#FOOD: CASA RUBIA OPENS SEPTEMBER 24, 2026

More than a decade after Bar Raval opened, longtime partners Grant van Gameren and Hailey Burke are teaming up with chef and partner Zach Smith on Casa Rubia, opening September 24. Unlike Raval’s standing-bar and pintxo format, the new restaurant is full-service, with larger dishes designed for the table.

Earlier in his career, Smith spent four years in Bar Raval’s kitchen before moving to Niagara, where he became chef and co-owner of Michelin-recognized Fat Rabbit and opened Bar Les Incompetents. He returned to Raval earlier this year as executive chef and co-owner. Van Gameren’s restaurants have included The Black Hoof, Bar Isabel, Quetzal, El Rey and Rosetta.

“Spanish food has been a huge part of my career, so Casa Rubia feels like a natural return to it, but with a different perspective,” says Smith. “The opportunity to work with Hailey and Grant, in this room, just felt like the right project at the right time.”
The menu draws from northern Spain but reflects what the team can source and cook here in Toronto.

Opening dishes include langoustine and smoked tuna carpaccio, fideo with cockles and bone marrow with grilled scallops and sea urchin. Larger dishes include whole roasted turbot, wood- fired suckling pig and cuts of Rubia Gallega beef imported directly from Galicia. The wood ovenis used throughout the menu, which will change seasonally.

The name Casa Rubia comes from Rubia Gallega, the cattle breed native to Galicia. Rubia also means “blonde” in Spanish, a second meaning carried through the restaurant’s visual identity with a blonde siren drawn from Galicia’s Atlantic folklore.

Co-owner Hailey Burke’s cocktail program centres on classics including Martinis, Negronis andSidecars, alongside vermouth, aperitivos, eaux-de-vie and traditional digestifs. Wine Director Lexi Wolkowski’s list is built around Spanish and Atlantic wines.
“I want the drinks to feel like they belong at the table,” says Burke. “You can start with a Martini, move into Spanish wine during dinner, have vermouth somewhere in between and finish with a digestif. It should feel easy and generous.”

The Casa Rubia Martini combines Tanqueray No. Ten, Ketel One, Manzanilla sherry and Spanish dry vermouth with atomized peat, tarragon, Atlantic sea salt and sea asparagus. The restaurant occupies the former Martine’s Wine Bar space, with interiors by Future Studios.

It seats approximately 50 guests indoors, with the dining room on a mezzanine above a downstairs bar and a 20-seat patio out front. Salvaged pine, warm plaster, oxblood and cream tones, soft lighting and vintage artwork draw from old European restaurants.

“I have a feeling Rubia is going to be a very special place. “Van Gameren says , “the food feels natural and the presentation unique. I think it’s exactly what Toronto needs right now “

Casa Rubia
Opening: Thursday, September 24, 2026
293 Palmerston Avenue, Toronto, ON M6G 1A5