“Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it,” reads the Lao Tzu quote scrawled onto a subway-tiled wall at De La Mer’s new Danforth location. The ex–dollar store space was transformed into a fish shop that could pass for a Parisian café. A glass case runs the length of the room and is filled with a rainbow of filets from white (Atlantic toothfish) to crimson (never-been-frozen, sashimi-grade tuna flown in from the Philippines). At the back of the shop is a ready-made food counter—this outpost is the only one of the three to have a commercial kitchen. Until recently, co-owners David Owen and Blake Edwards have been limited by what they could prep sans oven. The current roster of oven-ready goods includes a lobster mac ‘n’ cheese topped with panko crust, shrimp-and-pesto topped pizza, smoked trout quiche, zesty dips and a selection of soup, which includes a crab and corn chowder (pictured above).
189 Danforth Ave., 647-344-6922, delamer.ca
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Caroline Aksich, a National Magazine Award recipient, is an ex-Montrealer who writes about Toronto’s ever-evolving food scene, real estate and culture for Toronto Life, Fodor’s, Designlines, Canadian Business, Glory Media and Post City. Her work ranges from features on octopus-hunting in the Adriatic to celebrity profiles.