Food

ONE NOT QUITE NO. 1

Review By Alan A. Vernon And Sean Kelly Keenan
PHOTOGRAPH KRISTEN JOY WATTS

ONE RESTAURANT three/5

ADDRESS: 116 Yorkville
PHONE: 416-961-9600
DINNER for two: $325*
HOURS: Daily 6am-2am
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE: Yes
RESERVATIONS: Yes

You know you're in luxe land when impeccably tailored doormen stand guard with umbrellas; god forbid a raindrop should fall on your flawless foundation or vicuna sports jacket as you exit your cab. One Restaurant seems to have its clientele, shall we say, covered.

Situated at the Hazelton Hotel – Yorkville's newest, most exclusive boutique home-away-from-home – One, to no one's surprise, seems destined to be another high-end gastronomic hit for celebrity chef and businessman extraordinaire Mark McEwan (of North 44, Bymark and the Food Network's The Heat).

Awash in shimmery metallics and sultry suede, the de rigueur design of Yabu Pushelberg provides the perfect sexy, smoky backdrop for wheeler-dealer power-players and ogling wannabes to sip $20 martinis and pose over plates of gorgeously cured Tasmanian sea trout ($18).

Yet, a month or so after One successfully opened its doors during the Toronto International Film Festival, there's still something distinctly off about the whole enterprise. For starters, it's just too darn loud. Tables are cluttered together cafeteria-style and servers, although affable and accommodating, lack that arms-length professional polish one expects from a place where a meal will set most mortals back half a month's rent.

The menu at times reads brilliantly, but gives us pause: at these prices, do people want to play sharesies? At the very least, being told that communal plates were the norm before ordering might've helped alleviate any confusion when they started to appear. An aside: whose bright idea was it to add scrambled eggs with bacon and tasteless slivers of truffle ($17) to a dinner menu? And by the way, what exactly is “street” about the “ultimate” street burger ($29)? We should be so lucky to get street food like this, though it's not exceptional enough to justify its asking price.

Some of the fare is suitably spectacular. The short rib ravioli ($24) proves executive chef Drew Ellerby to be a deft hand at simple, innovative cuisine. Plump pillows of perfectly cooked pasta, full of beefy, melt-in-your-mouth miracles, get a neat surf 'n' turf twist with a pairing of gorgeously seared scallops. Duck ham with figs ($19) is pleasantly gamey, its finely gossamer, prosciutto-like texture plated with a hillock of elegantly dressed organic greens. But the biggest value meal on the menu is the chanterelle risotto ($14): perfectly gooey, cheesy and loaded with enough truffle oil to send your taste buds into a fungi fantasy. And a brilliantly executed beef tenderloin with seared foie gras ($51) is, without a doubt, manna for meat-lovers.

Too bad a nice piece of Atlantic halibut with Dungeness crab ($36) is slightly overcooked with nary enough shellfish to bother. A side of polenta ($10) is superb, other sides not so: like tough, bland creamed corn ($10) and “crisp” frites with citrus aioli ($12) that are a flimsy flop.

With time to ponder desserts, we're ever hopeful that they'll provide some measure of redemption. And pastry chef Tony Accettola doesn't disappoint, navigating a nifty spin on some classics. His caramelized banana bržlée in chocolate bark ($13) sports a luscious, creamy custard rife with banana essence, its bark a cleverly constructed wafer-thin pastry in all its buttery goodness. Its supreme peanut butter crackle gilds the lily. And a panko-crusted lemon cheesecake beignet ($13) is divine by any standard, elevating the lowly doughy donut to star status.

One may not be quite No. 1 in our books yet, but it does deliver a mostly satisfying, and at times extraordinary, eating experience. Hey, when Mark McEwan puts his name to anything, one expects it be flawless. He was obviously ready to roll out the red carpet for Hollywood heavyweights at TIFF, but accents like tableside purse stools, though an elegant touch, are not enough if you want to be first among Toronto's elite restos. For One, getting it mostly right is just not good enough.

*Includes three courses, taxes, tip and a glass of wine.

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