To see, to be seen, to be served drinks by pouty fashion queens, if you don’t mind that sort of thing.

What
It's a restaurant. It’s a rice bar. It's a vortex for Bay Street types, popular with the late night crowd, this bistro/bar has much to offer throughout the night; early on, the adult and very mixed clientele fill the minimalist interior, and graze through the eclectic menu (Japanese/Mediterranean).

Who
DX draws afterwork crowds to its slick bar like players to a hot stock tip. Yes, Kubo DX, the offshoot of the wildly fabulous Kubo in the Merchandise Building has been open for months now, the attitude part seems in working order. We checked it out, and, indeed, DX has all the necessary ingredients for hotspot stardom. A hip Bay Street location! A never-gonna-make-it-in-show-biz "waif" staff! A pun-filled menu. And that darn looped Lounge Classics CD.

Why
Decor is a perplexing blend of urban chic and design studio The high-energy atmosphere can be as tightly wound as the day's markets, and the action definitely centers around the cocktail ritual. It has also become the Toronto stylemeisters' current grazing grounds. No surprise with style gurus Byron, Leslie Ng and Suresh Singh running the joint(s). This latest Kubo location in the beautiful Design Exchange (DX) didn't take long to attract fussy Bay Streeters.

It’s glassed in on the ground floor of the stately Mies van Der Rohe designed Ernst & Young tower. This decoratively spare aesthetic of modernist architectural proportions may have become an icon for the hard and fast numbers world. But kudos to the design team who came up with the sleek champagne-hued interior dotted with repro Mies chairs, Eames tables and sexy Roots banquettes.



Reader Reviews

Goofy menu gimmick.
Daniel Luther, Toronto, ON
Nov. 11, 2001
There are many fine places to eat in the city and this is not one of them. A group of us had lunch there and the entire dining experience was so bad as to be funny. It took nearly an hour to have any food brought to the table and another long wait before the main courses appeared. For a long while I thought that all anyone in our party had ordered was refills of their iced tea. (I strongly recommend you eat lunch at DX only if you have no plans to be anywhere in the afternoon.) The food was below average, and certainly not worthy of the prices charged, and nearly devoid of discernible taste. It appears as if the creators of this restaurant have given more thought to the shapes of the plates and the goofy menu gimmick than to finding fresh and quality ingredients and serving them hot and promptly. The service was confused and when the food did not appear in a reasonable time, the staff seemed to hide from us. There is a Timothy's coffee shop down the street and it will still be there going strong when this place is shuttered. I have never felt compelled to write one of these reviews before, but was sufficiently motivated by my lunch at DX to submit this review.


The Best Find
Jack Kenney, New York , ny
Dec.1 2001
THIS IS THE BEST FIND IN TORONTO! THE FOOD AND SERVICE WERE INCREDIBLE AND THE LOUNGE IS A GREAT PLACE TO RELAX AND ENJOY. THE STAFF COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ANY NICER AND MORE ATTENTIVE. A GREAT PLACE.


Groovy.
eric dubois TORONTO, ON
Dec. 22, 2001
wow wee! we is too groovy for words. . . from the food to the atmosphere and the restaurant bar staff - I’ll see you tomorow!!