inter is the time of year for hermit levels of hibernation. It’s the perfect time for a festival, actually. We’re in dire need of something to cheer us up this time of the year and get us out of the house. God knows Valentine’s Day doesn’t cut it (too much pressure, depression, and bad chocolate). Toronto’s Winterlicious Festival aims at giving us a little something to feel excited about when the outdoors become a foreboding wasteland of frozen ears and toes. Restaurants citywide become affordable during the festival. Four course dinners are no more than $35…even in Yorkville! There are over 130 restaurants participating in this year. That’s a daunting a list to those just looking for the best deals. Not to worry. We’ve picked out a few of our favs just for you.

Auberge du Pommier
The tariff is steep at this foodie Mecca, but the fare is exceptional. Quality ingredients, deftly executed preparation and intelligent creation are the chief touchstones of fine cooking, taking precedence over glamorous presentation (chef’s thinking of taste first?! That concept is so strange that it has to work). The tardy service is tolerable for the delectable dishes, particularly given the prettiness of the wait-staff. The menu seduces with its clear, modern French bias. Unfortunately, both the uptown and the downtown crowd find this location a culinary Scarberia, but the trip is worth the travel. –B.J.
Winterlicious Menu



Brassaii Bistro Lounge
Raw wood beams and black accents dominate Brassaii. This hulking resto-lounge on King Street West holds a vivid-aluminum, communal breakfast bar that cuts a dramatic slash across the entire dining room. Simple tables are superbly appointed, most notably by the oversized leather blotters. The open kitchen gives diners a view of the action (so no spitting in meals here) while minimizing kitchen noise and smoke. Owners Tsebelis and Giazitzidis have Brassaii delivering the high-performance dining experience of Toronto’s top fusion restaurants. No, it is not affiliated with the Brass Rail, but it may get your blood flowing just the same…just in a different area of the anatomy.
Winterlicious Menu


Crystal Five (C5)
Situated at the peak of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, C5 is not just scaling physical heights, but also employs a high culinary concept. Think upscale dining meets graceful eccentric theater. The space is bright and stark, showcasing the industrial edges. A lounge

We’ve laid out our top picks for you so you can dine in style without too much stress or trouble.

area cordoned off by a glass sculpture catches your eye with its sleek designer furniture lighted like a diorama. The dimensions of the dining room are easily the most appealing aspect of the space. From the large open-concept kitchen right down to the designer saltshakers, the room itself is relatively broad and equally deep, with a few unexpected nooks (perhaps for post-nosh necking? The Patrons Circle would not approve). Oh yeah, the food is tasty too, but why would you ever go to a restaurant for food anyways? –B.J.
Winterlicious Menu


Caju
On the search for new grazing grounds? Try looking where you least expect it. On a tree-forsaken, wind-blasted part of Queen West, flanked by the Candy Factory Lofts, Bar One and the mental hospital, Caju is an inviting oasis. Walking in is like having someone put two well-manicured hands on your cheeks to warm you up (I’m not mentioning which cheeks for the sake of public decency). Caju's name refers to a Cashew nut, a fruit indigenous to Brazil’s northeast. Dining at Caju will satisfy your hunger and expand your vocabulary with menu items such as Frango, Com, Quiabo, Picanha and Lombo. Bringing Brazilian fusion to Toronto’s mainstream resto scene, Caju offers a small menu of enticing plates while sticking to its Brazilian roots, all in a setting that would hold its own on a magazine cover. - S.W.
Winterlicious Menu


Canoe Restaurant & Bar
You want Canadian cuisine at its finest without beaver, hockey or Lumberjack references and are sick of Tim Hortons turkey bacon club, right? On the menu at Canoe: Refined Canadiana. Picture paddling on a rushing West coast river among king salmon jumping upstream, or imagine a Quebec Maple Syrup sugar shack where the sticky stuff is freshly poured onto snow banks to make sweet winter treats. Or perhaps your vision of Canada is an East coast trip on the Cabot trail where you can peruse tiny fishing villages and get a healthy dose of the salty sea air. Bonacini’s tribute to our wonderful country capitalizes on Canada's marvelous coast to coast culinary resources. –E.J.
Winterlicious Menu