Jamie Oliver to open first North American restaurant in Toronto
After much speculation, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has announced that his first North American restaurant outpost will be located in Toronto, Canada.
Oliver, whose restaurant empire currently spans the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Russia, Singapore and Dubai, announced that the Canadian metropolis -- and burgeoning foodie scene -- will be home to the first North American location of Jamie’s Italian.
The restaurant is set to open in Yorkdale Shopping Centre next spring.
"Canada is a place very close to my heart,” said Oliver in a statement.
I'm always excited about spending time there, and whenever I visit, I always get an amazing welcome.”
For the new restaurant venture, Oliver will team up with King Street Food Company, whose restaurants include Jacobs & Co Steakhouse and Buca Osteria & Enoteca.
Oliver says he’s partnered with Buca because the restaurant shares his food philosophy. In 2011, he called his dining experience at the Toronto restaurant his “favorite meal of the year” in a tweet.
“For a while now, I've been on the lookout for the perfect partner to open a restaurant with. So, when I tasted the menu at Buca, and found that we had the exact same ideas in mind, I knew I had found the right guys to kick start this exciting project with," he said.
The menu at the Toronto outpost of Jamie’s Italian will focus on fresh, sustainable ingredients and feature Italian fare like pasta and pizza that are made fresh daily, and on-site.
Like most Jamie’s Italian destinations, the family-style restaurant will also feature an antipasti station with cured meats and an open kitchen.
More restaurant locations across North America are to follow.
In recent years, more and more celebrity chefs have begun to take notice of the city’s sophisticated, worldly palate and appetite for good food.
In 2012, triple Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud opened his first Canadian restaurant at the Four Seasons while popular New York chef David Chang also brought his Momofuku empire to Toronto that same year.
For a look at a typical Jamie’s Italian menu, check out http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/menu.
