IN Toronto magazine

Opus is one of Toronto’s best kept secrets. High end to the max, they have one of the most extensive and coveted wine lists in North America, and have even won a Wine Spectator award, which is a huge honour for any restaurant the world over.

The establishment is conveniently located on Prince Arthur at Bedford, just off the beaten Yorkville path, which suits Opus just fine, since it’s always been the kind of restaurant only people in the know can find. Let me put it this way, Colin Farrell and Sienna Miller might eat at Sotto Sotto (a fact that always shows up in the dailies during TIFF) but Madonna and Bono eat at Opus, and you never ever hear about it.

The bar scene is where all the regulars eat or meet for a casual glass of wine, and you only have to go a few times before you’re on a first-name basis with the waiters who all reek of the best taste in the city. Owners and brothers Tony and Mario Amaro tell jokes between recommending the right wine pairing for whatever you’re eating.

If you want the best of all worlds, book the table in the window, then you can people watch, get the restaurant experience and be in the midst of the bar scene.

For eats, almost everything is good and the menu is forever changing, but the staples are the best.

I like to start with the sauté mushrooms with garlic and herbs ($20) as an appetizer or the gnocchi and squash with duck prosciutto, beets and truffle ($22). The bread is baked fresh everyday. For a main I like the pepper crusted tuna on rice cake with sake shoyu beurre blanc ($44). To top it off, go with the jewel in the Opus menu crown: the molten chocolate muffin made on the premises ($10.50).

A sumptuous dinner at Opus is one big mouth orgasm after the next, great for that seal-the-deal date or if you want to impress a client. Expect to spend, but regret nothing.

OPUS 37 Prince Arthur Ave. (416) 921-3105. opusrestaurant.com.