An alumnus of celebrated Toronto establishments like La Banane, Bar Isabel and The Black Hoof, chocolatier Olsen built CXBO into a local Kensington Market favourite almost as soon as it opened its doors in 2016, turning out visually stunning bonbons, truffles and chocolate bars. Then came 2020: the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic forced […]
Tanghulu Tanghulu made shockwaves across Toronto when it opened in 2024, riding a wave of online buzz around the candied-fruit-on-a-stick treat straight to seven locations in under two years and more than 20,000 Instagram followers. Now, the Queen and John location that started it all has quietly closed. Don’t panic, though — the chain’s presence […]
When chef Hemant Bhagwani unveiled his latest Little Italy restaurant concept in spring 2025, it left diners with plenty of question marks. Called Oro Luxury Dining, Bhagwani described the idea in television terms: the restaurant would shapeshift by “season,” with entirely new menus rotating in as “episodes.” It was an ambitious, unusual pitch — and, […]
Some Toronto restaurants build a following through subtlety. The Fancy Induced Burger — TFIB, to regulars — has never had any interest in that approach. Perched at the southeast corner of Bloor and Bathurst, in the space that once housed FatBurger, TFIB has been impossible to miss since 2024, thanks to an electric purple sign […]
Peter Catarino has spent his career building loyal followings uptown, first with Spuntini and later EVOO on Avenue Road. His newest project, Y Not Italian Food-Bar, takes that experience and plants it squarely at the intersection of Little Italy and Little Portugal — a corner of the city with plenty of culinary heritage to live […]
Ontario’s Vietnamese food scene has had one name on everyone’s lips for the past year, and it isn’t based anywhere near downtown Toronto — until now. Banh Mi Nana, the Thornhill banh mi shop that sold through 2,000 sandwiches on its opening day alone in summer 2025, is the creation of the family behind Markham […]
Toronto’s food mashup era shows no signs of slowing down, and the latest crossover might be the most unexpected yet: burger omakase. At Friday Burger Company on the Danforth, chef Joe Friday has quietly launched a multi-course, chef-crafted tasting menu built entirely around burgers — borrowing the format of a traditional Japanese omakase (typically ten-plus […]
Sunny’s Chinese has built its reputation on punchy, regionally rooted Chinese cooking. This summer, the Kensington Market restaurant is putting that reputation to the test by handing the reins to a rotating cast of some of the city’s most respected chefs for a four-part barbecue lunch series, presented by Dillon’s Distillery. Each installment pairs Sunny’s […]
When Uncle Pete’s announced its closure back in April, it felt like the end of an era for a business that had barely had time to build one. The focaccia-based Italian sandwich shop opened in Kensington Market in August 2025 and became an instant sensation, only to hit a wall on leases and renewals less […]
Mapo Korean BBQ has quietly become something of a Blue Jays institution. The original Bloor Street West location’s cabinet of team memorabilia — autographed balls, polaroids, and signed items from players past and present — is proof of a genuine, years-long connection between the restaurant and the ballclub, with names like Kazuma Okamoto and Kevin […]