When did you last walk Scollard Street for a reason other than cutting through? This fall gives Yorkville residents a few new ones. Most of the openings since September are on the side streets north of Yorkville Avenue and along Avenue Road. They're small, and several are tucked out of sight: a 12-seat counter, a Greek market with a back garden, a sandwich counter inside a food hall, and a wine room up two flights of stairs. On Saturday, November 21, the neighbourhood's holiday season starts on those same blocks, in the Village of Yorkville Park and along Cumberland Street.
The Bloor Street flagships still fill the windows. To find what's actually new in Yorkville this November, walk one block north.
Scollard Street gets a Greek market with a garden
Agora opened at 105 Scollard St. in late September. It's the casual Greek market from Mamakas Food Group, the team behind the restaurant on Queen Street West. Toronto.com reported an official opening date of September 24. The menu is built on freshly baked pita, house-made dips, souvlaki and salads. There are 40 dine-in seats, plus an outdoor area the group calls its back "secret garden."
Longtime residents will know the address. It was the Scollard Street Diner, and Toronto.com reported that the diner's operator approached the Mamakas team about taking over the space. So the room has passed from one neighbourhood operator to another. It's a grab-and-go format with enough seats to stay, which suits the hour between a Scollard Street errand and dinner.
Cumberland Street gets the most ambitious room
A few minutes east, Yakitori Momiji has opened at 156 Cumberland St. Chef Masaki Saito, who is behind the Michelin-starred Sushi Masaki Saito as well as MSSM and Ramen Tabetai, partnered with chef Takuma Mukouzaka on it. Streets of Toronto's October 13 report describes a fifteen-course yakitori tasting menu at $248, served at a wood-lined counter with 12 seats facing the grill.
The number that explains the price is sixteen. According to Streets of Toronto, conventional chicken is raised for a few weeks. The heritage breed at Momiji is raised for 16 weeks on a farm near London, Ontario, on a largely rice-based diet. The two chefs spent two years working with that farm on Japanese poultry-raising techniques. Each cut is grilled over binchotan charcoal imported from Japan, and thigh, heart, skin and neck are each treated as a separate texture. Mukouzaka trained at the Tsuji Culinary School and spent five years at a Michelin-starred yakitori restaurant in Osaka.
The name means "Japanese maple leaf," a nod to the restaurant's Toronto home. With twelve seats, this is a dinner to book ahead.
Yorkville Avenue, relaunched rather than new
On Yorkville Avenue itself, the fall's big food story is a relaunch. Aburi Hana reopened at 102 Yorkville Ave. on September 17 with an Edo-inspired contemporary Japanese concept. Toronto.com reports that culinary director Aiko Uchigoshi and head chef So Sakata lead the kitchen.
Put that beside Momiji and the side streets around the Village of Yorkville Park now hold two serious Japanese kitchens within a short walk of each other. Each one is built around a chef's specific idea of a tradition, which is a different thing from a general sushi menu.
Avenue Road: a food hall counter and an upstairs room
The western edge of the neighbourhood picked up two very different places this fall.
Grandma Loves You held the grand opening of its seventh location on October 17, inside the Kitchen Hub at Yorkville Village, 55 Avenue Rd. Toronto.com describes it as a sandwich-focused takeout counter, not a sit-down café. The Bloor-Yorkville BIA welcomed it as a new lunch option at Yorkville Village.
Salt & Sand is the place most likely to go unnoticed. It's a caviar, truffle and fine-wine room on the second and third floors above SPQR Espresso Bar, and Streets of Toronto reported it had just opened on September 25. It's an independent room from Kasra Khorramnejad and Afton Joy Rentz. Watch for the espresso bar at street level, because that's the landmark.
Here is a sensible order for one afternoon on foot, west to east:
- Grandma Loves You at the Yorkville Village Kitchen Hub, 55 Avenue Rd., for a takeout lunch.
- Agora at 105 Scollard St., for pita and dips in the back garden while the weather allows.
- Aburi Hana at 102 Yorkville Ave., to see the relaunched room.
- Yakitori Momiji at 156 Cumberland St., if you booked one of the twelve seats for dinner.
- Salt & Sand, upstairs above SPQR Espresso Bar, for a glass afterward.
November moves the evenings indoors, then back outside
Through November, the season builds on the same streets.
Thursdays from November 5. Sofia, at 99 Yorkville Ave., brings back Notte Della Musica, a weekly live-music series running Thursdays from 8 to 11 p.m. The BIA lists Sean Jones as the first performer. For anyone reading this on its publication day, the first night is one week away.
Thursday, November 19. CANFAR's Bloor Street Entertains marks its 30th year. The BIA calls it Canada's largest HIV/AIDS research fundraiser. Chefs host dinners inside fashion houses and other venues across Bloor-Yorkville, followed by an official after-party at the Royal Ontario Museum. For one evening, some of the neighbourhood's best-known storefronts become dining rooms.
Saturday, November 21, 5 to 7 p.m. This is the night the season begins. Holiday Magic is a free outdoor concert and lighting ceremony on Cumberland Street and in the Village of Yorkville Park. Jazz vocalist Molly Johnson, a two-time JUNO Award winner and Order of Canada recipient, headlines with her band, and television personality Melissa Grelo hosts. The Senior Choir of The Rosedale Day School, conducted by Carlene Brown, opens the evening, and the annual "Flick the Switch" lighting ceremony takes place in the park.
The event supports The Common Table, run by the Church of the Redeemer at Avenue Road and Bloor Street West. The BIA says it serves more than 100 people each weekday with meals, essential supplies, wellness support, housing referrals and outreach.
The same Saturday, Sweat and Tonic opens at 11 Yorkville Ave., across from the Four Seasons Hotel and the Toronto fire hall. Its plans include Tonic Bar, a smoothie bar and café, and Tonic House with a bar. At the east end of Yorkville Avenue, that adds another café table on a block where a hotel lobby has long been the main option.
After the switch is flicked
The holiday lights stay up from November 21 through December 31, in the park and along Bloor Street. Bloor Street also has 60 Urban Campfire Benches between Church Street and Avenue Road, and they light up when someone sits on them. After a dinner on Cumberland, the walk home along Bloor comes with its own lighting.
December keeps the programming out on the street:
- Fleurs de Villes JOYEUX, December 2 to 6. A free, self-guided floral trail by Toronto florists, with floral mannequins, decorated entryways and pop-up flower markets. The BIA says it's best seen in daylight, and most installations are in open areas from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
- Candy Cane Carolers, December 4 to 6, 11 to 13, 18 to 20, 22 and 23. Two groups of strolling carolers singing four-part a cappella harmonies, with more than 60 holiday songs to choose from.
If you already live near Cumberland or Scollard and these new rooms have you thinking about how the side streets compare with the towers on Bloor, the team at SW3.ca knows these blocks well and is happy to talk them through over a coffee at Agora or after the lights go on November 21. Contact Us when you're ready for that conversation.
