The financial core of Toronto isn’t what it used to be… it’s quieter and less hectic. Yet, I’m happy to see that restaurants are still opening, and their opulence hasn’t taken a hit. Black + Blue has made its way from the west coast and into the Exchange Tower, occupying the former site of the TSX. It’s a massive space with soaring ceilings and a grandeur that makes you stop for a moment to take it all in. Focus on the details and you’ll realize the large bull artwork on their wall is made up from hundreds of steak knives, how cleaver.

Their prix fixe lunch menu ($45) offers diners a choice of a main with either an appetizer or dessert (some supplements required). Word for the wise: you’ll want to share the appetizers as some dishes are rich and the portion sizes would impress a Texan.

Thinly sliced barely seared beef forms a beautiful ruby base for the beef carpaccio. Dressed in horseradish crema and tangy pickled shimeji mushrooms, the two give the meat bright pops of flavour. Personally, I would have gone with either the crispy shallot or fried capers on the dish; having both seems like overkill and the oily garnishes overtook the delicate tender beef. But the slices of shaved parmesan were a great addition offering a bit of sweet and saltiness.

Black + Blue’s calamari is left in thick sticks, lovely bites of tender and meaty squid. The coating is crispy and light but also too salty so that it renders the dipping sauce useless. If you’re going to provide a condiment, it’s best to reduce the seasoning so that diners can taste the sauce.

Leave room for the mains as they are big. A huge cone of sizzling hot parmesan fries arrives with the steak frites ($15 supplement), they are deliciously covered with a layer of cheese and a bit of parsley for a fresh richness. Once again, I did find them over seasoned so with the garlic aioli (a tasty rendition) it ends up being too salty. I also had to leave the red wine jus unused as it was a bit too soy sauce and beef stock heavy to pair with the steak.

The steak frites includes a sizeable sirloin but it was cooked poorly: the medium rare is well seared on the outside but still fully rare in the middle. My husband, an excellent steak preparer, hypothesizes that the meat was too cold before being placed in the pan, evidenced by the tell-tale ring instead of a gradient doneness.

When my friend mentioned the undercooked steak to the manager, he brought over a doneness card to indicate the steak was cooked to their medium rare standard. My recommendation: print more of these cards and place one in each menu, so diners understand Black + Blue’s definition as it doesn’t appear to follow the Toronto standard.

Still, the manager was nice about it and noted they would have been happy to put the steaks back on the grill (likely not something chefs trying to time the next table would be “happy” about) and made up for the miscommunication with a plate of petit fours.

Underdone steak aside, Black + Blue nailed their service as everyone was a delight: professional and attentive without making the restaurant seem stuffy. Of course, the environment is anything but stuffy with the airy high ceilings and upbeat songs blasting from the speakers. One thing’s for sure, this isn’t your typical steakhouse. 

There is pent up demand within households – that’s what’s frequently being said about the torrent of money that’s about to flow through the Canadian economy once the flood gate opens. I can see why they’re predicting this: once my friend scored a reservation at the new Stock Bar, the roof top and street-side patios at Stock T.C, we wouldn’t bail even though Toronto was hit with a day of rain. Under normal conditions, we would have rain checked the patio and gone for an indoor dining experience. But since that wasn’t possible in June, and we had already been relegated to takeout and delivery for months on end, we were going anyways.

We saw umbrellas over the tables in photos and thought we’d take a chance. It’s a bet that paid off as we scored one of the last tables where everyone would be properly shielded from the elements. I bet Stock T.C wished they invested in more umbrellas to ensure more tables could get the full coverage – despite the plethora of umbrellas, when they’re placed only to protect from sun, it means few tables are usable.

So, was the risk worth it? Under normal conditions, the food would be a disappointment. The tagliatelle all’astice ($45) was so over seasoned. It’s perplexing why the chef felt a dish with lobster and marinara – two fairly flavourful ingredients – would need so much salt and pepper. The crustacean became lost, they could have thrown in any protein, a neutral chicken would have worked better. And for a high price point, the pasta had a lot of cherry tomatoes and probably a claw-worth of lobster. I’d pass on the pasta.

The Stock steak frites ($26) was decent – the beef was a little chewy, but that’s also expected from a lean sirloin that’s cooked perfectly to medium rare. If I were Stock T.C, I’d leave the steak uncut. Sure, the presentation will not look as nice, but it will help the protein retain it’s heat more as a common complaint is the steak arrives cold and dry. I wouldn’t say it was dry, but the temperature was a problem.

Perhaps the best dish of the night was the funghi e burrata ($26) pizza, but even this wasn’t something I’d rave about. I enjoyed the ingenuity of pairing burrata with mushrooms (typically it arrives with basil or prosciutto), as the earthy fungi gives an interesting twist with the creamy cheese. Yet, since I had this last, the pizza had two things going against it: 1) it tasted bland… after the salty pasta anything would seem tasteless; and 2) the crust, while nice and thin, had become hard from the cold.

If people are sharing dishes amongst a table, the restaurant should recommend having the pizza come between the appetizers and the main, or even act as the starter if the table isn’t getting anything. That would help ensure people are eating the pie at its peak.

The pizza would have made for a nice interlude between the prosciutto con gnocco fritto ($17) and the steak and pasta. Even the fritto, fried pieces of puffed dough, had cooled by the time they reached the table. Nonetheless, they had a lovely aroma, and the prosciutto was shaved thin enough that even the heat of your hand starts to warm the fat enough to stick to the pastry. Since it was my first bite of freshly prepared food since 2020, that fritto was freaking fabulous.

Eating outside always presents the chefs with challenges and deteriorates the taste of a dish. And with restaurants trying to recoup lost revenue, survive with limited occupancy, and deal with rising ingredient costs, menu prices will be higher than the historical norms. In the end, expect to pay more for dishes that aren’t at their best.

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• Cafe Cancan
• Chantecler