A Toronto restaurant is so hot right now that it’s sizzling.
Alo, which just recently took the top spot in Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list, has also been named one of the top restaurants in the world. The contemporary French eatery and cocktail bar placed 94th on a prestigious annual global ranking published by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Although Alo didn’t place in the top 50 (which will be released June 19), the organization called the restaurant’s spot in the top 100 “impressive.”
“Also celebrating an impressive upward trajectory is Alo (No.94), a relative newcomer to the Canadian culinary scene, having only opened in 2015 and now representing Toronto’s first appearance on a list by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants since 2002,” the organization said in a press release.
“Thank you to our team and the continued support from our diners. We’re feeling very honoured today,” Alo said on Instagram.
No other Canadian restaurants made the top 51-100 ranking. The last restaurant to make the list was Montreal’s Joe Beef — a favourite of iconic chef Anthony Bourdain — which came 81st in 2015.
The list called Alo an “elevated restaurant” that embraces the finer things in life, praised its precise, technically-accomplished dishes, its cocktail bar, and even its bread course — noting that the restaurant churns its own butter from local cream and offers a wine pairing.
“Alo is an unabashed champion of fine dining, combining classical technique, global ingredients and a chic dining room with views of the city,” they noted.
Alo offers its customers two distinct dining experiences: its Dining Room, which offers blind, multi-course tasting menus, and its Kitchen Counter, both of which have to be booked through tocktix.com. Its cocktail bar features an à la carte menu, and is walk-in only.
In April, the eatery placed first in the annual ranking of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, and its cocktail bar placed fifth in the top 50 bars in the country.
“Two years after opening, Alo is grander and more ambitious than ever, yet, even still, its grasp never exceeds its reach,” Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants explained on its website.
“Chef-owner Patrick Kriss’ kitchen team, led by chef de cuisine Nick Bentley, is cooking with the same attention-grabbing finesse with which it started — but displaying greater range.”