Dear reader,
It was in early winter 2021, less than a year into the pandemic—and during the second or eighth lockdown–that a new pop-up started attracting attention. An Instagram account was advertising a rotating dinner series, each one focused on a particular regional cuisine of China. There were a limited number of meals up for grabs each time, and they always sold out quickly. The only way to get in on the action was to sign up for their newsletter and hope to be online when the next menu was released. Before Swift Fever hit Toronto, there was Sunnys Chinese.
So obviously, we assigned a writer to find out who was behind the mysterious Sunnys. Then the photos from the Sort-of Secret shoot came in: there, flanked by two guys of Asian heritage, was a very young—and very white—dude by the name of David Schwartz. Surely, of this group of people, he shouldn’t be the one front and centre, right? But, as it turned out, we were told that Schwartz—a Jewish kid from Forest Hill with an obsession for all things regional Chinese cuisine—was, in fact, leading the charge. So we hit publish on a story about the city’s latest food obsession: a Chinese takeout service run by a Caucasian twenty-something. What could happen?
What happened was Schwartz went on to open Mimi Chinese, a swanky, almost theatrical restaurant in Yorkville; then Sunnys Chinese, finally a bricks-and-mortar restaurant in the old Cold Tea space in Kensington. Each has been recognized by Michelin (a Bib Gourmand for Sunnys, a general recommendation for Mimi) and in 2023, Schwartz was presented with the tire/taste-maker’s Young Chef Award for Toronto. Schwartz’s latest project, Linny’s, isn’t Chinese: the deli-inspired steakhouse, which opened on Ossington earlier this month, is an ode to his late mother and his cultural heritage. In this week’s edition of Table Talk, David Sax dishes on Linny’s and on Schwartz, Toronto’s unexpected Chinese-food expert.
Also, in this week’s newsletter, a look inside two cool new establishments: General Public, Jen Agg’s gorgeous restaurant on Geary Avenue; and Slice of Life, a cocktail bar with its own laboratory.
For more of our food-and-drink coverage, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition.
