Restaurant
Voya at the Loden
October 9, 2009
This highly anticipated luxury boutique hotel delivers on all fronts. The sumptuous 80-seat dining room, lit in soft golds by a trio of dazzling chandeliers, is radiant. Deep booths, double-high ceilings, a backlit bar, and an eye-popping double-sided fireplace with sandblasted patina keep your head on a swivel. The kitchen team, led by local luminary and gastro genius Marc-Andre Choquette (ex-Lumière), masterfully coaxes rich flavour from seasonal ingredients and delivers some of the best food we’ve eaten all year. Try the seafood ceviche ($14) with coconut lime dressing, plantains, and trout caviar or the chicken boudin blanc ($15) to start. Impossibly tender veal cheeks ($30) with creamed corn, chanterelles, and caramelized onion jus positively soar. General manager/sommelier Rob Herman’s wine list is like a treasure map. You’ll see lots of dark clothing and designer eyewear on a clientele that ranges from the rich to the very wealthy, with a smattering of hipsters to colour the milieu. With a liquor licence that allows them to pour until 2 a.m. on weekends, Voya is aggressively pursuing the cocktail crowd. Will it be a top culinary destination or hip lounge? Few restaurants in this town have succeeded as both. More importantly, how long will a world-class chef be happy pumping out bar snacks if his dining room languishes semi-full?
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