Summerhill is getting a seafood restaurant with some serious pedigree
The team at Seahorse includes a former Quetzal chef and an 11-time oyster-shucking champ
Seahorse, a seafood-focused spot opening later this month in Summerhill, has a team of restaurant industry heavyweights behind it: Richard Renaud (Piano Piano, Speducci Mercatto), veteran restaurateur Simon Bower (Lucien, Mercer Street Grill) and oyster-shucking champion Eamon Clark (Rodney’s Oyster House), fresh from his 11th win.
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“I’ve known Richard for six or seven years, and I’ve known Eamon since he was a baby. We’re all working together to create a wonderful, hospitable place in the heart of Summerhill that’s all about amazing seafood,” says Bower. “Eamon has spent years sourcing all the best seafood products from around North America, especially Canada.”
Headed by Federico Garcia, formerly the senior sous-chef at the Michelin-starred Quetzal, the kitchen will offer a condensed menu of approximately 10 items, including some raw fish dishes. The star of the show is guaranteed to be the Seahorse Ice Box, the restaurant’s seafood platter. What’s included will change with the seasons, but it will always be stocked with a selection of oysters, mussels, shrimp, scallops and crudo. (But no actual seahorse, because who could ever eat one of those adorable little guys?)
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“We’re dedicated to serving the freshest and most sustainable seafood possible. We’re working with produce from local farmers while supporting both the east and west coasts with different types of oysters rotating through the months,” says Garcia.
Seahorse will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m., with plans to expand to six nights a week in the coming months.
Helen Jacob is a freelance journalist writing stories about food and real estate. She has a master’s in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University
