We liked Cole's so much, we went three times in a little over a week. Shooting to the top of our favourite spots, this restaurant and bar from hospitality veterans David Rabin, Johnny Swet, Larry Poston and Kyle Hotchkiss Carone looks like a media club house but is welcoming of everyone. To the left is the brilliantly designed triangular bar called the Bottle Room, with bag hooks under the tables, and not a single poor seat. This is where
Johnny Swet (Jimmy, Pastis, Freemans) oversee the bar, turning out fantastic extra dirty martinis with vodka, dry vermouth, olive brine, Cerignola olives, along with Cole's originals such as the "27 Club" Manhattan with Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, sweet vermouth and tobacco bitters. To the right are the two dining rooms, the Cafe with its desirable booths, and the Dining Room, where you're bound to run into someone you know. Here executive chef Daniel Eardley (Chestnut) and chef Jimmy Bradley (Red Cat, The Harrison) offer up such healthy and friendly fare such as the chopped root veg salad with sunflower seeds; a Kabocha squash ravioli with leeks and ricotta salata; a double cut pork chop with white polenta and fig jus agridolce and our favourite; the garganelli with sunchokes and sliced sugar snap peas. Many of the restaurant's vegetables are on the just-blanched or raw side, giving the menu a raw foodie slash fresh from the garden feel. While the menu is nice, there is something about the coziness of this spot that is really what keeps people coming back. We booked our second meal before our first one was even done.

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