/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
Food & Drink

Brad Long’s new spot in Bloor West Village will have four floors, luck and tourtière

By Kate Allen
Copy link
Go Long: celebrity chef Brad Long is opening a pub in Bloor West Village
Go Long: celebrity chef Brad Long is opening his pub in Blood West Village

Chef and Food Network star Brad Long has a quick answer when asked what will be on the menu at his new Bloor West gastropub: “Canadian food.” He pauses. “What the hell is Canadian food?”

Long has been trying to answer that question for a while, from his days at the CN Tower’s revolving restaurant, 360, to his current gigs as executive chef at King East’s Veritas and sometime-guest on Restaurant Makeover. The quest will continue when the new joint, officially named My Place: A Canadian Pub (subtitled “like a bad movie,” says Long), opens in early September. It will be the pub yin to Veritas’s bistro yang, but the grub will still hinge on Long’s stock-in-trade: seasonal, local ingredients.

So what is Canadian food? We can’t offer a definitive response, but Long is certainly on the right track. Expect a menu with all-Canuck inventions (like tourtière), mash-ups from cultural enclaves around the city, and a few dishes spun purely from Long’s imagination. Everything will take advantage of Ontario’s fish, game and wildlife abundance.

This may all sound familiar—who isn’t serving fresh and local these days?—but that’s only because it’s a popular act. That’s lucky for Long, considering he has many seats to fill. The four-floor My Place seats 75 on the rooftop patio alone (its former incarnation was Billy Bob’s Bistro and Saloon). Long isn’t worried: My Place sits snugly between Bloor West Village, Swansea and the Kingsway, and he expects to draw enough foot traffic to easily cover rent. “The trick is to get people to come back,” says Long.

Isn’t it always?

My Place: A Canadian Pub, 2448 Bloor St. W. (at Jane).

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for Table Talk, our free newsletter with essential food and drink stories.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Big Stories

Inside the rise and fall of the Vaulter Bandit, the 21st century’s most notorious bank robber
Deep Dives

Inside the rise and fall of the Vaulter Bandit, the 21st century’s most notorious bank robber

Inside the Latest Issue

The June issue of Toronto Life features our annual ranking of the best new restaurants. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.