The Dish Power Rankings: Happy Birthday Drake Edition

The Dish Power Rankings: Happy Birthday Drake Edition

The-Dish-Power-Rankings

In this week’s roundup: Drake has an awesome birthday cake; Martha Stewart goes to dinner; and three Toronto restaurants are ranked best in Canada.

1. Bar Isabel (7)
The Twitterverse erupted in virtual applause for Grant van Gameren, whose College Street tavern snagged the top spot on EnRoute magazine’s Canada-wide “Best New Restaurants” list.

2. Edulis (8)
Trust Martha Stewart to inject some buzz. The lifestyle guru (in town for this weekend’s Delicious Food Show at the Ex) livetweeted her meal at the King West restaurant and fawned over chef Michael Caballo’s celeriac-truffle purée.

3. Shōtō (↓2)
David Chang’s University Avenue ode to the chef’s menu secured the EnRoute number-two spot (no big surprises there). What is surprising: the handful of tables still up for grabs this weekend.

4. Blowfish (back this week)
Homegrown rapper Drake blew out the candles on his ridiculously Toronto-centric 27th birthday cake at the King West restaurant.

5. Electric Mud (back this week)
Weekend waits are currently close to an hour at the boozy barbecue dive, which snagged the number-10 spot on the EnRoute list. (Owner Ian McGrenaghan’s crafty response: “I’d like to thank Air Canada in advance for giving our entire staff free round-trip tickets to Bali and a lifetime supply of those tiny plastic bottles of wine.”)

6. The Chase (↓2)
The financial district powerhouse continues to court the city’s high-rollers: no tables after 5:30 p.m. on Friday or Saturday.

7. Lee (back this week)
Actress Elisha Cuthbert and model Heather Marks were among the high-profile attendees at the Toronto Fashion Week after-party for Joe Fresh, the Loblaw fashion brand from designer Joe Mimran.

8. Hudson Kitchen (1)
The Dundas West restaurant holds onto its spot on the list with another completely packed weekend.

9. Drake One Fifty (↓2)
The city’s dudes in suits have found their new watering hole: no tables are free after 6 p.m. on Friday or Saturday.

10. Geraldine (new this week)
The Globe’s Chris Nuttall-Smith loved the Parkdale eatery’s stuffed sardines and thrice-cooked fries. We, too, gave the new restaurant a thumbs-up.

Honourable Mentions: Toronto native Keanu Reeves gave a shout-out to Licks in a recent AMA chat on Reddit; and one fan loves Ossington restaurant Yours Truly so much, they kept a stalkeresque scrapbook about it.

Dropped off the list this week: Buca, Cheese Boutique, Daishō, Cold Tea