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Food & Drink

Top 10 classic

1. Mildred’s Temple Kitchen

85 Hanna, at Snooker, 416-588-5695, templekitchen.com, @mildredstemple

When Donna Dooher and Kevin Gallagher first introduced brunch at Mildred Pierce back in 1990, their industry friends thought they’d lost their marbles.

“Brunch wasn’t in Toronto’s DNA like it is now,” laughs Dooher. “Everyone said it would never work.”

Instead, the west-side resto named for the 1945 Joan Crawford potboiler about a hard-working waitress with a philandering husband and an ungrateful social-climbing daughter became an instant hit. Such was its popularity, Pierce relocated into spectacular digs in Liberty Village as Mildred’s Temple Kitchen five years ago. Weekend brunch is as insanely busy as ever.

They still line up for a retro carte inspired by the Crawford flick. Named for Mildred’s bad-girl daughter, Veda’s Choice finds a pair of expertly poached free-range eggs on a classic Thuet croissant draped with sexy smoked salmon and a come-hither Béarnaise, a mess of organic greens in champagne vinaigrette on the side.

Huevos Monty – two fresh La Tortilleria corn tortillas stuffed quesadilla-style with refried beans and melted cheddar and topped with runny sunny-side eggs, salsa and avocado crème fraîche (both $14.50) – name-checks Mildred’s two-timing lover (aka the heel of Pasadena). And then there are Mrs. Biederhof’s “legendary light and fluffy” blueberry buttermilk pancakes with whipped cream and maple syrup ($14). Mrs. B was the other woman.

“We figured she must be doing something to make Mildred’s husband happy. Pancakes!”

Lucky for us, they’ll be available for the entire month of August, when Mildred’s does brunch seven days a week.

“People come in in the middle of the week, sit down, look at the lunch menu and ask, ‘Where’s brunch?’ When we explain that we only offer brunch Saturday and Sunday, they get up and leave!”

Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. Daily Thursday August 1 to Saturday August 31 10 am to 3 pm. Closed some holidays. No reservations. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN


2. Stockyards Smokehouse & Larder

699 St Clair W, at Christie, 416-658-9666, thestockyards.ca, @thestockyards

Currently closed for much-needed renovations, Tom Davis’s celebrated house of ‘cue may be better known for its Flintstonian ribs, but his brunch lineup is just as substantial.

He assembles breakfast sandwiches of deep-fried poached eggs, house-cured bacon and aged cheddar ($7) or softly scrambled eggs with house-smoked salmon and crème fraîche ($8). Flaky house biscuits topped with sage-scented sausages come swimming in retro pan gravy ($11). But his pièce de résistance is his maple-glazed chicken and Belgian-style waffles ($13). Breakfast doesn’t come more southern-fried.

Sunday 9 am to 2:45 pm, abreviated menu Saturday same hours starting July 27. No reservations. Unlicensed. Access: steep ramp at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNNNN


3. Black Metal Brunch @ Graffiti’s

170 Baldwin, at Kensington, 416-506-6699

Has it really been 13 years since one-time Southern Accent and Bellair Café chef Linda Dawson and partner/bartender Murder Mike started doing brunch, first at Planet Kensington and now at this no-frills Market dive down the block?

To the dulcet strains of God Seed, Amon Amarth and classic King Diamond, regulars stuff themselves with rockin’ omelettes loaded with Cajun shrimp and horned goats cheese ($12.50) and two-fisted “sammiches” layered with slabs o’ peameal bacon and spicy Haitian slaw ($13.95, both with salad, fries or sweet potato “homies”). Or, for the same damage, savour a surprisingly sophisticated spin on beef Stroganoff over egg noodles with garlic bread.

The grub’s as righteous as ever, but has the Market changed?

“We had a table the other week ask us to turn down the music,” says Dawson over the din of the new Black Sabbath album. “We told them to fuck off.”

Sunday 11 am to 4 pm. No reservations. Licensed. Access: one step at door, small washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNNNN


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4. Bonjour Brioche

812 Queen E, at Degrassi, 416-406-1250, bonjourbrioche.com

The antithesis of the now-defunct Hello Toast down the road, Lori and Henri Feasson’s none-more-Parisian bakery café in Riverside is a zoo come most Saturday and Sunday morns, long lines snaking out the front door the rule rather than the exception.

But show up early – 8:15, say, or a week next Tuesday – and you’re guaranteed a prized front-window table. Chef sticks close to the classics – pain bagnat with tuna and sliced egg ($6.50), fig and blue cheese tarts ($9.50), spinach and feta quiche ($10.50, both with house greens) – and pomegranate mimosas go for all of 5 bucks. Little wonder there’s almost always a queue.

Tuesday to Sunday 8 am to 4 pm. Closed Monday, holidays. No reservations. Licensed. Cash only. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN

Photo by Ethan Eisenberg


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5. School

70 Fraser, at Liberty, 416-588-0005, schooltoronto.com, @schoolresto

Weekend brunch proved so overwhelmingly popular at Brad Moore’s Liberty Village café, the ex-Xacutti chef now offers it seven days a week.

You’ll understand why after your first bite of cheesy house-baked biscuits topped with fried egg, peameal bacon and Monterrey Jack ($9). Eggs come scrambled with smoked salmon and cream cheese ($15 with house greens in a peppery lemon vinaigrette), while the poached variety over cornbread arrive loaded with pulled pork, tomatillo salsa and double-baked hash browns ($17).

Whatever will chef think of next? Brunch for dinner?

Monday to Friday 8 am to 4 pm, Saturday and Sunday. No reservations. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN

Photo by David Laurence


6. Saving Grace

907 Dundas W, at Bellwoods, 416-703-7368

You have to give credit to those who wait patiently outside in the dead of winter for up to two hours every weekend to get into Monica Miller’s minuscule all-day café. At least they’re an orderly lot.

Haven’t got time to queue for pan-fried eggs dressed with plantain, avocado and red pepper over refried beans, enchiladas stuffed with coconut black rice and chèvre (both $13 with house greens and roasted spuds) or the ever-changing waffle du jour ($10)? Come back Tuesday!

Monday to Friday 9 am to 3 pm. Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. No reservations. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms upstairs. Rating: NNNN


7. Aunties And Uncles

74 Lippincott, at College, 416-324-1375, auntiesanduncles.ca

And you thought the lineups at Saving Grace were ridiculous!

Russell Nichols has been packing them into this retrofitted barber shop since 1998. They queue for breakfast tacos stuffed with scrambled eggs, house-made chorizo, pinto beans, lettuce and cheese, and Parisian pan bagnat of warm focaccia with tuna, arugula and sun-dried tomato (both $8.75 with organic greens, hash browns or old-school potato salad). Regulars also know Aunties’ epic Belgian waffles du jour ($7.50) are almost always first to sell out.

Daily 9 am to 3 pm. Closed holiday weekends. No reservations. Unlicensed. Cash only. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN


8. Free Times Cafe

320 College, at Robert, 416-967-1078, freetimescafe.com, @FreeTimesCafe

The explanation for this Yiddish all-you-can-eat buffet’s long-running popularity is simple: Old World comfort food like lox and latkes, blinis and blintzes. And, oy, the herring, all accompanied by live klezmer music. And the fact that it’s only $19.95 (children under 12 half-price, infants free) probably doesn’t hurt.

First-timers should remember that although the clientele is generally of an older demographic than you’ll find at Lisa Marie, they’re a feisty bunch at the buffet. You might want to pack shin guards and shoulder pads.

Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. Reservations accepted. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNN


9. Le Petit Dejeuner

191 King E, at George, 416-703-1560, petitdejeuner.ca, @petidejeuner

You have to get to Johan Maes and Tonya Reid’s funky downtown luncheonette really early – 8:30 am, say – to beat the throng that descends on it every weekend.

If you do that, you’ll park your behind on a sparkly green naugahyde banquette for authentic Belgian waffles topped with organic fruit, maple syrup, Chantilly cream and all manner of exotica like peameal bacon ($13) or poached eggs and hollandaise ($15). Or go for a classic croque monsieur with ham and Swiss ($13 with apple coleslaw in paprika mayo) and consider yourself very lucky indeed.

Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 3 pm, Monday 8 am to 3 pm, Tuesday to Friday 8 am to 5 pm. Closed some holidays. No reservations. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN


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10. Live Bluegrass Brunch @ The Dakota Tavern

249 Ossington, at Dundas W, 416-850-4579, thedakotatavern.com, @thedakotatavern

If you’ve ever shown up half an hour before this hard-rockin’ honky-tonk opens its doors for brunch only to find 100 or so folks in front of you who figured exactly the same thing, relief is at hand. The Dakota now takes reservations, but only on Saturdays.

Sundays, it’s still the same mob scene of ironically bearded west-siders and their progeny chowing down on mountains of flapjacks and sausages over bottomless cups of coffee while the Rocky Mountain Breakdown breaks out, all for 14 bucks.

Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 3 pm. Reservations accepted Saturdays only. Licensed. Access: 15 steps at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN

Photo by David Laurence

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