The top 15 restaurant, market and food hall openings of 2019
The 10 most-clicked restaurant and store preview posts of the year
Hy’s Steakhouse
15 Hy’s new 18,000-square-foot space is spread over three floors, each decked out in a whole lotta wood and Canadian art. It’s still best summed-up by three words: Steak, steak and more steak, but some new items, too. (Including quite a few that are plant-based.) But don’t worry: the legendary cheese toast hasn’t gone anywhere. 365 Bay St., 416-364-6600, hyssteakhouse.com, @hyssteakhouse
Piquette Wine Bar
14 Grant van Gameren’s latest features changing menu of small, seasonal plates (burrata with peas, tomatoes with guanciale, a mortadella sandwich) perfect for pairing with wine from a list of 80-plus labels that includes hard-to-find bottles from around the world. 1084 Queen St. W., barpiquette.com, @barpiquette
Tora
13 Miku’s conveyor-belt sushi restaurant at Yorkdale Shopping Centre features a wide selection of aburi-style (flame-seared) and oshi (pressed) sushi, as well as a new line of edomae-style nigiri flown in from Japan and topped with house-made soy sauces to enhance the flavour of the fish. (There’s also a full-service lounge area if you prefer a bit of human interaction.) 3401 Dufferin Street, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Upper Level, aburitora.com, @aburitora
Avling Kitchen and Brewery
12 Leslieville’s newest brewpub features a big rooftop garden where many of the ingredients for both the food and the beer are grown. The menu is big on hearty comfort foods, and the spacious tap room, with its central bar, is a real beaut. 1042 Queen St. E., avling.ca, @avlingto
Favorites
11 This isn’t your usual pad thai kind of restaurant. Chef Haan Spicy Palcu-Chang’s dishes are funky, bitter and sour, made using local ingredients. Besides house-made shrimp pastes and jungle curries, there’s binchotan char-grilled barbecue, fermented meats, and betel leaf–wrapped snacks. 141 Ossington Ave., myfavethai.com, @myfavethai
Market 63
10 Coppa’s Fresh Market’s new multi-concept retail space at 1 York Street is the family-owned grocer’s first downtown location. It offers a hot table with an extensive selection of prepared foods, a bakery, a gelato bar, a butcher (with a fridge full of dry-aged beef), a fish counter, a deli and Nonna Francesca’s, an licensed, sit-down Italian restaurant. Chef and MasterChef Canada judge Claudio Aprile (Copetin, Origin, Colborne Lane) has also joined the team as the executive chef in charge of the prepared foods kitchen. 1 York St., 2nd level, 416-736-6606 (Market 63) or 416-258-6088 (Nonna Francesca’s), coppas.com/market63, @coppasfreshmarket
Longo’s Liberty Village
9 Longo’s new 23,000-square-foot store in Liberty Village stocks of the usual supermarket supplies, but it also has a pasta counter, a wine bar with an Enomatic dispenser and an on-site brewery courtesy of Toronto’s Amsterdam Brewing Co. There’s a dedicated dine-in area, but as this store is the first grocery store in Canada to be fully licensed, customers who want to multi-task can drink their pint of beer or glass of wine as they shop the aisles. 1110 King St. W., 416-538-1300, fresh.longos.com
Maison Selby
8 Between the haute French cuisine of Auberge du Pommier and Parisian bistro fare served at Biff’s, there’s Maison Selby, O&B’s sleek new restaurant inside a gorgeously restored 136-year-old heritage home at Bloor and Sherbourne. The menu is an encyclopedia of French classics: ratatouille, boeuf Bourguignon, escargot, foie gras, sole meunière, steak frites. 592 Sherbourne St. 647-943-1676, maisonselby.com, @maisonselby
Arthur’s
7 Taking up two storeys of the Weston Centre at Yonge and St. Clair is Midtown’s sleek new throwback from The Chase Hospitality Group (The Chase, Planta, Palm Lane). Named after the father of CHG’s founder, Arthur’s serves contemporary takes on American classics, like oysters Rockefeller, lobster thermidor and New York cheesecake (but also a few plant-based dishes, like a vegan lasagna). On weekends, brunch means a tower of bagels served with smoked fish and all the fixings. 12 St. Clair Ave E., 647-348-7000, arthursrestaurant.ca, @arthursrestaurant
Konjiki Ramen
6 Yonge and Sheppard’s highly acclaimed ramen joint (it was the first international location of chef Atsushi Yamamoto’s noodle house in Japan with Michelin Bib Gourmand status) has opened a bigger downtown location. Here, Yamamoto will serve his popular ramen, made using traditional methods but infused with unique flavours and ingredients, like truffle and porcini mushroom oils, or clams, wagyu and lobster. 41 Elm St., 2nd Fl., 416-519-6794, konjikiramen.com, @konjiki_ramen
Steam Whistle Biergärten
5 Steam Whistle Brewing’s new German-style beer hall pours pints and giant steins of their popular pilsner (as well as some other brews) alongside hearty fare, like soft pretzels, currywurst and massive pork hocks. 255 Bremner Blvd., Bay #7, 416-362-2337, steamwhistle.ca, @SWBiergarten
Unboxed Market
4 Judging by how popular this post was, Torontonians are clearly keen to reduce the amount of waste they produce. The new shop on Dundas West is a waste-free grocery store, offering everything from cooking oils to coffee, with a focus on Ontario-made products. 1263 Dundas St. W., 416-533-9017, unboxedmarket.com
McEwan’s
3 Before Eataly materialized inside the Manulife Centre, a brand-new McEwan’s outpost (the third of its kind now) stepped in to fill the food-hall void at Yonge and Bloor. The 17,000-square-foot subterranean space is a one-stop-shop for all things culinary, offering the busy area’s residents and office workers an array of made-to-order dishes, hot and cold food stations, artisanal pantry items and picture-perfect produce. 1 Bloor Street East, Lower Level, mcewan.mcewangroup.ca, @mcewanfoods
Food District
2 The fancy food hall trend moved into Mississauga this year. The province’s largest mall, Square One, dedicated over 34,000-square feet of space to The Food District, a collection of local purveyors selling quality goods, most of which are edible. The Food District at Square One Shopping Centre, 100 City Centre Dr., Mississauga, shopfooddistrict.com
Eataly
1 After years of waiting for the brand to bring its all-things-Italian food emporium to Toronto, readers were absolutely ravenous for any and all Eataly news. Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor St. W., 437-374-0250, eataly.ca
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