CFA Society Toronto was curious to find out which financial district patio was most popular among our members. We conducted an online survey for three months, and the results spoke loud and clear. Earls seems to be a Torontonian favourite, receiving more than 50 percent of the votes. Cate Simpson, in charge of communications for Earls, explains further.

What makes dining at Earls a unique experience?

Let’s start with the patio experience. Earls designs each patio for the specific location and space—nothing cookie-cutter—custom seating areas and custom furniture. And we design for both style and comfort. We want a guest on the patio to linger and be as comfortable as they would be in the dining room.

The dining experience offers a menu full of many delicious dishes, and each dish is created with top fresh ingredients by award-winning chefs. In many ways, you’re getting the quality of a fine-dining restaurant but at very approachable prices in a full-service, stylish, and casual (and fun!) setting.

What is your most popular cocktail?

Earls’ Signature Caesar is elevated with house-made salami sticks and our own blended spice mix. It’s still one of our most popular drinks. Our Old Fashioned (root beer bitters is the secret) is one of the best in the city. But our guests are most excited about the new Paloma, a tall 100-percent agave tequila and grapefruit cocktail. It’s the perfect patio drink!

Is there a new entrée coming to your menu this fall?

Our brand new steaks. We spent years looking for the best Canada had to offer that were sustainable, free of antibiotics, hormones, and steroids, and delicious. We work with a ranch in Alberta called Spring Creek Ranch. The ranch is owned and run by a former employee who worked at our Edmonton location while getting her degree.

Our Test Kitchen in Vancouver is home to some of Canada’s best chefs, who have won awards from Bocuse d’Or, the Culinary Olympics, Gold Medal Plates, and Top Chef. Hamid Salimian, Ryan Stone, David Wong, and Brian Skinner spend their days creating new menu items. This fall, they’re adding some beautiful new fresh pasta dishes, new appetizers, and seafood. It’s always a balance not to take off favourite dishes yet add new dishes without having an overly large menu. We change the menu four times a year, adding seasonal items, new ingredients, and regional items.

Do you have a “secret” specialty dish or cocktail customers can order that’s not on the menu?

It’s still a bit of a secret that our cocktail menu is crafted the same way a small individual cocktail bar menu is. We don’t make a big production at the bar due to how busy our restaurant is. We want to get the drinks to our guests. Every drink is handcrafted with only fresh ingredients—no mixes and no pre-flavoured ingredients. We squeeze 800 to 1,000 fresh limes and lemons each day, create our own spice mixtures, syrups, and drink rims, and use artisan ingredients such as Bittered Sling bitters. The brands are the best available, and we use only 100-percent agave tequilas and craft spirits.

A brand new summer cocktail, our Sangrita, may look like a shooter and chaser, but the ritual of this drink is a secret. Cameron Bogue, our beverage director, has taken an authentic recipe of fresh Seville orange juice, pomegranate juice, tomato juice, and roasted chilies for a really fabulous lightly spiced blend. It’s served in a shot glass beside a glass of chilled tequila. The drink is meant to be sipped. The tequila is flavourful and smooth, and the Sangrita is rich with citrus and spice.

Last year, we did hand-blended tableside guacamole as a secret menu item. It was so popular that we brought it back this summer and put it on the menu. The only secret we have at the moment is the Sunday Caesars, and we have them on special—just $5—every Sunday from brunch through dinner. All our regular brunch diners know.

When can Earls customers enjoy your patio?

Our patio opens as soon as the weather starts to turn warm and stays open until the snow flies. It’s on our property, so we aren’t limited as to when we can open it. If the sun is shining, our patio is open.

What is the strangest dish or dishes you’ve seen ordered at Earls during a business meeting?

Guests who dine out at lunch every day know what they like, and guests who dine with us often know the menu. They know we cook from scratch, so special orders are very common. It’s what we call the business athletes that we get the most interesting orders from, though. Business athletes (the men and women who work downtown Monday to Friday) join us for lunch and after work for drinks but spend their weekends doing marathons or 100-kilometre bike rides. We see them order a salad with three extra sides of chicken, or a steak dish with an extra steak on the side.