Plating up the week’s restaurant news, featuring news on Bloke & 4th, Bulk Barn, Inigo, Stasis Preserves, and the Trump Tower’s Stock restaurant.
Openings
■ Bruda (492 College St., at Palmerston), which quickly opened in the space vacated by Carpano (formerly Negroni) last month, is now serving lunch and dinner. The menu is rather affordable, with most mains—gnocchi, pork tenderloin, Arctic char—under $20.
■ Stasis Preserves opened in early December at 476 Roncesvalles Ave. (at Dundas). The store stocks Ontario food goodies such as pickles, vinegars, honey, maple syrup and cheese, along with its own line of preserves, which currently includes a squash and lavender jam, onion chutney and apple pie in a jar.
■ Bulk Barn is boosting its downtown presence with a forthcoming location outside the College subway station. The store’s steel façade looks a lot more modern than the suburban Bulk Barns we’re used to. It’s scheduled to open on Dec. 19. Tubs of Cheetos and flour for all!
■ A new Loblaws at Queen and Portland (589 Queen St. W.) has opened to much less fanfare than the Maple Leaf Gardens location. It also has a giant cheese wall and in-house Ace Bakery.
■ The huge space that was once home to m:brgr (of $100 hamburger infamy) is now a fusion restaurant/nightclub (resto-club?) called Bloke & 4th. Opened last week, it’s jointly owned by local catering company The Food Dudes and club promoters Something & Monroe. According to the club’s Facebook page, it enforces a “style code.”
■ The Trump Tower’s Stock restaurant (325 Bay St., at Adelaide) is slated to open on Jan. 31. Judging from the website, it’s likely to be a steak and seafood house (no word on whether it will serve Trump Steaks). In the kitchen will be Oliver & Bonacini alum chef Todd Clarmo and pastry chef David Chow, formerly of The Drake Hotel. In the words of the Donald, “It’s gonna be huuuge!”
Closing
■ After an initial avalanche of good reviews and press attention, Trinity Bellwoods rotisserie and lunch spot Inigo (927 Queen St. W., at Strachan) has closed due to problems with its lease and, to a lesser extent, a lack of traffic.
