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1 Kitchen
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Environmentally-conscious luxury hotel brand 1 Hotel Toronto landed in the Fashion District opening their doors on August 4, officially replacing Toronto's iconic Thompson Hotel. With various locations scattered across the United States, this marks the chain's first Canadian location. A major name in the hospitality industry inspired by nature, they truly follow through with their focus on monitoring their environmental impact and their emphasis on health and wellbeing, regardless of location. With an interior influenced by Toronto's natural environment including Lake Ontario, find these elements that support their outlook on the preservation of nature, laced throughout all spaces in the building.
Along with the arrival of 1 Hotel Toronto comes four new restaurants within it -- Flora Lounge, the hotel's lobby bar, 1 Kitchen, Harriet's Rooftop and Casa Madera -- each one carrying over the focus of sustainability and mindful eating in their operations.
One of the first restaurants to open their doors to guests is 1 Kitchen. Completely transforming the space of the old Thompson Diner, 1 Kitchen's interior is filled with wooden details, waves of natural light thanks to floor-to-ceiling glass windows bringing daylight indoors and lush greenery draped from every wall and fixture.
Consistent with the hotel's focus, 1 Kitchen is zero-waste and utilizes their on-site garden, the Garden Pavilion, to supply produce, including herbs, edible flowers and fruits. In addition, they also have a composting program on location to turn organic wet waste into reusable soil, further supporting their garden and other plants within the hotel.
Conscious of their carbon footprint, while building the menu and establishing parters the team is dedicated to souring goods from within 100km or less of their establishment. Helping them achieve this goal is their partnership with 100km Foods Inc. a Toronto-based food distributer that partners with over 100 farmers and artisans to help aid the local agricultural community, as well as reduce the drastic number of kilometres it often takes to get food from farm to table.
"We're trying to take as much initiative as possible within the menu and on property," says executive chef Derek Powers Jr.
Conscious of their carbon footprint, while building the menu and establishing partners, the team is dedicated to sourcing goods within 100km or less of their establishment. Helping them achieve this goal is their partnership with 100km Foods Inc., a Toronto-based food distributor that partners with over 100 farmers and artisans to help aid the local agricultural community and reduce the drastic number of kilometres it often takes to get food from farm to table.
"We're trying to take as much initiative as possible within the menu and on property," says executive chef Derek Powers Jr.
Spearheading this vision in the kitchen, executive chef Derek Powers Jr. is an accomplished chef who has worked in restaurants worldwide, including Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, the Bahamas and Saudi Arabia. He brings his global experiences to Toronto and has designed a menu that best aligns with 1 Hotel Toronto's mission.
"Plant-based, zero waste, sustainability," he says. "Trying to encompass all that within the menu as much as possible."
Along with this comes what the chef says is a hyper-seasonal menu. Adjusting to utilize what products are in season, Powers Jr. hints that a whole new fall menu is on the way, a change expected to come mid-September.
With so many elements on a platter, 1 Kitchen still stays true to its promise to source goods within 100km or less for their restaurant. Their charcuterie board features cheese and cured meats from Cheese Boutique, with jam made in-house and sourdough from Forno Cultura.
Since there is an emphasis on zero-waste and what's available locally, each board's types of meats and cheeses are set to rotate. At the moment, find blue haze, a smoked blue cheese, Big Brother cheddar and truffle gouda, paired with bison, salami and soppressata. The current jams are plum and mango.
Another seasonal item is their zucchini blossom tempura. Lightly fried to give it enough of a crunch without becoming too greasy like most fried foods, this season-dependant option is accompanied by a side of dill aioli to dip and a sprinkle of togarashi, providing a subtle hint of spices.
While dining, you may notice wooden boards and tables with locations carved into the wood. Furthering their appreciation for the surrounding environment and concept of bringing the outdoors indoors, 1 Hotel Toronto has partnered with Just be Woodsy, a Toronto studio that repurposes fallen trees in the city into beautiful things. Products by them are engraved with the latitude and longitude coordinates of where the tree used to stand. In addition to this, chef Powers Jr. adds that people eat with their eyes. Hence, the wooden details connected to locations help guests visualize while dining -- further heightening their experience at the restaurant beyond the ingredients on their plate.
Take a bite of summer via the grilled Atlantic shrimp. This protein-focused dish comes with sautéed broccolini, preserved lemon, charred pesto and garlic aioli to dip.
What's most intriguing about this dish is that the pesto varies in flavour. The kitchen turns any produce items not being utilized into items that would hold for longer, preserving them for use before they spoil.
Chef Powers Jr. says they're thinking zero waste at all times and stays loyal to that.
The majority of the menu at 1 Kitchen is made up of plant-based dishes. Accommodating to gluten-free and vegetarian diets well here, find the greenest goddess salad as an option. Sourcing greens from The New Farm in Nottawasaga, Ontario, thinly sliced radishes, cubes of avocado and sugar snap peas can be found in this salad, drenched in a lime-herb green goddess dressing. The chef notes that this is one of the dishes where the kitchen is able to utilize much of their harvest from their Garden Pavilion.
In terms of alcoholic beverages, there are seemingly endless options thanks to the ability to build-your-own spritz. Grab a classic Aperol Spritz and gain the ability to choose between just having the classic, lychee rose, mango Serrano chili or strawberry rhubarb flavour added.
For a drink as tasty as it is aesthetic, the Purple Rain is Prosecco, St. Germain and Grey Goose Pear-based with aromatic flavours of lychee and hibiscus.
Those looking for alcohol-free options will be glad to hear of 1 Kitchen's creative health and elixir-driven line-up. The immune is a ginger beer-based beverage made with turmeric, grapefruit, honey and cayenne syrup to sweeten and add a slight hint of heat.
1 Kitchen also has a simple green juice you can't go wrong with on the menu, called the green machine. It's filled with aloe vera, matcha, lemon and aquafaba.
1 Kitchen is open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. every day, lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily and dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. They're also open for brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Happy hour lovers can grab a table every Wednesday from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. to enjoy biodynamic wines for one dollar an ounce alongside some seasonal plates.
1 Kitchen's main entrance is located at 550 Wellington Street, but you can also access the restaurant via the lobby of 1 Hotel Toronto.
Awaiting the opening of two more restaurants, Harriet's Rooftop and Casa Madera, you'll want to follow along with each restaurant on Instagram to be updated on their debut, plus be sure to check out 1 Kitchen on Instagram to see what they're up to with farmer's markets, new dishes and more.
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