Geraldine

so very sad this place closed. had two perfect experiences at this place. food, service, whole experience: amazing. my only regret is that i didn’t write a review sooner. truly will be missed.

My go to, my comfort zone, my favourite spot!
Alas, suddenly it closed on August 20.
No farewell, no fanfare. I was lucky to have visited it a few weeks before.
They had new cocktails, and Alex, the owner was with us again that night. She is truly incredible. If there was ever someone who made you feel welcome, catered to, accommodating, all of it, it was her. I’ll never forget being allowed to peek into their kitchen and buy a full log of foie gras bouchon! Alex, the chef, explained the process and ingredients, it all made sense then.
Oysters were always great, as well as their charcuterie platter, ceviche, streak tartare, duck confit croquettes.sigh.
Bye bye world class cocktails, prepared with so much love and precision. Charlemagne, Fountain and Parisienne Milk Punch!
Please return in another reincarnation.

SO SAD this wonderful place closed.
My favourite place in Parkdale/​Ronces for the 8 years I’ve lived here.
The people, the drinks, the food, the vibe, all were par excellence.
RIP Geraldine, mon amour.

I absolutely adore this place! Their drinks are amazing, best I’ve ever had. The food is delicious and the ambiance is fabulous. There are a ton of good restaurants to go to in Toronto, but I always want to go back there! One of the best in the city.

Not many reviews of this small restaurant, which surprises me. Wasn’t sure what to expect.
Liked: drinks were good; bathroom was very nice; duck confit croquettes very good; oysters fresh and yum.
Disliked: they never brought my last drink so we had to cancel the order and leave (restaurants: why won’t you bring me alcohol! So frustrating); pork belly was good but the accoutrements didn’t really make sense; fries good but dip boring; horseradish for oysters totally no heat; wouldn’t let us sit at a 4 top that never got sat – when they realized this (if it really was being held prior) we should have been offered to move; sliding door/​wall wide open and I was freezing.
Too expensive for the area. Better stick to downtown.

I went here with my husband and relatives a little while ago listening to a friends recommendation. Absolutely fantastic!
The food was amazing and fun, the menu is small (which is a good thing) so you can really tell that they put care into their dishes to make sure that every single one is excellent.
Our server was lovely, sweet and very helpful when it came to explaining and recommending cocktails and food items for us. #1 fave? The pork belly, oh man, like butter in your mouth!

I went here on Valentines day where they had a tasting menu for us. The entire experience was absolutely awesome.
The dinner seemed like it was crafted carefully to highlight different strengths of head chef Alex Molitz. We had the opportunity to meet him after our meal and he told us about his two decades experience in the industry. It shows.
Five courses were brought out by different servers each and we enjoyed them all. Would love to go here to try their brunch menu sometime. If its anything like their valentines day menu, I’m going to fall in love over again.

This is a joke! Pretentious place. They didn’t even ask me how I want my stake — just brought it rare. And the door always opens and closes — cold air reminds you every time somebody comes in and out that you live in Canada. Never again! Boooo

Great cocktails, fantastic ambiance, fun staff. The first time I went I would have given a 5 star because the food was actually heaven. The second go… the food was bland, boring and uninspired. The plates were also quite small. Was a disappointment. Great date spot if you would just like some drinks though.

Love this place. Came here for my birthday dinner with my boyfriend and it did not disappoint. If you love all things vintage this place will be right up your alley. Spectacular cocktails, all served in their own different vintage glassware. Watching the bartenders work their magic at the bar is a treat! The food was delicious, we must have ordered all of the appitizers and a couple of the specials as well. Also had a glass of the absinths which was brilliant. Service was excellent.

Ok, revelation this was the location for my 50^th family birthday dinner. Yes admittedly I was probably one of the oldest in the room.
Synopsis: service excellent, food outstanding, cocktails amazing.
We dined a scaramouche last week and most of us hated (and I don’t use that word often) the cocktails. Here we found each one unique, beautifully presented and most important tasty.
The oysters were all delicious and fresh even though I don’t understand serving a hot sauce with something so flavourful.
Duck confit– score. I think there was deep fried apple in there. Steak — beautiful cut and perfectly cooked but I have to admit I dont like my steak covered in sauce but I think that was my mistake. The fennel salad had too much of a similar creamy texture. Fried oysters were lost. Daughter had trout and which was excellent and beautifully paired with watermelon radish.
Perfect white ganache to sip on.
Would highly recommend this restaurant.

Best meal I’ve had in ages with all the Sheer comforts of home; hearty, tasty, good for the soul.

On a desolate Sunday night, Marie and I wandered off the streets into this undiscovered restaurant (at least to us) like some sort of lucid vagabonds.
We heard that our good friend Alex (former chef of Farmhouse) was back in town and had recently taken the reigns of this Parkdale restaurant. not to mention that Geraldine was on our «places to go» list for quite some time anyway… So it seemed like the perfect time to go.
As soon as we walked in, we fell into a time-​warp and instantly we were transported to the 1920s during prohibition. The vibe was cool and calm, the staff was warm and friendly.
First, the drinks… Marie had warned me about the prices of the drinks and I couldn’t understand why they charged so much for cocktails. Needless to say, I ate my words in the form of a beverage. Easily the best cocktails in the city, no contest.
Michael is a wizard behind the bar, constructing his elixirs right in the open for on-​lookers to see. I was thrilled to see REAL Absinthe on the cocktail menu, but I was even more excited when I saw how he prepared it and presented it. I am not going to spoil it for you, you just have to see for yourself… Amazing.
Our server Brendan offered up some oysters from East Coast to West Coast. This guy knew his shit and you could tell he took pride in his work. He took care of us for the evening, we never felt rushed and it was completely relaxing… or perhaps that was the Absinthe talking?
For me, Chef Molitz’ challenge was going to be finding his stride within the French realm of cooking and technique. This is a stark contrast to the rustic Modern-​Canadian style that we are all use to from Alex. So this dinner was going to be interesting, at least from the point of view of a French food geek like myself.
There is a reason why Alex is revered as one of Toronto’s best; his ability to serve up consistent, rich flavours that are on point and familiar to the senses. The Duck Croquette reminded me of childhood dinners of mash potatoes and turkey at Thanksgiving. And the Duck Confit was crispy and salty just as it should be, served with bean cassoulet that was smokey and creamy. Delicious.
If I had to order one thing on the menu, (aside from the Absinthe of course) it would be the Vietnamese Coffee and Chocolate Chip cookies. It simply hits all the right areas.
Geraldine is a classic.

We recently went for a Sunday dinner and were very pleased with the entire experience. We tried a few a the crafty cocktails of which they have extensive overwhelming list. Highly recommend the Astronomer, crisp refreshing but complex flavors. Also try Scarlet Carson. Each were truly creative and expertly executed. (I have just discovered how addictive well made cocktails can be).
Started dinner with an impressive selection of oysters which were well presented. Ordered a nice Vouvray to go with. They have an interesting wine list too.
We worked through to most of their menu, as the items where shareable we ordered quite a few. I loved the shrimps and grits, kind of New Orleans style. The daily market salad was really enjoyable and exciting for a salad. Also recommend the rib steak and quail dishes. All items perfectly cooked and seasoned (I dine out a lot and notice that’s not often the case).
Our servers were very knowledgable and pleasant. Enjoyed the lively vibe, nice ambience? We will certainly go back.

It’s like going back in time 1920’s style. Amazing food! 6−7pm happy hour oysters half price! Great cocktails especially their absinthe drinks. Friendly and knowledgable staff. We’ll be back soon for sure!

Ugh. My ladies and I rolled in sometime past midnight on a Saturday, i.e. normal bar time, excited to make it rain. We came from Parts & Labour next door, where the service was terrible but at least they had Summerlicious to use as a poor excuse. Can’t say the same for Geraldine, where we were greeted by a permanent air of I-​hate-​our-​customers.
As our server brought the first drink (and first bill) to our table, she informed us that it was «cash and carry» because it was «late». We were like, «Huh?» It wasn’t even busy and the bar wasn’t closing. She said we’d have to pay for each drink as we went. I’ve never been to a sit-​down place with $ 18+tax drinks that had a bill accompany every glass, but it’s certainly a good way to leave a sour taste in people’s mouths before they’ve even tasted the Sazerac.
We’d barely taken our first sips when the server came back, pointedly* tapped on the cheque she’d just brought my friend and said something like, «Your bill’s right here.» Yeah, we know! You told us five seconds ago. Holy tacky.
Before we left, another friend with more cojones than yours truly spoke to our server to politely question the automatic 20% gratuity** based on the level (read: low) of service she received. Even after some back and forth, in an amazing demonstration of the very lack of customer service skills being called out, the server refused to reissue the bill. Seriously? Is the auto-​tip on groups here a free pass to be awful? Another girl accidentally double-​tipped because of this, too.
I’m not sure what the folks at Geraldine found to dislike about making quick money on a chilled-​out group downing pricy drinks for maybe an hour. The styling is fancy but the vibe was so not. Maybe it was just this one server, but I won’t be back to find out. Cheers!
*Speaking of «pointedly», the bartender scooped up a loose flower petal on the side of my glass with his finger and plopped it right back in, giving my cocktail what NSYNC would refer to as a «digital digital getdown». I’m no flower myself, so I didn’t mind, but a germaphobe might shudder.
**Quick PSA on auto-​tips courtesy of The Grid — you don’t actually have to suck it up if the service is shitty:

I don’t hate hipsters so maybe I am not operating with a filter set to Do Not Like.
I thought the bar/​tenders/​décor was great. Not HOLYSHITAMAZE! but I went out to have fun, I had fun. Success.
I also had been out at another bar previously and had a couple delightful drinks so maybe I was already feeling misty watercoloured feelings? Perhaps.
We had the absinthe drinks — now that’s a wallet ding for sure but I had never tried it before and so, whatever IMO — and they were tasty. I had another cocktail but the name evades me since this is a couple weeks back. I do remember digging it though.
We shared a dozen oysters — I am low level addicted to oysters, but on a beer budget so have to abstain except a couple times a year. They were so delicious. Like eye rolled into the back of the head good. God bless the ocean.
I’d recommend it as a date place or when that super generous boss foots the bill — not on the regular unless you are Scrooge McDuck. (And if you are, get in touch)
High fives.

Food was meh, cold and totally overpriced. My vodka martini had way too much vermouth in it which negates the entire ‘cocktail bar’ theme. Maybe the guy who was making it was more concerned about his fake mustache falling off? The fact that I couldn’t pay with a credit card also sucked. I mean common! Dinner for 4 at $ 350 and I have to pay cash? Ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the ironic stashes and suspenders… which were kind of the only good thing going for the place at this point. Interior was actually quite beautiful, but other than that thumbs down. Not gonna stay in biz very long if they keep this racket up.

Went to dinner last night hoping for a new and unique experience, which wasn’t to be. The venue is very nice with all the right accents to make the room feel intimate and cozy. The impromptu piano player was a nice touch, however it ultimately comes down to the food. and this is where Geraldine falls short. The tastes and flavours were mediocre at best and the portions were extremely small. The scallop dish (one scallop) was the size of a quarter. And finally the overall small/​sharing plates concept seems to have gotten confused at Geraldine. Unfortunately I will likely not be returning.

Really beautiful little date spot with fantastic oysters, small plates, and absinthe cocktails. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a live show by a charming piano player at the end of the night.
I’m looking forward to many more meals here. It’s a great addition to the neighbourhood.