TORONTO ― It was billed as Toronto’s largest restaurant opening in recent years and with 1,500 industry leaders invited to the opening, the billing quickly lived up to expectations. Last week’s opening of Black + Blue in the city’s Financial District attracted an impressive gathering of industry A-listers as well as media who attended to get a first-hand look at the stunning design, created by Ken Lam of Navigate Design, and to taste a few of the culinary concoctions, including steak, sushi and a deluxe seafood tower featuring oysters, giant shrimp, Dungeness crab, Atlantic lobster, King Crab and more, priced at $450.
Owned by Emad Yacoub and the Vancouver-based Glowbal Restaurant Group, the two-storey, 9,000-sq.-ft. restaurant is located in the First Canadian Place and offers a premier steak and seafood dining experience, featuring the world’s most premium cuts of meat from the famous Himalayan Salt Locker, seasonal seafood and raw bar, and B+B’s twist on classic steakhouse starters and sides.
Yacoub is no stranger to Toronto’s restaurant scene, having worked in the city first at the Westin Harbour Castle, where he began as a kitchen assistant before working up the ladder, eventually plying his trade at Aqua Dolce Supper Club and the King Edward Hotel. After working in Canada’s largest city for several years, Yacoub moved west to Vancouver where he’s become one of that city’s top restaurateurs and where he operates a collection of five other restaurants that comprise his Glowbal Restaurant Group. It’s purported that Yacoub spent $10 million to open this elegant and stunning restaurant, which includes a posh outdoor patio sporting hanging greenery and two private dining rooms. The kitchen is helmed by executive chef Morgan Bellis previously with Jump, Lavelle, Bisha and Constantine.
The restaurant held a series of soft openings early last week and then its official launch on April 19th before opening to the public on April 20th.
