Name: Kensei Bar
Contact: 1173 Dundas St. W., kenseibar.ca, @kensei_bar_
Neighbourhood: Trinity-Bellwoods
Owners: Hansang Lee, Juwon Lee, Hyunchan Jo
Chef: Hansang Lee
Accessibility: Not fully accessible
Born in Busan, South Korea, 27-year-old Hansang Lee came to Toronto on a mission to further his culinary career. “I’ve been interested in the industry since I was 15 years old,” he says. “Both of my parents worked full time, so I learned how to cook for the family. I went to culinary high school, and that’s where I fell in love with all aspects of food and hospitality. When I was 18, I did my obligatory time in the Korean military, where I was chosen to be the commander’s chef.” In 2019, when he finished his service, Lee moved to Toronto to meet his brother, Juwon, who had come to the city a few years earlier to study culinary arts at George Brown.
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In March of 2022, Lee went to work at his brother’s first business venture, Gonzo Izakaya. “It was operating mostly as a takeout restaurant at first because of Covid. When I signed on, the business was slow,” says Lee. He took a trip to Japan to study how good izakayas operate, and when he returned, he overhauled the menu and changed up the space. Gonzo has been buzzing ever since.
With a successful business under their belt, the Lee brothers were ready to take on a new project, convinced that the key to success was meticulous attention to detail. And Kensei Bar, their new cute-as-a-button listening bar at Dundas and Ossington, looks like it was ripped straight out of 1970s Tokyo. “We’re all obsessed with the late Showa period in Japan, which was a significant time for art and music. We wanted to represent that in everything we do here at Kensei,” says Lee. And they do. From the lo-fi jazz to the smooth cocktails matching the music’s ebbs and flows to the punchy small plates, Kensei Bar sings in the details.
A menu of Japanese-ish plates that—like jazz—welcome harmonious inspiration from the cuisines of other cultures. Olives, for example, are steeped in house-made dashi, and old-school bruschetta is crowned with fresh uni. Heartier plates include bavette steaks dripping in miso-whisky butter and alcohol-absorbing pasta enveloped in an unlikely (for those who have yet to discover Japan’s spaghetti Napolitan, that is) sauce of ketchup, bell peppers and wieners.
Divided into three categories—Ragtime (low ABV), Swingtime (average ABV) and Blues (super boozy)—the cocktail menu was designed to mimic the food’s flavours. For instance, the White Miso Twist, a blend of Toki, shiro miso, honey and lemon, tastes like a heart-warming bowl of miso soup chased by a glass of fine whisky.
Intentionally rec room–like, the moody wood-panelled and wallpapered room is both homey and strangely haunting—it really does look like it’s been pilfered from a bygone era. A discreet wooden DJ booth sits at the centre, surrounded by thrift-store stained glass light fixtures and vintage Japanese liquor ads.
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Erin Hershberg is a freelance writer with nearly two decades of experience in the lifestyle sector. She currently lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and two children.