Don Alfonso 1890 Is Aiming High

Story | Leslie Yip   Photography | Simon Boucher-Harris

There is excitement in the air.

Don Alfonso 1890 is finally ready to welcome diners at its new permanent home, on the top floor of the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto. Today, it is opening its scenic elevator doors for the first time to a dozen hungry and thirsty journalists. To mark the occasion, 75-year-old three-star Michelin chef Alfonso Iaccarino flew in from Italy.

The past few years had not been a smooth ride for the restaurant. First came the pandemic. Then, the historic Consumer’s Gas building in which it was housed was sold to a Chinese company for condo development. It found a temporary home under the fabled McCausland dome at Casa Loma, but with post-lockdown reopening, they had to vacate the conservatory to make way for wedding parties. The present 38th-floor location atop the lakefront hotel is its third location in four short years.

But there were also big wins to celebrate. It was named Best Italian Restaurant in the World 2022–Prosecco DOC Award by the prestigious 50 Top Italy, and Meal of the Year 2022 Mulino–Caputo Award, for its multi-course prix fixe tasting menu.

The panoramic 360-degree space with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city and the lake is a perfect setting to bask in the glory of these awards, but the restaurant management team is not ready to rest of their laurels. According to Nick Di Donato, president and CEO of Liberty Entertainment Group, they want to go for Wine Spectator’s grand award next.

Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Awards recognize restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers. To qualify for an award, a wine list must present complete, accurate information, including vintages and appellations for all selections. Complete producer names and correct spellings are mandatory, and the overall presentation of the list is also considered.

Lists that meet these requirements are judged for one of three awards: the award of excellence, marked by one glass; the best of award of excellence, with two glasses, and the grand reward, proudly showing the purple-and-white certificate with three glasses.

To put things into perspective, in the recently announced 2022 winners list, there are 1,782 one-glass winners, 1,290 two-glass winners, and 97 threeglass winners from around the world.

Among the top dogs, only four Canadian restaurants hit the mark. They are Le Coureur des Bois in Boeleil, Que., Opus Restaurant in Toronto, Post Hotel Dining Room in Lake Louise, Alta., and Via Allegro Ristorante in Etobicoke. With the exception of Le Coureur, which first received the coveted award in 2018, all the Canadian winners have qualified for and kept their three glasses since nearly two decades ago.

It is not an easy feat. To be considered for the grand award, the restaurant’s wine list typically features 1,000 or more selections, and delivers serious breadth of top producers, outstanding depth in mature vintages, a selection of large-format bottles, excellent harmony with the menu, superior presentation and the highest level of wine service.

But the stars seem to be aligned for Don Alfonso’s quest. At the helm of this endeavour is James Peden, who joined Liberty Entertainment Group three years ago as wine director across its restaurant properties and special events venues. After building and training an impressive team of sommeliers and managers, he was promoted to director of operations in 2021. Most recently, Peden was elected 2022–2023 president of CAPS Ontario (Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers), where he leads a board of hospitality industry volunteer members.

Taking his place as wine director is Julie Garton, who had held a similar post at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto since 2019. eliteGen spoke with her recently at a media luncheon, exactly one week after she took on the new position.

Why is the Wine Spectator award so important for Don Alfonso 1890? “We want to demonstrate to our guests that we have a deep and complex wine program for them to find the perfect wine for their meal,” Garton says. “No matter what type of wine our guests enjoy, we have an option they will know and love, as well as something comparable and interesting they can experience for the first time.”

So what is the plan of attack?

“I want to make sure that the wine list here speaks to our award-winning menu. I want the wine menu to read like the food menu. It has to be rooted in Italian wines. You should be able to see a continuity.” Taking out a bottle of 2016 Taurasi and a 2015 Radici, she adds: “For example, these two wines are from the Campagna region, where the original Don Alfonso is, on the Amalfi Coast. We pour the 1998 Radici as part of our wine-pairing offer.”

Currently, the restaurant has 2,500 bottles, and the goal is to double that by the end of the year.

“The biggest challenge is to find appropriate aged wine, especially since the wine program is brand new,” Garton says. “It takes time for wines to age. If they are too young, then we are not drinking them at their peak.

“That’s why we are actively going to auctions. This way, we can find wines that are ready to drink, build out some verticals and collect more from top producers.”

Aside from the breadth and the depth of the wine collection, service can’t be overlooked.

“We are very fortunate that with the company, we have a fantastic service team,” says Garton. “We will be building a team of sommeliers. We are looking for a head sommelier to run the team, so I can look at the wine program as a whole. Eventually, there will be a team of two or three sommeliers.”

There are two sommelier-led wine pairing programs to complement the signature eight-course tasting menu, which is $190. The classic is $120 and features such wines as La Gerla, Brunello di Montalcino DoCG, Toscana, Italy, 2016. The premium is $200, and counts Roma Dal Forno, Valpolicella Superiore DOC, Veneto, Italy, 2011 as one of the offerings. For more information: donalfonsotoronto.com.

The Oldest, the Biggest and the Baddest
James Peden took me on a tour of their cellar, and showed me some of these superlative wines
Oldest vintage:
• 1948, Moillard, Pommard 1er Cru’ – Les Boucherottes, Burgundy, France.
Most expensive bottle:
• 2013, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, ‘La Tache’ Grand Cru, Burgundy, France, $5,900.
Biggest format available:
• A six-litre bottle of Piane delle Vigne, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy.
• This format is also called the Imperial, or Methuselah, named after the oldest man in the Bible.
The most popular wine style:
• Brunello di Montalcino. Peden explains: “It matches our cuisine.”