What’s on the menu at Drake Mini Bar, the brand’s new pint-sized hangout in the Financial District
By Renée Suen| Photography by Renée Suen
| May 17, 2018
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Name: Drake Mini Bar
Contact: 150 York St., 416-900-0992, thedrake.ca/drakeminibar, @thedrake
Neighbourhood: Financial District
Previously: Timothy’s World Coffee
Owners: Drake Hotel Properties
Chefs: Corporate executive chef Ted Corrado, executive chef Jonathan Pong (Drake One Fifty) and chef de cuisine Amancio Dos Santos
The food
Open from morning to night, Mini Bar starts off with bagels, toasts and egg-stuffed crepes for breakfast, then moves on to shareable lunch and dinner plates like house-cured charcuterie with seasonal pickles, a fish plate (salmon gravlax, seaweed-cured albacore, pickled herring, smoked black cod) and spiced duck breast.
One of the sweet morning buns ($4.50) paired with a cappuccino made using beans from Reunion Island ($4).
A bagel loaded with dill salmon gravlax, cream cheese, pickled red onions and capers. $12.
The breakfast sandwich is a house-made milk bun stuffed with an egg, tomato preserve, avocado, sprouts and cheddar ($7). Add bacon for an extra $2.
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Crêpe Monsieur wraps smoked ham, gruyere, a free-run egg and green onions in a buckwheat crêpe. $9.
The kohlrabi and apple salad is tossed with tomatillos, radish, red watercress, jalapeños, cilantro and lime. $15.
The breakfast toast tops house-made sourdough with hummus, eggplant caponata and basil. $6.
The ocean trout crudo is finished with a bonito-chili vinaigrette, compressed wasabi cucumbers and salmon roe. $18.
Crispy halibut cheeks are seasoned with salt, pepper and dulse (a type of seaweed) and served with shrimp aioli. $19.
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The spiced duck breast is sided with a roasted pineapple salad, sea buckthorn and candied cashews. $26.
Pastries brought in daily from the Drake Commissary include morning buns ($4.50), regular and gluten-free muffins ($4), house-made sourdough croissants ($3), almond frangipane croissants with fruit compote ($5), Drake’s classic blueberry scones ($3.50) and cookies ($3).
A morning spread.
And an evening one.
The drinks
Espresso-based beverages, a handful of rotating beers and an eclectic wine selection that includes some sustainable and natural bottles, as well as the house wine, Pandolfa’s bag-in-box sangiovese and chardonnay. Lead Bartender Jeremy Cheng is responsible for the cocktails, some of which are non-boozy and others of which are very, very boozy.
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Santa Theresa: Novo Fogo cachaça, Chartreuse, lime, basil, green tea. $16.
The Departed is made with El Dorado 12-year rum, Campari, Averna, mescal and Peychaud’s bitters. $16.
The non-alcoholic Seeds of Persephone is made with Seedlip 108, lavender, basil, citric acid, Bittered Sling cascade celery bitters and vegan foam. $13.
The space
Located right across the hall from Drake One Fifty, the mini space was designed by +tongtong along with Alex Simpson and the Drake’s in-house team. Between the dining room and all-season indoor “patio,” Mini Bar can seat 60 guests. But come summer, an outdoor patio (rumoured to have a 15-foot waterfall fountain) will add another 55 seats.
Unlike other properties, Drake Mini Bar is only exhibiting commissioned works by Toronto-based artist Rajni Perera, including a wall-to-wall mural and painted table-tops that were inspired by original 1920’s Cartier sketches of gem settings.
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The indoor all-season patio is surrounded by a Brothers Dressler–designed pergola and greenery.
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