Introducing: Quinta, a fresh new Dundas West Portuguese restaurant on the site of an old one

By Gizelle Lau | July 13, 2012

By Gizelle Lau | 07/13/2012

Introducing: Quinta — William Jordan behind the bar (Image: Gizelle Lau)

The latest new opening on the ever-churning Dundas West strip: Quinta, which launched last week in the space formerly occupied by the Portuguese restaurant Casa da Ramboia, just east of Enoteca Sociale. Behind it is chef Leor Zimerman (Czehoski, Brassaii), who was inspired to open Quinta after growing up in Little Portugal and Kensington Market and then cooking in the Portuguese countryside for some time. Quinta is the Portuguese word for farmhouse or villa, which, Zimerman says, speaks to the “country home” feel he hopes to achieve.

The space, in design and execution, is largely a labour of love. Zimerman wanted to keep things warm and comfortable, so the space features bare wooden tables and other assorted pieces of rough-hewn reclaimed wood. In keeping with the thrifty Dundas West ethos, the tables and chairs and brown earthenware serving dishes are all Casa da Ramboia cast-offs. There’s also a large harvest table and bar seating.

The menu is fairly tight and focused (read: small), with starters like house-made charcuterie ($12) and a gazpacho ($6) for the summer. For mains, there’s Portuguese bitoque, essentially steak frites with a fried egg ($18), pirri pirri Cornish hen ($16) and pork and clams ($18). A blackboard menu features specials like roast duck on polenta ($22) and whole red snapper with rice ($18). Behind the bar, William Jordan offers creative $10 cocktails like the True Grit with Maker’s Mark bourbon and Muskoka’s Mad Tom IPA, or the Quinta’s Razor with Herradura tequila reposado, espresso, crème de cacao and house chili tincture. The beer list consists of 15 Ontario offerings from Beau’s to Mill Street, while the wine list reaches to Italy, France and of course, Portugal.

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Quinta, 1282 Dundas St. W., 416-534-0407, quinta.ca, @QuintaTO

5 thoughts on “Introducing: Quinta, a fresh new Dundas West Portuguese restaurant on the site of an old one”

Deb says:

July 14, 2012 at 9:19 pm

Love the food at Quinta. Already been back for a second visit. Inventive, delicious and beautifully presented. This placd is a real gem.

Go see for yourself. The service is warm, friendly and knowledgable.
Jess says:

July 18, 2012 at 11:55 am

Loved our dinner at Quinta. One of the best parts was that it’s hip and young, but also large enough that we could bring our toddler and not feel cramped and bothersome to other diners like we do at a lot of other places in the city. Also, I still dream about the taste of the cookies in my cookies and cream dessert — I had to tell my mom she got knocked down a notch. Can’t wait to go back for a late night drink sans enfant and try one of the custom cocktails.
Mick says:

July 21, 2012 at 5:58 pm

The seating looks brutal
noni says:

July 25, 2012 at 6:00 pm

enjoyed our dining experience here with guests from Europe. they loved the rabit, steak, small fish (aparently smelts that taste like the best chips you ever had), I loved the fish special – sea bream, and quinoa was excellent. the desserts just exploded in your mouth! loved the assorted spicy-sweet nuts with our drinks! atmosphre was very relaxed and friendly – we ended up staying much longer than expected and had a great time!
Donnie says:

November 10, 2012 at 11:33 am

Epic failure on the cataplana. One would expect more then a few shrimps, squid and snails for $56. Apparently the menu stated snapper was also in it but they must have forgotten to put it in my dish. Where was the rice? Perhaps more then one potatoe would have been slightly more filling and I also wonder if they actually cooked it the cataplana or did they simply pour it into the cataplana for visual effect. Dish was lacking in any real substance, wouldn’t go back for that.