Japanese, contemporary cuisine figure prominently in 1st Toronto Michelin Guide
CBC
Toronto can now boast to being home to more than a dozen Michelin-star eateries, including a two-star sushi restaurant run by a celebrated chef previously recognized by the prestigious food guide.
Sushi Masaki Saito earned two stars in Michelin's first Canadian food guide announced Tuesday, when the Parisian ode to gastronomy endorsed a range of Hogtown outlets specializing in everything from Chef Masaki Saito's tradition-steeped Edomae-style sushi to fried chicken takeaway.
The honours were revealed in an evening ceremony streamed online, with Saito last to take the stage to accept the night's top award from Gwendal Poullennec, the guide's international director, and the tire company's puffy white mascot, Bibendum.
Dressed in black pants, a white shirt, white apron and white hat, Saito said he had two things to say: "I love Toronto, I love Canada."
"One more thing is: I am still single, I don't know why," he said to laughter from the audience.
Saito's New York eatery, Sushi Ginza Onodera, earned a Michelin star in 2017 and two stars in 2018. He left that restaurant to open Sushi Masaki Saito in Toronto's tony Yorkville neighbourhood in 2019.
In their citation, the anonymous inspectors praised Saito's latest restaurant for offering fish and nigiri rice from Japan, and a special blend of vinegars.
"Only here will you find shirako boldly skewered and grilled over binchotan, and only here will you eat melting slabs of chutoro buried under a blizzard of white truffles," they say of the restaurant, where an omakase dinner costs $680 per person.
"Laughter fills the air, thanks to Chef Masaki Saito and his jovial team, and for a few blissful hours, the world outside melts away."
Twelve other restaurants earned one Michelin star, including four specializing in Japanese cuisine: Aburi Hana, Kaiseki Yu-zen Hashimoto, Shoushin and Yukashi.
Four contemporary eateries also got one star — Alo, Enigma Yorkville, Edulis and Frilu — while a star each went to Alo's French sister eatery Alobar Yorkville, Mexican restaurant Quetzal, and Italian restaurants Don Alfonso 1890 Toronto and Osteria Giulia.
Before the gala, Poullennec said inspectors were impressed by "the diversity and the vibrancy of the local culinary scene." He dissuaded any attempt to compare Toronto against other Michelin cities, among which the top-ranking Tokyo boasts 203 stars, Paris holds 118 and Kyoto has 108.
"It's quite difficult to compare one destination with another," he said in a phone interview.
"What is important for us is to find, `What are the unique flavours Toronto is adding to the well of the culinary conversations?' And here there is a lot to say about the diversity, the homegrown talent, and we really feel that's not only a great beginning but that Toronto has a great potential."
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