hen Colborne Lane opens this winter, it will almost be a requirement to approach it with an open mind. This is the best way to effectively plunge into this dissident restaurant.

The future trajectory of this unclassifiable dining room – which takes over the space that was previously Cafe Du Marche – depends on the work of the forward-thinking people behind it. The owners of this still-under-construction restaurant have blissfully shelved the "Restaurant Format 101" guides, and are thinking so far outside the box that they may have inadvertently created a new realm.

Colborne Lane is Hanif Harji's baby. As an archetypal diner, he feels that the current energy of the city warrants further resto-progression. As a restaurateur, Harji is an ambitious creator. His previous ventures are frighteningly original in their aesthetics, substance and willingness to take risks. With Blowfish, he stuffed a hip sushi restaurant into an abandoned bank building at King and Bathurst. With Kultura, he introduced social dining to the local masses (on the east side, even).

If Harji's intuition doesn’t fail him, Colborne Lane will change the face of fine dining by revitalizing it with complete creative zeal. To pull this off effectively, he brought his not-so-secret weapon, Chef Claudio Aprile, into the equation.

Yes, Aprile has left his long post at Senses. He is reinvigorated and radiating a palpable eagerness to tackle this new dining room. The chef now has the luxury of employing the theatrical side of his considerable culinary skills. And that he shall do, as the stage is set to impose a progressive transformation on dining in general.