Once-hyped Ursa Restaurant closing its doors

Ursa Restaurant, the hyper-modern West Queen West spot that earned rave reviews for its inventive takes on nutritious cuisine, has announced its closure. In a metaphor-laden post on the restaurant's Facebook page, co-owner and chef Jacob Sharkey Pearce announced that they would be shutting down ("It's now time to hibernate and gather strength for the spring") and thanked friends and supporters.

The restaurant debuted to enormous hype in 2012, thanks to high-concept plates created with an eye towards preserving the nutritional integrity of their ingredients (down to compressing veggies in a vacuum, rather than sapping vitamins out by blanching). Critics and diners were delighted, but the city's appetite for sculptural salads and deconstructed desserts appears to have waned in years since.

Still, Pearce and the team hint at a return, and promise to "continue the task of discovery - finding better ways to eat and to live". I'll be curious to see where that considerable innovative talent lands next.