Chic new Toronto restaurant is the product of a 'lifelong dream'
Opening his own place in Toronto has been a "long time coming," Iain, the founder and owner of Corduroy Lounge, the latest feather in Leslieville's culinary cap, tells blogTO.
On Nov. 13, that dream finally came into fruition, landing — albeit somewhat quietly — in the Queen East space that housed Baldini for nearly two decades prior.
On the eve of the restaurant's opening, Iain took to Corduroy Lounge's Instagram page to share a heartfelt post, opining on the culmination of a "lifelong dream."
With a 15-year-long culinary career that he began as a dishwasher in dodgy Glasgow pubs and ended as a Food and Beverage Manager and Wine Director at a Two Michelin Star restaurant, on top of working at some of the city's top restaurants and bars (Bar Raval, Bar Prima and Giulietta, to name a few), to say Iain was ready to open his own place is an understatement.
The final product only further proves that fact.
Marked by a ribbed aqua sign, evocative of the texture of its namesake fabric, Corduroy Lounge isn't the sort of loud, splashy place that immediately makes headlines, but rather the kind of spot that feels like it was always a part of the neighbourhood — and that's all by Iain's design.
"To describe Corduroy as a restaurant specifically is maybe limiting what the space is," Iain explains to blogTO.
"I don't think I like to define it as a restaurant necessarily than a secondary space for locals where they can get a decent feed and a decent drink for a reasonable price."
To describe the food and drink at Corduroy Lounge as "decent" is to vastly undersell it, if you ask me.
Here, the cocktails are just as central as the food, with a thoughtfully curated suite of distinct offerings like the Divine Intervention, which includes absinthe, passionfruit shrub and lemon, or the Whiskey Apple, with rye, Granny Smith juice and mint.
Of course, as is only right, you can also pick up a pint of Guinness for a fair $10.
As for eats, the menu at Corduroy Lounge is a small-but-mighty collection of British pub staples, among which, Iain tells blogTO, the haddock and chips are "a real winner."
"Oftentimes [that dish] can be butchered, but we keep it simple with a nice-sized piece of good-quality haddock and a ramekin of our house-made tartare sauce with plenty of capers, cornichons and fresh dill, sitting on top a stack of thrice-cooked chips," he explains.
The pie and mash, Iain adds, has also proven a crowd favourite in the weeks since he opened.
The space itself feels like it was transported directly from the 1960s, adorned with Bauhaus light fixtures, wood laminate siding and befitting corduroy banquettes, all to help push Iain's vision of creating a space that's a neighbourhood staple, not just a once-in-a-while spot.
"I wanted to create a space that people can interact with a couple of times a week," Iain tells blogTO; "grab a quick bite after work rather than go grocery shopping or order an unenjoyable UberEats."
After a lengthy summer-long buildout and "wondering if I'd bitten off more than I can chew," Iain tells blogTO that finally having opened the restaurant and receiving the enthusiastic reception he did from the community feels "amazing."
"It has been a long road to get here, but it's just the beginning," Iain says. "The real work starts now!"
Corduroy Lounge is located at 1012 Queen St. E.
@corduroylounge/Instagram
