Hotel restaurant moving out

The well has run dry for a restaurant that was once famous for its fine french cuisine.

After making its home on the second floor of the Four Seasons hotel since the property opened in 1978, Yorkville staple Truffles has closed.

The restaurant has been awarded a five-diamond rating from CAA for 15 consecutive years.

“Our clients have been asking for a more global experience,” said Alex Filiautrault, the director of marketing at the Four Seasons.
“Truffles is a more formal, more traditional experience.”

Unlike the other restaurants in the hotel, Truffles has seen a decline in clientele over the past two years. The decline is not being blamed on the current economy.

“Like every good restaurant, there comes a time that you have to call it quits,” said dine.TO editor Marie Nicola.

Although the restaurant is closing, Filiautrault said it is not the end of the coveted dining room. The formal setting will be available for rent for special occasions.

“It’s such a beautiful room,” he said. “We’ve been asked to hold more private functions than individual dinings.”

Sara Waxman, the publisher of the Toronto-based Dine Magazine, has been dining at Truffles for over 30 years.

She said she has already booked herself a “goodbye” meal.

“A restaurant like Truffles doesn’t come along everyday,” said Waxman. “We always knew we would have exemplary service, a warm welcome and excellent food.”

The food critic said over the years she has met Truffles chefs from as far away as Las Vegas and Hong Kong.

“They’ve left a legacy,” she said. “It’s like a finishing school for chefs.”

Filiautrault said the Four Seasons has been focusing on more innovative cuisine at the hotel’s other eateries and keeping Truffles geared toward special occasions, which has become unprofitable.

Nicola said Truffles’ downfall could be due in part to Toronto’s move towards what she calls elevated comfort foods.
“Toronto … is not a haute cuisine city,” she said. “Fine dining is not done.

“It’s simply just that something better is waiting in the wings.”