Restaurant in Toronto, Canada
Hard to book. Canadian terroir done seriously.
Actinolite is a strong choice for a special occasion dinner in Toronto if you want progressive Canadian cooking backed by three consecutive OAD rankings and a 2025 Michelin Plate. Chef Justin Cournoyer's fermentation-led, low-waste kitchen rewards diners who care about provenance. Book 4–6 weeks out — this is a hard reservation on Ossington, open Wednesday through Saturday only.
Actinolite is the right call for a special occasion dinner in Toronto if your priority is ingredient-driven cooking with a clear Canadian identity rather than spectacle or status. At $$$$ per head, this is a committed splurge — one that rewards diners who care about provenance, fermentation technique, and a kitchen that has been refining its approach for over 13 years. If you are planning a milestone dinner, an anniversary, or a date where the conversation around the food is part of the point, Actinolite earns the booking. If you want a grand room or a name-drop moment, look elsewhere.
Chef Justin Cournoyer has built Actinolite at 971 Ossington Avenue into one of the more credentialed expressions of progressive Canadian cooking in the country. The restaurant holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and has appeared on the Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in North America list for three consecutive years: ranked #115 in 2023, #109 in 2024, and #128 in 2025. That three-year presence on OAD is a more reliable signal of consistent kitchen quality than a single review cycle, and Cournoyer's philosophy of foraging, fermenting, dehydrating, and preserving puts the menu in conversation with Canadian seasons in a way that genuinely shifts dish to dish across the year. The Google rating sits at 4.6 across 542 reviews, which is a healthy signal for a restaurant at this price point and format.
The kitchen works with minimal food waste and a small carbon footprint , not as a marketing position, but as a structural discipline that shapes what ends up on the plate. Preserved and fermented ingredients carry aromatic intensity that you notice from the moment the kitchen sends out its first course: concentrated, earthy, sometimes smoky, the kind of scent profile that tells you the kitchen has been working on these preparations for weeks or months before service. For the right diner, that depth is the draw. For someone expecting brighter, lighter flavors, it may read as heavy.
Actinolite operates Wednesday through Saturday, 5:30–10 pm. There is no brunch or weekend lunch service , the restaurant is dinner-only, and the Ossington Avenue address keeps it grounded in the neighbourhood rather than the downtown core. For a special occasion this has practical implications: you are not getting a leisurely weekend afternoon format here. The experience is an evening commitment, which suits a celebratory dinner far better than a casual catch-up.
For a date or an anniversary, the format works well. The cooking gives you something to talk about, the service at this tier tends toward attentive rather than performative, and the Ossington location is removed enough from the tourist circuit that the room feels like a local choice rather than a destination tick. For a business meal where you need a predictable, quiet environment, Actinolite's more exploratory kitchen may introduce variables your guest is not expecting , Don Alfonso 1890 would be a safer pick for that use case.
This is a hard reservation. A small restaurant that has held OAD rankings for three consecutive years and carries a Michelin Plate does not have seats sitting idle. Book a minimum of 3–4 weeks out for a standard weekend table; for Saturday specifically, aim for 5–6 weeks if you have a fixed date in mind. Midweek (Wednesday or Thursday) gives you a marginally better shot on shorter notice, but do not rely on it for a special occasion with a non-negotiable date. The restaurant is closed Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday, which compresses the available booking window further.
There is no phone number publicly listed for Actinolite, and booking method specifics are not confirmed in our data , check the restaurant's website directly for the current reservation channel. Given the booking difficulty, do not wait until the week before a milestone date to start looking.
Actinolite sits within a credible national conversation about Canadian terroir-driven cooking. If you are interested in how other chefs are working this territory, Tanière³ in Quebec City and AnnaLena in Vancouver are the most direct comparisons at the national level. In Ontario, Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Lincoln and The Pine in Creemore occupy adjacent territory with a regional farm-to-table emphasis. For a broader picture of where to eat in the city, our full Toronto restaurants guide covers the field, and our Toronto hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide can help you build the full trip around your booking.
| Detail | Actinolite | Alo | Edulis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price tier | $$$$ | $$$$ | $$$$ |
| Cuisine type | Progressive Canadian | Contemporary | Canadian / Mediterranean |
| Open days | Wed–Sat | Check current hours | Check current hours |
| Booking difficulty | Hard (3–6 weeks out) | Very hard | Hard |
| OAD ranked (2025) | #128 | Yes (higher) | Not ranked |
| Michelin recognition | Plate 2025 | Star | Plate |
| Leading for | Special occasion, date night | Top-end splurge | Intimate, ingredient-led |
See the full comparison section below.
Yes, with a specific caveat. Actinolite works well for a celebration where the food itself is the event: a milestone birthday for someone who follows the Canadian dining scene, an anniversary for a couple who appreciates fermentation and foraged ingredients, or a dinner where thoughtful cooking matters more than a glamorous room. The Michelin Plate recognition and three-year OAD ranking confirm consistent quality at the $$$$ tier. If you need a more theatrical or status-forward setting, Alo is a better fit for that brief.
At the $$$$ price point and with confirmed OAD and Michelin Plate recognition, Actinolite delivers value if the format matches your expectations. The kitchen's focus on preservation, fermentation, and minimal waste means the menu reflects months of preparation rather than just what arrived at the market that morning. For comparison, Alo carries a Michelin Star and ranks higher on OAD, so if technical precision and prestige are your primary criteria, Alo justifies a higher spend. Actinolite's case is stronger if you want Canadian identity and ecological rigour in the cooking rather than classical French-influenced technique.
Actinolite is dinner-only, open Wednesday through Saturday from 5:30 pm. There is no lunch or brunch service. If you are planning around a daytime meal or weekend brunch in Toronto, this restaurant is not an option , you will need to look at other venues in our Toronto restaurants guide. For evening dining, Wednesday and Thursday give you the leading shot at a booking on shorter notice than the weekend.
Seat count is not confirmed in our data, but a small restaurant on Ossington operating four nights a week is not built for large groups. If you are planning a party of six or more, contact the restaurant well in advance , at minimum 6 weeks out , and ask directly whether they can accommodate the number. For a group celebration at the $$$$ tier in Toronto, Don Alfonso 1890 may offer more flexible private dining arrangements.
Actinolite can work for a solo diner who is genuinely interested in the cooking, but the format is better suited to pairs or small groups where you can discuss the dishes. There is no confirmed counter seating in our data. If solo dining is your preference and you want a setting designed for it, a counter-format restaurant may serve you better. That said, a solo diner booking a table here for a self-celebratory meal is a reasonable call , the kitchen gives you plenty to focus on.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actinolite | $$$$ | Hard | — |
| Alo | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Sushi Masaki Saito | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Aburi Hana | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Don Alfonso 1890 | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Edulis | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
How Actinolite stacks up against the competition.
Actinolite is a small restaurant on Ossington Avenue — seat count is limited, and that constraint is real. Groups of 4 or 5 are likely manageable with advance planning, but larger parties should check the venue's official channels before assuming availability. At $$$$ with OAD Top 130 credentials, this is not a venue that bends its format easily for large bookings.
Yes — it is one of the stronger cases for a special occasion dinner in Toronto. Three consecutive OAD North America rankings and a 2025 Michelin Plate mean the cooking has been independently verified over time, not just hyped once. The dinner-only format (Wednesday to Saturday, 5:30–10 pm) and $$$$ price point frame this as a deliberate, occasion-appropriate experience rather than a casual night out.
Solo diners are not excluded, but Actinolite's format leans toward the kind of meal you sit through slowly — foraging-led, fermentation-forward progressive Canadian cooking that rewards attention. If you are comfortable with a $$$$ solo dinner and the pace of a tasting format, it works. For solo counter dining with more energy around you, Sushi Masaki Saito or Aburi Hana may suit better.
For the right diner, yes. Justin Cournoyer has been running this kitchen for 13 years with a documented commitment to minimal food waste and Canadian terroir — the OAD Top 130 ranking in both 2024 and 2025 reflects sustained quality, not a one-season spike. At $$$$ this is a considered spend, but it holds up against Toronto's other credentialed tasting menus. If the format of ingredient-driven, preservation-led cooking does not interest you, Alo offers a more classically structured alternative at a comparable price point.
Dinner only — Actinolite does not serve lunch. The restaurant opens Wednesday through Saturday from 5:30 pm and is closed Sunday through Tuesday. Plan around that schedule; there is no flexibility on service times.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
