Chef Bruce Woods cuts ties with his eponymous restaurant

Chefs have become increasingly mobile of late, but it’s rare for one of them to decamp from a restaurant that actually bears his or her name. That’s what’s happening at Woods, chef Bruce Woods’s not-quite-year-old restaurant on Colborne Street. “We were just kind of going in different directions,” said Woods, speaking about his split with partner Robin Singh, who also co-owns Pravda on Wellington Street.

Sous-chef Carlos De Veyra has taken over the head-chef job at Woods, while Woods himself is set to run the kitchen at Harbour Sixty—a slightly surprising move for a chef whose resume lists some of the city’s most elegant Italian dining rooms. Woods is hopeful that his knack for pretty plates and exacting flavours will complement what’s already working at the opulent steakhouse. (The menu, for now at least, will stay the same.) He’s also looking forward to stepping behind the scenes for awhile, at least in the physical sense. “I’m happy to be refocusing on the kitchen,” he said.