Maison Selby

There’s definitely something awkward—unseemly?—about ordering champagne and caviar in a Victorian mansion in the middle of St. James Town, one of the city’s poorest and most densely populated neighbourhoods. But that’s where O&B, the company behind so many of the GTA’s best restaurants (Canoe and Auberge du Pommier among them), took over a three-storey house—at different points a girl’s boarding school and a gay dance club. It’s now swanky enough to be a residence for a pair of unofficial royals, with an abundance of florid wallpapers and crystal chandeliers that set the tone for traditionally executed tartare, French onion soup, boeuf bourguignon and other typical bistro fare. John Horne, who oversees Canoe and O&B’s other top-tier kitchens, is exec chef. Everything is perfect and polished, including the presentation of said caviar, from wild-caught East Coast sturgeon, the tin resting on a bed of ice and accompanied by buckwheat blini, chopped egg and crème fraîche. Each salty, sybaritic spoonful feels like a step closer to class warfare.

Maison Selby, 592 Sherbourne St., maisonselby.com

A few items are now available for pickup at Liberty Commons (42 Liberty St.) and for delivery using Uber Eats or Skip the Dishes.