Le Sélect Bistro
432 Wellington Street West
Toronto M5V 1E3
Tel. 001 416
The dishes
Poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, English muffin, potatoes (Oeufs bénédicte)
Goat cheese, spinach, tomato, chives, fine herbs, potatoes (Omelette)
Potato, gruyère, fine herbs, parsley pesto, fried egg, caramelized onions, mixed greens (Galette du petit déjeuner)
Vanilla bean custard, berries (Crème Brûlée)
I have eaten at Le Sélect bistro in Toronto more times than I care to remember, denoting the passage of time that at this day and age I’d rather be made less aware of, thank-you. And unless you are still in your twenties or thirties, I am sure you understand. I used to go to the Le Sélect when it was still on Queen Street (yes, that’s how long ago), and that remains my favourite iteration of the bistro, the snug and super cute one where the bread was served into baskets riding high in the sky above your head and in order to get to it you needed to unroll the string coiled around a metal hook by your chair or banquette just like if you were on a ship. Many of Toronto’s food and wine luminaries didn’t just eat there, but worked there too (for example, Rob Power, past Le Sélect sommelier and now at Creekside winery). I used to go for the amazing food and wine list (I am proud to say that I basically wiped out their entire stock of half bottles of Muré 1983 Tokay-Pinot Gris Sélection des Grains Nobles all by myself: it got to the point where my mother, who liked dry wine enough but really, really loved the sweet stuff, used to ask me if I wanted to go have lunch at Le Sélect because she could count on me doing the right thing by her, and me).
