The top new restaurants in Toronto that opened during the shortest month of the year are places where you can snuggle up with sashimi, bacon dates, or beef tartare.

Here are my picks for the top new Toronto restaurants that opened in February.

Japanhako

Koreatown’s newest hotspot for Japanese snacks and drinks features a menu of yakitori, sushi and sake. Skewers of beef, chicken heart and wing, and veggies are cooked on an authentic yakitori grill, and here you can find sashimi platters and oven-baked as well as seared sushi rolls.

Grey Gardens

This new project from Jen Agg in Kensington promises all the elegance and buzz of former restaurants like Black Hoof, though no relation to the cult documentary of the same name unfortunately. Artfully put together offerings like truffle and sweet potato ravioli, octopus and shrimp, and New York strip are on the menu.

Reverie at Weldon Park

This enchanting restaurant is a reinvention of bar Weldon Park. The beauty of the interior is matched by the jaw-dropping platters of seafood, raw mini tacos, impeccable bacon dates, and some impressive arancini and meatballs.

Le Notre Bistro

A charming little 25-seat bistro at the corner of Harbord and Manning, this place treats French classics right with just a little bit of an international influence on a pantry-inspired menu that changes almost nightly.

Maison Fou

A French brasserie near Runnymede and bloor, this spot has a fancy flair but a casual vibe. Great wine and local beer pair up with spins on excellently done French favourites like beef bourguignon and merguez lamb.

Eva’s Original Chimneys

Once a food truck, Eva’s now has a physical home in the Annex between Bathurst and Spadina. Chimney cakes from Hungary have been given a major boost, turned into cones stuffed with chocolate truffles, soft serve ice cream, and other wild ingredients like sticky rice, mango, or pretzels.

Bob Coffee Bar

Though during the day it’s lattes and espresso that this place mainly deals in, at night it turns into a classy neighbourhood bar offering drinks like negronis made with rose gin. From the folks behind Lil’ Bacci, sandwiches like cubanos and daily soups are available all day.

Khao San Road

This restaurant moved locations from Adelaide into a much more impressive space that really showcases the beautiful crispy rice salad, green curry, pad see ew and pad thai on offer here.

Stadt Cafe

A new restaurant in the Junction, this place showcases fresh, natural and local ingredients in eclectic sharing platters of yakitori, croquettes or nachos and mains like bowls of maple herb glazed chicken, ramen, or curry.

Pinky’s Ca Phe

Joining the host of restaurants on Clinton in Little Italy, this place does Vietnamese BBQ and drinks in a chill and kitschy atmosphere.