Saturday
Actinolite
971 Ossington, at Hallam, 416-962-8943, actinoliterestaurant.com If it’s worrisome foams, unorthodox tacos or autumnal tableaux fashioned from root vegetables and a few bits of bark you’re after, you’ve come to the wrong cantina. But if a comfortable candlelit room slightly off the beaten path with a reasonably priced ingredient-driven carte checks all your boxes, welcome home. Best: to start, chef Justin Cournoyer’s warm rustic bread followed by confit chicken leg with pickled onion and mustardy yogurt sauce apple salad tossed with endive, shredded cheddar, walnuts and minimal kale mains like house-made ravioli stuffed with squash and dressed with truffled tapenade and toasted pinenuts grilled Angus skirt smeared with blue cheese, sided with roasted Brussels sprouts and pomme purée steamed English pudding with Earl Grey ice cream. Complete dinners for $60 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $24. Open for dinner Saturday 6 to 10 pm. Licensed. Access: two steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN
Cafe Belong
550 Bayview, at Pottery Rd, 416-901-8234, cafebelong.ca The long-awaited centrepiece of the Don Valley’s bucolic Brick Works eco-site, Restaurant Makeover celebu-chef Brad Long’s all-day bistro and adjacent take-away lets locally grown and naturally raised products be the star of the show. Don’t do crowds? Show up any time other than Saturday’s farmers’ market and have the enviro complex virtually to yourselves. Best: to start, heirloom tomato salad on a bed of nutty steamed barley dressed with pepper sprouts and English cucumber in minty sheep’s milk yogurt dressing seasonal mains like gorgeously fatty pan-seared slabs of sweet ‘n’ sour pork belly glazed in maple syrup and apple cider vinegar over oven-roasted apples dressed with summer watercress milk-braised lamb shoulder with spelt and crisply fried sage leaves to finish, Monforte Dairy chèvre and wild Ontario blueberry cheesecake to drink, raspberry iced tea at the takeout counter, flaky buttermilk biscuits layered with smoked OceanWise char, wilted spinach and scrambled egg. Complete meals for $50 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of Ontario wine. Average main $19. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 10 pm. Reservations recommended. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNN
Leslie Jones
1182 Queen E, at Rushbrooke, 416-463-5663 George Wensley’s offbeat Leslieville eatery is a microcosm of cool: a gallery-style brick-walled storefront, an unusually inventive card (Wensley’s worked with Greg Couillard and Restaurant Makeover’s David Adjey) and a 60s stereo spinning vinyl. Come summer, Jones’s idyllic backyard patio is one of the loveliest outdoor dining spaces on the east side. Best: to start, grilled ‘n’ chilled calamari in lemony caper vinaigrette over Moroccan olives and organic greens in citrus vinaigrette salads of grilled chicken, smoked almonds and grilled veggies with mesclun and cheese comfort mains like spicy piri-piri pulled pork with minty yogurt, new potatoes and market veg linguine topped with tiger shrimp, scallops and mussels in chunky tomato sauce splashed with herb-infused olive oil specials like spaghetti tossed with grilled chicken, artichoke hearts and Asiago thin-crust pizzas topped with Kristapsons smoked salmon, goat cheese, fresh dill, capers and scallions. Complete dinners for $50 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $18. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 10 pm. Reservations recommended. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, but small washrooms. Rating: NNN
Sunday
Gautama
1416 Gerrard E, at Hiawatha, 416-469-4444, thesiddhartha.com Though the original was shuttered more than a year ago after a fire, Siddhartha rises from the ashes phoenix-like in fancier new digs a few blocks west. Not only is Sid’s all-you-can-eat buffet as exemplary as ever, but it can now be enjoyed al fresco on the only licensed patio in Little India. Best: from the buffet, crisply fried samosas stuffed with potato, peas and mild peppers saag paneer swirled with yogurt biryani-style rice with garden peas and curry leaves stir-fried cabbage with turmeric and mustard seeds mashed eggplant and potato with chilies aloo gobi with curried cauliflower ‘n’ spuds super-moist tandoori chicken legs and thighs while they last to finish, rice pudding, mango ice cream and fresh fruit to drink, lime sodas. Complete buffet dinners for $25 per person (lunches $20), including tax, tip and a domestic lager. Average la carte main $10. Open for $13.99 dinner Saturday buffet 4 to 10:30 pm. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN
Patria
480 King W, at Brant, 416-367-0505, patriatoronto.com Club kings Charles Khabouth and Hanif Harji follow up Weslodge with their most accomplished kitchen yet. Executive chef Stuart Cameron keeps the extensive tapas carte as authentic as possible, most notably at Sunday-only brunch. Best: to start, double espressos topped with milk foam followed by sponge-cake muffins finished with creamy olive-oil pudding shareable plates like fluffy potato frittata with garlicky romesco sauce rustic casseroles of braised cannellini beans, aged tomato and house-made chorizo octopus terrine on house-baked flatbread with aioli and more romesco wood-fired Spanish-style pizzas dressed with white anchovies, spicy piquillo peppers and Manchego cheese salads of shaved fennel, radish and red lettuce dressed with shredded Manchego and artichoke chips to finish, deep-fried churros with caramel sauce soft coffee ice cream sandwiches with nutty brittle and olive marmalade. Complete brunches for $40 per person, including, tax, tip and a cocktail. Average tapas $9. Open Sunday 11 am to 2:30 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNNN
La Societe
131 Bloor W, at Avenue Rd, 416-551-9929, lasociete.ca Yorkville’s primo patio come summer, Charles Khabouth and partner Danny Soberano’s unusually polished brasserie in the Colonnade is one of the coziest rooms in town when the temperature dips, even if it is a complete rip on New York City’s famed Balthazar, right down to the Munge Leung-designed art nouveau stained glass ceiling. Better yet, grab a corner table in the less-sceney wood-lined bar and feel like you’re in Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris. Best: avoid les oeufs and go for the best moules frites in town, a great steaming bowl of meaty PEI mussels in white wine, saffron-scented cream, caramelized shallots and fresh tarragon sided with chic skinny sea-salted frites with lemony garlic aioli and Thuet’s chewy baguette avec whipped butter the house burger, a substantial 8-ounce patty topped with aged white cheddar and pickle aioli sided with house greens in a lemon vinaigrette and more fab frites to finish, profiteroles stuffed with house-made vanilla ice cream in chocolate sauce. Complete brunches for $65 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of Veuve Cliquot champagne. Average main $19. Open for brunch Sunday 11 am to 3 pm. Reservations accepted. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN
