Aarushi

When All Well opened, I had a very strong feeling I was going to love it. And I did. This is the best meal of the first half of 2026. It marked the start of my birthday celebrations in the city I consider home (on this side of the world). It is fine dining in a non-fine dining atmosphere, with a very lively (and sometimes loud) bar area that makes for great eavesdropping (I listened in on a bachelor trip to Japan being planned!) Service is incredibly warm, and had a very solid storytelling flair. In hindsight, I have incredibly solid favourites that would make for the perfect five course (as they envisioned it), but the elongated menu was such a treat. My chief complaint with Oriole is the lack of an innovative pastry/dessert program and it follows through here too. But the highs of this meal are so incredible I could almost dismiss that the great dessert wasn’t innovative. Some standouts were the sunchoke beignet + foie waffle, scallop, pasta with toast, and sablefish.