A celebrated French chef is opening a restaurant in the Junction
Six months after leaving LSL, Didier Leroy is striking out on his own
At the end of last year, chef Didier Leroy announced that he would be leaving his post as one of the Ls at LSL, his swanky nine-seat restaurant with chefs Masaki Saito and Christian Le Squer. His plan wasn’t to retire but to launch an apprenticeship program to mentor the next generation of Toronto chefs.
Apparently, his plans have changed. Instead, he’s returning to the kitchen to do what he does best: cook exceptional French food.
Leroy’s pivot comes after a former (and, for now, anonymous) LSL client with a passion for French cuisine decided she wanted to open a restaurant of her own in the Junction. She secured the perfect 20-seat space with room to grow, but she was missing one crucial ingredient: a chef.
“She heard through the culinary grapevine that Didier was a free agent,” says Matthieu Arteau, the restaurant’s maître d’ and a former LSL team member. “She approached him right away and asked if he would lead the project.”
Leroy is now at the helm of the aptly named French Kitchen, a restaurant that isn’t interested in pandering to the steak-frites crowd. “The menu will be a boutique multi-course tasting experience,” says Arteau.
Related: Inside the making of LSL, Toronto’s wildly ambitious new fine-dining powerhouse
That translates to a five-course menu priced at $148 per person (which isn’t bad given his previous restaurant’s $680 price point), with choices available for each course. The offerings will rotate with the seasons—and Leroy’s whims—but will remain firmly rooted in classic French cooking. Guests can expect dishes like escargot, tartare and quail to make regular appearances.
The French Kitchen officially opens on June 25, though the restaurant’s full vision will roll out in phases. Plans are already in place to transform the back room into a more casual bar space, where guests can drop in for cocktails and small plates without committing to the full tasting menu experience.
Erin Hershberg is a freelance writer with nearly two decades of experience in the lifestyle sector. She currently lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and two children.
