Restaurant Visit - Father's Day Brunch at Luma

Luma is one of the newer restaurants launched by Toronto food scenesters Oliver Bonacini in September 2010. O&B were the first to bring creative high end dining to the business district in Toronto back in the early 1990s first with Jump, then Canoe on the 54th Floor of the TD Centre, and then Biff's Bistro on Front. They've since expaned their empire to more moderate priced offerings such as the O&B Café Grills that are now in Blue Mountain, downtown and in several higher end malls, and they just keep on going.

Luma is located in one of Toronto's newest entertainment destinations - the TIFF Bell Lightbox.  For the un-initiated, TIFF is short for the Toronto International Film Festival by the way - we all just call it TIFF. In addition to being the new home of TIFF, Lightbox also has theatres, exhibition galleries O&B Cantee (kind of a higher end cafeteria space with a patio fronting onto King and John Streets) and a huge roof top rental space called Malaparte (also run by O&B).

Luma follows the current mantra of using as much locally produced artisinal ingredients as possible, creating menu items that showcase Canadian cuisine in an imaginative way. I would have love to have gone to Luma when the Tim Burton exhibit was on and they had a menu built around his films, with dishes such as Big Fish - a great movie.

Today we are there for Father's Day Brunch. The interior is modern and simple with lots of clean lines, sparkling glasses and dark wood.  The patio runs around the outside of the space and corners looking right out into the heart of Toronto's Entertainment District at King and John Streets.

The Brunch menu at Luma is fairly small but offers something for everyone, including me who is not a huge fan of brunchy egg dishes. I ordered the Croque Madame (French-style ham and Gruyère cheese sandwich with Mornay sauce and a fried egg on top) and was pleasantly surprised. While I do like a Croque Monsieur (same sandwich less the fried egg) Mornay sauce can be heavy at times and overbearing.  Luma's was not.  Brenden had their Eggs Benedict, which is served on croissant halves with ham and lemony Hollandaise sauce, Glen the Spinach and Cheese Omlette with a side of house-made Berkshire sausage, and our favourite Junior Chef had the Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon with Sour Cream. All very good dishes - not a miss at the table at all.

Watching what was coming out of the kitchen, the Eggs Benedict is definitely their top seller, and no wonder with it being served on beautiful, pillowy croissants that are made in-house.

Service was pleasant but "leisurely" so it was a good thing we were not in a rush.  One server to the entire balcony area was probably the reason for it, but she was great with the kids.

Luma also offers some incredibly creative cocktails and martinis ($10-$13) including the "Fruit of the Luma" (martini with fruit-infused vodka, Lychee and sour cherry) and the "Beetlejuiced" (gin, cucumber, lime, pink peppercorns and soda). I really enjoy the savoury and herbal elements that are making themselves known on the Toronto cocktail scene.

While not a cheap meal, it was pretty reasonable for four and we have a hard time getting out of Boston Pizza or Moxie's for less than $75.  Four dishes, one cocktail each and Apple Cider and Coffee for the boys, bill was just shy of $100 after tax but before tip.

I have always been a fan of O&B because, simply, they know what Toronto wants to eat and also because they have been long-time supporters of the Ride for Research in support of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a charity near and dear to my heart since my son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 5 years ago. Peter Oliver has a daughter who is now well into her 20s who was diagnosed as a child and he brings a passion and commitment (and great food) to his efforts to coordinate the financial services, real estate and restaurant communities together to raise funds to find a cure. Last year we raised over $3 million in Toronto alone.