Secrets to a Happy Toronto Winter: #9. Toronto’s gastropubs make the best Sunday roasts

1 Chef Andrew Carter offers a traditional beef roast at the Queen and Beaver pub near Yonge-Dundas Square. But with a few days’ notice, the kitchen can also prepare a family-style meal for five or more people that might include a loin of Ontario pork presented bone-in for tableside carving, golden beets, roasted root veg, mashed potatoes and house-made applesauce. $22 per person. 35 Elm St., 647-347-2712.

2 Jesse Vallin’s rotating three-course Sunday dinner at Ossington’s The Saint starts with a bowl of soup and ends with a piece of pie. The main course varies: classic roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, a Moroccan spiced leg of lamb or a slow-cooked shoulder of black English pig from Churchill Farms in Stratford (the heritage breed is fed on spent grain from a local brewery). $29. 227 Ossington Ave., 647-350-2100.

3 At Leslieville’s chummy Brooklyn Tavern, weary parents loosen the Baby Björn straps and let rosy-cheeked tots loose. Chef Mike Dougall braises a local black Angus brisket for eight hours in red wine, until it yields to the slightest pressure of a fork tine. He roasts rough chunks of carrot, celeriac, parsnip and fingerling potatoes, and covers the whole caramelized mess in a thick gravy. $19. 1097 Queen St. E., 416-901-1177.

4 Chef Davy Love serves classic British and Indian pub dishes like bacon butty and Welsh rarebit alongside chicken tikka and spicy vindaloo at Queen West’s The Bristol. On Sundays he delivers a thick slice of roast beef accompanied by Yorkshire pudding, veg and mashed potatoes smothered in peppery gravy. For dessert, there’s a heaping helping of sticky toffee pudding, of course. $20. 1087 Queen St. W., 416-901-5472.

5 Young, condo-dwelling professionals crowd into O&B Canteen, the TIFF Bell Lightbox’s casual ground-floor hub, for Michael Hay’s Sunday dinner before the opening credits roll. The menu rotates weekly, and might include roast pork loin with a grainy mustard crust, whipped potatoes and green beans, or strip loin with cheesy mashed potatoes and roasted carrots. $21. 330 King St. W., 647-288-4710.