Inn Vogue

Nobu Bar

Nobu Hotel, 25 Mercer St., nobuhotels.com/toronto/nobu-toronto

1 Nobu Bar has managed to become one of the city’s best hotel lobby bars without even having a lobby. The hotel portion of Nobu Toronto won’t be finished until next spring, but its swanky restaurant and lounge launched just in time for this year’s TIFF. It’s no surprise that the brand made a mad dash for festival season: Kim Kardashian lives for its lychee-elderflower martinis, 2 Chainz and Drake rap about it, and tabloids dedicate whole sections to paparazzi shots of A-listers dining at Nobus around the world. Regulars include Leonardo DiCaprio, Demi Moore, Taylor Swift and the Biebers. Since the original Tribeca location opened in 1994, co-founder Robert De Niro’s star power and chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s elegant Japanese-Peruvian plates have made Nobu the ultimate celeb magnet—and the brand has even managed to stay buzzy despite becoming a global chain. The day its first Canadian location opened, a month’s worth of reservations vanished faster than you can say “miso black cod.”

Luckily, walk-ins are accepted at the bar. And what a bar it is. Occupying the entirety of the ground floor, it’s an opulent, vamp-chic space—done up almost entirely in black, with an illuminated back bar that glows gold. While there’s some overlap with the restaurant menu, the bar’s offerings are designed for grazers: tacos, hand rolls, a two-bite-size version of the famous black cod, and other artfully designed small plates.

The beverage program focuses on extravagant cocktails and rare sakes (including a few from Japan’s 153-year-old Hokusetsu Sake Brewery Co.), but there’s also a robust international wine card. In addition to by-the-glass options, it lists a mix of bottles ringing in under $100 (sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, rosé from Provence) alongside more exciting rarities, like a 2001 Château Margaux bordeaux that costs an eye-popping $5,440.

It’s not just the food and drink that draw people here. Nobu has perfected the art of creating spaces where deal makers, influencers, movie stars and stargazers can coexist in an electric environment. A minimalist gothic palette contrasts with maximalist architectural features, like massive 30-foot columns clad in undulating black clay tiles and oversized chainmail chandeliers designed to evoke kimono sleeves. It’s enough to make you forget about those impossible-­to-get seats one double-height staircase away.

Eat this: One of Nobu’s signature snacks, these chubby little A5 Wagyu dumplings are served with spicy ponzu sauce for dunking. $44

Drink this: The Toronto-exclusive Hinode is a refined tequila sunrise made with Don Julio 1942 tequila anejo, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, citrus and agave. $70

Lano

Ritz-Carlton Toronto, 181 Wellington St. W., @lanotoronto

2 Ritz Bar, the Ritz-Carlton’s former lobby bar, recently got a much-needed make-over by way of Milan. Lano is inspired by northern Italian glamour: grey-veined white marble, aged bronze and more antipasti than you can shake a breadstick at. Floor-to-­ceiling windows flood the room with natural light, and the cozy courtyard patio is the perfect spot to sip a spritz and people-watch.

A wine fridge just inside the bar’s entrance is stocked with 35 labels—mostly Italian, of course, with a few Canadian options—none of which can be found at the LCBO. One by-the-glass standout is the Medici Ermete Lambrusco Reggiano, a playful sparkling red that tastes like a bunch of juicy berries took a road trip to Emilia-Romagna.

There’s also a selection of classic and Italian cocktails on the menu, including the Limoncello Spritz, a delightful easy-drinker featuring house limoncello made from lemon peel and rosemary-infused honey blended with vodka. And like any self-­respecting Italian-inspired bar, Lano offers a solid selection of aperitivi (try the Cynar, a bitter liqueur made from artichokes) and digestivi.

The food lets top-notch ingredients speak for themselves, with nothing but a little zhuzh here and there. For breakfast, there are Italian pastries and whipped yogurt parfaits; for lunch, borderline addictive bresaola-and-parmigiano panini on laminated focaccia (which is what you get when the fluffy flatbread makes sweet amore to a cornetto). When the wine starts flowing, it’s time for DIY boards loaded with imported goodies—it’s like a choose-your-own-antipasti adventure.

As the soundtrack of acoustic Italian tunes shifts into groovy Euro-funk, the after-work crowd begins to trickle in for pre-dinner drinks. In true Ritz fashion, it’s all very glamorous—but not in a tails-and-evening-gowns kind of way.

Eat this: A build-your-own antipasti board of aged cheeses, briny olives, cured meats and grilled seafood. $35–$45

Drink this: Barbera d’Alba, a velvety medium-bodied wine from Piedmont that pairs beautifully with aged cheese. $17 a glass, $80 a bottle

Muse

Revery Toronto Downtown, 92 Peter St., @reverytoronto

3 The lobby bar at Revery (one of Hilton’s boutique hotels) provides the appropriate amount of theatrical flair for a lounge in the Entertainment District. Revery itself is decidedly cinematic, with a box office–themed lobby decked out in dramatic stainless steel finishes, vintage movie posters and a counter that stocks a small selection of concession-stand snacks like Canadian-made popcorn, chocolate and cookies. Meanwhile, Muse, with its textured-red everything, statement chandelier and roaring fireplace, feels like somewhere a film-noir femme fatale might sip a dirty martini while plotting her next move.

The drink menu leans toward the classics, with all the negronis, martinis and daiquiris you would expect of a good lobby bar. But there’s also a selection of signature cocktails, like It’s Only Passion, a sweet-tart blend of vodka, Aperol, passion fruit purée, lime and pineapple. The wine selection is a nice mix of international and local gems, including a sparkling rosé from 13 Kings, a family-owned Niagara winery that has partnered with Muse.

Like many lobby bars, Muse is open all day, with morning coffee and pastries shifting into snacking plates later in the afternoon. The food is meant to offer a little taste of Toronto’s culinary diversity—there’s a Kobe beef hot dog, a lentil falafel crunch wrap and a chicken banh mi as well as grazing boards chock full of various breads, spreads, salads and smoked proteins.

Though chill lounge and contemporary funk set the tone most evenings at Muse, every Thursday at 6 p.m., the bar hosts “Sound Sessions,” when DJs spin a mix of house and techno. It all serves as a solid backdrop for the locals who emerge from the surrounding condos and office buildings to sip cocktails by the hearth and wait for their main-character energy to kick in.

Eat this: The Breads and Spreads board, with a trio of dips (beetroot hummus, sundried tomato, artichoke) and breads for dunking or slathering. $12

Drink this: The Lavender Haze, a pretty-in-purple floral cocktail made with Empress Indigo gin, limoncello, lavender and egg white. $16