Toronto's oldest restaurant the Senator has long been celebrated as a throwback to old times when the world was a simpler, gentler place. And until recently its menu was a reflection of this as well, maintaining classic dishes such as house made meat loaf and liver and onions. Now the Senator could be considered a leader in the local restaurant scene having placed local ingredients at the threshold of enhancing the customer experience.
"Typically, restaurants have one or two suppliers," says Peter Moscone, the Senator's manager, in an article that appeared in the New York Times. "We now have 40."
A favourite of people attending the nearby Pantages Theatre, the Senator opened in 1929 on Victoria Street just south of Dundas. Bob Sniderman, who saved the restaurant from demolition and took over as owner in 1984, called in help from Andrew Taylor, "the chef at Langdon Hall, an acclaimed restaurant in a Relais & Châteaux hotel in nearby Cambridge, Ontario, to revamp the Senator’s menu," the Times reports.
"The vision was to make this not just a diner, but a destination," Taylor says in the article. "We wanted to get a little artistic, but still keep it simple."
Together they overhauled the menu and did what Toronto restaurants do best: embraced the community. They added in a "gleaming La Marzocco machine that’s cranking out superb espresso drinks using a custom roast from a local microroaster, Dark City." Additional suppliers include Spirit Tree Cidery, Beau's All Natural Brewery, produce from Kensington Market's Sanci's, and Sheldon Creek Dairy, which provides organic milk and cream.
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Original Source: New York Times