What’s on the menu at Bar Biltmore, the Paradise Theatre’s second-floor cocktail lounge and raw bar

What’s on the menu at Bar Biltmore, the Paradise Theatre’s second-floor cocktail lounge and raw bar

More about the Paradise Theatre

Name: Bar Biltmore
Contact: 1006 Bloor St. W., barbiltmore.com, @barbiltmore
Neighbourhood: Bloorcourt
Owner: Moray Tawse (Paradise Theatre, Tawse Winery)
Chefs: Executive chef Basilio Pesce (Porzia, La Banane, Biff’s), chef de cuisine Ryan Baddeley (Bar Isabel, Bar Raval) and executive pastry chef Jill Barber (Blackbird Baking Co.)
Accessibility: On the second floor, up a flight of stairs

The drinks

The house and classic cocktails are organized by how bitter they are. “The only time that there’s been a similar layout was at Nomad in L.A.,” bar director Robin Goodfellow says. Each one is given a score out of five, and guests navigate the menu from left (“clean,” not bitter at all) to right (“courageous,” quite bitter). Wine director Stephanie Morra (Paris Paris, Midfield Wine Bar, Terroni) is behind the list of mostly consignment wines that are all offered by the glass or bottle. Expect lively, fresh wines that go well with raw and cold food. Beer and cider are also available.

The pillars of Bar Biltmore’s cocktail menu are the negroni, the sour and the spritz—and variations thereof.

 

The whiskey sour registers as a zero on the bitterness scale. It’s made with rye, lemon, egg white and Angostura. $14.

 

The Aperol Spritz scores a one, and is made with Aperol, sparkling water and Prosecco. $14.

 

A three on the scale, the classic negroni is made with gin, sweet vermouth and Campari. $14.

 

A few of the playful pet-nats, low-intervention wines and chilled reds on offer now.

 

And some more…

 

The food

Casual small bites (cheese, salumi, olives) and raw bar dishes including tuna tonnato and king salmon crudo. Barber’s in charge of the sweets, like a changing biscottini plate.

Focaccia is made daily in-house ($4) and mozzarella di bufala from Quebec comes topped with giardiniera ($18).

 

Crostini topped with egg and mullet bottarga. $8.

 

King salmon crudo with blood orange, olive and pistachio. $21.

 

Barber’s chocolate hazelnut bar has a hazelnut-praline base and a chocolate custard centre. $9.

 

Left to right: Chef de cuisine Ryan Baddeley, executive chef Basilio Pesce and executive pastry chef Jill Barber.

 

The space

Located directly above Osteria Rialto on the second floor of the heritage building, the no-reservation spot is outfitted with bar seats, a smattering of two- and four-tops, and some built-in tables along the window ledges.