World-famous chef opening a luxe new restaurant in Toronto this month
A world-famous chef with Michelin nods to boot is gearing up to open an opulent new restaurant in Toronto.
Some of Toronto’s best food, we believe, is found in the holes-in-the-wall, the far reaches of the city limits, or tucked away in strip malls. If it tastes great, we don’t discriminate.
Still, there’s something to be said for a good, old-fashioned fancy dinner: the type of dinner where you dust off the pair of heels you bought for your friend’s wedding two years ago and look up YouTube tutorials to refresh yourself on how to tie a tie.
Much like the hidden gems, fancy-shmancy restaurants in Toronto are in no short supply, and we’re about to get a new one.
Opening on the ninth floor of Yonge and Bloor’s opulent W Hotel early this October is TONO by Akira Back, the latest Toronto venture for the world-renowned chef.
Back has been a force on the Toronto scene since 2017, when he opened a location of his self-titled restaurant in the Bisha Hotel, but made a name for himself on the world stage long before then.
Back operates Akira Back locations in cities around the globe, including Paris, Dubai, Seoul and Bangkok, to name only a few, on top of a slew of other concepts that run the gamut from steak to Korean BBQ.
In 2017, Back’s now-shuttered concept Dosa, in Seoul, earned a Michelin star, while the Paris location of Akira Back maintains a Michelin recommendation.
All of this to say, Akira Back is kind of a big deal, and he’s about to debut a new concept in Toronto.
With one location already operational in Doha, Qatar, the W Hotel Toronto will serve as the first North American landing pad for the concept, which serves Back’s take on Nikkei cuisine, a blend of Japanese and Peruvian influences.
The extensive menu is divided into cold (tartares, crudos and ceviche), hot (soups, tempuras, grilled shishito peppers), robata (charcoal-grilled) and mains including show-stoppers like Tajima Wagyu Shortrib, Arroz con Risotto and Whole Chilean Sea Bass.
An extensive sushi, sashimi and handroll menu rounds things out, imbuing an unexpected dose of Peruvian flavour onto staple Japanese dishes.
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Described as Back’s “masterpiece,” we’ve certainly got high expectations for this spot, and if it was enough to replace the hotel’s former rooftop restaurant Skylight after it was only open for about three years, we anticipate they’ll be met.
At the very least, it’ll be a reason to take those heels out for a spin, right?
TONO Toronto opens on Friday, Oct. 3.
TONO by Akira Back
Address: W Hotel, 90 Bloor St. E.
Opening: Oct. 3, 2025
Phone: 416-961-8000
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