where jess ate

The Drake Hotel (@thedrakehotel) has brought a bit of Queen West to the financial district with the opening of its new stand-alone restaurant, Drake One Fifty.

The new restaurant is located at 150 York St., on the northwest corner of York and Adeleide. The space used to be home to a bank and underwent some drastic renovations to turn it into what it looks like today.

The entrance to the restaurant houses an outpost of the Drake General Store and upon entering the restaurant, you’ll find yourself standing in front of the gorgeous retro-looking bar.

The place was designed by the British Designer, Martin Brudnizki and the result is fantastic. With large windows, handmade tiles from Morocco and large booths filling the restaurant, it’s nothing short of beautiful.

The man in the kitchen is the Drake Hotel’s executive chef Ted Corrado (@cheftedcorrado). I’ve previously had his food at the Drake Hotel and was confident that the food at this new venture would also be excellent.

I attended the media preview of the new restaurant last week and we started off with an incredible spread of charcuterie, cheese, bread and seafood. All of the meats were cured in-house and I enjoyed the accompanying pickles, mustards and smooth liver mousse.

The restaurant offers impressive seafood towers which overflow with fresh oysters, shrimp, clams and mussels. Servers also brought around delicious seafood bites of Scallop Crudo – with preserved lemon, kohlrabi, black olive reduction & puffed rice and Charred Octopus – with sunchokes, romano beans, smoked cipollini & swiss chard.

The menu at Drake One Fifty is quite extensive and is broken down into the following sections: Appetizers (ranging from meatballs to smoked mackerel), Raw, Salads, Pizza, Pasta, Mains (including a burger and steak frites) and a “Feast and Share” section. Needless to say, there’s something for everyone here.

After cocktail hour, we were seated and proceeded to the meal portion of the evening. Our first course was the Radichio & Burrata – burrata, mache, black garlic dressing & marcona almonds. I’m a huge fan of burrata so this was definitely my kinda appetizer. The pairing of the cheese with the radicchio and almonds was perfection.

Next up was the Whole Rotisserie Chicken – leeks, potato, carrot, Brussels sprouts & roasted chicken jus which was served family-style (from the “feast and share” section of the menu). The chicken was flavourful and most importantly, was moist and juicy – even the white meat which I often fear.

The chicken was served with a bowl of light and fluffy Ricotta Gnocchi – broccoli pesto & florets, pine nuts and preserved chili.  It’s nice vegetarian option for those of you who don’t eat meat.

We also tried the Roast Lamb – greek yogurt, roasted baby eggplant, citrus new potatoes, haircot vert + chili puree. This dish seemed to be the crowd favourite of the evening. The meat was incredibly tender – you were able to pull it apart simply with your fork. I loved that they paired the chili puree with the lamb as it gave the meat a nice kick.

To end off the meal, we had the Lemon Tart – with toasted marshmallow and candied citrus peel. With a bit of tartness and just the right amount of sweetness, this dessert left me wanting more!

With its delicious offerings and trendy space, Drake One Fifty is definitely a welcome addition to the financial district!

*This was a complimentary meal. The opinions in the post are my own.*