Chef Paul Boehmer of the eponymous Ossington boîte finally launched his Bohemian Gastro Pub (571 Queen West, at Portland) last Saturday, July 30. Located in the old Oh Boy burger bistro, the new resto is a partnership with chef de cuisine Christopher Scott of College Street’s L.A.B.
Aldo and Marcello Barone’s Bar One at Queen and Shaw has called it a day after a successful 11-year run, an eternity on the hip west-side strip. And long-running second-storey dim sum spot Cha Liu on Yonge north of Eglinton has been shuttered due to lease issues.
Hammersmith’s Is Out
Opening a new restaurant these days is no easy matter, what with all the mandatory blogs, tweets and Facebook page updates involved. And then there’s the food.
Barely a month old, Brittany Peglar and Colin Reed’s everyday brunch spot Hammersmith’s (807 Gerrard East, at Logan, 416-792-9043, hammersmiths.wordpress.com) has got the first part down, having already been profiled in every media outlet in town. Shame that the same attention to creating a buzz hasn’t been paid to some of the grub.
We’ve come to the one-time Logan Grill expecting “Ontario asparagus, eggs and miso butter” and “cured salmon, sweet pea, fennel and pine nuts” but find eggs, more eggs and a chicken salad sandwich ($10) instead. Which came first? we wonder.
No one bothers to ask how we’d like either our steak or eggs ($13 with bacon hash), the latter arriving sunny side up with sad broken yolks, the latter well done on the outside and blood-rare within. An omelette stuffed with tasty mushrooms ($9 with salad) appears to have been made with Egg Beaters, but they turn out to be free-range and naturally fluorescent yellow.
But a side of unusually meaty sausage ($6) from Leslieville’s Sausage Partners deserves to be a main, and ex-Drake pastry sous chef Peglar’s phenomenal sugar-crusted raspberry and blackberry scones ($1.65), Soma chocolate chip cookies ($2) and local sour cherry muffins ($1.65) are worthy of the hype.
Coming Up Rose’s
After being shuttered for two months, the Rose Café – now rebranded Rose’s Vietnamese Sandwiches (601 Gerrard East, at Broadview, 416-406-9906) – has finally relaunched around the corner from its original digs in Chinatown East. Why the move?
“The property taxes were just too much,” says the perpetually effervescent Rose Psam. “So I sold the building and got something a little smaller.”
Regulars should be advised that the prices for Rose’s exemplary banh mi sandwiches are now slightly higher. What used to cost $1.75 – shredded deep-fried tofu on flaky French buns dressed with raw carrot strips, fresh coriander sprigs and optional hellaciously hot Thai bird chilies – is now an exorbitant 2 bucks!
“Tell everybody that everything else is the same,” insists Psam.
Subway Revival
When New York Subway closed for renovations last spring, some – okay, yours truly – doubted the storefront take-away at Queen and Portland would ever reopen, such was the state of the building. But the terrific Indian burrito joint is scheduled to reopen in late August. Look for a much-improved space and a new early-morning bacon ‘n’ egg breakfast card.
