The team at Ration Food Lab has been hard at work over the last several months creating an abundance of innovative food and beverage concepts out of their incubator compound at the Beverley Hotel on Queen West. Their latest addition is the introduction of their curb lane wine garden, which they claim is Queen Street West’s “largest [curb lane] patio”.
At the Pour Taste Wine Garden, you can find all the pieces of Ration Food Lab’s business compiled into a user-friendly, immersive menu that shows a glimpse of all their current ventures and ones to come in the future.
The Pour Taste wine selection is charming and inviting, including natural and biodynamic wines sourced locally and from around the world. Their goal is to “make wine easy”, whether you are a beginner in the world of wine or a seasoned pro––the Pour Taste team wants education and awareness at the forefront of their guests’ experience.
The wine garden is perched right in front of the Beverley Hotel in the heart of Queen Street West, where Ration has completely reinvented the hospitality experience. On the menu, you can find popular items from across all their food ventures––gorgeous meat and cheese board pairings from executive chef Jef Edwards, innovative and modern pasta dishes through their extension Beverley Pasta Co., and even comfort staples like an OG chicken sandwich from ChickMagnet––who claims to serve up the “best f––– chicken sandwich in the city.”
Ration Burger, one of the company’s latest extensions, serves up gourmet smash burgers that are also available alongside an extensive food and beverage menu. Rather than your go-to smash burger order, find elevated takes on the comfort food classic, like their Mexican-inspired “Lil’ Cado” with pico de gallo and tortilla crisps, or the fully-loaded “Big Daddy Kane”, with two types of cheese, house-pickled onions and a mushroom medley.
Additionally, more sophisticated menu items will also appear on the menu ahead of the eventual opening of Ration’s rooftop terrace at the Beverley, which is expected to welcome guests later this month. Highlighting the soon-to-be revealed rooftop terrace menu is their delectable tray of oysters, which are sourced from Colville Bay in PEI and topped with a sweet onion mignonette, goldenberry kasho and herb de provence oil, all of which are made in house.
The point of offering this one dish at their street-side wine garden is to give their patrons a glimpse of what’s to come, according to co-founder of Ration Food Labs Wesley Barber, and to showcase the versatility and abundance of great, innovative dishes available through the Queen West spot. Even if you're not a wine and small plates person, Pour Taste also has an incredible selection of beers from Mascot Brewery to pair with a burger or chicken sando.
Barber says that the Ration team has more summer pop-up affairs lined up, teasing on their social media of a partnership with Stackt Market that has yet to be announced.
If great wine and tasty food on a patio in one of Toronto's most popular neighbourhoods isn't enough, Barber says that any guest who makes it out to their wine garden can grab a bottle of wine from their bottle shop at a 40 per cent markdown––just another incentive to visit Ration and learn more about their selection of wine.
You can reserve a spot at their wine garden, which will be operating all summer long, through the reservation link here. Ration operates out of the Beverley Hotel, located at 335 Queen Street West. All of their food extensions are also available to order on the fly through popular third-party delivery apps.
