I'd heard mentions that The Chase was a rooftop restaurant in downtown Toronto with a focus on seafood, but when I arrive, it's unlike anything I had envisioned. The space is more beautiful than I had pictured, the seafood is unbelievably fresh and the atmosphere is comfortable elegance. There are a lot of great restaurants in downtown Toronto, but the attention to detail, stellar service and quality cuisine at The Chase puts it among Toronto's best restaurants.
The Chase restaurant: The vibe
I had been imagining a flashy rooftop restaurant set above a high-rise with an inescapable corporate feel, but The Chase is different. Tucked away on the quiet Temperance Street, the restaurant is set on the fifth floor roof of low-rise heritage property, the Dineen Building. Sure, there are suits, but the atmosphere isn't stuffy; it's sophisticated and celebratory.
The cream-coated dining room outfitted with sparkling chandeliers seems grandiose in photos, but when I settle into a plush booth in the soft evening light, encircled by the view of glistening skyscrapers, it feels luxuriously lovely.
During my visit, the year-round, enclosed patio is barred off for a private event, but it looks like another great place to take in the surrounding cityscape.
The Chase restaurant: What's on the menu
Between the expertise of LFG's culinary director, and cookbook author Cory Vitiello and the experience of chef Nick Bentley (formerly chef de cuisine at Alo), the menu showcases the power of quality ingredients. “We buy nice food and don’t do too much with it,” says Bentley.
The burrata and caviar is a sumptuous starter that's simple in its components, but oh-so delicious. Not even the bread and butter feels like an afterthought — house-baked focaccia is served with St. Brigid's Butter. Presented in a herbaceous lemongrass cream, the incredibly decadent Bluefin Tuna Otoro Sashimi is a small bite of heaven.
Seafood towers can be hit or miss, but the Mother of Pearl offering at The Chase more than delivers. This is no skimpy tower fluffed up with loads of ice. The portions are plentiful and the seafood is exceptionally fresh; I almost forget that we're still in land-locked Ontario. Your wallet might wince at the $230 price tag, but the stacked seafood feast is worth every penny.
An entire dozen east coast oysters are served with mignonette, cocktail sauce, freshly grated horse radish and other accoutrements. Eight jumbo, juicy tiger prawns are perfectly plump, and the tower is crowned with a whole maritime lobster full of super succulent meat. And it doesn't stop there; delicious raw dishes like hamachi crudo also come with the tower. Hokkaido scallops are flown in three times a week for the ceviche, which swims in a lip-smacking yuzu cream with kombu and a tart kick from fermented green apple, and organic king salmon is lightly cured for a salty flavour, complimented by fresh notes of dill, cucumber and lemon crème fraîche.
We could have made an entire meal out of the Mother of Pearl seafood tower, but when we taste our mains, we're so glad we went all out. Fresh squid ink pasta is perfectly chewy, bathed in a roasted lobster sauce with blistered tomatoes and topped with a large chunk of tender lobster. It's easily one of the best pasta dishes in the city.
The Provimi Veal Chop melts in our mouths, with added flavour and the meaty texture of roasted chanterelles, but the cognac veal jus is what keeps me taking bite after bite even though I'm stuffed.
There is a second stomach for dessert though, and the sticky toffee pudding, drenched in bourbon toffee sauce, is beautifully complex with a savoury brown butter and caramel house-made ice cream that cuts the sweetness.
The Chase restaurant: The drinks and cocktails
There are plenty of splurge-worthy bottles for a special night out and wines by the glass, but the well-balanced cocktails are equally deserving of your attention. With floral notes from St-Germain, tart apple and citrus, the Orchard Spritz is a refreshing, slurp-able serve. On the sweeter side, but without being overly saccharine, the Framboise 75 is a sparkling sipper with tart raspberry notes that I'm happy to drink all night long.
Dinner at The Chase outdid all of my expectations. Everything we taste is delicious, from the fresher-than-fresh seafood to the cocktails, and the service is exceptional (I've never had my shell bowl changed so many times during a meal before). For any date night or special occasion, this restaurant will be at the top of my list.
