Classic luxury from a Cantonese-Canadian entente.
A year since its rebirth, Lai Wah Heen continues to refine its contemporary take on Cantonese luxury cuisine..
To give the restaurant an extra edge, owners Gary Yue and Ming Xie have developed a 103-acre farm in Norfolk County, Ont., where Gary and his wife Michelle grow Asian vegetables from imported seeds and a range of other Chinese ingredients from heritage poultry to fig leaves and Szechuan peppercorns, all for the exclusive use of Executive Chef Heyden Sin and his talented young team. There’s a lengthy à la carte, but Sin’s range is best experienced through one of the several tasting menus. Rich broth bubbles out of a whole squab, finished tableside, when its crisp skin is pierced with a knife. Customers are given gloves to attack delectably simple Dungeness crab tossed with preserved radish in a sticky black bean sauce. Inside its char-siu crust A5 wagyu steak is so marbled it melts on the tongue like foie gras. Pastry chef Ying Long arrives at the table with dessert to grate a little litsea bark over litsea seed gelato with sour mango purée.
Chef Victor Huang is responsible for the dim sum program, integrated into lunch and dinner but given a starring role at the afternoon High Tea service. For one masterful miniature he forms scallop-and-shrimp mousseline into a koi and sets it swimming in a pool of spinach consommé. Cocktails are curated by Oliver Leung from College Street’s cool bar Suite 115 — the current list has a modern Hong-Kong vibe. Meanwhile, beverage director Peony Cen has a powerful inventory of top international vintages to draw on as well as rare Chinese wines and spirits, Italian gins and other curiosities.
Those who remember the Lai Wah Heen of decades ago for shark’s fin soup, conpoy and stiffly formal service are in for a surprise. Its current incarnation still honours Cantonese food but brings it right up to date with a polished team effort from farm to table.
Lai Wah Heen | 108 Chestnut St, Toronto
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