Toronto has no shortage of inventive fusion restaurants, but the teams behind DaiLo and Café Renée is bringing a combination you don’t see every day. Woodlyns, a Chinese-Jewish restaurant, is set to open near Bathurst and Eglinton this fall.
The project came about after Toronto lawyer and entrepreneur Jeff Goldstein connected with many small business owners in Cedarvale, where he grew up. He wanted to know how he could support them following the challenges caused in part by the construction from the LRT.
“When the construction finally ended not too long ago, I noticed an opportunity. I wanted to give back to the community to open a space that I thought was sorely lacking compared to the more abundant options we had when I was a child,” he says. “It’s really about giving back to the community and being a gathering place. We want to be a pulse here and have great food and beverage and everything as a focal point.”
Goldstein connected with chefs Nick Liu, founder of DaiLo and Café Renée, and Josh Ling, who worked in both kitchens.
“I think what would be great for the neighbourhood is to open something that represents what the neighbourhood really loves because there’s a large Jewish community here,” says Liu, who is Woodlyns’ culinary director. “I thought it would be fun to combine some classic Jewish dishes or Jewish ingredients and use those to represent some unique Chinese riffs on dishes.”
What does that combination look like? Think a Reuben spring roll, knishes that are deep fried and stuffed with chicken, and a gefilte fish that’s been revamped with Chinese flavours and techniques.
The signature is the made-in-house pastrami, seasoned with kombu and Chinese peppercorn. Liu says the combination represents “both cultures coming together in one beautiful sandwich.” It’s piled onto caraway butter-toasted Japanese milk bread and finished with house mustard made in partnership with Kozlik’s Canadian Mustard.
The drink program will similarly see a play on classic cocktails with Jewish influence and Chinese ingredients, as well as a tea-based mocktail program.
“We’ll have a lot of mocktails that are elevated for the families, but also we do have more juice-focused ones for the kids because we want them to still feel special, like they can have that drink with their parents, even though it’s not alcoholic,” says Ling. “It’s something that we’ve tried to be very intentional about so that they really get to join in on the experience because this whole thing for us is about community.”
With seating for 60 and private dining, the restaurant’s design will encompass natural woods and warm tones to match the restaurant’s name which is inspired by the neighbourhood.
“It represents the whole Cedarvale neighbourhood with Cedarvale Park being just down the street with ravines and the woods,” says Goldstein. “When you’re coming to Cedarvale, you are coming to the Woodlands, and that’s the philosophy behind the name — really capturing the community.”