If you’ve ever seen the movie Swingers, you’ll appreciate the scene where John Favreau is trying to explain to Vince Vaughan that the more difficult a lounge is to find, the cooler it actually is.
I think John may have actually been on to something given my most recent experience at Cava Restaurant in Toronto at 1560 Yonge Street (and St. Clair Avenue) and (416) 979-9918.
For a restaurant that won the Toronto Life Best New Restaurant Award for 2007, I was expecting it to be a little easier to find. Take the most difficult Easter egg hunt you’ve ever been on and multiply it by your favourite number…and you’re still not even close.
Considering I live in Vancouver and haven’t navigated a city by subway in quite some time, I don’t feel so bad…fortunately I was with some work colleagues who, I swear, have had GPS chips surgically implanted.
With my colleagues there, Cava Restaurant must have fired out a tractor beam that would make even the Deathstar blush as it’s located:
- behind a massive grocery store
- off the main drag
- nestled amongst a number of smaller stores
- with minimal signs of life (sign was about as big as a placemat with room for only one or two small tables outside it)
I’m not going to go into a great deal of detail about how good the food was, as I’m not a restaurant critic. BUT, I will tell you this much, it was:
- unique (the best kind);
- tapas style (very similar to La Bodega in Vancouver if you know what I mean);
- presented and explained by very knowledgeable wait staff;
- on-time; and
- reasonably priced.
I don’t think I can stress point #3 enough…our server was excellent. The timing of each course was perfect and the explanations of what we were having along with his suggestions/recommendations were major league quality. Professionalism and taking pride in what you do goes a long way in the restaurant biz.
Putting the bookends on the food was Cava Restaurant’s extensive wine list. For those of you who read and enjoyed my series on this summer’s tour of Okanagan Valley Wineries (like Burrowing Owl…which Cava serves), you’ll certainly appreciate the depth of selection that Cava’s wine list offers.
Cava Restaurant Toronto scored big points that night and is worth your time and your navigation skills. With what I’ve experienced there, believe me when I say that your journey will be rewarded.
darren
Enjoyed the meal although it cost way more than I felt it should and the waiters all seemed way more into going outside through the front door to smoke every 10 minutes or so than they did at seeing if we needed anything else. The wine they chose was horrible and really expensive but that;s my own fault for trusting wine selection to a smoker with no taste buds left alive in his mouth.
I might go back only if they start giving out discount coupons and make their waiters learn about wines before making recommendations to clientele.