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Ricky + Olivia
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At first glance, the menu at Ricky + Olivia, a new restaurant/bottle shop on Queen East, reads like a quintessential Ontarian farm-to-fork story.
The fenugreek gouda is from 5 Brothers and the beef pepperettes from St. Brigid’s. The chickens are raised at Fenwood Farms and the juicy cherries and berries, not to mention the sea buckthorns (and they’re very much worth mentioning), are Ontario grown and/or foraged. The beers and spirits are very literally home-brewed and all the wines – whether taken out or drunk in situ – are proudly VQA.
All this local love and respect is hardly surprising viewed Ricky + Olivia’s origin story.
The pair first met at Toronto’s pioneering farm-to-table Hawthorne Food and Drink where Ricky Casipe was executive chef and Olivia Simpson came aboard as his sous-chef. When Casipe later left to work at Aft Kitchen and Bar – to inject some “local” flavour into the Texas-style barbecue offerings – Simpson took over his position.
By the time Simpson followed Casipe to Aft, their story had evolved from a kitchen confessional into a full-on romance. However, complications ensued: working long hours with overlapping shifts meant barely seeing each other. It was only when they both quit their jobs so they could actually spend time together that Ricky and Olivia the couple became Ricky+Olivia the start-up specializing in pop-ups.
Taking on the flavour of a picaresque adventure, Ricky + Olivia travelled around the province, meeting farmers and discovering producers, eventually became chef ambassadors for Feast On. For five consecutive summers, they set down temporary roots in Niagara’s wine growing region, operating a patio restaurant out of Westcott Vineyards. Along the way, they became as knowledgeable about Ontario vintages as they were about its victuals. But always, they harboured dreams of returning to Toronto’s East End and opening a brick-and-mortar version of Ricky + Olivia.
They finally got their chance in 2022, when they serendipitously tumbled upon a tiny scrap of a “Bar for Rent” sign on the door of Carlaw Carburators. The site’s previous tenant had been the legendary Wayla Bar where, in true fairy-tale fashion,the couple had shared their first kiss.
Recognizing this could be their happily-ever-after, they signed the lease and got to work, doing the design and lion’s share of renovation themselves, with help from their partner and former Hawthorne colleague, Adrian Proszowski who, in addition to operations, is the Ricky+Olivia’s designated “royal taster.”
Open since April, Ricky + Olivia is a hybrid space that flows. Coming in off the street, you enter the compact R+O bottle shop, its shelves and fridges showcasing an impressive diversity of bottles from Ontario wineries, among them hidden gems and collectors’ items built to age. With the mission of showing dubious Torontonians how palate-blowing some Ontario vintages can be, on weekend afternoons, the shop offers thematic flights and hosts tasting events to set the record straight.
The bottle shop has a couple of window tables for sipping and snacking. But you can also travel down a hallway, following the undulating blue lines of a Keith Haring-esque fresco (by artist Ashley Tse) to an intimate lounge, decked out with vestiges of Wayla’s former fabulousness: a velvet banquette, a disco ball and an outrageously lavender chandelier.
Parting a curtain of beads and rounding a sharp corner brings you to the restaurant proper. To one side, a tiled open kitchen merges with a bar lined with bottles and an inherited slushy machine (proof that God is alive and well and living in Leslieville).
High ceilings, refurbished wooden tables and intensely blue wooden chairs give off a homey East End Toronto vibe as do the plants hanging from wine bottles whose hand-knit holders are the work of Casipe’s mom. At the end of the long dining room, is a small, but charming outdoor patio.
If there’s a story tale aspect to it all, that’s intentional. “Whether it’s the food, or drinks, or how we got this space, our style is very story-driven,” declares Casipe.
That said, when it comes to the food, don’t expect conventional, romantic Chef’s Table-type stories such as the one about the guy who grew up eating hand-cut tortellini off his nonna’s table. “Both my parents are very good cooks and make excellent Filipino food,” confesses Casipe. “But growing up, what really sparked my interest in food was recess; trading a sleeve of Oreos for Dunkaroos. That’s what got me excited. So on our menu, you’ll see stories about what a Millennial kid grew up eating and drinking.
Ricky + Olivia stories tend to be offbeat or tongue-in-cheek. Some are rooted in nostalgia, others have unexpected twists. They’re humorous, even silly, but also pretty clever.
For starters (literally), there’s the one about the radish salad, which starts with something as simple as Cookstown radishes – Easter egg, red, black Spanish and daikon – heavily charred, chilled and tossed in sesame dressing. So far, so simple. However, Casipe then takes a wild textural and flavourful swerve into unsuspected sushi territory. And we’re not talking immaculately prepared, fish-just-flown-in-from-Hokkaido sushi, but rather good ole Westernized grocery store sushi, in all its sat-around-and-steeped-in-its-own-amped-up-faux-Japanese-flavours glory.
Mixed with sliced cucumbers, the radishes sit on a crispy yet chewy bed of deep-fried rice paper and nori. Instead of traditional rice, there are crumbled-up Crispy Minis, along with sunflower seed furikake, tobiko and creamy ribbons of spicy Anaheim chili mayo. Served with a pair of scissors on the side – so you can cut up the crunchy base, pile on the radishes and “eat it like a nacho” – it’s a hybrid of a hybrid, and terrifically delicious.
There’s also the one about little Ricky sitting at home and getting a comfort fix from eating PB&J out of a jar. Wondering what a grown-up version of this classic kid’s tale would look and taste like, an adult Casipe came up with a jar of rich and creamy chicken liver mousse, topped with layers of sweet pink Parallel Brothers’ beet tahini and sticky Rosewood wildflower honey. To placate his inner child, it’s decorated with cute gummy bears made from leftover red wine and bright marigold petals from the patio garden. Instead of boring old crostini, big kids get to scoop up their mousse using sour cream bundt cakes, deep-fried to resemble donuts.
That many of Casipe’s stories are rooted in childhood makes sense since that’s when the nostalgic ties to comfort foods are baked into our consciousness. It goes without saying that when, and if, we grow up, our biggest cravings reside in the category of “really trashy grocery snacks, fast food and take out.”
Such inspiration informs Ricky + Olivia’s steak tartare, proudly “dressed like a Big Mac.” Yes, it makes use of top-quality, hand-cut hangar steak and features a sunshiney bright sous-vide egg yoke. But it’s also topped with shredded iceberg lettuce and served with a big orange dollop of “cheese whiz,” albeit cheese whiz made with aged cheddar from Bright, Ontario’s oldest surviving dairy. Instead of boring old crostini, this time there’s a side plate of golden, almost brioche-like, deep-fried saltines with which to scoop up the Mac-ish, melt-in-your-mouth beef.
“If I were another chef in the city, maybe I’d roll my eyes,” admits Casipe. “But when it arrives, you can see there was a lot of thought involved.” Although he accepts that the dishes’ inspiration is often gimmicky, the final result goes far beyond mere Instagrammability. Backed up by quality ingredients and sophisticated culinary techniques, these are stories that start off light and funny only to subvert your expectations, again and again.
Indeed, the signature R+O burger avoids the obvious Golden Arches route, keeping it simple with a pair of 4-ounce beef patties, topped with lettuce, pickle aioli and, in lieu of melted American slices, more of that cheddary cheese whiz. Thick and juicy, it’s sandwiched in a house-made challah whose sweetness is enhanced by crumbled pan de sal, one of the menu’s many shout-outs to Casipe’s Filipino heritage.
Sold separately are crispyfries. Twice-fried and dusted with a sweet and herby R+O seasoning, they’re easy to wolf down on their own. But to get to French Fry Heaven, you need to dip each and every one of them in the accompanying wilted lettuce (!) mayo. Inspired by Casipe’s boyhood memories of the way the lettuce on McChicken sandwiches tastes once subjected to steam – “my favourite flavour in the world” – this mayo is so outrageously lettucey in all the right ways that you’ll be licking every last smear off the wax paper on which it’s served.
Simpson brings the same creativity, unexpectedness and flawless technique to beverages as Casipe does to the food. Much of the multi-page drinks menu is devoted to her minutely researched and constantly rotating list of Ontario whites, reds, roses, oranges, and sparklings, that run the gamut from conventional to delightfully weird and are available by the glass and bottle. Other Ontario drinkables include Revel ciders and home-brewed beers that bridge the East-West Toronto divide with Burdock saisons butting up against Eastbound stouts.
It’s obvious that Simpson is having a ball with the cocktails, lending a chef’s perspective to the “recipe-driven” drinks. The Moonshine Marg features piquantly potent LTD Distillery Jalapeno moonshine, tempered with Elora triple sec and freshened up with a gorgeously green and herbaceous, cucumber-jalapeno-cilantro juice. Rimmed with matcha salt, it sparkles with a sprinkling of gold flakes.
Refreshing and berry-licious is Dr. Steve Brule’s “SweetBerry Wine” Spritzer, whose mouthful of a name is an allusion to the cult John C. Reilly series. Even if you don’t get the cultural reference, you’ll get a lovely buzz from this tart mixture of Revel blueberry sparkling wine and Dillon’s limoncello paired with fragrant summery notes of macerated blueberries, basil, mint and lemon verbena.
The NAC (Not a Caesar) was inspired by a New Year’s Eve party in which a friend of Simpson’s pissed off a bartender by ordering a labour intensive Bloody Caesar minutes before midnight. This easier, breezier version replaces the classic tomato juice with intensely orange Ontario sea buckthorn, then proceeds to channel a Mexican Michelada by adding Burdock Todo Mexican Lager, sambal, and orange bitters for extra punch.
Martinis, or rather “Martini-ish” drinks, are a category unto themselves and are rife with clever twists. The Deluxe somewhat astonishingly incorporates all the main ingredients of a Deluxe pizza, with chanterelle-infused gin, vermouth, LTD Distillery Jalapeno moonshine and olive brine giving you everything but the crust (to compensate, you get “deluxe” gold flakes).
Celebrating the unabashed Ricky + Olivia love for saltines – “an underrated ingredient with so many applications that it’s become our mascot” – the Saltini features deep-fried saltine-infused vodka, along with vermouth, olive brine, secret R+O seasoning and sesame oil. It’s smooth and bracing – and yes, you can really taste those saltines!
Although to date there are no desserts, who needs dessert when you’ve got slushies? The Sour Cherry Pie features slush made from tart Cherry Lane sour cherry juice, shot up with Dillon’s rye and Top Shelf cherry moonshine, finished with grated nutmeg and a squeeze of lemon. There’s also a non-alc version, one of many unboozy options that include mocktails, proxie “wines” and non-alc beers.
With Ricky + Olivia in its early chapters, there are plenty of stories to come. Casipe is constantly jotting down ideas for new dishes. In addition to bringing in new wines every week, Simpson is always dreaming up fresh cocktails.
“Although we take what we do seriously, we need to be having a good time,” says Casipe. “The initial inspiration is fun, then the serious work happens. When it gets to the table and you see people laughing, then the story comes full circle.”
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