Name: Away Kitchen and Café Contact: 536 Queen St. W., 416-519-3451, awaykitchen.com, @awaykitchen Neighbourhood: Queen West Previously: Death In Venice Gelato Owner: Roger Yang (Awai)
The food
Where Awai (Yang’s upscale Bloor West Village concept) is about fine-dining, Away is a more casual affair. During the day, the space functions as a low-key café serving coffee alongside sandwiches, cheese boards and pizzas. In the evening, the lights dim and Away transforms into a more traditional dinner destination. Regardless of the time of day, everything at this plant-based eatery (bread, pickles, pizza dough, nut-based cheeses, pastries) is made in-house, including the pizza dough that chef Dualco De Labio spent two years perfecting.
The drinks
During the day, you can grab all of the espresso-based cafe standards, along with cold brew, kombucha and tea lattes. In the evening (along with everything already mentioned) there are cocktails made with fresh juice and house-made kombucha. Most of them are available in non-alcoholic permutations, too.
The space
The 50-seat space, previously a dark and broody room, has been given (literal) life with living walls, live-edge tables and sweeping pastoral murals by artist Vizsla Bacon.