Story & Photography | Renée S. Suen
For over two decades, restaurateur Hanif Harji has operated some of the city’s most popular restaurants under both ICONINK and Scale Hospitality. With ICONINK, he and business partner Charles Khabouth are behind hotspots Byblos, Figo, Patria, The Fortunate Fox and more.
Along with Scale Hospitality business partner Terry Tsianos, the duo has been behind The Wheatsheaf Tavern, Toronto’s oldest bar, Miller Tavern, Shook, Toronto Beach Club or GG’s Burgers. The current buzz for food lovers is centred around new and revamped hospitality concepts joining the Scale family in Toronto’s Entertainment District.
BAR CHICA
75 Portland St.
416-479-9779, barchicatoronto.com
Open 7 days a week
Billed as King Street Spanish staple Patria’s playful younger sister, this joint venture by Scale Hospitality and ICONINK brings elevated share plates, craft cocktails and late-night energy to the city’s core.
Bar Chica
Located in the former Bar Buca space, Bar Chica brings the intimate and lively atmosphere found in Barcelona tapas bars to the strip through innovative, technically driven fare. Lined with terracotta tiles and terrazzo flooring, the long Danielle Adams-designed room seats 46 on high stools and banquettes surrounding marble-topped and walnut tables. In addition to an open kitchen and bar, guests can dine during warmer months on the 36-seat Portland Street patio.
Bar Chica’s Croquetas de Jamon Con Trufas features a delightfully runny ham filling in a crisp shell that’s capped with a pile of finely shaved black truffle and Manchego.
The food served is playful, Spanish-inspired and non-traditional. Think savoury Hokkaido uni-christened cream puffs filled with spicy paprika-kissed uni cream or creamy jamon croquetas blanketed with a shower of finely shaved black truffle and Manchego.
For something a little more substantial, Bar Chica’s Trucha con Pan tops mojo rojo with trout that’s capped with a crispy toasted bread shield and finished with pickled pearl onions and scallion oil.
Serving Spanish-inspired fare with Ontario-sourced ingredients and international flavours, food lovers will find crowd favourites like Jamon Iberico de Bellota, the prized acorn-fed ham that’s sided by toasted marcona almonds, as well as new favourites, including a glamorous tarta de paté de Hígado, featuring silky duck liver parfait in a delightful shortbread tart and topped with a layer of Spanish sherry gelée.
Bar Chica’s dainty Tarta de Paté de Hígado are elegant shortbread pastries filled with unctuous duck liver parfait that’s finished with a Spanish sherry gelée.
Complementing Chica’s share-friendly plates is a wine list Corporate Sommelier Lauren Hall has drawn from the country’s iconic producers, plus emerging new Spanish winemakers. In addition to white wines from Rioja, vibrant and juicy Garnachas from Navarra and varietals, including Albariño, Bobal and Listán negro, there’s a curated selection of sherries, Spanish ciders, beers and vermouths.
The super-clean and easy-to-down Armada takes on the best qualities of a G&T and gimlet that’s made with Tanqueray gin, lime juice, lemongrass syrup and tonic bitters.
Whatever you do, make time for a drink from their inventive cocktail list. Here, you’ll experience everything from an Iberico ham-infused Benidorm to the floral Casa Mila, which all employ classic techniques to create non-traditional libations that are a little too easy to drink. You can’t go wrong with the well-balanced Ronda Sour. Composed of Bulleit rye, homemade kola syrup, lemon juice, orange bitters, red wine and egg white, the drink is a cross between a New York sour and kalimotxo, a refreshing Basque cocktail that combines red wine with a cola-based soft drink.
LAPINOU
642 King St. W.
416-479-4414, lapinoubistro.com
Open Tuesdays to Sundays
As Scale Hospitality’s first stand-alone venture, Lapinou debuted on King West in October of 2019. Transforming fresh ingredients procured from fine local purveyors into sophisticated but approachable fare, the inviting French wine bar can accommodate 82 guests inside its Model Ctzndesigned contemporary space.
Lapinou
Wrapped in exposed brick and with lush hardwood flooring, there isn’t a lack of options when it comes to prime seats, including an attractive curved marble-topped bar, plus an additional 42 seats on their west patio and a tucked-away space for eight on their east patio.
Lapinou’s cheeky cheese and crackers course is a delightful match that serves as an excellent snack or meal closer. On our visit, it was five-year-old gouda, Rosewood honey, fennel pollen and preserves, plus homemade water crackers sided with a splash of Clos Lapeyre’s Jurançon Moelleux.
Here, Lauren Hall takes residence as both general manager and sommelier, building a cellar brimming of wellmade fun and innovative wines, many from small producers from lesser-known regions, and mainly from France. Expect known and loved varietals such as chardonnays, chenins and gamays mingling with bottles of grower champagnes, gros and petit manseng, plus sciaccarellus.
The charcoal-grilled flat iron steak at Lapinou is dressed in an unctuous beef fat vinaigrette with grilled beets, horseradish, baby chards and Robuchon-style mashed potatoes.
The menu is filled with refined, chef-driven share plates. The menu’s seasonally inspired items range from delicate plates, like a scallop crudo that’s bathed in strawberry ponzu and christened with wedges of the red and white berries and diced celery, to grilled asparagus—that could change to chanterelles with the changing season—that’s buried under a cloud of taleggio fonduta dusted with crispy puffed grains.
Lapinou’s seasonal starters might feature sliced raw scallop bathed in strawberry ponzu and finished with celery and cilantro.
There’s beautiful duck breast that’s kissed with spicy XO made with ‘nduja or aged meats sourced from Cumbraes sided with classic Robuchon-style mashed potatoes. Finish off with aged cheeses sourced from affiner Afrim Pristine of The Cheese Boutique, or simple composed desserts, such as sweet strawberries smothered in elderflower sabayon or a lightened riff of black forest cake.
Glorious, plump, and juicy duck breast is sided by blistered turnips and brassica, then topped with sesame and an XO sauce made with ‘nduja.
Larger groups can opt for Lapinou’s large-format dishes, which cater to family-style dining, including a whole roasted duck and whole fish. Coming soon: a four-course tasting menu.
PINK SKY
480 King St. W.
647-660-0999, pinkskytoronto.com
Open 7 days a week
A joint venture between both Scale Hospitality and ICONINK, Pink Sky’s name comes from the phrase “Pink sky at night, sailors delight; pink sky in morning, sailors warning,” and is a nod to its focus on fresh seafood.
Pink Sky
Formerly Westlodge, the vaulted space has been given a slightly lighter, luxurious walnut and burnt gold accented facelift. Meant to evoke the look of a port warehouse on the Eastern Seaboard, the space is both elegant and laid back; the upscale casual feel meant to match the restaurant’s champagne, bright wine and seafood focus. Outfitted to accommodate 88 guests in cozy booths, the room can open to 180 guests for a cocktail reception, or tuck 12 comfortably away in the upstairs private dining room with its crow’s nest view of the main dining room below.
The Caribbean Sazerac is made using eight-year-old Bacardi rum, Remy VSOP, grenadine, falernum, and both orange and Peychauds bitters.
Pink Sky’s Banoffee pie is a glorious specimen that layers delectable dulce de leche, ripe bananas and a not-too-sweet, cinnamon-white chocolate chantilly in a delightful graham crust.
Whether it’s flanking the marble-topped bar for a drink or seated around a table to feast, the restaurant’s inspired craft cocktail list offers guests a selection of approachable classics that have been given playful twists. As well, there are non-alcoholic numbers that tap into seasonally inspired flavours, such as an apricot julep, pink negroni using rose liqueur, Caribbean Sazerac and a whiskey peach tea. The seafood-friendly wine list boasts plenty of bubbles, crisp and mineral-rich whites from Burgundy, the south of France and California, plus light reds.
Using house-made rigatoni, Pink Sky’s truffle lobster mac and cheese is stuffed with hunks of the crustacean that’s shielded by a toasted bread crumb and blistered medley of melted cheese crust. It’s capped with pickled jalapenos, chives and sliced truffles.
Pink Sky’s shellfish platter features a selection of east and west coast oysters with cocktail shrimp, mussels escabeche, crab claws and a half lobster that’s served with sherry-brown drawn butter, homemade hot sauce, cocktail sauce and mignonettes.
Following a sea-to-fork philosophy, the menu is stacked with fresh seafood and ushered out of Pink Sky’s open kitchen. Revellers can gaze at the raw bar’s bounty that’s chock-full of east and west coast oysters and vibrant shellfish. Besides ceviches, crudos and tartares, you’ll find hearty cioppino, charcoal-grilled fresh-caught fish, crispy beer battered haddock and pub-style chips, plus a market-priced ribeye for the meat-eaters.
Pink Sky’s crowd-pleasing smoked Ontario white fish is a mixture of the shredded protein with sour cream, lemon, cucumber and capers that’s capped with a layer of delicate chives. It’s sided by dill pickles and long crispy toasted baguette.
Chock-full of mussels, clams, shrimp and white fish in a tomato broth with fennel and onions, Pink Sky’s Cioppino is a hearty main that is sided by long baguette toasts.
But the absolute must is the crowd-favourite smoked Ontario white fish that’s a magical spread composed of tender morsels of the protein dressed in sour cream, lemon, cucumber, capers and chives that’s served with a long crispy toasted baguette. Another highlight is the Banoffee pie: a glorious specimen that layers delectable dulce de leche and ripe bananas in a buttery graham crust that’s topped with an airy and not toosweet cinnamon-white chocolate chantilly and candied hazelnuts. It is what dreams are made of.
