Yours Truly brings late-night snacks and an affordable four-course prix-fixe menu to Ossington
By Jon Sufrin
Ontario heirloom carrots with watercress (all images by: Riley Stewart)
When Dan Hawkins, Aleem Jamal-Kabani and Matt Cherkas — ex-Vancouverites, all of them — decided to invest in Toronto’s nightlife scene, the idea was to keep the focus on libations. That was, of course, until they found chef Jeff Claudio on Craiglist (don’t scoff: that’s where Jen Agg and Grant van Gameren met to set up a little place called The Black Hoof). The result is Yours Truly, a new restaurant that opened quietly on the still-hot Ossington strip in mid-December.
It’s not surprising that the three entrepreneurs decided to put their collective faith in Claudio, the bespectacled 28-year-old chef. His resume is impressive. He’s fresh off a stint as chef de cuisine at Scarpetta, and before that, he spent time in some of the best kitchens in the world, including Copenhagen’s Noma and NYC’s Per Se. He cites Canada’s legendary chef Bruno Marti as a mentor.
At Yours Truly, he and his crew are in charge of the restaurant’s crux: a continually changing four-course prix-fixe menu ($45 for meat, $35 for vegetarian). Currently, it features pork belly, sourced from Perth Pork Products, that’s slow-cooked in duck fat, pan seared and glazed with honey and whole grain mustard. In another dish, trout from Kolapore Springs is pan seared skin-on, then presented in a jar with mashed potatoes, crispy potato skins, potato chips and parsley stems. Chef Claudio usually sends out a few amuse-bouche additions as well, according to his fancy (when we were there, they included a potato leek soup, truffle-infused falafel balls and spinach leafs topped with whipped buttermilk, salt and rye breadcrumbs).
The prix-fixe is served until 10 p.m., but after that, the snack menu keeps going strong until closing time — and with items like pork ssam ($7) or a smørrebrød with pate, beef tongue and carrots ($7), any potential cab rides to 416 Snack Bar could be rendered moot. The drinks menu is anchored by a selection of cocktails — seven classics and six house-specialties ($9-$12) — along with a compact wine and beer list.
Kitchen staff hand-deliver all of the food, which is good, because the menu is intentionally vague to spark customer interaction. “It begs questions,” says co-owner Matt Cherkas.
The setting is suitably Ossington-esque: sanded barn boards line the walls, and owners picked up jackhammers to expose the original terrazzo flooring. Custom-built items from StroudFoot Inc. (Origin) dot the place, like laquered concrete tables and copper-haloed light fixtures.
Meanwhile, the stretch of Ossington continues to expand: signs of life are emerging from The Saint nearby, which has been papered up for years, and Amaya Express is set to open down the street. Not a bad time for three B.C. entrepreneurs to take on Toronto.
Yours Truly, 229 Ossington Ave., 416-533-2243
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