Name: Bacchanal Contact: 60 Sudbury St., 416-586-1188, bacchanal.ca, @bacchanal.to Neighbourhood: Little Portugal Previously: Recess Diner Owners: Luke Donato (Campagnolo) and Lachlan Dennis (Le Sélect Bistro) Chefs: Executive chef Luke Donato, sous chef Damon Clements (Ortolan, Delux), grill chef Liam Donato (Noce, Trinity Common) and pastry chef Cori Murphy (Alo)
The food
A single-page menu of contemporary takes on traditional bistro classics, including pâté, steak frites, a 38-ounce côte de boeuf (aged for 60 days and served with sides for $75) and baba au rhum. There’s a raw bar, too, and groups can opt for the carte-blanche menu, which lets the chefs cook a family-style feast (made up of dishes of their choosing) for a fixed price.
House-made bread is served with whipped butter.
Hors d’oeuvres include (clockwise from top right): galantine de volaille ($12), leeks vinaigrette ($7), oeufs Pépin ($7) and jambon blanc with cornichons ($8).
Ocean trout sourced from Taro Fish is served with sauce a l’oseille and poached cucumbers. $29.
Blanquette de veau: sweetbread fricassée, veal breast and chanterelle mushrooms. $38.
Agnolotti with snails and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. $16.
Magret de canard with plum, parsnip and foie gras. $31.
Steak frites with Café de Paris, a butter-based sauce. $24.
Parfait de chèvre glacé with pistachio, cherry and rose. $15.
Paris-Brest: a choux ring with hazelnut-praline crémeux. $15.
Baba au Rhum with pineapple, all spice and white chocolate. $15.
Executive chef Luke Donato and sous chef Damon Clements in the kitchen.
The drinks
There’s an eclectic mix of international wines (most of them French, many of them offered by the glass), and a number of French-inspired cocktails from bar manager Jason Griffin (Montreal’s Hotel William Gray, Maison Boulud), like the Guillotine, made with Armagnac, Dubonnet, sherry and Creole bitters. Also: absinthe (after all, the restaurant’s name means “wild and drunken revelry.”)
Named after the famous beachside hotel in Normandy, Le Landemer is made with Calvados Boulard, St. James agricole rum, star anise-infused Lillet, orgeat, pineapple and lime. $14.
The Guillotine: a riff on the manhattan made with Marie Duffau bas armagnac, Dubonnet, Lustau amontillado sherry and Creole bitters. $13.
Dalí is Griffin’s whimsical take on a (vegan) sour that uses Aviation dry gin, crème de violette, herbes de Provence, lemon, aquafaba and butterfly pea flower. $13.
Here’s Griffin using chickpea water (aquafaba) to make his vegan sour.
The space
An open kitchen and brass-accented bar are prominent features of the 100-seat, 3,500-square-foot space. A 50-seat patio is scheduled to open in time for next summer.
This is a semi-private space.
It has a view of the pastry kitchen.
A focus wall in the dining room features a Toronto-inspired toile wallpaper designed by DreamWorks and Sony Pictures animation artist Ray Xu.
 and Lachlan Dennis (Le Sélect Bistro)
Chefs: Executive chef Luke Donato, sous chef Damon Clements (Ortolan, Delux), grill chef Liam Donato (Noce, Trinity Common) and pastry chef Cori Murphy (Alo)
The food
A single-page menu of contemporary takes on traditional bistro classics, including pâté, steak frites, a 38-ounce côte de boeuf (aged for 60 days and served with sides for $75) and baba au rhum. There's a raw bar, too, and groups can opt for the carte-blanche menu, which lets the chefs cook a family-style feast (made up of dishes of their choosing) for a fixed price.
[caption id="attachment_436248" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] House-made bread is served with whipped butter.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436265" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Hors d'oeuvres include (clockwise from top right): galantine de volaille ($12), leeks vinaigrette ($7), oeufs Pépin ($7) and jambon blanc with cornichons ($8).[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436268" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Ocean trout sourced from Taro Fish is served with sauce a l’oseille and poached cucumbers. $29.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436267" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Blanquette de veau: sweetbread fricassée, veal breast and chanterelle mushrooms. $38.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436244" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Agnolotti with snails and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. $16.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436251" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Magret de canard with plum, parsnip and foie gras. $31.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436266" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Steak frites with Café de Paris, a butter-based sauce. $24.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436258" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Parfait de chèvre glacé with pistachio, cherry and rose. $15.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436259" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Paris-Brest: a choux ring with hazelnut-praline crémeux. $15.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436245" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Baba au Rhum with pineapple, all spice and white chocolate. $15.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436249" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Executive chef Luke Donato and sous chef Damon Clements in the kitchen.[/caption]
The drinks
There's an eclectic mix of international wines (most of them French, many of them offered by the glass), and a number of French-inspired cocktails from bar manager Jason Griffin (Montreal’s Hotel William Gray, Maison Boulud), like the Guillotine, made with Armagnac, Dubonnet, sherry and Creole bitters. Also: absinthe (after all, the restaurant's name means "wild and drunken revelry.")
[caption id="attachment_436257" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Named after the famous beachside hotel in Normandy, Le Landemer is made with Calvados Boulard, St. James agricole rum, star anise-infused Lillet, orgeat, pineapple and lime. $14.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436256" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] The Guillotine: a riff on the manhattan made with Marie Duffau bas armagnac, Dubonnet, Lustau amontillado sherry and Creole bitters. $13.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436250" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Dalí is Griffin’s whimsical take on a (vegan) sour that uses Aviation dry gin, crème de violette, herbes de Provence, lemon, aquafaba and butterfly pea flower. $13.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436255" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] Here's Griffin using chickpea water (aquafaba) to make his vegan sour.[/caption]
The space
An open kitchen and brass-accented bar are prominent features of the 100-seat, 3,500-square-foot space. A 50-seat patio is scheduled to open in time for next summer.
[caption id="attachment_436260" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] This is a semi-private space.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436261" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] It has a view of the pastry kitchen.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_436269" align="aligncenter" width="1593"] A focus wall in the dining room features a Toronto-inspired toile wallpaper designed by DreamWorks and Sony Pictures animation artist Ray Xu.[/caption]){kind=link}