Type of Cuisine: Upscale contemporary fine dining
Overview: Fashionable and funky dining with a sophisticated urban vibe

Address: 99 King Street, London, ON N6A 1C1
Telephone: 519-850-8000
Website: www.cellosupperclub.com

Rating: 4 / 5
Meal Ordered:
Price: $122.77 for two, including drinks and tax but not tip

The location at 99 King Street (at Talbot, across from the John Labatt Centre) has proven to be unlucky for several previous restaurants. From 99 King in the early ‘90s (I liked their blackened turkey breast), to Nove Nove, to the Red Goat, many have tried but failed in what is an otherwise fantastic location. With Cello, we must believe that it has the potential to be the lucky success story. And luck will have nothing to do with it.
Styled after the funky and sophisticated business models that work so well in Toronto, Cello is destined to be a popular eatery for the successful young profession and stylish urban hipster. The restaurant features an incredible minimalist artistic décor, a captivating menu and event a cool live disc jockey.
On a cold February Friday night, four of us cabbed over to our 8:00pm reservation. After being met by a courteous doorman (in a suit and tie no less!), we were quickly seated in the main room by the front window. We each ordered from the specialty martini menu (my dirty martini contained way too much olive juice that made it overly salty) that were designed to be novel, featuring pop-rocks and other fun ingredients. The appetizer selection consisted of the trendy and the classic, but mostly smaller versions of their main courses. It creates the opportunity for some interesting combinations that provide a wide array of flavours. I ordered scallop risotto to start and osso bucco as my main. The food was delectable and my osso bucco was tender and fall-off-the-bone delicious. I can not get enough of that succulent marrow. Wines were suggested on the menu and paired really well with each course. Food is only part of the success of an evening, and our service was courteous and friendly. However, at times the pace between courses stretched out.
The staff was surely not to blame but by some perception, was way too young. The age of the staff fits in well with the overall vibe of the restaurant and their lack of maturity did not detract from good service. Perhaps additional training will improve the overall level of food knowledge, but the lacking was not essential to our good experience.

Overall, our experience was much more reasonably priced and enjoyable than I had anticipated based on Cello’s hip and trendy marketing. Perhaps the atmosphere – loud funky music that can be sometimes intrusive – may not be everyone, but Cello has a recipe for success for the youth market who want a Toronto-styled upscale eatery.

Cello Supper Club spends a great deal of time and effort appealing to the cooler (hip?) demographic in London. Most notably, they had a large and brash central booth at the London Food & Wine Show in January 2010 (second year in a row). It works well enough to fill the restaurant up on a Friday night, but does this marketing misrepresent how good the food actually is? They do a great many things very well. The menu, for instance, changes seasonally, if not more often.

Near the end of our meal, the staff quietly and efficiently removed unused tables and shifted couches around to transform the restaurant into more of a lounge and night club. We finished our drinks and moved on, but it appeared that the venue’s night had only begun. The key for business success is always to focus on core strengths and what they do best. Dinner was certainly delicious but the concern that Cello is trying to be all things to all who are young and trendy might be their undoing. Focus will continue to be the key so that Cello Supper Club does not end up as just another King Street memory.

Detailed Rating:
Location: 27 / 30
Service: 26 / 30
Food: 36 / 40
Overall: 89 / 100