Grant van Gameren and Max Rimaldi are opening a vegan Mexican restaurant

Max Rimaldi and Jamie Cook (Pizzeria Libretto, Enoteca Sociale), the guys behind some of Toronto’s best Italian, have teamed up with Grant van Gameren (Bar Isabel, Bar Raval, Harry’s, etc.), the restaurateur who’s slowly taking over the city one diner, tapas bar and pierogi palace at a time, to open Rosalinda, a vegan Mexican spot, in the Financial District. Chefs Kate Chomyshyn and Julio Guajardo (El Rey, Quetzal) behind the meatless Mexican restaurant’s plant-based dishes that will include jackfruit pibil, Tijuana-style broccoli and spicy carrots in mole.

El Rey’s Owen Walker has created the potable part of Rosalinda’s menu, which will focus on sessionable low-alcoholic cocktails. In other words: perfect for lunch! In a press release, van Gameren says he was hesitant when asked by Rimaldi and Cook to get on board with meatless Mexican (his most recent project, Quetzal, is basically the opposite concept, after all) but with the help of Chomyshyn and Guajardo, he was convinced. “When you incorporate big flavours, skill, passion and exceptional produce, all of a sudden, you don’t feel like you’re missing out on a goddamn thing!” says van Gameren.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly characterized Rimaldi and Cook as vegans. While they both follow a mostly vegan lifestyle, they are not actually vegans.