The Gemini: a seafood hideaway on Dundas Street West

Tucked away on the second floor above an old bakery on Toronto‘s Dundas Street West sits The Gemini, a seafood-forward spot putting together a short seasonal menu made up of small plates that pair comfort with a light touch. The fish dishes are supported by a wine program featuring natural textured whites, macerations and light reds, as well as a delicate yet creative cocktail and niche spirits list.

The Gemini is the work of Jenny Warne, Craig Spence and Mike Couvillon. Warne and Spence launched their wine agency Bittern Imports in 2020, while Couvillon, originally from Calgary, came up through acting and years behind the bar. All three share an arts background, and their eye for aesthetics is hard to ignore, shaping the menu, the design and the mood alike.

Pulling at Heartstrings

Chef Ken Envidia, an old friend from the days when he worked the kitchen at the now-closed Midfield Wine Bar with Warne, helms the menu. His cuisine leans on nostalgia, drawing on time spent in Filipino kitchens and on ingredients that carry memories of his own family’s table.

“The North Star has always been a focus on seafood and fish,” as Warne puts it. Freshwater catches rotate when in season, alongside other local fish and fun seafood offerings. Think B.C. albacore, Ontario perch or Georgian Bay whitefish. It’s cozy, comforting food that doesn’t leave you feeling sluggish either. Simple dishes are usually served with a contrasting element to keep you on your toes, and there’s always that “push and pull” on every plate, says Spence. 

The fried shrimp is the one dish that has stayed on since opening. The beer batter is yeasted, so it comes alive and puffs up the moment it hits the fryer, and only the sauce evolves over time. Lately, it is a plum chili jam made in house with organic Ontario plums and organic cherry tomatoes, which Spence compares to the sweet and sour sauce of Canadian Chinese takeout. “Ken is able to pull out these feelings that make you feel connected to something, even if you’re not sure what it is,” he says.

Fun pours and Letting the Fish Speak

The drinks follow the fish. The list leans on whites, often light, salty bottles, many of them French, with richness that comes “by way of the soils and the place rather than the vessels,” as Warne says. Big, extracted reds are scarce, but for those who insist, there is always a steak to pair them with.

Couvillon builds his cocktails with the same restraint, reaching for sherry rather than anything too big and bold that could mask the subtleties of the beautiful fish they source. His house vermouth, infused with gentian, wormwood and rotating botanicals like caraway, dill seed and chamomile, goes into a bright, slightly wet martini meant to sit alongside seafood. Warne jokes that he is “doing God’s work” by keeping olive brine out of the martini glass. No filthy martinis on the menu here.

Beer drinkers get their own cheeky pour with Fish Beer, a dry lager from Ferm Farm, meant to pair wonderfully with the week’s catch. Couvillon also keeps a selection of amaros on hand, like Scarlet, a Japanese amaro (yes, you read that right!) that he can’t stop selling.

Hitting Their Mark

The space came with pub-style wainscoting, the only element left from the Brazilian steakhouse that was there before, apart from an old bottle of Brazilian rum they use in cocktails for its unique flavour.

Over eight months, they renovated by hand with their friends, with no need for a designer. Church pew-like benches, accents of chartreuse and deep plum purple and a little gnome that serves as a muse of sorts all speak to the cheeky theatricality that gives this place a truly special feel. It’s as if a true British pub, a French bistro and a cottage had a baby. There’s no aux, so CDs handpicked from their eclectic collection are played all night long.

That sense of theatre also aligns with the name. Other than the fact that Warne and Spence are both Geminis, the sign speaks to two sides working as one, from kitchen and floor to comedy and drama. “We’re putting on a show every night,” Spence says. Because the restaurant sits on the second floor, guests tell them they feel removed from the rest of the city, as if in “a little tree house,” and the owners have made it their own stage for patrons and friends alike.

Fish may set the tempo at The Gemini, but everyone on stage follows its lead, from the wine list to the martini. The result is a seafood dinner as considered as it is comforting. Open the unmarked door in the west end and climb the stairs for a plate of fried shrimp and a glass of something cool, and settle in for the show.

Written by Marie-Ève Godin
Photography by Ben Ehrensperger

Updated on October 28, 2026

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