Exploring the best of Toronto and Southern Ontario.

Hi all… long time, no see! I know I’ve been MIA over the last few weeks, but I promise I have a good excuse. My blog has been in a transition phase, as I’ve been working to migrate the site and all its content from wordpress.com over to wordpress.org. This has been a goal of mine for a long time, and while there’s still a few things to fix, I’m happy to report the process is nearly complete! Like many beginner bloggers, when I first started my blog, I registered with wordpress.com. While wordpress.com has many benefits – mainly that it’s super user-friendly and easy to use for non-techies like myself – it also has several drawbacks. You’re very limited as to the themes and plug-ins you can install, and any additional features or functionalities come at a cost. There’s very little room for customization, you can’t monetize your site, analytics are limited, and you don’t technically own your own site – wordpress.com does. If you’re curious about the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org, this article does a great job of breaking it down, but the biggest difference is that wordpress.org is self-hosted. It definitely requires some more work and know-how on the blogger’s end, but by all accounts, it’s well worth it! I was considering DIYing the migration (there are several how-to guides online) but since I had limited time and knowledge, I ended up hiring a freelance web developer to help me. I’m so glad I did, because we ended up running into several technical hiccups that I wouldn’t have had a clue how to solve on my own. All that to say: I’m glad to be back up and running!

Not only have I missed blogging, but between my recent travel guides to Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and The Bahamas, it honestly feels like it’s been ages since I’ve written a post about something local. And as much as I love traveling and exploring new cities, at the end of the day, there’s truly no place like home. So, staying true to my tagline – “exploring the best of Toronto and Southern Ontario” – I’ve got some fun local posts planned for the next few weeks! Today, I’ll be shining the spotlight on an iconic Toronto restaurant: Carens Rosedale.

Located in the heart of Toronto’s Rosedale neighbourhood, Carens is an upscale-casual French bistro with a storied history. While Carens Rosedale only opened in 2015, it’s the successor to Carens Wine & Cheese, a popular Yorkville restaurant that operated from 2003-2016. Carens Rosedale specializes in authentic French dishes with a Parisian influence, and yes, they’re still famous for their wine and cheese – specifically their fondue! I’d been to Carens Wine & Cheese several years ago and remember it being excellent, but I’d never been to Carens Rosedale until recently. Tania and I were looking for a special date spot for a belated anniversary celebration, and we couldn’t think of anything more romantic than a fondue date at Carens!

Carens has two spaces, both elegantly decorated. The front room has a marble bar, green velvet banquettes, and chic black wainscoting.

The back room has exposed brick walls, black leather banquettes, a fireplace, and a skylight that bathes the space in sunshine. We were lucky enough to sit in the back room, which I think is the nicest – it just feels cozier and more intimate – but either room is lovely, so you really can’t go wrong.

In a city that offers every type of cuisine under the sun, you might be surprised to learn that Toronto doesn’t have too many restaurants that serve fondue (and trust me, I’ve done my homework!) But it’s a dish that Carens is famous for. We ordered the classic fondue: a mixture of two cheeses (Emmental and gruyere), white wine and kirsch. (You can also opt for a Brie and blue cheese fondue.) Speaking of white wine, we ordered a bottle of the 2021 Cuvee Jean-Paul Gascogne Blanc, which was excellent. You can view the restaurant’s full wine list here.

The classic fondue costs $30 and includes baguette bites for dipping, but you can also order add-ons – apple, pear, fingerling potatoes, gherkins, chorizo or prosciutto – which range in price from $5-10 each. We stuck with the baguette and when we ran out, our server kindly provided us with more at no additional cost. The fondue was deliciously rich, decadent and boozy – it had a definite kick to it! The menu says the fondue serves 2-4. If you’re ordering it as a main like we did, it’s perfect for 2. If you’re ordering it as an appetizer, it can definitely be shared among 4 or even more. (Trust me… it’s a lot of cheese!)

Tania and I were fully leaning into the fondue theme, so we also ordered the chocolate fondue for dessert. The chocolate fondue is $36 and is served with bite-sized pieces of homemade banana bread, green apple, strawberry, banana and marshmallows. The chocolate fondue was amazing – super rich and chocolate-y – although I will say the portion of “dippers” you get is very small, and not proportional to the amount of fondue. We went through all of them and still had ¾ of the fondue left! Our server did bring us extra add-ons at no additional cost, but we still felt that the original serving should have included more options.

While we made a pretty good dent in the cheese fondue, it was the chocolate that did us in! Even this dedicated chocoholic simply couldn’t finish it. (Take my word for it: the chocolate fondue can definitely serve more than 2-4!) As someone who loves a theme, I was super excited by the idea of a romantic, decadent, fondue-centric date. In hindsight… an entire meal consisting of nothing but cheese, chocolate and wine? Sounds like a dream, but in reality, probably not my best idea! Don’t get me wrong – everything was delicious – but we probably should have ordered an actual meal and chosen just one fondue for either our appetizer or dessert. As much as I try to convince myself otherwise, I just can’t eat (or drink) the same way I once used to! #thisis30

Overall, we had a great experience at Carens Rosedale. The ambience was elegant, the food and wine were delicious, and the service was great – we didn’t feel rushed at all; it was the perfect spot for a lazy, leisurely lunch. My only suggestions for improvement would be to include more ‘dippers’ with the chocolate fondue, and to offer a wider variety of add-ons for the cheese fondue. I’m looking forward to returning to Carens to try some of their other dishes – their steak frites are supposed to be excellent! They also offer different specials every day of the week: check out their website for a detailed list.

Are you a fondue fan? I’m thinking of investing in an at-home set so we can enjoy a decadent treat whenever we want… let me know if y’all think it’s worth it!