The 38 Essential Toronto Restaurants

"Since opening in 1977, this French restaurant was a fixture in the city — until reports emerged that everyone’s petit chou would be closing forever after the building was sold to (gasp) condo developer Allied Properties in 2021. Fortunately, Allied elected to keep Le Sélect open and seek out a new operator to manage the restaurant, ultimately landing on restaurateur David Aisenstat and Scale Hospitality. When it reopened in 2022, it was as if the restaurant never skipped a beat, with the same decorations (mahogany accents, rouge banquettes, zinc bar, vintage posters) and the same French menu (with a few new daily specials). At the pass, corporate executive chef Ted Corrado serves up Parisian plats du jour with delicate nods to Canadiana, such as butter-engorged escargot vol-au-vent that’s placed inside a bird’s nest of ethereally flaky house-made puff pastry; pungent foie gras terrine gilded with ice wine gelée; and salt-kissed steak frites (sourced from Ontario Woodward Farms) completed with red wine jus. End with quintessential tarte tatin featuring squidgy caramelized apples and butter-caramel sauce." - Tiffany Leigh