Last night, after a quick work event stop-in at The Walrus, we had dinner at TOCA in the Ritz Carlton. I’d first tried it in 2011, not long after it opened, and loved it. I went back for a work dinner not long after, and was pretty disappointed — I think they’d switched chefs by that point.

I’d read that they had their footing back with an Italian focus, and it was perfectly placed between the work event and the TIFF Lightbox, where we intended to see ANTHROPOCENE (tiff), so we booked ourselves a table.

We shared everything:

• caprese salad made with Nova Scotia lobster
  • paired with glasses of Franciacorta
• potato gnocchi w/ roasted butternut squash, gorgonzola, and pumpkin seeds
• 32oz tagliata di Fiorentina w/ roasted brussels sprouts, celeriac purée
• traffalina cheese
  • paired with a bottle of 2013 Caburnio from Tuscany
• biscotti, raspberry chocolate truffle, and housemade limoncello

It was all pretty fantastic, frankly. I’m happy to have another decent option in an entertainment district that’s a little lacking sometimes.