Greater Toronto Closures of 2026 [Greater Toronto Area] [Toronto]

Nami is closing. The final meal will be on March 7, 2026.

https://www.insauga.com/closure-one-of-the-oldest-japanese-restaurants-in-canada-is-shutting-down/

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Wait, foodpr0n is local?

Yep. She was jlunar on Chowhound. I met her and Renée Suen on March 17, 2007. We went for dim sum. They were both posting on eGullet back then.

Doh! I realised I was following foodporn instead. I think it’s my time for reading glasses. :laughing:

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That one hurts.

Went to Jumbo Empanadas, possibly for the last time. Everything remains awesome The beef empanada [left] is sweetened with raisins and features portions of boiled egg. The chicken empanada [right] is moist and rich in flavour. The cheese empanada [middle] is simple and thus a great vehicle for the salsa fresca, with its gentle kick and fresh cilantro. All are within the same bready-wrapping, with toasty notes from the oven. The fabulous corn pie remains a wonderful collision of the above two meats covered in a layer of sweet, semi-pureed corn. Alas, due to one of the employees being home with a sick child, they weren’t able to make their equally wondeful vegetable empanada (full of spinach and mushrooms) and the tamale-adjacent humitas. We’ll try to go back again for those. We took repeats of everything else home for a subsequent meal.


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I am glad you made it :slight_smile:

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Yes BlogTo should generally be read with some scepticism lol.

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lol.

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Chef Mustafa on to Danforth has closed I found out the hard way as ordered a delivery to no avail. Luckily the original Mustafa restaurant on Wilson is still open and so is Pizza pide where Mustafa started.

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I think Dave will figure out a new business plan that works better for him!

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Went back to Jumbo Empanadas and this time they had both the vegetable empanadas and the humitas. The empanadas are filled with spinach, mushrooms, and a pesto-like puree of basil. The humitas are steamed packets of sweet corn that go well with their salsa. If this is the last time we eat her stuff, we have now covered all of her wares.



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My friend told me the chef at Lucie is moving back to France in May.

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Yes, I think I noted this development last month in the French Food in Toronto discussion thread. Not a ‘closure’ per se but will be interested to see what Yannick Bigourdan will do with “a refreshed concept and a more approachable vision” - thinking cheaper a la carte bistro, less Michelin-star aiming tasting menu.

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Sorry to repeat what you posted. I knew the news sounded familiar.

Maybe it’s familiar because you replied to my post!

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lol. probably! lol

Now I’m wondering if Lucie 2.0 will serve a good burger. :rofl:

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This trend of closing and refreshing with a more approachable menu perks my interest. Off the top of my head, I think Mimi Chinese also recently did that. Are Toronto diners tastes getting less adventurous? Hopefully we don’t get to place where there’s the approachable food on one hand, the adventurous expensive restaurants which require a patron to survive on the other, and few in the middle. I certainly do not want to pay Lucie’s or Mimi’s previous prices for approachable food. BTW, I never really felt Lucie’s environment unapproachable. It felt like a bistro with higher end finishes to me but not unapproachable.

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