Top 4 List of Winterlicious Vegan Options in Toronto
Winterlicious is an annual event in Toronto and it’s kicking of on January 30 – and goes on until Feb. 12. It’s a great way to encourage people to go out and enjoy the various spots in the city during the colder months.
This year will see more than 200 top restaurants throughout the city offer a three-course menu at three price categories (lunch $18, $23, $28 and dinner $25, $35, $45).
Of the 200 plus restaurants throughout the city participating five restaurants are offering vegan Winterlicious special prix fixe menus. Of those 5, some of them look pretty exciting, but I’ve put all of them on this list for the sake of information.
While I think it’s great that people and places are trying to incorporate vegan menu items into their offerings, I’m not longer excited simply to be acknowledged, there are some incredible vegan options in this city, even at non-vegan restaurants, so I was surprised they didn’t showcase their talents in plant-based cuisine. (Perhaps next time veggielicious rolls around?)
I’m feeling a bit sarcastic, but sorbet and berries or a bowl of fruit as the vegan dessert option is so last decade, I can get that at Cora’s for breakfast, but some of these talented chefs and restaurants? What are you up to? I sincerely hope that some of these offerings are more exciting than their menu description is conveying, and I still look forward to seeing what these individual restaurants come up with, especially if I found the menu listing boring (prove me wrong.)
There are a few places that seemed to consider a full vegan prix fixe menu and how things fit might fit together, and some that seemed to assume a dish would augment the other non-vegan menu items here and there. And it’s fine. I don’t mind not being someone’s market, and I don’t expect everyone to have vegan food, but if you do… please make it awesome.
I like that the online Winterlicious restaurant list allows spots to be sorted by whether they offer vegan stuff, you can see the full, untruncated list here, but I didn’t much care to see the non-vegan stuff, so let’s pretend there are only 5 4 winterlicious restaurants, and they only offer vegan stuff.
Here is my top 4 list of Vegan Winterlicious Options in Toronto, based on arbitrary reasons like inventive dessert options or entrees/mains that involve more than salad/kale.
- Grasslands (dinner only, lots of options. & a fully vegan restaurant [$25])
- Living Room (lunch[$28] and dinner[$45] have some great and ample looking options)
- Marcel’s Bistro (lunch[$23] and dinner[$35] options)
- La Maquette (lunch [$23] and dinner[$35] options)
- Trevor – (dinner – [$35]) Go here if you like kale for almost every course. Don’t worry though there are sorbet and berries for dessert.
If any of these strike your fancy, you’ll have to make reservations, if you visit the winterlicious site, they have helpful opentable links for most of these restaurants, or you can call the locations directly.
Grasslands
478 Queen St W (map)
416-504-5127
Downtown
Website Twitter Facebook On Winterlicious
$25 Dinner Plus taxes and gratuity
Sweet Potato Fritter (vegan/local)
Ontario yams, red onion, rice flour croquette, marinated slaw, spicy mayo
or
French Canadian Pea Soup (vegan)
Thick soup of yellow split peas, carrots, onions and herbs
or
Beet Salad (vegan/local)
Shaved Ontario beets, spinach, toasted almond slices, cashew cheese, orange balsamic vinaigrette
Grilled Seitan Steak (vegan/local)
House made red pepper and herbed seitan steak, smoky BBQ sauce, grilled Ontario tomato salsa
or
Pesto Cream Fettuccini (vegan/local)
Wheat fettuccini, Ontario button mushrooms, sundried tomato, grape tomato, snap peas, pesto cream sauce
or
Butternut Sage Risotto (vegan/local)
Arborio rice, white wine, Ontario butternut squash, fried sage
Chocolate Bundt (vegan)
Rich chocolate cake, warm fudge sauce
or
Truffles (vegan)
Rich assortment of dark chocolate, coconut rum, vanilla truffles
or
Vanilla Stack Cake (vegan)
Lightly scented vanilla sponge cake, fresh fruit compote, candied walnuts
Living Room
Windsor Arms Hotel
18 St Thomas St (map)
416-971-9666
Yorkville – Fully Accessible
Website Twitter Facebook On Winterlicious
$28 Lunch – Plus taxes and gratuity
Kale Salad with Raisins, Walnut & Avocado (vegan)
with Tahini Dressing
Roasted Peppers “Farcis” (vegan)
with Saffron Potatoes and Zucchini, Herbs and Ginger Dressing
Chocolate Fudge Cake (vegan)
$45 Dinner – Plus taxes and gratuity
Potato and Piquillo Galette (vegan)
with Avocado Fritters and Tomato Sauce
Sweet Potato & Cranberry Layers (vegan)
Runner Beans Ragout & Ratatouille
Chocolate Fudge Cake (vegan)
La Maquette
111 King St E(map)
416-366-8191
Downtown, Old Town – Accessible
Website Facebook On Winterlicious
$23 Lunch – Plus taxes and gratuity
Mesclun Baby Organic Salad (vegan)
tossed in a light honey(?) mustard dressing
or
Roasted Ontario Red and Golden Baby Ontario Beats (vegan)
served with pickled onion and raspberry vinaigrette
Vegetarian Risotto (vegan)
grilled vegetable and sundried tomato, olive oil, shallots, garnished with marjoram
Seasonal Fresh Fruit Bowl (vegan)
$35 Dinner – Plus taxes and gratuity
Roasted Ontario Red and Golden Baby Ontario Beats (vegan)
served with pickled onion and raspberry vinaigrette
Butternut Squash Ravioli (vegan)
tossed in olive oil, fresh herb, cherry tomato and grilled vegetables
Fresh Seasonal Fruit Bowl (vegan)
Marcel’s Bistro
315 King St W (map)
416-591-8600
Entertainment District
Website Twitter Facebook On Winterlicious
$23 Lunch – Plus taxes and gratuity
Soupe du Marché (vegan/local)
Market-fresh vegetable soup
Couscous de Legumes (vegan)
Couscous with grilled vegetables selected daily by our Chef
Sorbet aux Fruits du Jour (vegan)
Sorbet with fresh fruitNote: might be worth asking about the Baba au Rhum cake without whipping cream.
$35 Dinner – Plus taxes and gratuity
Soupe du Marché (vegan/local)
Market Fresh Vegetable Soup
or
Salade D’endives et Betteraves aux Amandes Grillées, Vinaigrette de Framboises (vegan/local)
Endive and beet salad with roasted sliced almonds and raspberry vinegar dressing
Risotto D’Orges aux Légumes D’hiver(vegan/local)
Pearl barley risotto with winter vegetables
Baba au Rhum et Fruit Frais (vegan)
Baba au Rum cake topped with fresh fruit
or
Sorbet aux Fruit du Jour (vegan)
Sorbet with fresh fruit
Trevor Kitchen and Bar
38 Wellington St E (map)
416-941-9410
Downtown, Old Town
$35 Dinner Plus taxes and gratuity
Arugula &Kale Salad (vegetarian/local/can be made vegan)
withpecorino, pine nuts, pear & pomegranate dressing
Warm Beet & Kale Salad (vegetarian/can be made vegan)
withgoat cheese, pearl onions, quinoa & cranberry orange dressing
Sorbet & Berries (vegan/local)
What’s your favourite vegan friendly Winterlicious menu? Have you been to any of these restaurants before? Do you like sorbet & berries?