The hole-in-the-wall restaurant Acadia (2011–2013, RIP) begat some of Toronto’s best chefs, including Patrick Kriss (see No. 1); Dustin Gallagher, the fusion wizard behind the Chinese-Jewish tasting menu at Peoples Eatery on Spadina; and Matt Blondin, who left to join the squad at Momofuku Daishō before launching Omaw last fall. Blondin is one of a select group of chefs who leave diners weak in the knees—and whose every move is seemingly live-tweeted by his followers. He’s lanky, with a penetrating stare and a smirk to rival Beetlejuice. After a year at Daishō, Blondin jobbed around town, mostly helping out the Food Dudes (the catering company that also runs Harbord Street’s excellent Rasa) and talking up their new collaboration, a “food bar” called Junk. That place is still in the works. In the meantime, they jointly opened Omaw in a handsome corner location on the Ossington strip. The best seat is a bistro stool at the bar, which faces an open galley kitchen where Blondin prepares a menu of Acadian-inspired ante bellum delicacies. The South is his sweet spot. He dresses Cajun-style white sausage with a house version of Worcestershire, hits a stew of chicken and okra with Kentucky bourbon, seasons chicken crackling with Old Bay, and bakes to order sweet and fluffy rounds of cornbread, served with a tiny pot of pumpkin butter. But his entire reputation is built on a first-rate bowl of grits, which is the least obvious thing for a GTA chef to latch on to, far harder to get just right than you’d think and entirely his own. They’re silken and creamy, the special-sourced, fine-ground cornmeal heightened by lobes of Gulf shrimp and a flash of peppery heat from pimento cheese. On top he places a crown of parsley leaves. It’s a highly addictive dish—and especially comforting if, like me, your favourite childhood breakfast was a steaming bowl of cream of wheat with a pat of butter. BEST BITE:A bavarois of just-tart-enough key lime pie under an armour of arty meringue shards.
Blondin gussies up southern-style dishes in his open kitchen and posts his artful creations on Instagram
The dining room will expand up to the second floor later in 2016, and the main floor will become the more casual bar area. A separate back entrance leads into a dimly lit, low-key lounge
Wagyu beef is dressed with beef fat vinaigrette and topped with pickled onion
The dessert menu includes inventive dishes like chocolate ganache with haskap berries, almond milk, meringue and white chocolate pebbles
Matt Blondin is one of a small group of chefs who leave diners weak in the knees. He gained a cult following first at Acadia, then Momofuku Daishō, and now at Omaw
At Omaw, fried chicken is served with wedge salad, smoked turkey and dumplings are showered in truffle, pork belly is served with burnt lime barbecue sauce, Anson Mills grits and pimento are topped with gulf prawns, and cornbread comes with luscious yam butter
