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enRoute names Bar Isabel “Best New Restaurant”
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1. 1. Grant van Gameren. Right: Dishes from 2. The Acorn. 3. Bar Isabel. 4. Fogo Island Inn. Photos by John Cullen, courtesy of Air Canada’s enRoute magazine.
TORONTO—Air Canada’s in-flight magazine enRoute announced the Top 10 list of Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2013 and the inaugural winner of the People’s Choice Award on Oct. 24. Toronto’s Bar Isabel topped the list, while the people’s choice went to mobile restaurant Vij’s Railway Express in Vancouver, owned by chef Vikram Vij. Food writer Andrew Braithwaite travelled from Vancouver Island to Fogo Island to evaluate the 35 new restaurants shortlisted.
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The following are enRoute’s Top 10 restaurants and what Braithwaite said about them: 1. Bar Isabel, Toronto: “Looks, feels and tastes vaguely Castilian but does far more than ape a menu straight out of Madrid.” 2. Shoto, Toronto: “A storybook of a tasting menu, with all the typical annoying bits—the repetition of ingredients, the showy caprice, the monotonous pacing—smartly edited out.” 3. Fogo Island Inn, Joe Batt’s Arm, Newfoundland and Labrador:
“There’s a terrific survivalist spirit bursting out of chef [Murray] McDonald’s kitchen, where most everything is made from scratch.” 4. Supply and Demand, Ottawa: “It’s not supposed to be this easy for a first-timer...you notice all the little things that rookies Steve and Jennifer Wall are getting so right.” 5. Pidgin, Vancouver: “The cuisine of Winnipeg-born chef [Makoto] Ono, who ran restaurants in Beijing and Hong Kong, draws from multiple languages.” 6. Carino Japanese Bistro, Calgary: “A Japanese-Italian wine bar that defies logic in the most wonderful ways.” 7. Maison Publique, Montreal: “A mere 250 years after the Treaty of Paris, cooking Anglo food in Montreal is cool again.” 8. Le Bouchon du Pied Bleu, Quebec City: “One of the most convivial, playful, unabashedly fun dining experiences I’ve had anywhere in North America.” 9. The Acorn, Vancouver: “That the food is meatless is almost beside the point unless you’re a foodie vegetarian who’s long hankered for a compromise-free night on the town.” 10. Electric Mud, Toronto: “Electric Mud is a twisted hymn to the American South.” “We’re very proud of the strong regional representation from coast to coast this year,” said Ilana Weitzman, editor-in-chief of enRoute in a release. “And I love that the People’s Choice Award went to a food truck from one of this country’s great chefs.”
Taco takeover in north Toronto TORONTO—Estrella Taqueria, a 300-seat eatery specializing in tacos, bourbon and tequila opened in Toronto’s Yonge/Sheppard neighbourhood in early November. “We want to bring downtown uptown,” owner and general manager Otta Zapatocky told ORN. Modelled on Chicago’s influential Big Star taqueria, Estrella serves about half a dozen tacos (pork with pineapple, chicken tinga and braised pork belly) and nachos topped with the taco filling options as well as other meats (duck confit, for example). Also expected on the Mexicaninfluenced menu were tortilla soup and queso fundido cheese dip starters, along with specials such as grilled skirt steak and shrimp sautéed with chili, lime and garlic. The executive chef is Jeremy Dyer, former head chef of Toronto’s L.A.B. restaurant and, for about 18 months prior to Estrella’s launch, executive chef at L’Avenue Bistro, also owned by Zapatocky. Tacos are priced between $4 and $6 and the average check is expected to be about $20 per person, said Zapatocky, who was the opening manager and sommelier for Toronto’s Nota Bene restaurant. Desserts may include churros and ice cream made in house with dulce de leche and poblano pepper flavours. Making up the taqueria’s beverage component are 30 bourbons and
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30 tequilas along with mixed drinks based on those spirits ($7 to $14). Scott Avery, former bartender at Toronto’s Barchef, is in charge of the cocktail program. A certified sommelier, Zapatocky curates a wine list expected to feature 60 Spanish, Portuguese and South American labels, with bottles priced $35 to $60 and a small selection of premium labels priced as high as $400. Ten wines (five reds and five whites) are available by the glass, priced around $7. At least 10 craft brews will be available on tap and 15 to 20 bottled offerings are planned from European, Ontario and Mexican labels. Estrella, which operates in the 6,000-square-foot space previously occupied by Smokey Joe’s Café, features imagery based on Mexico’s Dia de Los Muertos: skulls, flowers, bison skulls, said Zapatocky. Reclaimed items such as vintage liquor signs also adorn the room. Seating includes stools, booths and banquettes and, in the lounge, couches and loveseats. A rooftop patio features 130 seats, augmenting the dining room’s 200. He added that expansion is possible, as is another four to five locations, each with its own look, in areas such as Oakville, Vaughan and Brampton. 4899 Yonge St., Toronto. (416) 2221500, www.estrellataqueria.ca, @estrellataco.