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A London restaurant is among a family of eateries that have won a mention in the prestigious Michelin Guide.
Mama Fatma, a Turkish restaurant with two locations in the GTA, has been recognized in Michelin’s Toronto guide as a “recommended” restaurant. Mama Fatma opened a London location in August at Oxford Street and Wharncliffe Road that pledges to recreate the award-winning dining experience, said Sueda Dogan, a server at the restaurant.
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“This makes us want to provide even better service, to keep our standards high,” she said. “We have a smaller menu compared to Mississauga and Vaughan, but the food is prepared the same way.”
The London restaurant is also more casual to appeal to the nearby Western University student population and does more of a take-out business.
“We want this to be special to people, but not break the bank,” Dogan said.
“The London menu focuses on a selection of our most popular items, catering to quick dining and takeout which is especially popular at this location. The menu is simplified but it’s the same authentic flavours.”
Michelin has been ranking restaurants in Toronto and surrounding regions for three years, awarding one, two and three stars for its standard of excellence. The guide also has a “mention” category where Mama Fatma was recognized.
More than 20 restaurants have won stars and when all categories of recognition are added up, more than 100 Toronto restaurants get a nod from Michelin.
”It’s a significant milestone, it represents years of hard work. It’s a celebration of Turkish culture and cuisine,” Dogan said.
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The honour for Mama Fatma is a sign that London is attracting quality Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants, and they are being embraced by London diners, said Bryan Lavery, chef at Blackfriars Bistro in London.
He points to Yasmine’s, in north London on Richmond Street, Cappadocia on Gainsborough Road, Istanbul Bar and Grill on Wellington Road and a host of smaller, casual kebab restaurants that have grown quickly.
“We have a large population of Middle Eastern people, and students, and that’s a big part of it,” Lavery said.
The restaurants also are embraced by more “sophisticated” London diners, he said.
As for other London restaurants winning recognition, Cintro on Wellington Street was recently named to OpenTable’s list of Canada’s Top 100 restaurants. That honour, however, is given only to restaurants using the Open Table reservation system.
The Michelin guide dates to 1889 when brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin, in central France, founded their tire company and wanted to encourage people to take more trips.
They produced a small guide with information for travellers including maps, a list of places to eat, instructions on changing a tire and where to get gas.
From those humble roots the guide grew into a global standard of measuring dining excellence and now rates more than 30,000 establishments in more than 30 countries and territories across three continents.
ndebono@postmedia.com
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