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REVIEW: Parlour: a cozy lounge for intimate conversation and great food

December 03, 2013

SHANNON’S TRAVEL BAG: Travel Tips for Women

Shannon Skinner reviews one of Toronto’s most stylish and elegant lounges: Parlour. Shannon experienced the new holiday season’s dinner-sharing menu.

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If you want to gather a few of your girlfriends for a “girl’s night out” in Toronto and are looking for an intimate place where you can hear each other speak, and at the same time enjoy atmosphere, good food and a glass of wine, Parlour just might hold the answer.

I recently had the opportunity to attend an industry tasting event at Parlour as the venue rolled out its new season dinner-sharing menu.  Located in Toronto’s trendy entertainment district, Parlour (also known as Parlour 270, for its location on Adelaide St. W.) is a stylish lounge where intimacy, elegance and cozy conversation rules.

Parlour opened two years ago and was decorated by owners (and brothers) Gregory and Luke Vitale. It quickly established itself as an “oasis of sophisticated entertainment.”  The brothers were later joined by partner, chef Frank Ghanavati, a capable culinary expert who is originally from Istanbul and has worked his culinary magic in establishments around the world

From the special tasting menu, I enjoyed some delicious vegetarian “meatballs,” comprising of a variety of vegetables spiced-up in a tomato-based sauce; as well as quinoa canoes that were Belgian endive filled with marinated vegetables and quinoa; and tasty flatbread with tomato and oyster and cremini mushrooms. For carnivores, the tasting menu also offered “real” meatballs, steak tartare or chicken empanadas, which, based on the other guests seated next to me who were thoroughly enjoying their food, the dishes looked like they were delicious. There were also signature cocktails to taste: options of a Pink Parlour Martini (vodka with sourpuss and lychee liqueurs and grape juice), which was delightful; and also Spiced Old-Fashioned bourbon with spiced syrup (it seemed to be a popular choice, though I don’t drink bourbon).

“We wanted our menu to celebrate the romance of a laid-back meal as the heart of the entertainment district pulses and moves with frenetic energy just outside,” says Gregory Vitale, co-owner, Parlour. “Bring a friend, or come alone and make a new one. That is the Parlour spirit.”

For the full menu, check the website.

Parlour will give you the feeling of being back in era of the “speakeasy.” Built in 1895, the 19th century building is filled with character and charm, and happens to be one of a few  row town homes that survived Toronto’s great fire of 1904.