The space beside the Ritz-Carlton, the former home of The Shore Club, is getting a new life thanks to Glowbal Group, the team behind the iconic Financial District restaurant Black + Blue.
Riley’s Fish & Steak, a Michelin-recommended restaurant Glowbal already owns and operates in Vancouver, is coming to Toronto, slated to open its doors in January. While the bones of the space will not change, says Glowbal’s president Emad Yacoub, the space will get a facelift of sorts, undergoing renovations to take it back to a Prohibition Era design. And a stage cove was even built into the space to accommodate nightly live music.
“Think about sitting in a restaurant with a little bit of jazz, or a singer on the side,” Yacoub says. “We do it in Vancouver every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and for brunch. But in Toronto, we’re going to do it five nights a week with young artists that want to be discovered, so that will help the art communities. And it gives the restaurant a different vibe than any other restaurant downtown.”
While the Glowbal team has yet to officially finalize the menu, Yacoub says that Riley’s Fish & Steak will serve both lunch and dinner, with approachable menu items and a heavy focus on seafood. There will still be steak, treated in the same way it is at Glowbal’s other spots, but it will certainly not be the menu’s focus.
“There will be seafood towers, beautiful crab cakes with all crab,” Yacoub says. For lunch, there will be lobster Po’ Boys and big salads, lobster pot pies, and tableside options like prime rib served throughout the day. “We’re going to have this mix, but it won’t feel like a steak house. We’re working on the new menu, so there will be more fish, more shareable dishes — lots of things we’re not doing in Vancouver right now. Hopefully, once we finish the menus, we’ll bring them back to Vancouver.”
The desire for perfection in Glowbal Group’s entities, Yacoub says, comes from growing up in Egypt, and the culture and hospitality that he experienced in Cairo, a sense of welcoming and belonging, of community.
“I want everyone to feel like they’re in my mother’s house.”
Riley’s Fish & Steak is located at 155 Wellington St. W.
