The ROM’s once-lofty C5 is closing at the end of the month

After six years, two head chefs and a dramatic culinary shift, the restaurant on the top floor of the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal will serve its last dinner on April 30. When C5 launched in 2007, chef Ted Corrado created an ambitious, decidedly high-end menu full of molecular flourishes (one characteristic appetizer: cured, compressed and shaved butternut squash with a citrus tea syrup and crumbled caramelized cream) that landed the restaurant on our list of the city’s best in 2009. But despite early critical praise, the pricey plates couldn’t fill the dining room, and in late 2011, The Compass Group (the foodservice giant operating the restaurant) reversed course and brought in celeb chef Corbin Tomaszeski, who jettisoned Corrado’s fussy preparations for cheaper, more approachable dishes (think flatbreads and BLTs). The Compass Group recently terminated its contract with the ROM, which is now in the process of finding a new provider to take over the space by the end of the year.