Bar Bites – Bar menus now include great food too

Toronto’s been right on trend with creating destination bars for handcrafted cocktails. And while it used to be that the food in these places was an afterthought, the new onslaught of bars with fantastic fare has quickly changed that.

New haunts such as Linwood Essentials, Rush Lane & Co. and Thoroughbred Food & Drink, have created compelling food menus right alongside their stunning cocktail creations.

The Emmet Ray has everything from Chinese Fried Spaetzle with rapini, chilis + shallotsto Pastrami Beef Heart with Russian dressing + profiterole. And 3030 offers exotic dishes such as Pigtail Torta, Fried Crab Salad, and Goat Arancini. Be sure to check out Speakeasy No. 21 for their Butter Chicken Balls and Fried Chicken Club.

So to call these merely bars is a bit of a misnomer. When you try the food at Linwood Essentials (owner Jake Valianes, pictured above), you’ll want to go there as much for dinner as you will a cocktail. Duck and foie risotto? Yes, please.

Watch for this trend to increase throughout the year. Our whole way of living and working has changed, and thus, how we eat and drink has too. Lucky for us, places such as these have made it easy for us to eat and drink well at the same time.