If your new year’s resolutions include shifting your focus to no-waste, locally-sourced, farm-to-table cuisine, 1 Kitchen is just the spot to help you stick to your goals. With a new chef de cuisine now leading the brigade, the restaurant inside 1 Hotel Toronto is flaunting a new menu and a renewed commitment to using sustainable, quality ingredients in deliciously tempting ways.
In keeping with 1 Hotel’s nature-focused ethos, 1 Kitchen is a restaurant guided by the seasons, by Ontario’s bounty and by a team that firmly believes in showing every ingredient the utmost respect. This Saturday, the team will reveal its first seasonal menu of the year, as part of its quarterly Supper That Sustains Us series. Created by newly appointed chef de cuisine José Matamoros, the offerings hew closely to the brand’s values. Through starters, sides, mains and desserts, local ingredients are elevated by way of ingenious techniques to create bold dishes with zero waste.
To begin, the menu invites guests to dig into savoury starters with a wholesome side. Pumpkin Seed Dip arrives with taro chips, while Root Veg Nachos feature Ontario cheese fondue and pickled Fresno peppers. Mains include hearty Beef Cheeks with Mushrooms and Squash and Zero-Waste Salmon perched atop fumet-seaweed beurre blanc, then crowned with salmon skin chicharrón. For dessert, the team tempts with lush Date Sticky Toffee Pudding and sexier-than-it-sounds Zero-Waste Carrot Cake sided with lightly-spiced carrot gelato, carrot skin crumble and creamy coconut caramel. Throughout, diners will find the menu peppered with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
A chef who has worked in restaurants around the globe for more than a decade, Mexican-born Matamoros brings a wealth of experience to his new role at 1 Kitchen. Part of the 1 Hotel opening team in 2021, Matamoros also helped open Casa Madera at the property last year. Beyond ensuring 1 Kitchen holds true to its roots, Matamoros also plans to spice up his menus with Mexican flavours and innovative techniques and tricks.
Book your table through the 1 Kitchen website today, and be among the first to sample chef Matamoros’ innovative new menu. Then, watch the restaurant's Instagram page for updates on new menus, scheduled to launch with the change of the seasons throughout the year.
