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Restaurant Comings & Goings


Two things have a serious choke hold on Toronto’s food scene: sentimentality and sandwiches. Grandma Loves You, a family-run sandwich counter, has built a mini empire on both. On February 21 at noon, the chain is opening its sixth location at King and Strachan, and to celebrate, they’re giving away a slew of sandwiches—210 of them, to be exact—after a stately ribbon-cutting ceremony.
 

For a few days now, the local Drizzerati have been buzzing—make that hooting—after posters teasing a collab between Drake’s OVO label and McDonald’s were plastered all over the city. “Night Owls Land Here” reads the cryptic tagline, sending speculation into overdrive: What ballers-only menu item might the Six God bestow on his loyal subjects? Was McDonald’s about to add Ace of Spades to its fountain drink offerings?
 

When Pizzeria Libretto opened on Ossington way back in 2008, you had to fight for your life to get a table. Known for popularizing Neapolitan-style pizza in Toronto (hello, you sexy, soft, wood-fired crust, you), Libretto quickly expanded, opening three other locations. But, with the shifting economic winds and the neighbourhood’s changing vibes, executive chef and co-owner Rocco Agostino is taking his first-born baby in a different direction by rebranding the spot as Bar Libretto.
 
Name: Liliana
Contact: 1198 Queen St. W., lilianatoronto.com, @lilianarestaurant
Neighbourhood: Little Portugal
Previously: J’s Steak Frites
Owners: Marvin Palomo and Cole Diamond
Chef: Marvin Palomo (Vela)
Accessibility: Not fully accessible; washrooms down a flight of stairs

After a fire forced the closure of Vela last year, chef Marvin Palomo—and most of his kitchen team from the King West hotspot—landed at Liliana, Palomo’s new restaurant inside the cozy 30-seat room that previously housed Dandylion and J’s Steak Frites. “It’s special to be back doing this together again so soon,” Palomo says.

The restaurant is named for a late mentor who shaped Palomo’s approach to cooking during his postgraduate stint in Piedmont, Italy. The menu is Italian, but Palomo’s Filipino heritage and subsequent years spent working in Hong Kong kitchens pull it in other directions, with ingredients like miso, furikake and black sesame turning up in dish after dish.
 
artyboy123 said:

For a few days now, the local Drizzerati have been buzzing—make that hooting—after posters teasing a collab between Drake’s OVO label and McDonald’s were plastered all over the city. “Night Owls Land Here” reads the cryptic tagline, sending speculation into overdrive: What ballers-only menu item might the Six God bestow on his loyal subjects? Was McDonald’s about to add Ace of Spades to its fountain drink offerings?
Click to expand...
Drake has poisoned his own brand
 

I highly recommend this private dining experience and It was pretty memorable and food was delicious!

The sort-of secret: Spike’s Table, a six-seat private restaurant with no menu. You may have heard of it if: You’re a diehard fan of Blackbird Baking Co. or a member of the “I am a Leslievillian!" Facebook pageBut you probably haven’t tried it because: It’s a hidden gem in the east end

You wouldn’t necessarily expect to find a chef’s dinner series in the same building as a graffiti-covered cannabis shop—and cooked by the owner of the Instagram handle @spikey.licious, no less. But, as visitors head inside Spike’s Table, a clandestine six-seater run by chef Spike Nath, those skunky wafts of sativa out front quickly give way to the more delicious aromas of browned butter and simmering jus.
 
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