Celebrity chef reviving his most famous Toronto restaurant in a new Ontario city
A Canadian celebrity chef is bringing one of his best-regarded Toronto restaurant concepts back to life, but this time, his sights are set on a different Ontario city.
It's been nearly a decade since prolific Toronto chef and former MasterChef Canada judge Claudio Aprile closed the doors to his celebrated restaurant and bar concept, Origin, but for those who frequented the restaurant, the memory still looms large.
Opened in 2010 and lauded as one of the best restaurants in the city, Origin, at one time, operated two locations in Toronto, a more casual, tapas-forward answer to Aprile's first Toronto restaurant, Colborne Lane.
Come 2017, though, both restaurants had closed permanently. Aprile moved on to different projects, most recently serving as Culinary Director of Evolv Group, which oversees restaurants including Via Allegro and Mademoiselle.
It's a great gig, sure, but it's high time that Origin got an encore, and that's exactly what's happening this June.
"For me, Bar Origin encapsulates my entire career," Aprile says in an announcement about the restaurant's revival.
"It's a diary of my culinary experiences, my travels, and my appreciation for bringing people together at the table. This is the right moment to bring it back - not just for those who remember it, but for a new generation to experience it."
Only, this time around, Origin is planting its roots in Burlington, not Toronto, and the location isn't the only way that the restaurant's revival diverges from the original.
The new spot will be called Bar Origin, and, while it shares the same shareable plate-forward approach, with a menu comprised of around 20 dishes, the offerings, like Aprile himself, have evolved in the nine years since they were last available.
For those who've been missing Origin ever since it closed, though, a handful of favourites from the original menu will also make a comeback, like crispy calamari with peanut butter sauce, duck pancakes with sesame brittle and pickled cucumber, and the restaurant's much-loved Japanese hand rolls.
The restaurant's dining room will seat 80, with an additional 20 bar seats and a 30-person patio, ready to welcome scores of summertime diners who'll, without a doubt, flock to the restaurant once it opens.
Origin will be located at 399 Elizabeth St.
Jen Laceda
