Saturday
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. Best: to start, grilled ‘n’ chilled calamari in lemony caper vinaigrette over organic greens comfort mains like spicy piri-piri pulled pork with minty yogurt, new potatoes and market veg orzo topped with tiger shrimp, scallops and mussels in chunky tomato sauce splashed with herb-infused olive oil 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
Pizza e Pazzi
1182 St Clair W, at Dufferin, 647-352-7882, pizzaepazzi.ca. Like Pizzeria Libretto, Danilo and Sandrelle Scimo’s stylish Corso Italia trat sticks to the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana’s party line: pies made with certifed Tipo 00 flour, San Marzano tomatoes and DOP mozzarella baked in a wood-burning oven at 485°C for 60 to 90 seconds. Monday to Wednesday from 5 to 7 pm, pay $10 for any drink and get the free appetizer buffet. Also: 672 St Clair W, at Christie, 647-748-7882. Best: the benchmark Margherita, a correctly blistered and cracker-crisp but still foldable thin crust dressed with family-recipe sauce, mozzarella di bufala and basil leaves the Valtellina, a garlicky white-sauced pie heaped with shaved bresaola, parmigiana and raw arugula splashed with quality olive oil and lemon juice papardelle in textbook bolognese boozy tiramisu in a sundae glass. Complete dinners for $40 per person (lunches $30), including tax, tip and a glass of vino. Average main $15. Open for dinner Saturday 5 pm to midnight. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN
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. Bar till late. Licensed. Access: two steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN
Sunday
Agave y Aguacate
214 Augusta, at Baldwin, 647-208-3091, agaveyaguacate.blogspot.com. Those who say Toronto doesn’t have authentic Mexican street food have never eaten at this tiny Kensington Market not-so fast food stall. There, on a pair of induction cookers and not much else, ex-Torito, JKWB and Scaramouche (!) cook Francisco Alejandri – Paco to his pals – whips up immaculately plated tapas-to-go that would be worth three times the price at his former employers’. Best: Salpicon steak salad, a worth-the-wait explosion of tender shredded flank, chopped seeds-and-all jalapeños, ripe tomato and raw red onion in freshly squeezed lime juice finished with scoops of buttery avocado, fried-to-order tortilla chips and peppery arbequina olive oil spicy chipotle chicken tostados dressed with pickled onion, sautéed cabbage, crema fresca and beans “well-fried” in pork fat green vegetarian tostadas on a bed of made-to-order guacamole piled with sliced tomato, organic Monforte Dairy queso fresca and fruity guayillo chili and tomatillo salsa Mexican meatball subs to finish, lime Charlotte, a multi-tiered tiramisu layered with vanilla custard, lime zest and more of that fab Spanish olive oil. Complete takeout dinners for $15 (lunches $10), including tax, tip and an iced hibiscus tea. Average main $5. Open Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. Unlicensed. Cash only. Access: three steps at door, no washrooms. Minimal seating. Rating: NNNNN
L’Ouvrier
791 Dundas W, at Palmerston, 416-901-9581, louvrier.ca. Does the super-hip Dundas West strip really need another cutting-edge cantina? It does when the results are this delish: a spacious white-on-white gallery-like space, attitude-free service and a card that flirts with Southeast Asia (hello, Susur!) and classic French country comfort. Warning: if it’s eggs Benedict you’re after, try somewhere else. Best: to start, ex-Crush chef Angus Bennett’s sugar-coated scones spread with house-made mango jam and crème fraîche salads of English cuke and fennel with pomegranate seeds and crumbled Greek feta crisp potato rosti finished with smoked salmon, fried shallots and capers BLTs built on Ace Bakery sourdough tiered with tomato and meaty house-smoked bacon and tomato 5-ounce grilled-to-order Wellington County burgers dressed with aged cheddar and bacon and sided with perfect frites. Complete brunches for $40 per person, including tax, tip and a spritzer. Average main $14. Open for brunch Sunday 11 am to 3 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNN
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
