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Le Sélect Bistro: the book is out now!

Le Sélect BistroHalf a Century
in a Changing City

Frédéric Geisweiller & Luke Murphy

Foreword by Ken Greenberg

A bistro, a city, and how they transformed each other.

Buy the book Take a look inside
Le Sélect Bistro book by Frédéric Geisweiller and Luke Murphy, photographed against a bistro interior

Liberté, Égalité, Convivialité.

Bienvenue!

170 richly illustrated pages.
Over 20 recipes.
A lifetime of stories.

This is the inside story of Toronto’s Parisian bistro, from its origins as a humble artists’ hangout on Queen West to its transformation into an unmissable dining experience on Wellington Street.

Le Sélect Bistro: Half a Century in a Changing City is the inside story of how three immigrants brought their love of French culture to Toronto, opening the city’s first bistro on grimy Queen West in 1977. How decades later they transformed it into an unmissable dining destination on Wellington Street… all while Toronto grew from a small-minded provincial town into a thriving global metropolis.

A look inside the book

  • Book spread showing Le Sélect’s Wellington Street façade and the chapter The Left Bank of Lake Ontario
    Le Sélect on Wellington · The left bank of Lake Ontario
  • Recipe spread with salmon tartare and tarte Tatin
    From the kitchen · Recipes to make at home
  • Classic Bistro chapter with archival Queen Street photographs, posters, and a hanging breadbasket
    Queen Street West · The beginnings of a classic bistro
  • The full story of how Le Sélect almost had its wine cellar seized
  • Chef Albert Ponzo in his natural environment
  • Queen Street days, with chef John Coke and baker Ana

Witness the delights, the disasters, the kitchen tantrums, the bureaucratic roadblocks, the rosé and the vinegar of almost fifty years.

All this and a lot more is told in 170 richly illustrated, full-colour pages, with a foreword by urban designer and author Ken Greenberg. The book includes more than 20 recipes from Le Sélect’s three long-serving chefs, from Paul Biggs’ whitefish mousse to Albert Ponzo’s cassoulet and Laura Maxwell’s fish and seafood soup.

The book is a gift for you or anyone in your life whose favourite memories include the smell of crusty dark rye in a hanging breadbasket, the clink of champagne flutes, and the buzz of a bistro full of people enjoying liberté, égalité, and convivialité.

Bring the bistro home

Softcover editions are also available at Le Sélect Bistro,
432 Wellington Street West, Toronto.

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