Where Chefs Eat
Where Chefs Eat is a weekly series that asks Toronto chefs and restaurant owners to name their favourite places to dine in the city: where they go for everything from weekend brunch to late-night cravings, fancy dinners to dessert.
This week’s chef: Adrian Ravinsky, owner of 416 Snack Bar.
Known for: 416 Snack Bar is known for its adventurous variety, legendary favourites and finger-food only policy.
There is always more to explore here in the Toronto culinary scene. 416 Snack Bar owner Adrian Ravinsky sticks to the west end, mainly, given that he lives and works there, but once he’s exhausted his usual spots, the world awaits. “We can go to the east side, we can go to St. Clair, where I grew up, and we can go to any of the food-rich inner suburbs and end up finding something wicked,” he says. “With an open mind and a Presto card, bike or willingness to sit in traffic, the options are endless.”
The options are endless at Ravinsky’s own establishment, given how adventurous the team is in adding new delicious treats to the menu alongside many legendary faves, from the reuben and eggplant double-down to the spicy tuna handroll and steamed buns. (And yes, they’re still open seven days a week, with full menu available until 2 a.m. every day.)
Fourteen years after opening, Ravinsky is just as dedicated to their no-cutlery policy, too; guests don’t usually mind, given how fun the hands-on vibe is. “Who doesn’t enjoy popping into the fridge, grabbing something tasty and having a couple cheeky bites? Snacking is the best,” he says. “Eating with your hands: the way of our childhoods and the way of the future. Not having cutlery does annoy a small cohort of guests, but it’s how we keep things genuinely snacky. They can bring a spork.”
Here, Ravinsky shares the places he makes a pilgrimage to when he’s feeling particularly snacky himself.
Barbershop Patisserie, 859 College St.
barbershop
“The lemon bichon? That thing is insane. My understanding is that they take day-old croissants, roll them flat and then bake them again in lemon glaze. This process might be totally wrong, but the result is a buttery, crunchy, lemony delight, and a creative way to reduce wastefulness if I am right about that, which I love.”
Wang Lang, 669 King St. W.
wan lang
“We don’t really eat on King Street because 90 per cent of what’s there is not what we’re into, but WL is technically just off the beaten path. It’s associated with Som Tum Jinda (also very, very, very good) and Koh Lipe, which seems to get all the shine, but Wang Lang’s Bangkok-market-style Thai is the best of the three. The pomelo salad and lemongrass salad side-by-side, or combined? Absolute fire.”
Electric Piggy, 8384 Woodbine Ave.
piggy
“As dedicated as I am to regional specificity when it comes to dining, I really love when immigrants from one place adapt their own cuisine in their new home to make something altogether new and amazing. Electric Piggy not only takes what the Vietnamese community of Houston has done and mashed their fish sauce-, chili-, and umami-laden dishes with the low and slow smoke of Texas barbecue, but they also paid homage with their name to the excellent Electric Mud BBQ (formerly of Parkdale, RIP) and they aren’t sheepish about mentioning it. I love a new spot paying homage to a restaurant of consequence while replicating an amazing result of human migration…then bringing it here. And concept aside, there isn’t a dish on the menu that won’t get you excited — if you’re lucky, they’ll bring a gigantic beef bone to the table that’s got meat bits on it after sitting in their pho broth for hours.”
edulis
“There’s really only one place I’ve wanted to celebrate at over the past decade: Edulis. Tobey and Michael Nemeth only get better at what they do, which is supremely crafted, Basque-hearted, Spanish and French cooking. I’ve taken inspiration from his rooftop pepper growing (he dries and smokes them to make some of the best chorizo you’ll find absolutely anywhere) and grown my own on the roof of 416 to make our Verdita de la Muerte sauce. But yes, Edulis absolutely rules and I cannot wait for them to get their second star.”
Mystic Muffin, 113 Jarvis St.
muffin
“On a run today, I saw someone wearing a Mystic Muffin T-shirt, which reminded me of my own Mystic Muffin T-shirt, which reminded me that I haven’t gone to get lunch at Mystic Muffin in a while. The owner is an amazing guy, and his takeout lunch foods are all hearty, healthy and craveable. You might have noticed their sign mentioning apple cake when getting off the Gardiner onto Richmond (“must be legal eating age…and never convicted”) and trust me: it’s nuts. He once told me that around Christmas he can sell sixty whole pans a day.”
Porzia’s, 319A Oakwood Ave.
porzia’s
“A second RIP to Country Style and their chicken paprikash, which used to remind me of going to see Grandma at Baycrest uptown (we would pick up). Nowadays if I’m feeling glum, the first thing that comes to mind is the absolute slab of a brick of a piece of lasagna from Porzia’s on Oakwood.”
union
“Union absolutely never fails. The only hard thing is trying to convince my partner to share pancakes with me to balance our savoury plates — and she isn’t a sweets-at-breakfast kinda gal.”
Lisbon Hotel, 19 Lawren Harris Square
lisbon
“One very fine beverage I find myself thinking about is the Lobby Spritz. It’s a big-ass refresher made from the toastiest house coconut limoncello, fresh citrus and sparkling wine: very hard to keep from spontaneously evaporating.”
Linny’s, 176 Ossington Ave.
linnys
“David Schwartz makes good restaurants and we’ve yet to try Linny’s. It rides that line between moody and old-school and total elegance, with contemporary touches. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll get to go there for my birthday (hint, hint).”
Sakai Bar, 1576 Dundas St. W.
sakai
“Sitting at Stuart Sakai’s bar is a serious treat. An unbelievable range of traditional and creative Japanese plates that is both high-value and high-execution, especially if you see the kitchen they work out of. You really should sit at the bar: they’ll pair dishes with wild sakes and do service that is at once utterly professional and as down-to-earth as the restaurant’s namesake guy.”
