Story & Photography | Renée S. Suen
Toronto’s ample dining options means there’s never a lack of choice, but something can be said about restaurant groups with a trusted reputation, where diners can rely on great food and service.
Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality is an industry leader well known for its many culinary facets—from sit-down full-service restaurants, each with its own character, to a suite of hospitality services from catering to events.
Constantly evolving, the group’s most recent additions offer engaging experiences—from a room that resembles a garden courtyard, to a tucked-away bar and garden escape, to three levels of patio dining in the middle of the financial district. This trio of dining spaces are sure to satisfy any mood, with something that’s a bit different than the group’s well-known and loved staples.
BABEL RESTAURANT
Babel bar
It might be the welcoming aromas from food cooked on a woodburning fire that first grabs your attention, or it could be the lush garden courtyard-like interiors, courtesy of the DesignAgency. Regardless, the group’s York Mills Shopping Centre restaurant will transport you to the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa, with flavours from Italy, Greece, Israel, Syria, Morocco and Libya.
A signature share-friendly appetizer, the roasted cauliflower is served on labneh, with sunflower seeds and pomegranate.
Focused on live-fire cooking over maple and cherry woods, Corporate Executive Chef Anthony Walsh and Chef de Cuisine Rosalin Keshishian’s menu features share-friendly items like breads, dips and salads, including a glorious crown of roasted cauliflower that sits on a bed of yoghurt, sunflower seeds and pomegranate. Mains include beef tenderloin kebabs and a roasted half chicken.
The moist, well-seasoned fire-roasted half chicken is paired with a flavourful rice pilaf, crisp broccolini and roasted garlic tomato.
Whatever you order, save room for the knafeh, which features crisp shredded pastry over ooey-gooey mozzarella topped with crushed pistachios. Ethereal and delightful, only eight are available every service, with a minimum 15-minute preparation time. Lunchtime guests can enjoy a selection of salads, burgers and wraps.
The colourful and crisp vegetable slaw using heirloom roots, cabbage, sesame and citrus dressing.
To drink, sommelier Anna Jarosz’s wine program leans heavily on Mediterranean varietals from France, Italy, Greece and Portugal, with a few Ontario wines scattered on the tight food-friendly wine list. There are beers and non-alcoholic beverages, including a mocktail menu, and bartender Joshua Chia’s cocktail menu features both classics and inspired drinks that incorporate such flavours as pomegranate, molasses, mint and edible flowers.
Requiring a 15-minute production time, the ethereal knafeh features crisp shredded pastry over a bed of mozzarella that’s finished with crushed pistachios.
Babel’s dining room, with its yellow agate stone bar and modular private dining area, can accommodate up to 134. Natural light floods through a skylight near the entrance that leads the eye to an open kitchen with a 12-foot, live-fire hearth at the rear.
Guests may be seated in sculptural ribbed velvet booths lining a cave painting mural by Moss & Lam studio, along distressed green leather banquettes or at tall bar tables. In contrast, the indirect lighting illuminating the private dining room’s barrel-vaulted arches resembles an old wine cellar, which can seat up to 52 guests.
305 York Mills Rd., Unit 19
647-475-6240
babelrestaurant.ca
MAISON SELBY
Let Chef de Cuisine Patrick Forest and District Executive Chef John Horne’s menu satisfy all cravings for contemporary renditions of timeless French bistro and café fare, whether it’s weekend brunch, lunch or dinner.
The Tournedos Rossini is a luxurious tower that’s topped with supple beef tenderloin and slices of truffle and seared foie gras. Sided by shoestring fries, the course is bathed in an unctuous truffle-infused jus, which gets lovingly sopped up by the brioche crouton base.
There are familiar dishes, such as Tuna Niçoise Salad, Coq au Vin and Steak Frites, and the neighbourhood space also offers a fivecourse tasting menu. Whatever you do order, make sure it includes the French Onion Soup, a satisfying and unctuous bowl of reduced caramelized onions that’s blanketed with blistered Gruyère on a baguette raft with parsley.
The meaty toothsome Escargots De Bourgogne is aromatic with almonds, garlic and herbs.
Located in the restored historic red brick C.H. Gooderham House on Sherbourne, just south of Bloor, the space features a mix of vintage fixtures, jewel-toned accents, antique brass, rich velvets and modern lighting—thanks to Solid Design Creative. In addition to hand-painted landscape murals, there’s custom-designed wallpapers decorating the home’s four rooms. The elegant and charming all-day dining room is complemented by a 32-seat garden patio that wraps around the southeast corner of the building.
For seafood lovers, the rustic bouillabaisse gets a refined overhaul and is presented as olive oil-poached halibut, gently cooked spot prawns and mussels, finished with a tableside pour of its seafood-enriched broth.
In addition to the hand-crafted cocktails offered in their dining room, downstairs there’s Sous Sol, an underground speakeasy and cocktail bar featuring a carefully crafted list of hand-crafted cocktails, from classics like a Gooderham & Worts Manhattan to the absinthelaced Bijou and a Selby Mule made with Jaral de Berrio mezcal and Olmeca Altos Plata tequila. There are beers on tap and wines by the glass.
592 Sherbourne St.
647-943-1676
maisonselby.com
THE RABBIT HOLE
Largely inspired by downtown London’s pub and dining scene, expect elevated pub grub like fish and chips or tikka masala on District Executive Chef John Horne and Chef de Cuisine Laura Petracca’s menu at this whimsical gastropub in the Financial District. Using localwhen-possible ingredients, imported flavours are incorporated into such classics as beef tartare, that’s dressed with Marmite and served inside a Yorkshire pudding with a Scotch quail egg, or a sophisticated trifle that uses homemade jam.
Chef Horne credits The Rabbit Hole’s Steak & Mushroom Pie to Liberty Commons Chef Ryan Lister, who is from Weymouth, England. The hearty butter-based pastry comes with (Henderson Brewing) ale gravy and buttermilk mashed potatoes.
For those chasing comfort grub, there’s the limited-availability Beef Wellington on Wednesdays and a Sunday Roast that’s actually offered only on Saturday nights, which features a roasted ribeye with Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes, vegetables and pan gravy.
Inspired by the OG – St. John in London, which Chef Horne frequented when he was a young cook in the city, Fergus’s Roasted Bone Marrow is sided by parsley salad and served with Newfoundland salt and fried bread.
The Rabbit Hole’s Atlantic Salmon comes with baby gem lettuce, crushed potato and cucumber sauce.
But more than food, the whimsical British-inspired gastropub offers 38 seasonally-changing, hand-crafted cocktails by bartender Raj Rijhwani that’s composed of British classics and other drinks that are inspired by British themes—like a stirred and strong Ace of Spades (a nod to the rock song by Motorhead) with St-Rémy brandy, Amaro Montenegro, blackberry and raisin syrup, burnt citrus bitters and an orange twist; or Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle of Beatrix Potter fame that’s made of Dillon’s Selby pineapple honey gin, Montelliana spumante, passion fruit and rosemary.
Can there be too many good things? Served on Yorkshire pudding, the Beef Tartare isn’t only dressed with Marmite and studded with salted turnip, but comes with a scotch quail egg.
There’s also a range of craft beers and ciders on tap and in bottles, and a diverse wine list that includes UK bubbly. There’s a Happy Hour promotion that runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Tuesday through Saturday), offering select cocktails for $10, draught beers for $6 and glasses of wine for $10.
Welsh Rarebit on Brodflour toast is served with Lea & Perrins Worchestershire, naturally
Filled with custom-crafted furniture enrobed in rich textures and materials, the British-inspired gastropub’s walls are covered in whimsical wallpaper, vintage décor and antique dishware, plus eclectic art pieces. A little bit Alice in Wonderland and the concept of losing track of time, the Solid Design Creative-designed dining room can seat up to 115. There’s also a semi-private space called The Burrow flanking Adelaide Street that can accommodate up to 24, as well as a spacious three-level, street-facing patio for up to 80.
21 Adelaide St W.
647-480-6963
therabbitholepub.ca
