Too many eateries have good taste in everything but the food. Not this
new and very French bistro, L’Apero, where the décor belies a beautiful
menuand reminds us that’s what matters.
L’Apéro is no resto. It’s a proper restaurant, with white tablecloths
and velvety red booths. Gainsbourgs sing low through the air: first
Serge, then Charlotte. Everything starts, and finishes, with butter.
Chef Michael Tocchetto is from Bordeaux, the manager tells us, as though
that’s all we need to know. Perhaps it is. His dishes are to share, like
oversize tapas. Favourites: clever little goat cheese profiteroles,
though we could do sans caramel, and a salad of arugula,
walnuts and candied apricots ($8); escargots in a garlicky, white
wine-drunk sauce that begs for more bread ($12); and a hunk of black
cod, its salty skin balanced by almost-sweet basil hollandaise and
stewed lentils ($17).
Cocktails, mixed by ex-Drake Hotel bartender Josh, are twisted classics.
The Fedora is a bourbon sour tinted rosy with grenadine, sprinkled with
salt and made fragrant with sage. Gin, sparkling wine, lemon and
strawberry comprise La Fraise Sauvage, a sweeter French 75.
And for dessert, a hamburger? Oui, with almond bun, chocolate
ganache patty, strawberry-coulis ketchup and slice of apricot-jelly
cheese ($12). Something so slyly faux-American could only be French.
L’Apéro, 81 Church St., Toronto, 416-363-0081.
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