Story & Photography | Renée Suen
Toronto’s restaurant scene has recently welcomed refined spaces catering to diners looking for inspired takes on international flavours while wrapped in a polished setting. These dining rooms have been impressing even the pickiest palates since opening.
DaNico Toronto
440 College St. W.,
416-542-3789,
danicotoronto.com
DaNico accommodates 60 diners within its modern-meets-classic architectural space.
The multi-award-winning Liberty Entertainment Group opened DaNico Toronto on College Street last autumn. The restaurant has already been recognized by The Distinguished Restaurants of North America, (DiRōNA), with an Award of Excellence for offering diners an exceptional experience in food, service and atmosphere.
Liberty Group creative director Nadia Di Donato has filled the 60-seat restaurant with curated works from Canadian artists Max Jamali and Peter Triantos, in addition to those by Salvador Dali, Damien Hirst and Mr. Brainwash.
The combination of modern elements with heirloom finishes is also echoed in the mixed materials filling the heritage landmark, from Italian mohair velvet and brocades to English leather, porcelain, warm woods and Versace ceramics.
With vaulted 30-foot ceilings, the main dining room is lined with intimate banquettes with large tapestries hanging from above and where you might enjoy a bespoke cocktail, like the Amalfi Spritz that features lemon gin, yellow Chartreuse, peach cordial and prosecco, or the spirit-forward Diplomat made at its College Street flanking bar.
One of the highlights at DaNico is the 3,000 bottle-deep wine cellar that’s built from the former bank’s vault.
Private parties can book the chef’s table, which faces DaNico’s open kitchen and the stunning 3,000 bottle-deep wine cellar that’s built from the former bank’s vault.
DaNico offers contemporary Italian cuisine accented by modern Asian influences. Co-owner and executive chef Daniel Corona, the former head chef of Toronto’s Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890, offers elegantly prepared cuisine that’s presented on customized dishware for both the three-course a la carte menu and the eightcourse signature tasting menu.
The latter starts off strong with a fresh baked artisan bread service and a whimsical flight of canapés that capture “Italy in a Bite”. Fried puffed rigatoni carbonara, toro and buffalo mozzarella filled cannolo Sicilian, carrot tartare tartlet with parsley sauce, plus a solar tide farmed Tarbouriech oyster blanketed by lemon foam delight the senses.
Opening canapes might feature a puffed rigatoni pasta that’s filled with carbonara sauce, a toro filled squid ink cannolo, an heirloom carrot tartlette with al prezzemolo foam and a prized Tarbouriech oyster.
The meal is filled with a parade of luxuries. Besides lush Ontario mallard duck breast, al dente bundles of tortellini filled with braised Ontario lamb and topped with nuggets of smoked eel, black cod deglazed with miso and sided by a quenelle of oscietra caviar, and charcoal grilled wagyu tenderloin.
The Tortellini d’Agnello e Anguilla Affumicata features smoked eel alternating with caramelized red onion and fresh mint on lamb-filled pasta that’s bathed in a Barbera wine sauce.
There’s also the gorgeous Granchio al Gusto Mediterranean, which features an intricate tuile pastry ring that’s perched over succulent wild red king crab and trout roe and finished with a tableside pour of Sicilian green olive coulis.
DaNico’s elegant Granchio al Gusto Mediterranean crowns wild red king crab, trout roe in Sicilian green olive coulis with a delicate pastry tile, microgreens and edible flowers.
The sommelier-guided wine pairings feature classic Italian bottles or premium old-world selections of Burgundy and Bordeaux with Italian and German producers.
A must order are the desserts, including the Asian-inspired Matcha-tea-misù with matcha mascarpone espresso foam, matcha pearls and matcha rocks.
Whether it’s the well-balanced strawberry panna cotta topped with goat milk ice cream, rhubarb and a drizzle of olive oil, or the stunning fig and fondente cream and sponge or the elegant Matcha-tea-misù, you won’t forget these fabulous desserts.
Sushi Yugen
150 York St.,
416-363-1888,
sushiyugen.ca
Embodying the essence of Japanese minimalism and wabi-sabi philosophy, Sushi Yugen embraces the concept of flawed beauty. This fully accessible omakase restaurant offers two distinct dining experiences—an open L-shaped sushi counter accommodating 12 in the main dining room and the more intimate eight-seat chef’s counter with a more involved menu with kaiseki and arguably more kappo elements.
Sushi Yugen’s main-floor lobby features a Zen garden waiting area.
The eight-seat chef’s counter offers 18 to 20 courses that are served over two hours and a mix of omakase sushi and kaiseki-meets-kappo cuisine with global influences.
To accomplish this, owners Kamen Sun and Rocco Wang have recruited head chef Kyohei Igarashi, who has 15 years of experience at high-end kaiseki and sushi in Tokyo and Yokohama, plus seven years at Michelin-starred TakaHisa in Dubai.
Chef Igarashi assembling the uni gohan dish, which features uni, ikura, toro and caviar.
Chef Igarashi assembling the uni gohan dish, which features uni, ikura, toro and caviar.
Diners may choose to dine at Sushi Yugen’s 12-seat main counter, which is available for both the 45-minute lunch or hour-long dinner service. The menu features 10 nigiri, a hand roll, miso soup and dessert, with an extra appetizer course at dinner.
For true traditionally rooted cuisine, the premium eight-seat chef’s counter is a good choice. It serves 18 to 20 courses over approximately two hours. While the omakase nigiri experience does feature luxuries, such as chu-toro and uni topped with caviar, it’s the parade of appetizers and Igarashi’s dishes that leaves a distinct impression.
The final savoury course, uni gohan, is a parade of luxuries: sushi rice that’s been seasoned with sweet Japanese uni before it’s capped with ikura, a tumble of toro and caviar.
Here, you might be greeted with a refreshing tomato jelly that’s a bright opener before a crowd-pleasing number featuring silky slices of hirame. Served in an ice bowl, the shiromi course is liberally dusted with gold leaf, shaved Burgundy truffles and chef’s own truffle sauce that doesn’t simply impart a mild yet intoxicating aroma but adds umami depth that complements the delicate flesh.
The shiromi course is presented in a bowl made from ice and features gold leaf and shaved Burgundy truffles.
Tender threads of somen are served in a chilled three-fish dashi, while tai shabu shabu poaches the flesh in a house-made ponzu with a pinch of homemade yuzu kosho. If lucky, you might find the seasonal delicacy shirako in a warm matsutake-dashi bath, with a dusting of fragrant sudachi rind.
These premium abalone from Japan are used in Chef Igarashi’s signature course.
A true chef’s kiss is Igarashi’s signature course, Japanese abalone. The abalones are sliced thin and served with an unctuous and fully enveloping sauce made from its liver. The latter, flavoured like it was mounted in butter, is incredibly satisfying, especially when served with a nugget of seasoned sushi rice used scarpetta-style to mop up every drop.
Simple and stunning, dessert might feature a scoop of homemade white sesame ice cream that’s topped with a delicate tuile cookie with a single Nikka whisky-caramelized sugar leaf.
Dessert includes a tuile cookie featuring a single Nikka whiskycaramelized sugar leaf perched over a creamy scoop of house-made white sesame ice cream with purple plum compote.
