Ritzy new Toronto restaurant from Michelin chef opens this week

A ritzy Toronto hotel is adding a new restaurant that pays homage to Indian and British cuisines to its lineup this week.

Toronto's Le Germain Hotel is, in no way, wanting for great food and drink offerings.

Its newly refreshed lobby bar, Library, is the stuff that lesser hotel lobby bars dream of, and it's in good company with celebrated restaurants (albeit ones attached to competing hotels) like Akira Back and Nobu just a stone's throw away.

Still, the hotel is upping the ante as it prepares to launch its luxe new restaurant, Punch, this Thursday, Oct. 2.

A deft blend of British and Indian cuisines, the menu at Punch is the masterwork of Executive Chef Mandar Kulkarni, who has made his name in the Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890 kitchen, on top of other reputed restaurants like Buca and Le Select Bistro.

"I feel privileged to share a menu that reflects my own story and cultural roots," says Kulkarni. Indeed, the story being told on the plate is a deeply personal one to Kulkarni.

Kilkarni's own family recipes inspire the dishes that make up Punch's menu, highlighting traditional Indian flavours that have been reinterpreted with a fresh imagination.

The Butter Chicken Pot Pie, for example, is a particularly pointed example of the restaurant's Indian-cuisine-by-way-of-England theme. Here, a classic British comfort food is filled with aromatic butter chicken for an entirely new flavour profile.

The elegant Madai Crudo, on the other hand, pays homage to more contemporary dining sensibilities, while getting spruced up with a crisp pear-kolrabi relish, bay leaf powder and herb oil.

As for the restaurant itself, it's been designed as a little slice of London in the heart of Toronto.

Britney Townsend

"Our vision was to bring a spark of London's daring energy to Toronto, a city that's already a global hub," says Marie Pier Germain, a co-president of Germain Hotels. "We wanted to create something truly unique that resonates with tastemakers and world travellers alike who are seeking a modern, cultured experience with a playful edge."

To do this, they've enlisted Block Plan Studios to create a 91-seat dining room reminiscent of timeless British guild halls, with verde marble, wood panelling and opulent finishes, like four show-stopping chandeliers that soar over the room.

At the bar, you'll similarly be able to sip on English classics reinterpreted with Indian flavours, like the Pimm's Remix, which dresses up the British staple with vodka, jasmine tea, coconut, passionfruit, and a spicy piri-piri finish.

The best part of all? We only have to wait another 24 hours for it to open.

Reservations for Punch are open now.

Punch is located at Le Germain Hotel — 30 Mercer St.