In anticipation of our upcoming move from the east side of downtown Toronto to the west, my lady and I took advantage of the recent Victoria Day long weekend to explore the area surrounding our new digs. Where we ended up was the recently relocated Le Select Bistro on Wellington Street near Spadina.
Torontonians will remember the old Le Select from its years on the north side of Queen Street in the now quite gentrified Queen West neighbourhood. Although always a little on the dark and dour side for my tastes, the bistro was nonetheless a Lyon-esque oasis amid a sea of black leather and nose piercings, complete with classically French cuisine and a wine cellar of legendary proportions.
The new Le Select is more Paris than Lyon, with white tile walls and floor and a highly approachable zinc bar, plus a layout that neatly separates the bright bar area at the fore from the dark wood-accented restaurant at the rear. Sat at a quiet table near the front windows, comforted by a wonderful and diverse soundtrack and feeling like regulars before we had so much as ordered a drink, Maggie and I were aware that we were falling quickly under the beguiling spell of this months-old bistro.
But, of course, you can’t eat or drink ambiance, so the real test of whether or not we had found our new ‘local’ lay with the menu. And here, I’m pleased to report, not only did Le Select pass the test, it did so with flying colours!
Naturally enough, the wine list is still excellent, with seventeen offerings available by the glass and a sizable, hard-bound tomb available for those wishing to take advantage of the restaurant’s prodigious cellar. But that’s not what impressed me. No, what leads me to extol the merits of Le Select is that, unlike at so many wine-oriented destinations, the beverage manager is obviously aware that drinks exist in hues beyond red and white. Of the seven taps on the bar, not a single one is occupied by a boring, mainstream lager! (Okay, so Kronenbourg isn’t exactly a spectacular beer, but we are in a Parisian-style bistro and at least it’s an imported lager that’s not the ubiquitous Stella Artois, so I’ll give them a pass on this one. Besides, for lager with character, they also carry the beautifully Bohemian-style King Pilsner.) And further – be still my heart! – the bottled beer selection is both impressive and diverse, encompassing Belgian standards like Duvel and Chimay, French finds like Grain d’Orge and a healthy array of potent treats from Quebec’s Unibroue. Not exactly beer bar standards, perhaps, but far superior to what you can expect to find at the vast majority of Canadian bars and restaurants.
What’s more, someone was paying attention when they stocked the back bar at Le Select, too. As might be expected from a French-inspired establishments, they have a couple of types of pastis and bistro standards like Lillet Blanc and Pineau des Charentes, but there are also premium tequilas here, as well as a decent selection of single malts and an excellent array of cognacs. For the cocktailer, there’s even a choice of four different champagne cocktails, beside a short list of standards.
In short, Le Select is a charter member of the elite class of restaurants and bars where management recognizes that excellence in wine, beer or spirits needn’t be achieved at the expense of the other two categories. Pity that this elite remains so small.
