Isabella Hotel and Suites

Note: Temporarily closedThe air is charged, and as you descend underneath Yorkville, you sense that your evening is headed somewhere interesting. Minimalist in design, Aburi Hana saves the drama for the plates, using handmade Arita pottery that has a history tracing back to the 1600s.Chef Ryusuke Nakagawa presents a modern take on the history-steeped Kyō-Kaiseki menu. His cooking is personal and intricate, weaving multiple techniques and colors into every dish. The signature maguro flower, a rose made from pieces of akami and chutoro, is stunning, as is the duck breast meatball with foie gras,

Even if you lived next door, omakase with Chef Masaki Saito would still feel like a faraway adventure. The foyer's marble staircase, a 200-year-old hinoki counter and traditional Japanese paneling and woodwork set the stage as he slices, scores and sauces the great treasures of the sea. For a serious sum, you will find Botan shrimp with uni sauce and hanaho, and eat melting slices of toro burried under a blizzard of white truffles. Fish comes exclusively from Japan, and for the nigiri, he uses a prized varietal from Niigata prefecture, warm and tinged with his special blend of aged vinegars. L

It seems nearly impossible to have a bad time at Chef Rob Rossi’s Italian stunner. Flickering candlelight bounces off cream-colored walls and blond-oak tables running down the length of this restaurant that feels, at all times, totally under control thanks to a suave staff. And whereas many Italian menus can look the same, Rossi narrows in on the seafood-rich traditions of Liguria. A superbly light vitello tonnato and a piping hot Ligurian flatbread stuffed with stracchino offer promising starts. There must be pasta, like wild snow crab tagliolini with smoked bottarga, and there must be tirami

Located on a quiet stretch of downtown Toronto, this tiny-but-mighty restaurant enters a new era under Chef Rafa Covarrubias. Ideal for intimate dates and built around a carefully run open kitchen, the dimly-lit restaurant offers a refined, contemporary tasting menu flecked with Mexican influences. A custardy tamale with salsa roja and snow crab has few equals, but the scallop with mole verde is excellent as well. The main event is a dry-aged roasted duck, first presented with a bit of tableside flair and later served with a glossy jus and chimole negro. Service is warm and personable, and tho

Chef Eric Chong has set out to do what few others in the region dare to. Drawing inspiration from across Asia, he taps into his own heritage and delivers a modern tasting menu that reimagines what is possible using top-shelf ingredients sourced from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. Tables run down the length of a stylish room framed with gold-leaf finishes, and an intimate, four-seat chef’s counter offers an even closer look at the refined excellence coming out of this kitchen. Past highlights include a single raw PEI oyster with rice wine vinegar foam; jellyfish complemented by a tableside po

Everyone has a good time at Chef Patrick Kriss’s beloved Alo. You can sense this much at the lively bar, where walk-ins are treated like VIPs by personable servers. The dimly lit tables in the dining room are cozy, but for the best experience, book seats at the marble-topped chefs counter with a ringside seat of the lively kitchen. The kitchen team seamlessly merges European and Asian sensibilities onto a single surprise tasting menu with dishes like creamy Koshihikari risotto boosted with dashi, lobster and shiitake mushrooms or Hudson Valley duck with foie gras, plum, turnip and red curry. T

This boisterous hotspot offers up no shortage of personality. Almost everything on this distinctive menu passes through a battery of roaring wood-burning grills and hearths, lending a primal smokiness that pervades the food and room alike. At the end of the line is a single cook at an earthenware comal, preparing tortillas from heirloom corn nixtmalized and ground in-house. Masa-based items like memela filled with melty quesillo, smoky preserved shiitakes and crunchy chicharron show off the kitchen’s creativity. Grilled meats, like a meltingly tender secreto "al pastor" with charred pineapple,