Toronto dining really has it all. So says Bar Mordecai co-owner Christina Veira. “It sounds like such a cliché, but Toronto is such an amazing spot for dining because you can really have the best of all worlds, at all times, immediately,” she says. Her bar is in Little Portugal, and if you walked, say, from Dovercourt to Dufferin, she says, you would hit every kind of bar, restaurant and even a hotel, all in a five-minute walk. “I’m blessed to travel a lot for work, and I think that in other regions, the hospitality scene tends to fetishize singularity,” she says. “Here, it’s the opposite. I can have everything and have it all be excellent.” Now, Veira is adding something new to the city’s foodscape: a Valentine’s Day-themed pop-up bar. Bars and restaurants often treat Valentine’s Day as a soulless cash grab, offering overly structured prix-fixe menus and boring Champagne specials, Veira says, but their Bar Besos is the opposite. They’ve transformed their basement, with its four karaoke rooms and bar, into spaces themed around love as well as heartbreak. “We have silly glassware, but the drinks aren’t overly sweet or unbalanced,” she says. “Instead, everything is designed for comfort, joy and whimsy.”
Here are Veira’s own go-spots that bring her joy, year-round.
The weekend brunch
“Le Baratin, specifically the farçous which are these amazing French gluten-free pancakes. I would go way more often but they’re always busy and I hate taking up a solo table.”
The coffee stop
“Milky’s is the go-to for my dog and I on our morning walks. I’m personally obsessed with the flashbrew lemonade, which is a perfect drink and balance of the fruitiness of higher-acid coffee with lemon and sugar, but, to be honest, I’m a drip girlie. Runner-up is Loveless Café, which is on point with the treats for doggos.”
Next on her list
“Lake Inez. Every time I try to go, something happens, but one day I will make it work. I’m always excited to read their weekly menu posts, which are also allergy-friendly. The Instagram stays just slightly deranged. Their ethos stays deeply original.”
The last best thing she ate
“I recently went to Le Swan, which has a pretty bread-forward menu. I have a gluten intolerance, so the server suggested that they could make me the hot chicken sandwich without the bread but with mashed potatoes. Was it delicious? Yes. Was I somewhat convinced that it’s the same meal a picky five-year-old would have ordered? Yes. Would order again.”
The fancy dinner spot
“I’m currently on the search for my next favourite steakhouse in Toronto. Weirdly, I think steakhouses live and die by their sides. One non-negotiable I have is an amazing creamed spinach.”
The comfort food
“Always Jamaican food. Spotlight Caribbean Kitchen in Etobicoke is a tiny Jamaican spot right by the church I used to go to growing up. They’re one of the only places that always has the deep cuts when I go, things like cow foot or tripe. But, if I’m really wallowing, if I can find delivery breakfast: ackee and salt fish, cornmeal porridge and mackerel rights my soul, even with the $8 delivery fee.”
The hidden gem
“Gonzo Izakaya. You know when something is a block away from your house but you never walk in that direction? Gonzo is a perfectly cute and delicious izakaya right at College and Dovercourt.”
The late-night craving
“As part of the opening team of 416 Snack Bar, I feel like I’m contractually obligated to always vote for them. But, aside from them, I would vote for a classic Owl of Minerva or Lim Ga Ne experience in Koreatown.”
