Open/Closed for the week of Feb 29 – March 6

It’s starting to ramp up again as new restaurants open their doors. Sadly an epic restaurant closes. 

Find out all the news and events right now.

Here’s the very latest:
 

Open:

Basil Box
351 Yonge St.

Inspired by the street markets of Thailand and Vietnam, this sleek new casual spot features a menu of mix and match ingredients that you choose to make your own dishes.

BATCH
75 Victoria St.

The new gastrobrewery from Creemore Springs, officially opens on Monday, but check out our Instagram tonight for a sneak peek.

BATCH offers ten craft beers on tap, six of which are brewed on-site including a Pale Ale, Cream Ale, Witbier, Porter and IPA.

The menu by Chef Ben Heaton (formerly of The Grove) features modern comfort foods such as Pulled Brisket Flatbread with smoky onion relish and crispy shallots, and a Lamb Burger with feta, charred red onion and curried lime pickle mayo.

Stay tuned.

Joe's Smokehouse BBQ
1225 Queen St. E.

Leslieville gets barbecue by way of Joe’s, located right in The Duke.

Love Me Sweet
7181 Yonge St.

In case you haven’t had your fill of Japanese cheesecake in the downtown core, Love Me Sweet brings it north of Steeles.

Page One
106 Mutual St.

You’re now completely covered thanks to Page One - this downtown café serves up coffee by day, and craft beer/wine/cocktails by night.

Peppery Cat
1953 Queen St. E.

From the same owners of The Salty Dog  (just down the block at 1980 Queen St. E.) comes this new restaurant, lounge and sports bar, complete with 80" big screens to watch the game.

The menu features items such Lobster Martini ($15) skewer of lobster wrapped in angel hair pasta, deep fried and served with a fresh coconut chili sauce; The Montreal Burger ($16) topped with Montreal smoked meat, creamy coleslaw and shoestring onion rings; and Flatbread Butter Chicken Pizza ($12) with roasted red pepper, mandarin orange, spinach, and sweet julienne potato fries topped with chipotle mayo.

Simit & Chai Company
787 King St. W.

Get ready to meet your next obsession - simits. These Turkish bagels are dipped in molasses and sesame seeds, and available plain or as sandwiches.

Other menu items include breakfast sandwiches and muffins, with dips soon to come. All items are made in house.

See you there.

Also open:

Vaticano now has a second location in Welland, Ontario.

Closed:

Pangaea almost made it to 20 years before shutting their doors. Owners Martin Kouprie and Peter Geary made the announcement on their website thanking guests and staff. It ends with "We will be taking some time to regroup and consider our next chapters."

Quince is closing Saturday, reopening as Noorden Food Bar - a pop-up restaurant in May - that will be "popping up" for over the next two years.

News:

Caplanskys is expanding, with a new location coming to Yorkville in the spring, and more locations across the GTA to follow.

The chef that won the Das Gasthaus in lottery has decided to decline the offer.

Events:

The first edition of Mac & Cheese Week  arrives in Toronto March 7-13. Visit the following seven participating restaurants for their cheese-filled creations: CheeseWerks, Cut The Cheese, Grasshopper, Let’s Be Frank, Old School, The Senator and SOCO Kitchen + Bar.

Luma is celebrating International Woman’s Day on Tuesday with “Rare Birds.” The multi-course dinner will feature dishes from five O&B chefs. Highlights include Chicken & Dumplings (Amanda Ray, Biff’s Bistro), Mushroom & Truffle Custard (Alessa Valdez, Auberge du Pommier) and Mincemeat Pudding (Christine Mast, Canoe). Tickets are $65 plus tax and gratuity (pairings will be available onsite for an additional $30).

And lastly:

March is National Noodle Month! Check out this week’s Best Of for where to celebrate.

Kathmandu, North America’s first Nepalese restaurant, moves to Cumberland

Get out your calendar and book in some of the city’s best food and drink events with George Brown College CHCA. 

This new pop up dinner series focuses on local chefs, local ingredients, all for a local cause. 

What’s hot for 2016? Find out in this chef survey.

Rose Reisman makes mealtime a breeze with this healthy Mexican recipe.