he debate over whether Toronto is an international competitor when it comes to our restaurant scene is a contentious topic- and one some may consider irrelevant. With a population of 2.5 million in the city (not the GTA), and over 8 million in NYC, the comparison seems almost arbitrary. Toronto's multi-ethnic city and ability to retain its diversity is impressive; there are three Chinatown's, Little Italy, Little India, Little Portugal, and the list goes on. Though Toronto is praised for embracing its varying ethnicities, and rightly so, the volume of our population relative to other world cities inevitably cuts the amount of prominence possible. Take the Olympics- China and the United States easily out-medal Canada, and one of the core reasons for that is that they have such an immense number of people to choose from. The story is similar in Toronto; we are immediately at a disadvantage because of a limit in numbers.

But this doesn't completely exclude the possibility of greatness from our vocabulary. When I went to interview many of Toronto's emerging talent this summer, the discussions often turned to the issue of whether our glorious city was on any ground to compete with the international scene, albeit New York, Chicago, Paris, etcetera. Their response? "We're getting there," or, "We're almost there," or "We have the talent, it's just not being recognized." Most felt that we were so close, but something was keeping us back.

While dining at Nota Bene, the newest venture by the guys behind Splendido, my dining companion expressed feeling really great eating in the restaurant- "I feel like I'm eating at a restaurant in New York," she said. But what does that mean? And why would eating at a restaurant in New York be better than eating at one in Toronto, apart from the obvious vacation factor? Arguably a food capital of the world, there is a different air in the ambiance, and a different approach to guests: with restraint, a more relaxed attitude, and overall, less smothering, even at the highest end of places. It’s unfortunate that this has type of service has become an anomaly in Toronto.