Waterworks Food Hall is opening not one but two big patios
Grape Witches and Civil Works are behind the drinks
The gussied-up food hall inside the Waterworks building is expanding to the great outdoors with two patios: Civil Parks (from the Civil Works team) and the Secret Courtyard Garden, which will be the shared home of Grape Witches and Island Oysters as well as a rotating list of producers, purveyors and pop-ups.
Visitors can grab something to eat from one of the restaurants in the food court, then camp out on either of the two patios, each of which is 100 per cent pooch-approved.
Civil Parks, a 100-seat Brant Street–facing patio, will open on June 3 with a menu of Civil Works cocktails that are primed for summer weather, including frozen pornstar martinis, a piña colada served in a flaming pineapple and a clarified mezcal caesar that basically qualifies as brunch. The space will be decked out with disco balls, custom photo walls and hopscotch games perfect for testing sobriety. Every Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m., DJ John Kong will provide a musical backdrop to all the day drinking.
The second patio—the aptly named Secret Courtyard Garden—is open now and home to a rotating cast of Toronto vendors. Wednesdays are reserved for the Grape Witches, who will bring by-the-glass takeovers from naturally inclined wine producers, cake decorating classes with Julia Gallay of Gallz Provisions and art lessons with Laura Dawe. Will there be a live DJ? No. But will there be string quartets? Yes indeed.
Sundays at the courtyard are hosted by the folks behind Bloordale bivalve bar Island Oysters, who will be on-site shucking oysters. And on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, Toronto floral designer Timberlost will sell local Ontario blooms and offer the occasional floral arranging workshop.
Now if only the sun would come out (and stay out).
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Kate Dingwall is a writer, author and photographer covering spirits, business, culture, fashion and travel. By night, she’s a working sommelier. She has worked with Flare, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast, Maxim, People, Southern Living, Rolling Stone, Eater, Elle, Toronto Life and the Toronto Star, among other publications. She frequently appears on both CTV and NPR, has co-authored a book on gin, judges Food & Wine’s Tastemakers and has strong opinions on the city’s best martini.
