The Dish Power Rankings: Canada Day weekend edition
Toronto Life’s weekly roundup of the restaurants with the biggest buzz, the longest lineups and the toughest tables to snag.
Charles Khabouth’s all-inclusive-style resort in the middle of the city remains Toronto’s buzziest space, while the recent heat wave makes a coveted spot on an Ossington Street patio that much harder to get.
1. Cabana Pool Bar (no change)
Long weekend + a 2,500-person pool + booze + nearly naked people = buzz
2. Bar Isabel (no change)
Not even Canada Day trips to the cottage can pull diners away from the Little Italy tapas bar: the reservation book is full until 11:3o p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night.
3. Bellwoods Brewery (new this week)
The summer heat has the Ossington brewpub packed. Wait times for a coveted patio table are upward of 30 minutes.
4. THR&Co. (↓1)
The new restaurant from Cory Vitiello, the owner of The Harbord Room, has a handful of tables available this weekend after being booked solid last weekend.
5. Yours Truly (↓1)
The return of late-night snacks and drinks has our best new restaurant from 2012 packed again.
6. Shoto (back this week)
Mad Men and Community star Alison Brie ate at Toronto’s best new restaurant (and gushed about it on Twitter) while in town to shoot No Stranger Than Love, a forthcoming rom-com.
7. The Harbord Room (new this week)
Vitiello’s original restaurant got a visit from Ben Mulroney and wife Jessica, prompting a Twitter love-in with the chef and CTV correspondent Seamus O’Regan.
8. Actinolite (new this week)
The new host of Chopped Canada and Tori Spelling’s hubby Dean McDermott had an OMG-making, life-changing, culinary perspective-shaping meal at the Ossington bistro.
9. The Drake Hotel (new this week)
Kiefer Sutherland ordered a steak on the Queen West rooftop patio, then turned up at Scotland Yard Pub on the Esplanade to watch his beloved Bruins lose the Stanley Cup.
10. Valdez (↓3)
Top Chef Canada alum Steve Gonzales’s new Latin American restaurant opened to a packed house earlier this month. Now weekend tables are becoming available: tonight is wide open and Saturday is free after 9 p.m.
Honourable Mentions:
Brie also raved about the Samuel J. Moore, and Melanie B., better known as Scary Spice, turned up at Ki, the Financial District sushi spot. After a midday meal at the Queen East women’s club Verity last week, Tori Spelling had dinner with McDermott at Nota Bene this week (no word on whether it changed lives). Justin Chatwin, Brie’s co-star, showed up at the Khao San Road on Adelaide.
Dropped off the list: Uniun, Bent, Origin Bayview and Marben.
Long weekend + a 2,500-person pool + booze + nearly naked people = buzz
2. Bar Isabel (no change)
Not even Canada Day trips to the cottage can pull diners away from the Little Italy tapas bar: the reservation book is full until 11:3o p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night.
3. Bellwoods Brewery (new this week)
The summer heat has the Ossington brewpub packed. Wait times for a coveted patio table are upward of 30 minutes.
4. THR&Co. (↓1)
The new restaurant from Cory Vitiello, the owner of The Harbord Room, has a handful of tables available this weekend after being booked solid last weekend.
5. Yours Truly (↓1)
The return of late-night snacks and drinks has our best new restaurant from 2012 packed again.
6. Shoto (back this week)
Mad Men and Community star Alison Brie ate at Toronto’s best new restaurant (and gushed about it on Twitter) while in town to shoot No Stranger Than Love, a forthcoming rom-com.
7. The Harbord Room (new this week)
Vitiello's original restaurant got a visit from Ben Mulroney and wife Jessica, prompting a Twitter love-in with the chef and CTV correspondent Seamus O’Regan.
8. Actinolite (new this week)
The new host of Chopped Canada and Tori Spelling’s hubby Dean McDermott had an OMG-making, life-changing, culinary perspective-shaping meal at the Ossington bistro.
9. The Drake Hotel (new this week)
Kiefer Sutherland ordered a steak on the Queen West rooftop patio, then turned up at Scotland Yard Pub on the Esplanade to watch his beloved Bruins lose the Stanley Cup.
10. Valdez (↓3)
Top Chef Canada alum Steve Gonzales’s new Latin American restaurant opened to a packed house earlier this month. Now weekend tables are becoming available: tonight is wide open and Saturday is free after 9 p.m.
Honourable Mentions:
Brie also raved about the Samuel J. Moore, and Melanie B., better known as Scary Spice, turned up at Ki, the Financial District sushi spot. After a midday meal at the Queen East women’s club Verity last week, Tori Spelling had dinner with McDermott at Nota Bene this week (no word on whether it changed lives). Justin Chatwin, Brie’s co-star, showed up at the Khao San Road on Adelaide.
Dropped off the list: Uniun, Bent, Origin Bayview and Marben.){kind=link}