Introducing: Colette Grand Café, the palatial new French restaurant in the Thompson Hotel
Introducing: Colette Grand Café, the palatial new French restaurant in the Thompson Hotel
Name: Colette Grand Café and Bakery
Contact Info: 550 Wellington St. W., 647-348-7000, colettetoronto.com, @colettetoronto
Neighbourhood: King West
Previously: Scarpetta, celebrity chef Scott Conant’s short-lived Italian restaurant
Owner: The Chase Hospitality Group (headed by president Steven Salm), which is also behind The Chase, The Chase Fish and Oyster, and soon-to-open Little Fin
Chefs: Executive Chef Michael Steh, chef de cuisine Matthew Swift and executive pastry chef Leslie Steh
The Food: The restaurant’s modern French dishes are sophisticated, polished and pretty. Starters include lobster vichyssoise and frog-leg lollipops with pea purée. Other items are meant for sharing, like a whole roasted bass wrapped in sliced potatoes and an elaborate green-curry crab dish with baguette and grilled-pork terrine. During the day, the casual bakery-café serves sandwiches, snacks and buttery viennoiseries (and, of course, a selection of macarons).
The Drinks: Sommelier Jay Whiteley (from the award-winning Hawksworth Restaurant in Vancouver) devised the mainly French wine list, which focuses on bottles from Burgundy and Champagne.
The Place: The former Scarpetta space—now divided into a bakery-café, a lounge and a formal dining room—was remodeled by the same firm behind The Chase and The Chase Fish and Oyster. Colette exudes a similar kind of breezy luxury, but with a few French-country touches (barrel-vaulted ceilings, hand-painted tiles, lots of blues and yellows). There’s a covered terrace and a long outdoor pavilion running alongside the hotel’s courtyard pool.
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- <strong>Colette</strong> is located on the ground floor of the <strong>Thompson Hotel,</strong> at 550 Wellington Street West
- (Image: Renée Suen)
- Introducing: Colette Grand Café and Bakery
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- The restaurant was designed by <strong>Gianpiero Pugliese</strong> of <strong>AUDAXarchitecture,</strong> who also designed <strong>The Chase.</strong> Colette oozes the same kind of casual elegance
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- Fried frog legs with black garlic, mushrooms and pea purée ($21)
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- Mixed shellfish with garlic-herb pistou, served in an Eiffel Tower–shaped bowl with frites and aioli ($34)
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- Whole roasted bass for two ($65). The fish is wrapped in sliced potato, stuffed with a mixture of fennel and celery, and served with an onion soubise
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- Lobster Vichyssoise with sweet corn quiche and leek crème fraîche ($24)<br />
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- Roasted duck with poached rhubarb ($44)
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- Toasted cinnamon rice pudding served chilled with sour-cherry gelée, mascarpone and pistachios ($10)
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- The bar
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- The lounge area adjoining the bar
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- The Joli: tequila, Aperol, honey, agave and raspberries ($16)
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- There's a separate entrance for the bakery-café
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- The café serves quiches, sandwiches and salads, plus a large selection of house-made breads, viennoiseries, tarts, cookies, bars and other baked goods
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- Macarons come in flavours like bitter chocolate, crème fraiche caramel and peanut butter brownie ($3.50 each)
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- Berry tart ($7)
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- The “Chocolate Stone” is filled with dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate whipped cream, cocoa nibs and flourless chocolate cake ($8)
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- The bakery also makes dog treats
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- The covered terrace
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- A separate outdoor pavilion runs the length of the Thompson’s courtyard pool
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