Martine’s Wine Bar Is Becoming Casa Rubia This September
Martine’s Wine Bar is hanging up its corkscrew. In its place: Casa Rubia, a new restaurant from Grant van Gameren and Hailey Burke, landing right next door to their decade-old Bar Raval at 293 Palmerston Ave. Chef and partner Zach Smith runs the kitchen when it opens September 24, and this time, everyone gets a seat instead of a stool.
The menu leans Galician and northern Spanish, pushed through a wood oven that turns out whole roasted turbot, wood-fired suckling pig, and steaks cut from Rubia Gallega cattle imported straight from Galicia, the breed the restaurant is named for. (Rubia also means blonde, which explains the siren on the wall.) “Spanish food has been a huge part of my career, so Casa Rubia feels like a natural return to it, but with a different perspective,” says Smith.
Burke runs the drinks: sharp classics like the Martini and Negroni, rounded out with vermouth, aperitivos and a few digestives for good measure. Wine Director Lexi Wolkowski stocked the list with Spanish and Atlantic bottles to match.
Good to know
Casa Rubia opens September 24 at 293 Palmerston Ave. in Toronto. The dining room seats approximately 50 on a mezzanine above the bar, with a 20-seat patio out front.
Written by Daniel Neuhaus
Photography by Daniel Neuhaus
