If you’ve eaten your way through Toronto’s west end in the last few years, chances are Carmelina Imola and Zachary Kolomeir have fed you something memorable — and made it look effortlessly cool in the process.
Now, the Montreal expat duo behind Dreyfus, Taverne Bernhardt’s and Vilda’s is getting ready to open a new restaurant: N.L. Ginzburg, slated to debut soon at 548 College Street. And while they’re keeping most details close to the chest, here’s what we know so far.
According to the couple’s recent Instagram post, N.L. Ginzburg will be “a dining room and menu inspired by the simplicity and minimalism of the slow food trattoria, viewed through a diasporic Jewish lens.” Named after Natalia and Leone — iconic figures of European Jewry — the restaurant is their “third child,” and seems poised to carry the same DNA of thoughtful nostalgia, culinary precision and quiet irreverence that’s made their other spots near-instant favourites.
If Dreyfus is a French-ish bistro that riffs off Kolomeir’s Québécois-Jewish roots (think oysters with smoked eel and tiny Cubanos), and Taverne Bernhardt’s turns rotisserie chicken into a craveable art form with golden skin, Blue Goose Farm veggies and gravy you’ll dream about later, then Ginzburg feels like the couple’s most personal venture yet.
At Bernhardt’s, the menu is unpretentious — think coleslaw, fries and freshly baked Brodflour buns. Then there’s Vilda’s — their grab-and-go variety store–meets–deli, which slings matzo ball soup, beet BLTs and the now-famous Caesaroni (a pepperoni-Caesar mashup on a bun) to loyal fans daily.
If the flood of fire emojis and heartfelt Mazel Tovs on their Instagram announcement are any clue, N.L. Ginzburg is already one of the city’s most anticipated openings. “Everything you all touch is gold,” one fan wrote. Another chimed in, calling dibs on becoming the restaurant’s “Chief Fressing Officer.”
You can keep up with all the exciting updates and sneak peeks ahead of the opening by following their Instagram page.
