Local 4 has a solution to all the clock-punching jobs and idle relationships and mindless pursuits. Its mandate is that people have to strip themselves down, get zero-sum with themselves, and that only then can they truly relax. And a few shots of Absinth wouldn’t hurt.

The rustic restaurant/bar sits a stone's throw from the downtown runway known as Yonge Street, with its large oak deck jutting out on the sidestreet panorama; the view, unless gazing at parkade traffic is your thing, is not one of Local 4’s high points.

But there are rewards for making the trek to this oddly located lair; in the location that was previously a sushi restaurant, this ambitious little bar is aimed at the young and not-so-recklessly rich. Local 4, on the surface of it all, appears everything other button down, paint-by-numbers venues are not. Just a low-pressure venue for drinking, dining & relaxing, hence the subtitle: Relax Station.

The three owners Theo Morra (Gio’s, Seven Numbers), Vicky Worlidge (Local Girl Makes Good Catering) and Nancy Gilmour (The Bow and Arrow) are the forces behind the newly anointed space. After years in the restaurant and catering business, the three came to believe that Toronto could use a more down-to-earth eating-drinking-meeting experience.

"A lot of people are just looking for a neighbourhood spot to unwind," said Morra. "And that’s what this spot is all about. I come from the Seven Numbers school of hospitality, and couldn’t pull off a chi-chi lounge if I tried."