Story & Photography | Renée S. Suen
As the city returns to indoor dining, discerning gourmands have a bevy of choices, from established institutions to new enterprises. Let’s take a look at what’s new on the west side of downtown Toronto.
Casa Madera
Step into Casa Madera’s lush, attractive Riviera Maya-inspired, wood-clad space to experience modern coastal cuisine and attentive service. Known for premium culinary and entertainment experiences, this is Los Angeles-based restaurant group Nobel 33’s first Canadian location.
Casa Madera. Photo: Courtesy of Brandon Barré
This glass-encased, 180-seat dining room, designed by the Rockwell Group, calls 1 Hotel Toronto home. Here, diners can enjoy unique restaurant experiences that might feature DJs and/or live performance artists, along with their evening meal.
A must-order, the chile pulpo at Casa Madera features tender tentacles of grilled octopus over a pool of creamy sweet corn puree, chives, marcona almonds and chile de arbol.
Casa Madera showcases creative twists on traditional Mexican cuisine that incorporates the elements of earth, wind, fire and water. The contemporary menu flirts with Mexican and Mediterranean cuisines while using French techniques and Japanese influences to infuse fresh ingredients—often sustainable and organic—with bold flavours. For example, the carnitas taco features duck confit with orange instead of the traditional pork and pineapple.
The 10-ounce, fire-grilled wagyu ribeye is a stunning and juicy number that’s served with parsnip puree, roasted whole garlic head, potato pavé, red wine jus and bone marrow.
House specialties might include fresh produce and herbs that have been harvested from the restaurant’s onsite garden. Seafood lovers can rejoice in an abundance of options, including grilled octopus on sweet corn puree, and a dedicated raw bar section that includes seafood towers brimming with oysters, clams and palm-size cocktail prawns.
The classic carnitas taco takes a duck à l’orange spin, featuring confit duck legs instead of pork. It’s served with orange segments, red onion, serrano peppers, garlic crema and a chipotle cherry salsa.
Vegans and gluten-sensitive diners will find plenty to indulge in, including Caribbean jerk-marinated wild mushroom tacos, as part of the seasonal taco menu. Showstopping dishes include a 32-ounce, bone-in wagyu tomahawk that can be gilded with shaved black truffle. Some dishes are finished tableside.
Of the many desserts at Casa Madera, don’t miss the blanca y limon that fills a white chocolate shell with layers of lemon and strawberry ice cream on lemon cake that’s served with fresh strawberries, mint relish and lemon coulis.
The diverse beverage program taps into the same elemental theme, using premium tequilas, spirits and wines. In addition to an innovative spirit-forward cocktail program that uses seasonal ingredients, there’s an extensive non-alcoholic and low-proof selection.
550 Wellington St. W.
416-601-3593
thecasamadera.com
1hotels.com/toronto/taste/casa-madera
Clio Toronto
Clio is a private members’ club. With annual memberships ranging from $2,750 for locals to $4,000 (plus a $500 initiation fee) for international patrons, Clio offers a multi-level gathering place with a year-round calendar of events that’s tailored to its members’ tastes and interests.
Clio’s contemporary dining room offers members and their guests lavish takes on approachable cuisine in a plush environment
Taking over the former Spoke Club, Clio has transformed the brick-laden building’s garment factory shell into a hub that includes lounges, a contemporary art gallery, a cinema, a roof-top terrace and private-event spaces that are equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
The Galician-style octopus from Clio’s kitchen tops fingerling potatoes with tender Spanish octopus that’s finished with preserved lemon, capers, olives and paprika.
Clio’s snow crab claws are served with horseradish crème fraiche, chives and lemon on a bed of ice.
With an impressive art collection lining its walls, the restaurant is decked out with sumptuous booths and dangling chandeliers, as well as lounge-style seats flanking its marble bar. Members who are permitted to bring up to three guests can enjoy the ambiance that features a DJ most nights of the week.
Whole roasted and deboned branzino is served on cauliflower puree with almonds, salsa verde, lemon and apricot.
Serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and light bites seven days a week, the internationally inspired menu ranges from fritto misto and baby gem salad to a house burger and veal Milanese.
Clio’s rigatoni alla vodka coats hosemade rigatoni pasta with a lush sauce made from calabrese chili, San Marzano tomatoes, cream and then finishes the vegetarianfriendly course with Parmigiano Reggiano and basil.
For something a bit more luxe, there’s a seafood tower featuring East Coast oysters, snow crab claws, lobster, gulf shrimp and a daily crudo that can be gilded with caviar. There’s also a Tajima wagyu tenderloin or a Creekstone Farms tomahawk.
Classic key lime pie at Clio features a shortbread crust filled with key lime curd and topped with a silky torched meringue.
To drink, there are playful cocktails, from refreshing to boozy to alcohol-free, as well as a 200-label international wine list and plenty of spirits.
600 King St. W
416-368-8448
cliotoronto.com
Ration Food Lab
At Ration Food Lab, contemporary Canadian cuisine is explored through a seasonally driven tasting menu that employs modern, international techniques that are built on a foundation of zero waste. Using food procured through sustainable farming practices, such as wild foraged foods, the team harvests from local farm partners. The rest of Ration’s pantry is created from goods processed and made, including a vertical farm for microgreens, in the basement kitchen lab.
Ration’s long dining room stretches from a street-facing café through to a bar and back dining room. There’s also a rooftop patio that can accommodate 70.
Advertised as a 2½-hour dining experience, the $90 six-course tasting menu offers up an array of plates. The constantly changing parade of dishes caters to meat-eaters, pescatarians, gluten-free diners or vegans, and accommodates dietary restrictions.
It’s whole animal cooking that’s featured in the multi-component duck course which stars a koji-cured, 10-day dry-aged duck breast that’s served with grilled rapini, duck jus and a tasty paste that’s made from a master blend of 40 different fermented ingredients.
It’s whole animal cooking that’s featured in the multi-component duck course which stars a koji-cured, 10-day dry-aged duck breast that’s served with grilled rapini, duck jus and a tasty paste that’s made from a master blend of 40 different fermented ingredients.
Requiring less commitment, the à la carte menu draws from the tasting menu, plus features large-format protein dishes from the in-house butchery program. The latter includes Ration’s house-cured charcuterie that uses Lacombe pigs, the only heritage pork in Canada. The dining-room refrigeration also houses Canadian beef
that’s dry-aged for 120 to 128 days. There’s also a weekend brunch and a rooftop patio with a casual à la carte menu.
Katsuobushi cabbage course has become a signature dish. Featuring a wedge of seared cabbage that’s dressed in caper beurre blanc made from their sourdough bread ends, the course is finished with smoked breadcrumbs and grated house-cured, double-smoked katsuobushi.
Katsuobushi cabbage course has become a signature dish. Featuring a wedge of seared cabbage that’s dressed in caper beurre blanc made from their sourdough bread ends, the course is finished with smoked breadcrumbs and grated house-cured, double-smoked katsuobushi.
Imbibers should take note of the beverage program, which is taken just as seriously as the food. An adventurous wine list is filled with low intervention and biodynamic numbers from small producers. Besides unique, small-lot bottles, connoisseurs will also find classics, including Barolos peppered through out the menu.
The zero-waste philosophy is also practiced by the kitchen. The custom-crafted numbers might, for example, replace the use of Triple Sec in the Parsnip’arita with an orange salt rim that’s made from dehydrated candied orange rind, pith and salt that has similar flavour profiles.
The vegan chocolate and mushroom dessert features dark chocolate, mushroom caramel and dark chocolate tofu mousse, with crispy sweet fried enoki mushrooms roots.
Ration takes over the long main floor of Sonder at The Beverly, and shares its front space with Strange Love Coffee. Meant to evoke feelings of dining in an alleyway, the concrete-clad back dining room is custom decorated to resemble an urban jungle. A place for art and culture, the space also invites live music, art programming, including rotating art installations and local activations, which included biophilia, a light exhibit by Mad Cutter as part of the DesignTO Festival.
335 Queen St. W.
647-366-9206
instagram.com/ration.beverley
