What’s on the menu at Laylow, the west end’s newest craft beer bar
Name: Laylow
Neighbourhood: Dufferin Grove
Contact: 1144 College St., 416-535-5858, laylowto.ca, @laylowbarTO
Previously: Me and Mine
Owner: Dan Boniferro and Colin Weadick
Chef: Aiden Ferreira
The drinks
The lines are dedicated to established beer-making regions (U.S., Belgium, Quebec), and the 30-bottle-long list includes a bunch of Old World brews and a few Ontario-made ones, too. “We wanted to avoid having a fridge full of local IPAs—everyone’s offering those,” says Weadick. Coming soon: small-batch brewing and fermenting in the basement, with a focus on beers best consumed fresh (ales, IPAs).
The food
Hearty (sometimes beer-infused) pub grub that’s been given Mediterranean tweaks. Standard wings are swapped out for piri-piri drumsticks served with a braised celery salad, chorizo and blue cheese crème fraîche, while poutine gets gussied up with shaved porchetta and herbed cheese curds. Many of the dishes, such as the patatas bravas–style fries and beet-pickled eggs, were designed for easy snacking since half of Laylow is standing-room only.
The space
“Originally we thought we were opening a dive bar, but we ended up being thrown off by how nice the space was—it’s so pretty,” says Boniferro, who decorated the split-level space with tchotchkes from his home and elbow grease from his friends. The bar itself doubles as a keg fridge, which is why it’s so deep, and over 10,000 pennies were used to decorate its top.
Bryan Espiritu (The Legends League) painted a word jumble on this back wall that’s entirely made up of rap allusions. Can you spy J Dilla or Chance the Rapper?
, and the 30-bottle-long list includes a bunch of Old World brews and a few Ontario-made ones, too. “We wanted to avoid having a fridge full of local IPAs—everyone's offering those,” says Weadick. Coming soon: small-batch brewing and fermenting in the basement, with a focus on beers best consumed fresh (ales, IPAs).
The food
Hearty (sometimes beer-infused) pub grub that’s been given Mediterranean tweaks. Standard wings are swapped out for piri-piri drumsticks served with a braised celery salad, chorizo and blue cheese crème fraîche, while poutine gets gussied up with shaved porchetta and herbed cheese curds. Many of the dishes, such as the patatas bravas–style fries and beet-pickled eggs, were designed for easy snacking since half of Laylow is standing-room only.
[caption id="attachment_400414" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Piri-piri chicken drumsticks with blue cheese crème fraîche, braised celery and chorizo salad, scallion purée. $18.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_400419" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Poutine topped with five-hour braised porchetta, wheat beer–spiked gravy, and herbed cheese curds. $16.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_400422" align="aligncenter" width="853"] House-stuffed apple-and-pork sausage with a beet- and pickled-fennel salad, topped with horseradish crème fraîche dressing. $17.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_400415" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Snake Island S’more: dark chocolate brownie, chocolate ganache, crushed pretzels mixed with graham crackers, charred house-made marshmallows and meringue. $9.[/caption]
The space
“Originally we thought we were opening a dive bar, but we ended up being thrown off by how nice the space was—it’s so pretty,” says Boniferro, who decorated the split-level space with tchotchkes from his home and elbow grease from his friends. The bar itself doubles as a keg fridge, which is why it's so deep, and over 10,000 pennies were used to decorate its top.
[caption id="attachment_400423" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Bryan Espiritu (The Legends League) painted a word jumble on this back wall that’s entirely made up of rap allusions. Can you spy J Dilla or Chance the Rapper?[/caption]){kind=link}