Cheers to the latest and greatest of Toronto’s dining scene

At two recent TL Insider dinners, the iconic Stella Artois chalice connected two distinct visions of Toronto hospitality: one at Bar Eugenie, the acclaimed Harbord Village newcomer, and one at Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse, a pillar of the city’s dining scene.

Hosted in partnership with Stella Artois, the dinners gave guests an early taste of Toronto Life’s Best Restaurants, celebrating the list’s 10th anniversary at Evergreen Brick Works on June 8. That evening will begin with the Stella Artois Perfect Serve Awards, where top bartenders from across Canada will compete to pour the perfect glass of Stella.

An intimate evening at Bar Eugenie

The first dinner was on April 28 at Bar Eugenie, a softly lit brasserie-inspired spot on Harbord Street. By early evening, the room was already alive with the low, steady hum of guests settling in. Glasses of Stella seemed to glow against the candlelit interior.

Just off the bar, a custom engraving station was tucked into a cozy wallpapered nook, where Stella Artois chalices were personalized with guests’ names. Some guests drifted over between courses to watch their glasses take shape; others carried their finished chalices back to the table, where they became part of the evening’s tablescape.

Ryan Little, senior brand manager for Stella Artois, opened the evening with a nod to the brand’s long relationship with dining and gathering. “Hospitality isn’t just a buzzword for us,” he told guests. “It’s something we’ve supported as a brand for 600 years.”

Chef Rebekah Bruce introduced the menu and offered thoughtful tasting notes before each course. The cooking nodded to French traditions and wove in subtle references to Stella’s ingredients, particularly corn and barley.

The amuse-bouche, a corn panisse with masa espuma, wild onion and house bacon, was playful, savoury and satisfying. Bruce spoke about corn as an ingredient with many lives, especially in the colder months, when chefs rely on flours and masa to build depth and texture.

In the first course, lamb tartare, leeks and mussels en escabèche arrived with warm house sourdough and cultured butter. The bread was its own moment. Baked in-house and flecked with sprouted Ontario barley, it gave the Stella pairing an easy logic: the beer’s crispness cut through the butter and richness, while its subtle malt echoed the grain in the bread.

Bruce’s course introductions were part tasting note, part love letter to the producers and ingredients that shape her kitchen. She spoke with particular affection about seasonality, storage crops and the realities of cooking in Ontario before spring has fully arrived. The second course, a salade Piémontaise with smoked cod, trout roe, potato and tomato mayonnaise, leaned into that sensibility. Sun-dried tomatoes stood in for summer-ripe ones, while smoked fish and roe brought briny depth, giving the Stella plenty to play against.

For the main course, guests were served tender, boneless veal ribeye with white Bordelaise, along with a root vegetable and comté pithivier. Bruce described the pleasure of working with overwintered parsnips and cellar vegetables.

Dessert was a chocolate mousse with caramel corn and Chantilly, returning to the Stella-inspired corn motif that opened the meal. The final touch was a Bar Eugenie staple: a house-made mango marshmallow, bright and tangy, like a very fancy sour key in cloud form.

Check out an exclusive interview with Chef Rebekah of Bar Eugenie featuring Stella Artois ambassador, Chef Laurent Dagenais.

An unforgettable evening at Jacobs & Co.

Just over a week later, the Stella Artois chalices appeared again, this time in a very different setting: a private dining room at Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse, which will be featured as an “Icon of Toronto” at the 10th anniversary Best Restaurants event. Where Bar Eugenie was candlelit and close, Jacobs was polished and expansive, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the city. Guests gathered around three family-style tables, mingling easily as the skyline deepened outside.

Chef Danny McCallum opened the evening with the warmth of an industry veteran. McCallum has cooked at Jacobs across 18 years and multiple chapters of the restaurant’s story; his menu had the confidence of a kitchen that knows exactly what it does well while still finding room to surprise. This was steakhouse dining as theatre, ritual and craft.

The first bite—a beef skewer with teriyaki and chives—was rich and glossy. From there, the menu moved into lighter, brighter territory with dry-aged fish crudo and West Coast oysters finished with dill. The crudo, made with New Zealand salmon, showcased the restaurant’s dry-aged fish program. Stella’s clean finish worked beautifully here, refreshing the palate between the buttery fish, citrus and salinity.

McCallum discussed his intention behind the evening: from the opening barbecue-style bite to the seafood, steak and crème brûlée, he wanted the menu to show how naturally Stella could move through every part of a meal. Stella shifted with each course: crisp with seafood, refreshing beside tartare and bright against the decadence of steakhouse classics.

Before the main event, guests were surprised with warm, golden popovers served with garlic butter—nostalgic in the way only hot bread at a steakhouse can be. Then came Jacobs signatures: Caesar salad and beef tartare, served family style with toasted baguette slices and baby lettuce.

The centrepiece was a 40-day dry-aged striploin, served with a trio of sauces: a verdant chimichurri with real bite, ponzu and activated charcoal. With it came pecorino broccolini, sharpened with a hint of anchovy, and thick-cut duck fat fries tossed with tarragon and sea salt. Against the richness of the steak and fries, Stella was a welcome lift.

Dessert was a perfect crème brûlée with chocolate biscotti, shortbread and berries. But the evening had one more parting gesture: guests left with chocolate chip coffee cake to take home as a souvenir of the evening.

The best is still to come on June 8

Both dinners were a preview of the larger celebration still to come. On June 8, Stella Artois and Toronto Life will bring the same spirit of hospitality to Evergreen Brick Works for the Stella Artois Perfect Serve Awards, followed by the 10th anniversary edition of Toronto Life’s Best Restaurants event presented by Uber Eats.

At the Perfect Serve Awards, the best bartenders from across Canada will compete to pour the perfect Stella. The winner will earn the title of Canada’s Stella Artois Draught Master and the chance to represent the country at the Global Perfect Serve Awards in London, England. VIP guests will also be able to personalize their own Stella Artois chalice and enjoy early access to one of the city’s most anticipated food events of the year.

After two preview dinners—one intimate and candlelit, the other skyline-framed and steakhouse grand—the June celebration promises a bigger version of the same pleasure: great food, the perfect pour, and a Stella Artois chalice raised to Toronto’s dining scene.