Two Stars 🌟🌟- Even if you lived next door, omakase with Chef Masaki Saito would still feel like a faraway adventure. The foyer's marble staircase, a 200-year-old hinoki counter and traditional Japanese paneling and woodwork set the stage as he slices, scores and sauces the great treasures of the sea. For a serious sum, you will find Botan shrimp with uni sauce and hanaho, and eat melting slices of toro burried under a blizzard of white truffles. Fish comes exclusively from Japan.

One Star 🌟- Chef/partner Daniele Corona cooks Italian food with a global influence. Choose from a multicourse prix-fixe or a chef's tasting menu to enjoy items such as wild Pacific crab served over thin, noodle-like vegetables, garnished with trout roe, and finished tableside with a Sicilian green olive coulis. Then, house-made basil bottini filled with smoked burrata is nestled in a creamy sauce for a dish that delivers dialed-in flavor.

One Star 🌟- Minimalist in design, Aburi Hana saves the drama for the plates, using handmade Arita pottery that has a history tracing back to the 1600s. Chef Ryusuke Nakagawa presents a modern take on the history-steeped Kyō-Kaiseki menu. His cooking is personal and intricate, weaving multiple techniques and colors into every dish. The signature maguro flower, a rose made from pieces of akami and chutoro, is stunning, as is the duck breast meatball with foie gras and sliced black truffles.

One Star 🌟- Everyone has a good time at Chef Patrick Kriss’s beloved Alo. You can sense this much at the lively bar, where walk-ins are treated like VIPs by personable servers. Basking in the light of the open kitchen, the cozy dining room sees just as much excitement, and the talented beverage team offers spot-on suggestions from the well-chosen wine list. The kitchen team seamlessly merges European and Asian sensibilities onto a single tasting menu.

One Star 🌟- "Sweet" can carry a slightly disparaging edge, but there’s something quite endearing about this quaint little house, with its warm, yellow-toned interior brimming with assorted bric-a-brac. The set multicourse menu is largely inspired by the Mediterranean, and in particular Spain, focusing on excellent seafood complemented by seasonal flavors and indulgent sauces. Take, for example, Québec snow crab with fennel and rich mousseline.

One Star 🌟- Chef Quinton Bennett has an international resume and a well-traveled kitchen team, so influences and techniques can range from the Nordics to Nihon. Dishes are delicate, poised and detailed creations – he certainly doesn’t make life easy for his brigade as there’s always plenty of intricacy happening on each plate. Fortunately, the flavors are always complementary, with Atlantic halibut paired with chanterelles and Australian wagyu with bone marrow.

One Star 🌟- Chef Masaki Hashimoto's traditional kaiseki eight-course menu showcases the seasons while celebrating Japanese ingredients. From beautiful sashimi - which could be line-caught sea bream – through to grilled cutlass fish and steamed jackfish, and from delicate soup to grilled Miyazaki wagyu: all the dishes are beautiful to behold, balanced, delicate and rewarding. The Shizouka musk melon will leave you wondering why all fruit doesn’t taste this good.

One Star 🌟- Unlike the quiet ceremony of a sushi omakase, this freewheeling tasting is driven solely by Chef Takeshi Sato, who swims in familiar culinary waters on his own terms. The room is a constant blur of motion thanks to a young team that hurries about preparing multiple courses at once. Sato is their seasoned guide, as he moves with intention, ever masterful with a knife, and works with an impressive bounty of ingredients, most of which are flown in from Japan.

One Star 🌟- Almost everything on this distinctive menu passes through a battery of roaring wood-burning grills and hearths, lending a primal smokiness that pervades the food and room alike. At the end of the line is a single cook at an earthenware comal, preparing tortillas from heirloom corn nixtmalized and ground in-house. Masa-based items like memela filled with melty quesillo, smoky preserved shiitakes and crunchy chicharron show off the kitchen’s creativity.

One Star 🌟- On a quiet stretch of downtown Toronto, Chef Julie Hyde is making her talents known in this tiny-but-mighty restaurant. Top-notch local produce, pristine seafood and refined sauce work make for a delicious trifecta on a tasting menu that boasts originality in spades. Highlights included Iberico pork chop with bagna vert sauce, frisee salad finished with fried shallot, and a rhubarb strawberry jam and white chocolate ganache in a beautiful pâte à choux.