New Additions to MICHELIN Guide Toronto August 2023

Alder
Cuisine: Mediterranean

The stylish Ace hotel scored big when the industrious Chef Patrick Kriss moved into the ground level. The restaurant is a cool mix of dark brick floors, sleek wood finishes and large windows that usher in radiant beams of sunlight. And true to everything that the Alo Food Group does, expect a serious kitchen brigade and equally serious cooking. There’s a lot to like on this Mediterranean menu. Beef carpaccio is a crowd-pleaser, while the cucumber salad is a sleeper hit festooned with shaved fennel, dukkah, and hazelnuts. Stacks of firewood in the dining room is a clue to hone-in on proteins like roast chicken, Australian lamb, and a bone-in strip loin. Dessert is a must, especially if the astoundingly light coconut cream pie is still around.

BB's
Cuisine: Filipino

Start your morning or fire up your evening at this groovy Filipino diner bursting with color and coolness. Sea foam green tile, pink booths and turquoise stools set the stage for a hangout that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Brunch is a treat, featuring puffy-fried Adobo-fried chicken paired with pineapple habanero hot sauce. The wonderfully sour braised pork loin soup will ward off the longest nights and the coldest winters. Dinner is a different speed. The cocktail bar comes alive, and the kitchen trades in Japanese milkbread French Toast for classic pancit with chili oil, chicken liver mousse and calamansi pie with orange blossom meringue. With a come-as-you-are vibe, this charming restaurant is a welcome winner in Parkdale.

FK
Cuisine: Contemporary 

In a sun-drenched space that could pass for a precious tearoom, this neighborhood gem is a reliable crowd-pleaser. Colorful, market-driven cooking starts with excellent, crusty house bread made with garlic scapes, sundried tomatoes, olives or whatever else the chef has in mind. Are soft shell crabs in season? Is it time for morels? Such questions are front of mind for this honest kitchen, which doesn’t get too fussy with the cooking. Familiar flavors ring true in hearty entrees like the meltingly tender Cornish hen brushed in a smoky-sweet barbecue sauce. Fresh pasta, like the braised oxtail tortellini, conveniently comes in appetizer portions. The pacing here can be a bit leisurely, but when the food is this satisfying, what’s the hurry?

Kappo Sato
Cuisine: Japanese

Unlike the quiet ceremony of a sushi omakase or the formal structure of a kaiseki, this free-wheeling tasting is driven solely by Chef Takeshi Sato, who swims in familiar culinary waters on his own terms. To be clear, this counter situated along the entire open kitchen is no Zen temple. The room is a constant blur of motion thanks to a young team that hurries about preparing multiple courses at once. Sato is their seasoned guide, as he moves with intention, ever masterful with a knife, and works with an impressive bounty of ingredients, most of which are flown in from Japan. Soulful dashi broths weave in and out of view alongside clever courses like tempura fried mackerel with shiso or seared toro nigiri with Japanese green onions.

Kiin
Cuisine: Thai

Chef Nuit Regular returns with her elaborate, one-of-a-kind vision of royal Thai cuisine. The elegant space is a prime setting for equally elegant dishes, which are presented with flair. Colorful mounds of rice, pineapple and dumplings shaped like flowers, and so much more arrive in petite forms in small bowls and on large platters. The dishes themselves will ring familiar, from Isan-style sausage and larb to hot and sour beef soup and the famed khao soi, all of it seasoned and spiced in a measured manner. The tender Boombai short rib glossed in a dark curry is a particular standout. First-timers should start with the signature chef’s tasting, which nearly covers the entire menu alongside a few bonus dishes.

Mimi Chinese
Cuisine: Chinese

Lipstick red banquettes and servers fitted in sharp suits make for a different kind of Chinese restaurant. Unlike the homestyle comforts and flavors of its sibling Sunnys, this Yorkville looker pulls in an equally gussied-up crowd out for an upscale evening. The kitchen takes regional classics and spins them with just enough style. The shrimp toast, brilliantly made with fried bread and a hot mustard mayo, is worth a visit alone, but don't miss out on the scallop crudo with fried donut and that soulful soy broth. Spice-hounds will be all over the Hunan chili sea bass, and someone should probably order the picturesque “four foot belt noodle.” There’s plenty to drink too, with sharp cocktails and a thorough selection of baijiu.

Parquet
Cuisine: French

French bistros can be predictable affairs, but this neighborhood corner in Harbord Village takes a wonderfully refreshing approach. One could spend all day taking in the design: The marble bar is a worthy perch for admiring the gorgeous, patterned floors, forest-green ceiling and stylish, wood-paneled walls. And that patio – it’s a summer oasis. The cooking, meanwhile, hits all the right marks, and feels unquestionably French in its richness and satisfaction. Who knew that mushroom beignets could be so light and pair so well with lime and pepper sauce? One could make a meal out of the roasted cauliflower with cumin vinaigrette and puffed chickpeas. Cassoulet with duck confit and steak frites with béarnaise are proper classics.

Sunnys Chinese
Cuisine: Chinese

In the belly of Kensington Market, down a hallway that nearly looks like a dead-end, you will find the door to this high-energy hotspot. There’s no turning back, as the packed-out room is constantly buzzing with groups huddled around Chinese homestyle dishes pulled from Sichuan to Guangdong. Spicy, fiery, crispy, smoky – the high-wattage cooking is a total delight, as the kitchen pulls no punches at every possible junction. Tripe and beef shank coated in chili oil is a good start before launching into the charred silver needle noodles. Best of all might be the grilled chicken thigh coated in cumin, chili and pepper. To finish, the crispy Hong Kong French Toast with black sesame jam and oolong condensed milk short-circuits all manner of restraint.

The Wood Owl
Cuisine: Contemporary

This quaint, wooden shoebox is a welcome retreat in Danforth. Wine bottles line the perimeter of a room that has a pleasant sepia tint. In fact, there’s no pretense at all here, which in part is what makes this restaurant so appealing. The menu is small, nothing extravagant or overly complicated, and offers far more vegetables than one might expect from a wine bar (adobo roasted carrots with green goddess, anyone?). Beef, though, is still very much welcome at the table, highlighted as a weekly special, usually paired with a superb tangle of shoestring French fries. With or without a reservation, you should take a seat, order the fried polenta cakes with romesco and boquerones, and relish in the ease of a place that gets all the little details right.

Tiflisi
Cuisine: Central Asian

East of downtown Toronto in Beaches, the Pkhakadze family delivers some of the city’s best and brightest Georgian cooking. Portions are built to share so bring a friend or two. The cold leek pkhali salad bound in a light walnut sauce is a vibrantly green beginning and especially essential before the Acharuli khachapuri arrives. A celebration of carbs and dairy, this stretch of fluffy bread cradles a pool of melted cheese topped with butter and an egg yolk. There’s more on the way: Large lamb khinkali with warm broth and long skewers of juicy kebabs topped with fried potatoes. Without question, this is hearty food, seasoned beautifully, prepared with care and radiating with all the comforts of home, wherever that may be.

Vela
Cuisine: American

With exposed white brick, a bar that goes on and on, and lights swirled into a sloped ceiling, this cool-kids restaurant has wide appeal. There is certainly seating for all occasions: white banquettes in the back, an up-close chef’s counter and plenty of tables in between. By design, the menu has faint Asian touches but is otherwise broad in its selection of seafood, pastas, steaks and vegetables. The results? Surprisingly dialed-in, largely thanks to a kitchen that makes as much as it can in-house. Highlights include cod with beurre blanc and chili crisp and, for dessert, a sugar-crusted profiterole filled with miso dulce de leche mousse and mascarpone cremeaux. Live music throughout the week will either attract or deter, depending on your mood.

White Lily Diner
Cuisine: Creative

Old school diners are rare creatures these days, but ones that smoke their own bacon, make their own biscuits and donuts, bottle their own hot sauce and grow their own vegetables? Even rarer. A culinary unicorn, this bright yellow nook sets the standard not just for diners but for any restaurant that aspires to serve both people and planet. While also partnering with local farms, husband-and-wife team Ben Denham and Ashley Lloyd live on their 10-acre farm in Uxbridge, which supplies a handful of restaurants and a CSA. Breakfast is the main draw, but guests are happy at any hour of the day. Verdant green salads, fantastic sandwiches on homemade bread, and a stunningly light hash brown make for a grand meal that gets all the details just right.

Hero image: Jonathan Friedman/Vela