The Bowery

The Bowery has been building steady buzz amongst Toronto’s trendsetting players. Part of the Uniq Lifestyle Entertainment Group – the genii behind such notable Toronto hotspots as The Ballroom, Maro, Cobra, and Cheval to name a few – The Bowery will undoubtedly live up to the not-so-quiet whispers heard around town. A preview of the soon-to-open restaurant confirms this: The room was lively and exuberant, with shirt sleeves rolled up and ties loosened while the eclectic music filled the space, paying homage to Uniq’s other, well, unique atmospheres created with their lineup of trendy joints.

The Bowery

Chef Tawfik Shehata – toasted by Toronto foodies as one of the up-and-coming great culinary talents – has a commitment to locally-sourced produce, evident on The Bowery’s “farm-meets-punk” menu, crafted with help from chef de cuisine Jason Maw. In-season ingredients like asparagus and spring onions pepper the simple yet well-conceived menu.

The Bowery

The Bowery

The starters are a mix of classic favourites and modern twists, like the Grilled Asparagus that counts candied prosciutto as an accent. Pizza and pasta are offered in twos, with a clear emphasis on quality over quantity. So far as the former is concerned, the dense and lightly buttery crust lays a strong foundation for the heavy toppings. The composed mains include a lighter than expected pickerel swimming in a velvety sauce.

The Bowery

The Bowery

What Uniq’s venues all have in common is the creation of a destination instead of simply another trendy space. Such is the case with The Bowery, with its exposed brick and dark wood tables contrasted by splashes of red and glowing orb light fixtures and lacquered tiles around the open kitchen. Occupying the space where Six Steps used to live, Colborne Lane’s newest restaurant gives a significant facelift to the previous space.

The Bowery

Duck Fries

Count on The Bowery to amass quite a following, especially once the basement’s renovations are complete early September and the second level, to be replete with live music, attracts the supper club crowd. For now, the experience of The Bowery will be enough to convert the King West crowd to east-of-Yongesters…if only six steps east. The Bowery, 55 Colborne Lane, Toronto.

Images by Jacqueline Nicosia