Note: they are still limiting their selections to restaurants located within the City of Toronto boundaries, so the North of Steeles folks are out of luck).
Stars or Bibs will be awarded to:
Alder
BB’s
FK
Kappo Sato
Kiin
Mimi Chinese
Parquet
Sunnys Chinese
The Wood Owl
Tiflisi
Vela
White Lily Diner
Ah, right about Frilu – but I think they are the sole exception. Unless I am mistaken, every other restaurant in the guide (including the 12 new ones) is within the 416 boundaries.
Having both Mimi and Sunny’s on here looks suspect.
I was turned off by Mimi’s social media person’s response when I asked for takeout from Mimi’s since I’m immune-compromised and cannot dine inside. She replied that I should I come dine inside and bring lots of family and friends.
A tone-deaf idiot who doesn’t understand customer service.
Alo understands that not every customer who wants to spend money on good food is able to dine indoors.
Kudos to the restaurants that make accommodations for their clientele.
….
I want to try Wood Owl.
Well, we have been to only 3 of these (4 if you count takeout from Sunny’s), so more options for our ever growing list. We’ve really liked Tiflisi and White Lily has been a nice neighbourhood option.
@Phoenikia There are plenty of places that offer great takeout aside from the ones that won’t. It’s their loss of your (and other’s) business.
Michelin listings are big business and it’s been widely reported of arrangements being been made with various Tourism Boards around the world (including Toronto and Vancouver) and private companies where Michelin is paid six-figure sums for the privilege having their restaurants to be reviewed by Michelin for set periods (e.g., 3 years).
In this context, it’s quite plausible then that Michelin may receive supplemental payments from particular restaurants to be featured as a Bib Gourmand or Recommended. Being able to advertise oneself as a Michelin restaurant has financial rewards & prestige, so there’s certainly incentive for restaurants to pay this “marketing expense.”
I have read interviews of someone stating that Toronto paid for its Michelin guide but I have never heard of restaurants paying to be included. Hiring consultants is one thing but paying to be included is something much more controversal. Are there any evidence to suggest that someone have paid for theirs?
I’m happy for the new additions to the list and also acknowledge the 1-star rating of restaurants in the city… if only to serve these chefs a piece of humble pie. Local critics and influencers tend to put them on a pedestal but if you put them against their international counterparts, you’d realize they’re actually quite far behind. I’d rather travel down south for a 2-star restaurant than to go to SMS. I sincerely hope this would encourage our local chefs to elevate their offerings. For example, some of the 1-star offerings down south would put Alo to shame.
The Michelin stars in Toronto are definitely inflated. As for Alo, I think their service and setting deserves a star but not their food, which is the most important part
The older I get, the more tired I am of conversations where people say that our best in Toronto isn’t as good as the best in Paris, Hong Kong or Tokyo.
Most of us live in Toronto. We don’t have the heat units Italy has. We don’t have the terroir France has. We don’t have the local seafood Japan, Spain, France, Hong Kong and Britain have.
I don’t even think Ontario has the personalities, staff, cooking schools, work environment or patron support that would create a restaurant that works like a 2 or 3 star restaurant in Slovenia or Denmark.
Let’s focus on our best. Less comparison and less ranking.
Enjoy what is good in Toronto for what it is and pass along the tips.
In my former life, I was lucky to travel a lot.
I ate at quite a few Michelin-starred restaurants.
I miss dining in NYC, London and Rome.
I won’t be travelling any time soon.
I don’t diss what people in Toronto consider the best or the up and coming Toronto Michelin Stars or Canada’s Best.
I think with any rating system, there are going to be inconsistencies because there are multiple evaluators (presumably). In other cities, we’ve been to one-stars that (to us) are not as good as Michelin-recommended but unstarred restaurants. For Toronto, there are unstarred restaurants (many Michelin-recommended) that we feel are as good if not better than some of the one-stars.
Whether or not the Michelin stars in Toronto are inflated can continue to be debated. I think it is overall a good thing for the Toronto restaurant scene to be on the Michelin map. It will generate more interest from both visitors and local residents to try different restaurants and judge for themselves.
I took a quick look at which restaurants are listed as one stars or bibs, and whatnot. There are quite a few places I don’t like much, for whatever reason. Sometimes, I don’t return to or recommend a restaurant because of my service experience, sometimes because I find the food uninspired, sometimes because it looks like a string was pulled for that restaurant to be listed.
Out of the 30 Bib restaurants listed as moderately-priced or affordable , I’ve dined at around 20. I’ve dined at around 15 of them twice or more.
2 are places I’ve visited a few times over the past 3 months: Bar Vendetta and Fonda Balam.
Enoteca Sociale’s patio closes this weekend. ( Enoteca will do take-out orders for people who call in orders, to be picked up early, before the dinner traffic starts)
I avoid or wouldn’t bother with maybe 5 of the midrange places that are listed.
Don’t even get me started on this!!..especially with the 'Chinese ’ addition of both Mimi and Sunny’s! A total joke IMHO. Clearly some of those inspectors have not spend any time eating chinese cuisine up north?! If they could include Frilu in their list, they should consider adding Chinese establishments north of the 401!
BTW, predicting Lucie to get at least a star in the next edition!
There will always be people who follow the guide and those who don’t.
It’s only the guide’s 2nd year in Toronto, and the restaurant listing certainly is not representative of the dining scene in the city. I’m sure it will continue to grow. I would love to see more representative of “Canadiana cuisine” and the inclusive of Indigenous cuisine in future editions.
But like it or not, the Michelin guide or any guide or any rating systems coming to Toronto is still good for business here. Toronto is broke. We need more tourists to help with the tourism and along with it the restaurant industry as well. LOL
What do you think about the inclusion of Mother’s Dumplings? Even white girl foodies like me have known that Mother’s is mediocre relative to other northern dumplings served in the GTA, since at least 2007.
To be more attractive, Michelin needs to move its coverage up to north of the 401 and out to the Niagara wine country by adding more worthy ’ foodie ’ establishments like Pearl Morissette and O’Mei to the little Red Book.
Also, Canada needs a ‘combined’ - Montreal + Quebec City guide! IMHO, more foodie destinations in La Belle Province than Toronto surrounds!
