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This new kitchen on Queen West is remixing Italian favourites with Asian flavours

Liliana is from former Vela chef Marvin Palomo

By Jessica Huras| Photography by Nicole and Bagol

| February 20, 2026

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A spread of dishes and drinks at Liliana

Name: Liliana Contact: 1198 Queen St. W., lilianatoronto.com, @lilianarestaurant
Neighbourhood: Little Portugal
Previously: J’s Steak Frites Owners: Marvin Palomo and Cole Diamond Chef: Marvin Palomo (Vela) Accessibility: Not fully accessible; washrooms down a flight of stairs

After a fire forced the closure of Vela last year, chef Marvin Palomo—and most of his kitchen team from the King West hotspot—landed at Liliana, Palomo’s new restaurant inside the cozy 30-seat room that previously housed Dandylion and J’s Steak Frites. “It’s special to be back doing this together again so soon,” Palomo says.

The Liliana team — The entire 12-person Liliana team, with Palomo sixth from the left

The restaurant is named for a late mentor who shaped Palomo’s approach to cooking during his postgraduate stint in Piedmont, Italy. The menu is Italian, but Palomo’s Filipino heritage and subsequent years spent working in Hong Kong kitchens pull it in other directions, with ingredients like miso, furikake and black sesame turning up in dish after dish.

“People can sometimes be critical when you blend culinary traditions together like this,” says Palomo, “but the reaction has been the opposite. People are saying they’ve never had anything like it before.”

A chef puts the finishing touches on a dessert

The Food

On paper, Palomo keeps the menu in Italian territory, structuring it around antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni and dolci. On the plate, however, the flavours take detours.

Beef carpaccio — Traditional carpaccio buries the beef under toppings. Palomo, however, drapes thinly sliced Martin’s Family Farms tenderloin over a slick of chili aïoli. A flurry of furikake, julienned radish and pickled pearl onion come last, bringing crunch and tang. $26

Bluefin tuna crudo — PEI bluefin tuna gets a light-touch treatment in this crudo, with melt-in-your-mouth slices of the fish laid over swirls of dashi vinaigrette. Crispy shallots, pickled cucumber and scallion curls on top bring briny zing. $28

A bowl of spaghetti — There’s no space for an extruder in the restaurant’s compact kitchen, so Palomo brings in fresh spaghetti from Toronto’s own Tiny Market Co. daily. Some of its cooking water gets emulsified with chili crisp, transforming it into a silky sauce that coats every strand. A cool cap of Puglian burrata and parmigiano-reggiano tempers the heat as it melts into the pasta. $30

Stuffed chicken wings — Landing somewhere between arancini and Cantonese-style stuffed wings, these deboned wings are packed with truffle carnaroli risotto, breaded with panko, then fried until golden. They arrive on a bed of mushroom conserva, finished with shaved black truffle and a drizzle of aged balsamic. $36

Steamed and fried octopus tentacles with shishito peppers — Palomo takes his cue from dim sum–style octopus for this dish. The tentacles are steamed until tender, then fried and tossed with blistered shishitos and new potatoes in a savoury tamari glaze. A dusting of togarashi adds a gentle kick. $48

Millefoglie — This millefoglie looks the part, but its flavours have been completely rewired. Crisp puff pastry alternates with piped rounds of black sesame and vanilla whipped cream. Miso caramel binds this sweet-savoury riff on the classic. $20

Tiramisu — A mascarpone base lightened with coconut cream gives this tiramisu an airy tropical lift. Layers of fresh banana and coffee gelée replace the usual espresso-soaked ladyfingers, though a thick dusting of cocoa powder on top keeps one foot in classic territory. $18

Budino in a wine glass — The budino stacks chocolate mousse and ganache in a coupe glass, topped with vanilla whipped cream and glossy amarena cherries. A scatter of cookie crumble adds crunch to all the silky textures. $16

A closeup of the budino at Liliana — Here’s a closer look

The Drinks

Beverage manager Michael McMullin runs the bar with the same cross-cultural instinct that drives the kitchen. The cocktails lean on fortified wines and pull from the same pantry as the food, so what’s in the glasses tends to echo what’s on the plates.

The Lily of the Valley cocktail at Liliana — Here we have the Lily of the Valley. Lemongrass gin meets sake and white vermouth, with fennel and gentian adding herbal edge, while a malic acid solution provides the backbone. A sprig of baby’s breath floating on the surface makes it look more like a perfume than a cocktail. $20

The Marigold, a mezcal cocktail at Liliana in Toronto — The Marigold takes mezcal in a subtler direction. Olive oil washing smooths its smoky flavour, while dry sherry and white port add depth. Clarified citrus and makrut lime leaf bring a clean, aromatic snap. $22

The Violet is a crisp highball built with pisco, crème de violette and maraschino, all brightened with cucumber juice, pineapple and lime. It’s crowned with pillowy white tea citrus “air.” $20

The Space

Montana Labelle Design and Lifestyle, primarily known for high-end residential work, preserved the building’s industrial bones. Exposed brick runs the length of the narrow 30-seat space, while grid-paned windows pull in light and life from Queen West. Oversized paper lanterns soften the room with a warm, honeyed glow. Black wishbone chairs and stone-topped tables line the wall toward an open kitchen at the back.

A selection of chefs knives, framed and hanging on a brick wall

After the fire at Vela, Palomo was allowed back into the kitchen to salvage what he could. His knife bag was destroyed, but the blades survived. They hang framed on the wall now, equal parts art and artifact.

A table for four by the window at Liliana

Looking into the open kitchen at Liliana, where chefs are at work

The entrance to Liliana, a restaurant on Queen Street West in Toronto

Jessica Huras

Jessica Huras is a freelance writer and editor with over a decade of experience creating food, travel and lifestyle content. She’s a content editor for the LCBO’s Food & Drink magazine, and her work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Elle Canada, among other publications.