Joey - Eaton Centre

Last week, I was invited to attend the opening of the new Joey restaurant at the Eaton Centre. 


The first thing we noticed upon arriving was the wall-size convertible windows at the front, revealing an adaptable patio space. Very slick.


For those who aren't familiar with Joey, it's a Canadian chain that is more dominant out west. I wrote about the original launch when the chain came to Toronto at the Shops at Don Mills in September 2009. I also did an interview with the very young and shockingly handsome Executive Chef Chris Mills.


The atmosphere at Joey is slick, dark and sexy. The space is quite impressive with the high ceilings and tucked-away upstairs seating. The servers looked like they had a checklist of cues for heterosexual men: Blonde! Curls! Cleavage! Eyelashes! Sparkles! Cleavage! Given the target demographic, it probably makes sense, but that kind of thing always makes me snicker. (You may remember me referencing this in my review of Woodlot.)


The food we sampled was comparable to what we eat at the launch: lobster grilled cheese, Thai curry, Indian butter chicken, Kobe beef meatballs, sushi options, and molten lava chocolate bites. A few items that impressed me were the locally-sourced meats and cheeses offered as a part of the charcuterie platter. Most impressive of all was the response I received from one of the chefs regarding the platter selection:


"Let's call a spade a spade. Joey is a chain. But that doesn't mean we can't have regional representation on our menu so that's something we strove hard to include. Ontario and Quebec have some amazing local meats and cheeses that we wanted to feature."


I commend Chris Mills for making this decision.