Name: Aloette Bay
Contact: 81 Bay St., 4th floor, aloetterestaurant.com/bay, @aloette_restaurant
Neighbourhood: South Core
Owner: Alo Food Group
Chef: Patrick Kriss
Accessibility: Fully accessible
Aloette’s new sister spot brings its refined casual menu to Table Fare and Social, CIBC Square’s food hall. With its high-traffic location, the restaurant hopes to draw in commuters and visitors en route to Union Station and Scotiabank Arena as well as Financial District office workers.
All the greatest Aloette hits are here, including the burger, the fried chicken and the wedge salad. To appeal to the diverse crowd that moves through this busy hub, however, they’re also adding lunch (which is also returning to Aloette Spadina after a pandemic hiatus) and grab-and-go items. “Whatever community we move into, we think about how we can add something to the fabric,” says operations director John Bunner.
Also new to this location: happy hour deals on signature cocktails, wines by the glass and draft beer. “We’re in the heart of downtown in an office building, so it just makes sense,” says chef-owner Patrick Kriss. “We want to be a place where people can come in and out all day.”
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Kriss and his team bring Aloette’s high-end takes on low-key food to a lunch menu that carries over some favourites—including the brand’s Beaufort-topped burger—alongside some fresh additions like a chopped salad and carrot cake (to rival their famous lemon meringue pie). Some of the new grab-and-go items include cheddar biscuits, apple bomboloni and mini yogurt parfaits.
“The style is exactly the same as Aloette Spadina,” says Bunner. “The cocktails are stiff, short and classically inspired.” There are around a dozen wines available by the glass, along with a concise but thoughtfully curated selection of bottles from around the globe.
Aloette Bay reflects the design of the original location with its barrel ceiling installation and fluted millwork. The Spadina restaurant’s rich burgundy accent colour, however, is swapped for a deep green. Sleek materials like glass and metal contrast with soft, leather-accented booths. “We still wanted people to come in here and feel like they’re in an Aloette restaurant,” says Kriss. “But I think that, as we mature, we get smarter in how we design restaurants.” Case in point: the penny tile flooring from the original Aloette could get pretty slippery, so now it’s a decorative feature on the bar in Aloette Bay.
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