There are few things more essential to a young professional’s life than booze. It’s the grease to so many wheels it’s impossible to keep track of. Dates, deals, meals, a little thing we like to call SUMMER.
Now imagine for a second that we took it away. No more cocktail hour. No more drink time. (Enter sad face emoji.)
But now imagine we brought it all back.
That feeling right there, that sense of utter and complete happiness. That’s what Linwood Essentials (930 Queen W.) is all about.
It’s part speakeasy, part laboratory, and all quality.
In fact, owner Jake Valianes spent the better part of a year travelling the world to ensure that Linwood Essentials could compete with the best cocktails from around the globe. He visited 30 of Drinks International’s The World’s 50 Best Bars and brought some of what he found right back to Toronto.
But the cocktails remain all his own – boasting both flavour and flare.
Order The Last Goodbye (rosehip-infused Bombay Sapphire East Gin, Lillet Blanc, pineapple, lemon, grenadine, fig preserves) and not only will you receive a delicious cocktail, you’ll also get a private love note attached.
Try out the Zymurgy (Tanqueray gin, green chartreuse, Luxardo maraschino, and “citrus” that’s been barrel-aged five weeks) and you’ll be served a chilled glass and a dictionary. We’ll let you figure out the rest.
With three pages of cocktails – $13, $14, and $15, respectively – and more than 50 imported bottles of beer, Linwood has all you could ever want to repeal everything from prohibition to a bad week at work.
A snack menu that ranges into a few proper dinner items (see: duck and foie gras risotto) also offers the chance to linger even longer in one of their extremely comfortable chairs or invite friends along with you to shift their custom table from several two-seaters into one long communal space.
Either way, as the menu says, “It’s 2014. Prohibition is over. We won.”
Indeed we did.
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