The Ritz Carlton Hotel in downtown Toronto recently unveiled its new EPOCH Bar & Kitchen Terrace. The reimagined British Gastrobar offers mix of casual and imaginative food and cocktails in an elegant setting that resulted in several months of planning and renovations.
The restaurant space features 61 seats in the dining room and an additional 88 sets on a south-facing terrace overlooking Simcoe Park. The terrace includes a centrepiece bar with a wood-fired stone even.
Global interior design firm DesignAgency says that it drew on the romance of travel and the area’s glamorous role as host of the annual Toronto International Film Festival to create the restaurant’s interiors and lush outdoor terrace, including an open-air kitchen and bar that faces Simcoe Park. “Epoch is a venue for the ages,” says Allen Chan, founding partner of Design Agency. “The Ritz-Carlton is the gold standard for luxury and service around the world, and Epoch brings those values to an engaging social space that’s intimate, elegant and relaxed.”
The landscaped outdoor terrace brings together woven patio seating with sleek fireplaces. Mossy green banquettes and low-slung lounge chairs arranged in cozy clusters invite conversations around bronze-trimmed tables. A panelled screen printed with a panoramic landscape is set-off with subtle lighting throughout.
A wrap-around bar offers a focal point with pale stone countertops with bullnose edges echo other curved and arched details throughout the space. “We designed every element for an overall exceptional experience,” said Chan. And for private gatherings, The Green Room – a name that winks at Toronto’s reputation as Hollywood North – can be separated from the main lounge by sliding wood and fluted glass pocket doors. A billiard table, bookshelves panelled with dark stone, and a fireplace surrounded by caramel leather wing chairs have the feel of a cinema lover’s well-appointed library.
The design firm also reimagined guest rooms and Club Level suites in the hotel, and also conceptualized updates to the Club Lounge and Spa My Blend by Clarins on-site as well.
Chef Jeff Crump is leading the new restaurant — Crump is considered to be a pioneer in the slow-food movement and it founder of Earth to Table: Organic Farm, and Earth to Table: Bread Bar.
Crump has authored two books on the ‘eat local’ concept and his newest venture at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Toronto is a reflection of that. The EPOCH Bar & Kitchen Terrace menu is described as being “a culinary homage to Chef’s earth-to-table philosophy and his roots in the UK gastrobar scene at The Fat Duck and The Hind’s Head.” Thoughtfully-sourced ingredients and an emphasis on seasonality is said to be of paramount importance to his menu concepts which are described as approachable and seasonally inspired.
Cocktails on the menu are already popular. Bar Manager Jason William Griffin is an award-winning bartender and hospitality professional based in Toronto with nearly two decades of experience in the industry. Jason brings his signature flair and prolific knowledge to EPOCH Bar & Kitchen Terrace’s cocktail program.
To learn more, visit: epochtoronto.com
