A food lover’s guide to Toronto

Embodying the freewheeling spirit of Toronto’s food scene is Steven Molnar, the half Japanese, half Hungarian head chef of Quetzal, a buzzing Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant. The elegantly inked chef, is the calmest professional cook I’ve ever met. Having developed an interest in food from his mum, he’s on a mission to honour and showcase Mexican cuisine in a way that’s never been done before in Canada. Not one for cutting corners, he grinds and presses his tortillas on site from heirloom corn. “I discovered a new world of flavours in the markets around Mexico,” he says during a rammed Friday night service at the restaurant, where bright young things have gathered for mezcal cocktails and tacos al pastor. “The acidity and spice I found in the sauces opened up a new part of my brain. Oaxaca is such a special place, and spending time there changed the entire trajectory of my life.”