Grey Gardens

Grabbing a stool at this Kensington restaurant’s no-reso wine bar is easier than booking a table in its dining room. (But don’t worry: you can still eat, and eat well.) The focus is on minimal-intervention wines, and the list, curated by sommelier Jake Skakun, is a real globetrotter, ranging from classic French and Italian powerhouse regions to Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, with descriptors that give the selections context—who wouldn’t be tempted to order a bottle of dry German riesling from a subcategory of “vibrant, luscious, opulent” wines? There’s a house-label orange wine for fans of skin-contact whites, and non-oenophiles will take delight in a beer list that features imported rarities: when a shipment from Vermont’s Hill Farmstead Brewery hit Toronto last summer, this was one of the few bars to feature it.

199 Augusta Ave., 647-351-1552, greygardens.ca