The Dish Power Rankings: Morpheus Says It With Flowers Edition
In this week’s roundup of the city’s buzziest restaurants: the Drake makes its downtown debut; the Beastwich goes stateside; and Laurence Fishburne sweeps Susur off his feet with a thoughtful floral arrangement.
1. Drake One Fifty (new this week)
Primetime tables are already booked through the weekend at the hip west-end hotel’s new downtown brasserie, which opened to the public on Wednesday.
2. The Chase (↑1)
Toronto Star food critic Amy Pataki’s tepid review hasn’t done a thing to cool the hype. The pescatarian hotspot is packed after 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
3. Hudson Kitchen (↓2)
Meanwhile, things have cooled off a touch for TIFF’s culinary darling. Last we checked, a couple tables were up for grabs on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday was looking wide open.
4. Bero (new this week)
The Globe and Mail’s Chris Nuttall-Smith raved about Leslieville’s newest tasting menu, which also got some online love from La Carnita chef Andrew Richmond and the masterminds behind Toronto’s Underground Market. We were slightly less enthused.
5. Chantecler (↑2)
The restaurant had to nix its single day off in order to accommodate demand for chef Jonathan Poon’s mind-bogglingly good tasting menu. It didn’t make much difference: November seatings sold out by October 1.
6. Patria (no change)
Farmhouse Tavern owner Darcy MacDonnell waxed euphoric about the Spanish restaurant. The rest of Toronto continues to agree: tables are once again fully booked on Friday and Saturday.
7. Beast (new this week)
Popular U.S. food blog Serious Eats gave a gushing shout-out to the west-end restaurant’s notoriously calorific Beastwich breakfast sammie. Sample quote: “I’m fairly certain that it shaved a couple of days off my life. But you know what? I’ll take this sandwich over those days.”
8. Edulis (↓3)
A pre-Thanksgiving miracle: the revered King West bistro has a handful of weekend tables open for the first time in weeks.
9. Bent (back this week)
How a chef knows he’s killing it in the kitchen: Matrix star Laurence Fishburne sends him a ravishing bouquet.
10. Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto (↓6)
Last week, Conde Nast Traveler UK got hyperbolic about the refined uptown eatery. This week, the restaurant came 27th on Eater Toronto’s ranking of the city’s 38 “essential” restaurants. Judging by the backlash, though, we’re not convinced the latter is a reliable measure of buzz.
Honourable Mentions: Swanky steakhouse Barberian’s hosted Mila Kunis (with date Ashton Kutcher), Seth MacFarlane and Seth Green after Sunday’s back-to-back performances of Family Guy at the Just for Laughs festival; backyard barbecue spot Big Crow includes Nutella French toast and pulled pork PB & Js on its brand-new brunch menu; and The Beverley Hotel gets into the spirit of Saturday’s Nuit Blanche art fest by staying open until 4 a.m.
Dropped off the list this week: Porchetta and Co., El Catrin, Playa Cabana Hacienda, Daishō.
Primetime tables are already booked through the weekend at the hip west-end hotel’s new downtown brasserie, which opened to the public on Wednesday.
2. The Chase (↑1)
Toronto Star food critic Amy Pataki’s tepid review hasn’t done a thing to cool the hype. The pescatarian hotspot is packed after 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
3. Hudson Kitchen (↓2)
Meanwhile, things have cooled off a touch for TIFF’s culinary darling. Last we checked, a couple tables were up for grabs on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday was looking wide open.
4. Bero (new this week)
The Globe and Mail’s Chris Nuttall-Smith raved about Leslieville’s newest tasting menu, which also got some online love from La Carnita chef Andrew Richmond and the masterminds behind Toronto’s Underground Market. We were slightly less enthused.
5. Chantecler (↑2)
The restaurant had to nix its single day off in order to accommodate demand for chef Jonathan Poon’s mind-bogglingly good tasting menu. It didn’t make much difference: November seatings sold out by October 1.
6. Patria (no change)
Farmhouse Tavern owner Darcy MacDonnell waxed euphoric about the Spanish restaurant. The rest of Toronto continues to agree: tables are once again fully booked on Friday and Saturday.
7. Beast (new this week)
Popular U.S. food blog Serious Eats gave a gushing shout-out to the west-end restaurant’s notoriously calorific Beastwich breakfast sammie. Sample quote: “I'm fairly certain that it shaved a couple of days off my life. But you know what? I'll take this sandwich over those days.”
8. Edulis (↓3)
A pre-Thanksgiving miracle: the revered King West bistro has a handful of weekend tables open for the first time in weeks.
9. Bent (back this week)
How a chef knows he’s killing it in the kitchen: Matrix star Laurence Fishburne sends him a ravishing bouquet.
10. Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto (↓6)
Last week, Conde Nast Traveler UK got hyperbolic about the refined uptown eatery. This week, the restaurant came 27th on Eater Toronto’s ranking of the city’s 38 “essential” restaurants. Judging by the backlash, though, we’re not convinced the latter is a reliable measure of buzz.
Honourable Mentions: Swanky steakhouse Barberian’s hosted Mila Kunis (with date Ashton Kutcher), Seth MacFarlane and Seth Green after Sunday’s back-to-back performances of Family Guy at the Just for Laughs festival; backyard barbecue spot Big Crow includes Nutella French toast and pulled pork PB & Js on its brand-new brunch menu; and The Beverley Hotel gets into the spirit of Saturday’s Nuit Blanche art fest by staying open until 4 a.m.
Dropped off the list this week: Porchetta and Co., El Catrin, Playa Cabana Hacienda, Daishō. ){kind=link}