A Toronto restaurant helmed by a renowned Michelin-starred chef has closed down for good.
It’s been a tough run for Toronto’s Michelin-connected restaurants of recent, as St. Thomas, a Yorkville restaurant and wine bar from Michelin-starred chef Quinton Bennett has closed its doors for good.
This comes in the wake of Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, La Bartola, closed down as Chef Ivan Castro announced he’d be taking a break from the business to prioritize his mental and physical health.
A particularly quiet closure — the restaurant was marked as closed on Google and its Instagram account deactivated seeminly overnight — always leads to inevitable questioning as to the reasons behind the closure.
The same reason Chef Castro closed La Bartola down cannot be claimed for St. Thomas, but, mercifully, neither can the high cost of operation or unsustainable rent increases that all too frequently force restaurants in the city to close.
In fact, a representative from Enigma, Chef Bennett’s Michelin-starred Yorkville restaurant which shared a property with St. Thomas, tells me, the closure occurred in order to expand Enigma further.
“The space now hosts our Enigma Lounge, where our guests begin their tasting menu experience with a welcome beverage and canapes before their meal in our dining room,” the representative says.
The lounge is also open to diners tucking into Enigma’s a la carte menu or stopping by for a quick cocktail.
“This expansion has created a fantastic opportuntity for our guests to experience even more of what Enigma has to offer,” the representative notes.
It’s a decision, frankly, that makes perfect sense.
While St. Thomas and Enigma had decidedly different offerings, there’s a sense of playful eccentricity that underscored both spots, and, while Enigma focuses more squarely on French cuisine than St. Thomas did, the ever-evolving tasting menus allow for would-be St. Thomas dishes to sneak in now and then — should Chef Bennett choose, of course.
St. Thomas was formerly located at 23 St. Thomas Street, where you can also find Enigma.
