What’s on the menu at Wolfie, the Commoner Bar Room’s cocktail-forward revamp

Name: Wolfie Contact: 614 College St., wolfietoronto.com
Owner: Paul Campione Chef: Sabrina Jury Accessibility: Not fully accessible

After nearly four years in business, Little Italy’s Commoner Bar Room had gradually moved away from its original vision, says bar manager Kyle Hudson. The restaurant, a sister spot to the Commoner in Roncesvalles, launched in 2020 with a pub-style menu and a relaxed vibe.

“We’ve learned what works in this neighbourhood, and we found ourselves leaning in to being more of a casual cocktail bar,” says Hudson. “We had already started that shift, but we felt like a rebrand and name change would help emphasize that.” Now called Wolfie, the nickname of owner Paul Campione’s daughter, the restaurant is embracing its cocktail bar identity with reworked food and drink menus and pink neon signage displaying its new name and logo.

With more sophisticated cocktails and eclectic nibbles, Wolfie hopes to attract new fans in the neighbourhood while maintaining the warm ambiance that initially earned it a loyal local following.

The food

Wolfie’s globe-spanning menu reflects the diversity of its back-of-house team as well as chef Sabrina Jury’s passion for fusion cuisine. Dishes are snacky, flavourful and meant to be shared. Some plates, such as the iceberg wedge, may be familiar to regulars at the Commoner, where Jury says the team tested many dishes while fine-tuning Wolfie’s menu.

The drinks

Hudson has refined Wolfie’s drinks program to match its new cocktail bar persona. “We wanted to impart more layers of complexity and flavour while still being approachable,” he says. The result is a cocktail menu that emphasizes botanical and herbal elements and scratch-made infusions and syrups.

Wolfie’s locally focused beer program has remained mostly unchanged, but Hudson did add a few “dad beers” like Miller High Life and Labatt 50 to help preserve the bar’s laid-back atmosphere. The wine list features organic and wild-fermented bottles sourced from around the world.

The space

Aside from adding new signs, the Wolfie team knew better than to alter the restaurant’s handsome interior. “We wanted to communicate to our regulars that we’re not changing too much,” says Hudson. “They’ve all come back, and they’re really excited about the refresh.”