I ate like an A-lister at a top Toronto restaurant and I never want to go back to real life

The annual Toronto International Film Festival invites stars of all calibres to eat, drink and party in our beloved city — but what are they really eating and drinking? I decided to find out and see how sweet the life of an A-lister really is.

When it comes to celebrity hot spots in the city, both during TIFF and any other day, there are few places in the city quite as magnetic as the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto and its on-site restaurants, Café Boulud and d|bar.

It makes sense. In the 65 years since the hospitality chain was founded (in Toronto, mind you), it's become among the world's most reputable and, importantly, most luxurious. 

Even the restaurants are celebrity-approved, helmed by renowned French chef and James Beard winner Daniel Boulud. It only makes sense that, during TIFF, the property would pull out all the stops for their potential (read: guaranteed) fleet of well-to-do guests.

And that they did. At d|bar, a $1,000 cocktail experience complete with a ride in the hotel's Rolls-Royce was added to the menu, while at Café Boulud, the more modest by comparison addition of a $270, five-course tasting menu designed by Executive Chef William Kresky, landed among the restaurant's offerings.

Now, I'm a relative nobody, but, being such, I certainly get a kick out of cosplaying a somebody, and, with these luxe experiences available to everyone — not just actual celebrities, though I'd wager they're engaging with them more often than Joe Average journalists such as myself — I decided to try Café Boulud's TIFF Tasting Menu to see how it really feels, or at least tastes, to be a star.

Equipped with my pointiest-toed kitten heels and my most convincing fake designer bag, I set out to step into the (likely real leather, unlike mine) shoes of the who's who. 

It was the first night of TIFF, and as I approached the hotel, a motorcade of black Escalades lined up at the entrance, ostensibly carrying Very Important People in town for the festival. I hoped I didn't look (or smell) like I just got off the TTC, but I probably did, because that's exactly how I got there.

But part of the Four Seasons' expertise in hospitality is the hotel and its team's ability to make everyone feel important. I walked through the door, head held high, ready to eat like an EGOT.

The meal began with a simple selection of small bites, the surprising standout of which was a clarified cold tomato soup. Bright and herby, I remarked that a little vodka and soda water in it would make for a stunning spritz, and one that I'd down in a matter of minutes.

A small basket of bread (brioche and olive ciabatta) also arrived, alongside house-made brown butter. When did we stop doing complimentary bread at restaurants? Bring it back. It makes everyone feel like a million bucks.

Then, the main event began. The first course, saumon fumé topped with a generous layer of krystal caviar, came swimming in a translucent pool of Granny Smith apple juice, with wasabi creme fraiche and sorrel leaves.

Soft as butter and pairing perfectly with the tart freshness of the apple, it was paired with a zippy and dry Australian Riesling. It was the sort of dish that leaves you supremely satisfied, but wishing, in spite of yourself, that there was one more bite left.

Next up, a dual-pocket ravioli was filled with creamy brie and charred sweet corn, with chanterelle mushrooms and — a revelation — parmesan broth. Paying homage to seasonal flavours, it was a bite that made me feel like I was curled up by the fire at an exclusive Alpine ski chalet. Or, what I imagine that would feel like, anyway.

Butter-poached Icelandic cod with braised lingot beans, black kale, and chorizo cream with a crispy potato crumble was next. I've scarcely experienced a cod dish so rich, so substantial, and so sublimely umami — likely thanks to the chorizo cream.

Paired with a 2024 French Sancerre, the wine's bright fruit notes and subtle minerality brought out the flavours of the fish, which may have otherwise been buried by the loud flavours of its accompaniments — just one testament, of many, to Head Sommelier Anna Jaroz's nuanced and deft tact for pairings.

The crowning jewel of the meal is a tender cut of Japanese F1 wagyu striploin, nestled among elements that wouldn't be out of place at the city's most star-studded steakhouses: creamed spinach, grilled mushroom and Bordelaise sauce so rich in bone marrow that it coated the roof of my mouth.

Shortly after dessert — a stunning sweet corn flan atop brown butter cake with a dollop of maple whiskey corn ice cream — arrived, a flurry of activity. A woman, chicly clad in casual garb with oversized sunglasses on even though it was 9 p.m. in an already dimly lit restaurant, breezed in, flanked by two members of an apparent entourage.

Rosy from the wine pairings (dessert was a 2021 Grand Tokaj from Hungary), I leaned, not so subtly, and whispered, not so quietly, to my dinner companion: "I think that was just Courteney Cox."

Indeed it was, and she was, unfortunately, well within earshot when I made my declaration. Oh well, at least it confirmed my suspicion that this would be, undoubtedly, the sort of meal that someone celebrating a TIFF premiere (in my new friend Courteney's case, her directorial feature Evil Genius) would indulge in.

But the nice thing is that you don't have to be an actual A-lister to eat like one, and dining at Café Boulud makes everybody feel important, even if you got your heels on sale at the Eaton Centre and your bag isn't technically, actually Prada.

The TIFF tasting menu is available at Café Boulud until Sept. 19, but even after the festival fanfare ebbs, you can rest assured that a dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto will always make you feel like a somebody — even if an actual somebody is sitting a few feet away.