65Celestin

*New review pending - Spring 2013

When Celestin’s chef/owner, Pascal Ribreau, left Toronto to make a TV show in France, he sold the restaurant to his sous-chef Ivan Tarazona — who was clearly well schooled by le maitre. The former CIBC bank building is a white tablecloth bastion of formal dining. Gastronomic Francophiles in the know love it for the careful classic French cuisine with just enough modern touches: ethereal gnocchi with fava beans in truffle foam … every day a different take on foie gras … It’s not enough to braise lamb perfectly; proving that nouvelle French food spans the world, the lamb must be with a marvellous risotto, roast garlic, merguez sausage, raisins and mint. Other combos are equally built on the twin pillars of invention and technique, for example sweetbread and scampi vol au vent. This is the French cooking of the future.