Toronto - Bar Prima
Floors or Food?
Admittedly, the first time I went to Bar Raval, it was just to see the inside. The shishido peppers and a glass of wine were pretty much all I could afford on my first-job salary. Standing in the busy bar, bumping shoulders with the staff as they hurried by, sharing small plates placed on top of an upright wine barrel - it all felt very semester abroad in Spain. The infamous interiors of smoothed wood and custom gold tap handles (molded to the hands of the original staff) was designed by Partisans .
There are many restaurants in the City that have fantastic interiors; some intentional, and some established.
The classics that come to mind are: Goods & Provisions (a quality East-end dive bar with exceptional food and even better service), Joso’s (Italian, think paintings with thick gold frames and red carpets), Wynona (fresh fare served in a light-wood Scandinavian meets Canadian space), Neo (a coffee shop born from Japanese minimalism), and Dynasty (traditional white table cloth dim sum).
In part because of Instagram and TikTok, so many recent restaurant openings have focused on not the food, but the flashy interiors (Myth); but there are some that do both well - like Akira Back or Azhar or the extreme - Prime Seafood Palace.
But would you go to a restaurant just to see the inside?
Admittedly, when our friends made a reservation at Bar Prima, I was going for the design, not the food. I like La Palma, the sister restaurant of Bar Prima, quite a bit, but if the menu was going to be Lasagna-focused I wasn’t too excited.
I had heard however that the interiors were impeccable - the floors are modelled after those in the apartment of artist Cy Twombly in Rome, the chairs are a Yves Klein blue, and the staff are in crisp whites. With the curved walls and limited seating, it is what I picture the Orient Express to be like. The credit goes to Future Studio.
What We Ordered: charred calamari 14 | scallops rockefeller 30 | bluefin tuna carpaccio 32 | swordfish piccata 46 | a pasta special
Recommend For: The plates are not huge, so to take advantage of the menu I would go with a group. The service was incredible and the restaurant is not loud - so the demographic ranged from young to old. The restaurant does feel upscale and fancy, which almost seems out of place for Queen West; it is next door to the aforementioned Drake. I’m curious if the good food, great service, and incredible interiors will keep this place going as long, and as celebrated, as a Bar Raval.
Reservations: Yes - Open Table