A new restaurant serving Asian-inspired food paired with a thoughtfully curated selection of fine wines and sake is very softly opening its doors in Toronto, but people are already super excited about it.

Chez Wa started out as a concept that was a series of tasting pop-ups with guest chefs, pairing drinks with Asian food in partnership with a concept called Wine Pairing Company. Now, all that Chez Wa has come to be has a new permanent home in Toronto.

They’ve softly opened the doors to the cozy new space, and are starting out by serving a tight but creative menu. Chez Wa has been serving dishes that include bread and furu furu spread, crispy Laonai potatoes, drunken shrimp, Hongsuantang mackerel, Shaojiao beef tartare, mapo tofu campanelle and rice slush. They also say they’re “pouring fun stuff” to go along with their food menu.

The Hongsuantang mackerel is made with a guizhou fermented tomato and chili sauce, litsea olives and sweety drop peppers, the drunken shrimp dish is made with cherry tomato, Shaoxing wine, osmanthus and green Sichuan peppercorn and the mapo tofu campanelle is kind of like a fusion pasta dish with silken tofu, ground beef, Doubanjiang and Sichuan pepper.

The Laonai potatoes are a smaller crispy dish with pickles, house chili oil, dill and sour cream, and the rice slush is a dessert dish that’s made with red wine, berries and sticky rice.

The new space is charming and low key, marked by a cute glowing sign with a logo of an adorable sketched frog balancing a wine glass on its head.

A post about the soft opening of the new Chez Wa restaurant space has gotten nearly 2,000 likes and lots of comments on Instagram with many people welcoming them to the neighbourhood, congratulating them on the opening and saying they’re so excited about it.

“Walked past last night and it was popping off!!” one person commented in regards to the soft opening activities at Chez Wa.

Chez Wa is now taking up residence in the space in Little Italy that used to be home to Tut’s Egyptian Street Food.

So if you’re looking to add a new hotspot to your list and are wanting to try something a little different, check out Chez Wa to see how they pair different regional wines from China and other places as well as sake with their Asian-inspired wine bar dishes.

Chez Wa is now open in Little Italy at 617 College St.


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