Restaurant Update: Loka, Libretto, Saucy Pierogi and Maker Pizza all open

Restaurant news and openings have picked up to a hectic pace as chefs and owners try to get everything set before the holiday crush of December.

Just Opened

  • The biggest opening of the week was Dave Mottershall’s Loka.
  • Word came via Facebook that the Pizzeria Libretto at 545 King St. W. has opened. It is the sister restaurant for the Porchetta & Co. shop that opened earlier this month. [Facebook]
  • The Saucy Pierogi has opened at 1282 Dundas St. W. Look for a menu of classics like schnitzel and eponymous dumplings.
  • Shlomo Buchler (ex FBI Pizza) has opened Maker Pizza, near Queen and Spadina. Apparently, he had help from Matty Matheson in designing the menu.

Coming Soon

  • Chabrol, the Yorkville-based, French-themed project from the co-owners of Cava, is in the final stretches of preparing to open. 
  • Jamie’s Italian Toronto is getting close to opening and has set the first week of December aside for preview meals. 

Restaurant Coverage

  • As far as I can tell, the restaurant industry circa 2015 is a series of drawn-out experiments testing whether or not it’s worthwhile to try selling any food other than fried chicken. Brando’s Fried Chicken, the wildly successful popup by Brandon Olsen, is one more argument that nothing sells better than the dredged and deep-fried.
  • Karolyne Ellacott had a lunch pick this week that, honestly, is more about weekend brunch, but when it’s the feijoada at Mata Bar, we won’t quibble about details.
  • In the new restaurant department we also had a First Look at Antler
  • From her restaurant review, it’s pretty clear that Joanne Kates felt let down by Kasa Moto.
  • In the same general spirit as a fried chicken popup Toronto also got its first Kickstarter-funded restaurant this week. Jason Finestone had our First Look at Loka.
  • This month’s Too Close to Call was a fun opportunity to dig into some of the details behind Descendant and North of Brooklyn, two Toronto pizzerias with a US connection.
  • Markham is to Toronto as Toronto is to New York City and in the case of restaurants that means the tapas craze has hit the 905. Suresh Doss has our First Look at Tapagria.

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