I’ve never understood the snobs—to me, food courts have always been fantastic. As a kid, visiting one meant getting hopped up on a psychedelic melange of mmmuffins, Yogen Früz and Cinnabon in preparation for the movie matinee. Or it meant ordering dozens of steamy-white styrofoam takeout containers packed with Cantonese treasures en route to dinner with my enormous extended family.
In less stuffy corners of the world, food courts act as community anchors: essential hangout spots and meeting places that showcase a region’s bounty of dishes and delicacies. Now Toronto has finally caught up.
Food courts, or rather fancy-pants food halls, are popping up all over the city now, often as ground-floor amenities to the sparkling condos above. The newest one is Table Talk's top post this week: the 55,000-square-foot Waterworks complex that features an all-star roster of Toronto favourites—Boxcar Social, Aburi Sushi, Scooped by Demetres, etc. You won't find any campy chains or nods to Canadiana here, and that's probably for the better. Waterworks Food Hall instead reflects the tastes of the new Toronto: an international buffet that nevertheless hits close to home.
Also in today’s newsletter: inside the kitchen of Yannick Bigourdan, owner of Lucie and the Carbon Bar. Plus, a menu tour of the Montreal-inspired Buvette Pacey. For more of our food and drink coverage, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition.
Toronto has been on an upscale food-hall tear this summer, and the 55,000-square-foot Waterworks Food Hall is the showiest one yet. Part of a mixed-use development, this handsome retrofit of a circa 1930s machine shop now has new life coursing through its sturdy structural bones. “It’s not just a fancier version of a food court,” insists Eve Lewis, the President and CEO of Woodcliffe Landmark Properties. “It’s a community hub.” Check it out.
Yannick Bigourdan, owner of Lucie, Amano Trattoria, Bar Notte, the Carbon Bar and the Berczy Tavern fills his fridge with staples from St. Lawrence Market, McEwan Fine Foods, Longo’s and Pusateri’s. That means oodles of fancy mustard, canned wine, smoked salmon and Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc.
Buvette Pacey is a laid-back coffee-to-cocktails bar at Queen and Parliament, serving up tuna-melt empanadas, smoked eggplant dip, comprehensive cheese boards and cocktails charged with espresso and tarragon-parsley oil.
In the latest issue: dispatches from the canine wars. Plus, inside the making of LSL, the $680-a-head uptown restaurant everyone’s talking about; a night owl’s guide to dining out after midnight; a Q&A with the city’s new WNBA boss; and more. Still not receiving Toronto Life at home? Subscribe today.
