Rosewater’s former chef, Paul Boehmer, jumps on the Ossington bandwagon with his new restaurant
How much more can Ossington take? A lot, it seems. The avenue’s seemingly endless gentrification will take another step this summer when chef Paul Boehmer opens his first restaurant, Böhmer. After considering Queen West and Yorkville, the former Rosewater Supper Club chef set his sights on a 5,000-square-foot single-storey building at 93 Ossington Avenue. “I see a real surge of restaurants on Ossington. It’s bringing the whole street alive, and it’s full every day,” says the chef, whose credits also include Scaramouche, Atlas and, more recently, Six Steps. “If you capture a reasonable market—like, don’t charge $45 for an entrée—and keep it to a price range where people can afford it and hang out, they’ll keep coming back.”
Boehmer sums up the menu with one word: local. “I’m going back to my roots, to when I apprenticed with Michael Stadtländer 25 years ago,” he says, noting that caribou and foie gras will be some of the items featured. “I’m also working with Michael Potters [Harvest, Spoke Club], and there’s going to be a market concept on the side where we’re going to sell preserves and vinegars.” He estimates appetizers will cost $10 to $20 and mains $20 to $30.
The dining room will have a recycled wood motif, done by local furniture makers Brothers Dressler. The decor will be a collaboration between Boehmer and Roy Banse, whose clients include the Toronto Film Festival and condo builder UrbanCorp. And to get the neighbourhood involved, he plans to display artwork and photography by locals.
As for the vanity moniker, Boehmer says it wasn’t his idea. “I got convinced by my friends—mainly Adam Calhoun from Oyster Boy, who insisted on it. So the signage is my signature.”
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