What was Martine’s Wine Bar? One way to describe it: “It was a wine bar that turned into a restaurant that focuses on wine…There’s no specific style of cuisine, a lot of French, Italian. It’s got vaguely Euro-bistro vibes”. Another way to describe it: perfect.

It was barely open for two years, and in those two years I went over 20 times, despite it not being close to my home. I went there by myself, I went there with my loved ones, I went there with groups of friends. Every time it was a delight.

The menu frequently changed, and there was some sadness when something like tempura green beans with gribiche sauce suddenly dropped off the menu. Thankfully one menu item was a constant: spicy chicken roasted in a wood fired oven and accompanied with lime and frites and aioli covered in chives. I tried not to order it every time, but it was so good and so well priced and so great for sharing…well, I ended up ordering it almost every time. The vegetables were great, the pastas were great, the crudo also great, and of course the desserts were great, but the chicken was the greatest. It’s been said that you can tell you have a good kitchen if they can make a good roast chicken and let me say the kitchen was very very good indeed.

What can be said for the kitchen can also be said for the staff. They were warm and friendly and efficient…simply the best staff I’ve had to pleasure of meeting anywhere. Every time we went we felt like we were meeting friends.

While there were no bad seats, the best place for my girlfriend and I was at the lower bar. There we could chat with the bartender and staff about what wines were good with what and watch while they made great cocktails. Like the food, the wines by the glass frequently changed, but the high quality never did.

I can’t say for sure why Grant Van Gameren and Hailey Burke (the owners) decided to close it up after only two years and turn it into Casa Rubia. Maybe chefs Van Gameren and Luke Haines had enough and wanted to stick closer to PEC. Maybe the owners wanted to try something new with chef Zach Smith. I went to Casa Rubia to see the staff again and it was…fine. It’s a good new restaurant. But Martine’s was a perfect restaurant. I’ll miss that, as much as I miss and lament the loss of Brothers and Cafe Cancan.

P.S. For more on Martine’s see this in Toronto Life or this in BlogTO.

P.S.S. Photo below taken by me.