Opening Soon

There hasn't been a lot of restaurant news to talk about recently, although that's not too surprising in this economic climate. Even The Record seems to be recycling their reviews -- every time they have a new reviewer the same spots are revisited. However, there are a few new openings that we're looking forward to sampling in the near future.

Oliver & Bonacini Cafe Grill - This is a full service restaurant opening up in the recently renovated Conestoga Mall. If you've been to the mall recently, you've probably noticed the "job fair" hiring and publicity that the restaurant has been receiving. I'm a big fan of their more upscale places (Canoe, Jump, Biff's) in Toronto and hope that this more casual oriented franchise will give us a nice alternative to food court "dining" at the mall. The menu seems to be full of classic dishes that should appeal more to the mainstream, yet the compositions seem very well thought out. Michael Bonacini was also one of my favourite chefs to watch on Food Network's Cook Like a Chef so I'm really looking forward to seeing what they will be offering at this level of dining. I'm told they will be opening shortly, sometime in November.

The Bauer Kitchen - Located in the newly constructed Bauer Lofts in Uptown Waterloo, this Charcoal Group restaurant is opening on the heels of their successful Wildcraft restaurant. I don't know a lot about this place, but have heard that it will be slightly more upscale than Wildcraft. This is definitely on our list to try out soon after it opens in December. We'll try to put up a post about it as soon as we can.

Vincenzo's - While not really a restaurant, the specialty food retailer is also moving to the Bauer Lofts. Their Belmont Village place was really bursting at the seams, so it's about time they expanded.

Waterloo Town Square - First, Cora's is moving in and may already be open by the time you read this. Nothing too fancy, just good breakfasts with a large helping of fresh fruit. I'm not sure there is enough room for them and Angie's so close together, and unfortunately I think I know who is going to lose out. Secondly, Moxie's is also coming soon to Waterloo Town Square. I can't say I'm really excited about the food here, but the chain is known for their good looking decor and strict dress code for their servers ;) They will be opening in the current Scotiabank location overlooking the public square, but it probably won't be well into 2010 since Scotia will have to move out (to a King St. frontage location) first.

So even though there hasn't been a lot to post about, hopefully that will be changing in the near future!