Cinq 01
501 College St., Toronto
416-964-1555
www.cinq-o1.com
Several times during the course of our chat at the bar of Cinq 01, owner Toufik Sarwa – ever the consummate host – excuses himself to personally greet a patron. First there's the fur-clad heiress, then the television host with the booming laugh and finally a famed fashion designer with a bevy of models in tow.
Most are loyal regulars at Sarwa's perennially fashionable nightclub in Yorkville, Amber. With that stalwart still going strong after 10 years, Sarwa can concentrate on nurturing his latest project, a dashing new resto lounge on a comfortable stretch of College Street.
Despite having fast become a canteen for the cool, Cinq 01 was envisioned as a simple watering hole, says Sarwa. “I want Cinq to be somewhere you can go to any time: breakfast, lunch or dinner,” he adds. Then again, his take on comfort food involves a bottle of champagne and a foie gras hot dog, a favourite late-night order.
Designed by the team behind Commute Home, the long narrow space (leather banquettes in the back, long wooden bar with white stools up front) is filled with symbols dear to the owner.
The sculpture of a vintage Citroën represents the car he was driven to school in as a boy and the Air France logo embedded in a wall is a reminder of his arrival in Canada on that airline.
Cinq 01's cocktail list draws its inspiration from the artistic and social heyday of Montparnasse, with cocktails named after such long-ago Parisian luminaries as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Charles Baudelaire and Ernest Hemingway.
One of the bar's most popular libations, however, is the Gertrude Stein, an elegant take on the classic Pimm's Cup.
Made with soda and chamomile syrup, it's a drink as breezy as an air kiss.
Special to The Globe and Mail
Gertrude Stein
A twist on the Pimm's Cup, the Gertrude Stein is one of several drinks at Cinq 01 named after Parisian legends.
Ingredients
2 ounces Pimm's
1 ounce chamomile syrup (combine equal parts strong chamomile tea and sugar on a stovetop and cook over moderate heat until the sugar completely dissolves.)
1 ounce lime mix (combine equal parts lime juice with sugar syrup and stir to dissolve)
splash of lemon-lime soda
2 lemon wedges
Method
Fill Collins glass with ice and add Pimm's and chamomile syrup. Squeeze lemon wedges into glass, add lime mix and top with more ice. Add a splash of lemon-lime soda and stir. Garnish with a cucumber stir stick.
