Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar
Today we stopped by one my favorite restaurants in Toronto, Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar. It remains in my Top 5 mainly because of consistency. Every single time I go there its always great food, great service & a reliably soothing ambience.
The whole Jamie Kennedy experience was unpretentious and truly gave the ingredients the spotlight. The tapas style menu sources local Ontario ingredients with an emphasis on naturally grown fare. Our server, Falco, was very knowledgable but not intrusive. I was actually surprised at how much he cared for the experience and integrity of the menu as apposed to actually trying to upsell and push dishes on us. Given the tapas style menu selection, I automatically made up my mind that I wanted to try 10 dishes. Falco then advised me that it would probably be more beneficial to me if I kept it to 5-6 dishes so that I wasn’t eating to the point where I wasn’t enjoying the food anymore.
Their seasonal menu items are also accompanied by carefully chosen wine pairings from Jamie Drummond. If you are into pairing your wine and food course by course, you are in good hands as all their servers have a keen sense of what direction you should go in.
Unlike other top tier restaurants in Toronto, Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar does “lack” in one area; expensive prices. Jamie Kennedy brilliantly manages to offer high-end quality dishes at an affordable price. A dinner for two on average is about $60-$80.
The other great thing I love about dining here is that it attracts the real foodies & people who can really appreciate food, done in a very simplistic manner. Not the pretenious A-Lister crowd, looking for the lastest hot spot.
2005 Bodegas Casa Castillo, Mourvedre Jumilla, Spain.
This wine was suggested to us by Falco, our server and a great choice it was.
Green Cabbage Soup
Beet Salad with Arugula, Pine Nuts and Horseradish Dressing.
Locally sourced beets at their best.
Local Organic Fries as Mustard Chicken Poutine.
One of the most unconventional poutines I’ve ever had, yet one of the best.
Duck Confit with Roasted Coloured Carrots
Grilled Marinated Short Ribs with Shaved Carrot Salad
Artisanal Cheeses
Guinness Gingerbread Cake
Chocolate-Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich.
This sure beats Oreo cookie ice cream sandwiches.
9 Church St. Toronto
(416)362-1957
*(Keep in mind that there are no reservations allowed for dinner service, so try to get there early)
by C.O.
