pickled jalapeño dipping sauce, local greens in a lemony vinaigrette and the inevitable fried egg vegetarian deep-fried panko-crusted “Scotch-ish” poached eggs over toasted baguette and cubed home fries not-to-be-missed chocolate banana bread French toast with caramelized fruit and salted caramel sides of house-cured hickory bacon to finish, house-baked blueberry scones. Complete brunches for $25 per person, including tax, tip and a beef-bacon Caesar. Average main $12. Open For brunch Sunday 9 am to 4 pm. Licensed. Access: short step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN
