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Restaurant Comings & Goings


Last month, Muji arrived, and later this fall, the Dubai-based Tribes Hospitality Investment Group is debuting Noyaa, a 7,000-square-foot “restaurant nightlife venue”: that’s less dinner-and-a-playlist and more full-on spectacle. Think international DJs flown in to create the soundtrack for your entrée, pyrotechnic bursts timed to the bass, dancers weaving between tables and the occasional Greek-style plate-smashing ceremony—because why not?
 

While fusion—that once-dreaded culinary F word—is back in vogue, the new Indo-British restaurant opening this week inside Toronto’s Le Germain Hotel stands a little apart from the fad.

At Punch, executive chef Mandar Kulkarni (Le Sélect Bistro, Don Alfonso 1890, Buca Osteria and Bar) draws on his family’s recipes while also drawing attention to how London’s dining scene has long been shaped by its ties to India. Tradition sets the foundation, but imagination drives the menu, a collection of dishes inspired by both Indian aunties and British mums.
 

While the Financial District is packed with sleek destinations for power lunches and spendy tasting menus, Bar Filo is taking a different route, offering Italian small plates with a strong focus on cocktails and wine.

If the setting feels familiar, that’s because the space at Yonge and Temperance previously housed the Lost Land, a short-lived farm-to-table restaurant backed by considerable pedigree.

Chef Cesar Karanapakorn (Judaline, Florette) opened the Lost Land with Chicago’s two-Michelin-starred Oriole alum Larry Feldmeier and Pidapipo Gelato owner Edison Xue. The concept generated buzz but didn’t last long. This time around, Karanapakorn continues to lead the kitchen, but he’s reshaped the restaurant into something he hopes will stick. “We wanted to do more approachable food than what we were doing before,” he says. The interior remains mostly unchanged, but a new mural of a Venetian gondolier marks the adoption of la dolce vita.
 
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Name: Eloise
Contact: 42 The Esplanade, eloiserestaurant.ca, @eloisetoronto
Neighbourhood: St. Lawrence
Owners: Graham and Dan Hnatiw (Old Spaghetti Factory, Scotland Yard, Bar Cathedral)
Chef: Akhil Hajare (Alo, Alo Bar, Bangkok’s Gaggan)
Accessibility: Fully Accessible

For more than half a century, the Hnatiw name has been stitched into the fabric of Toronto’s dining scene via the Old Spaghetti Factory, that 54-year-old temple to red sauce on the Esplanade. Brothers Graham and Dan grew up in its glow. Like Drake, they started at the bottom—scraping gum, tightening chairs, sweating through shifts in the dish pit—before working their way up to bussing, serving and, eventually, managing the family restaurants.
 

On October 25, the Gladstone’s Melody Bar will get yet another reboot—this time as Cassette, a “retro-inspired restaurant and performance venue” promising a martini menu, diner-inspired food (pigs in blankets, burgers) and a monthly residency with Canada’s Drag Race alumna Tynomi Banks. It’s the hotel’s latest attempt to recapture the creative pulse that once made it the beating heart of West Queen West.
 
www.lilianatoronto.com

Liliana Toronto

Nestled in a cozy end of Queen St West, our restaurant invites you to enjoy comforting Italian dishes with unexpected flavours. Here, we serve more than just food—we serve experiences. Come for the fun, stay for the stories, laughter, and the good vibes that fill the room. Wipe the day off your boot
www.lilianatoronto.com www.lilianatoronto.com

Chef Marvin Palomo is gearing up to open his first solo restaurant this fall. After years cooking in kitchens from Hong Kong to Italy and a standout run at King West’s Vela, Palomo is ready to bring a deeply personal project to life—one that blends Italian technique with Asian influences.

The name Liliana honours one of Palomo’s most cherished mentors, who shaped his early career while he was completing a post-graduate culinary program at the celebrated but now-closed La Contea di Neive restaurant in Piedmont. “She took me under her wing when I was only 20 years old,” Palomo says. “It was a time of true mentorship in my career.”
 
evandyk said:
They seem to be adding a lot of locations recently. Did they get bought up by private equity?
Click to expand...
Yes, and the MAGA CEO was fired two years ago and they went back to being a generic apolitical business that's there to make money and avoid involvement in anything else.
 
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