Awai

Address: 2277 Bloor St. W. (near Runnymede Ave.), 647-643-3132, awai.ca

Chef: Nathan Isberg

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Reservations: Yes

Wheelchair access: Yes

Price: Dinner for two with wine, tax and tip: $70

Beet this

There’s nothing fake about Awai.

The new vegan restaurant in Bloor West Village is the real deal, run by a philosophical chef who uses heady spices and umami-rich mushrooms to showcase the deliciousness of plants. No faux hot dogs here.

“The way we have to work backwards from meat-centric cuisine is farcical,” says Nathan Isberg (ex-The Atlantic).

Isberg stays on the straight and narrow foodwise, puréeing white beans into velvety soup ($15) showered in black truffles from Burgundy. He elevates golden beet soup ($12) with fragrant berbere powder, chopped pistachios and the delight of fresh mint.

What’s not to like?

The iconoclast

Isberg, 41, is a classically trained chef and anthropologist who puts big ideas into practice.

There is no tipping at Awai (pronounced “ah-WHY,” it is Japanese for subtle but necessary). Servers earn a living wage. Leave extra money if you want, but it isn’t expected.

Isberg has abolished the usual restaurant hierarchy, which he believes “creates a culture of violence.” Here, he and his cooks bring food to the tables and interact with diners.

Food accessibility is another key concept. Awai makes a daily vegetable curry served with chickpea flour pancakes. At $3, it is as tasty as it is affordable.

The vibe

Isberg and business partner Roger Yang opened Awai on Dec. 1 in a former Italian restaurant.

The minimalist 36-seat front dining room is quiet, letting customers converse for hours over gingery kefir mocktails ($8) or organic wines. I dare you not to chuckle at the list. The organic Mas de Soleilla Petit Mars ($13) is personified as “a French man who makes friends easily and . . . gives out toffee and minty pastilles to the children.”

It all feels quite relaxed but be warned: Because Awai deliberately lacks a manager, service can be hit and miss.

Go to seed

From the previous tenant’s wood-burning oven emerge the crisp Spanish flatbreads that are Isberg’s culinary calling card. The dough, now free of lard, holds up well under caramelized onions and oyster mushrooms ($17) or a bushel of roast cherry tomatoes ($16).

Isberg further harnesses the flames to blister potatoes in the coals. He turns the blackened, more flavourful spuds into dumplings ($18) partnered with crunchy white onions and an Arab bazaar’s worth of spices.

Then there are the seedlings he cultivates on site for a lively salad ($13) lightly dressed with nutty argan oil and cider vinegar.

Chocolate fix

The more complicated dishes work, too, such as translucent handmade ravioli filled with silky artichokes ($19) and splashed with white wine. The poached pear ($12) sports a crunchy praline mantle and a hidden centre of bittersweet chocolate.

Without cream or eggs, the kitchen gels pulverized pine nuts and the root vegetable salsify into crème brûlée ($10) using carrageenen, a seaweed extract. The grainy texture is off, the one time the plant-based menu is lacking. Even the tarte Tatin ($13) is delicious sans butter.

Soon Awai will serve lunch. I said Planta was the city’s best vegan restaurant. I was wrong.

apataki@thestar.ca , Twitter @amypataki

apataki@thestar.ca , Twitter @amypataki

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.