Daphne is an American-style restaurant spanning over 8,000 square feet and including a private terrace. There are four types of dining spaces each offering a different vibe.

The interior, designed by Studio Paolo Ferrari, is one of the most stunning spaces to grace the city.

The front dining room is a lively orange space lined with wine bottles, while the main dining hall is an expansive room featuring arched ceilings that evoke Greek architecture. 

The main hall also features a completely open kitchen with two woodfire grills. Led by Executive Chef John Chee of Patois and Patria, food-lovers looking for a view of the action should opt to sit here.

Plush burnt velvet curved seating lines the walls for a more intimate setting, with a mirror-lined hallway just around the corner that leads to a separate bar area. 

The curved accents continue here, with colour-shifting details that flow from gold to green, bringing a London-inspired vibe to the space. 

A much more private and calm space, you could easily grab a post-work or pre-show drink here. 

The bar program was designed by award-winning mixologist Nishan Chandra, who developed a drink menu that would use seasonal flavours in a New American way. 

The restaurant is a joint project between INK Entertainment of Sofia, Bar Chica and Dream, a real estate company.

"We want to bring energy and life back to the financial district and connect people to historic buildings through hospitality," explained Krystal Koo of Dream.

Chandra's favourite drink is the Right on Thyme ($20), which ended up being my favourite of the night as well. It's a sour martini that uses strawberry, cherry, and lime, making it a perfect summer drink.

The Daphne's Negroni ($22), based on a seasonal cherry-infused gin, is spirit-forward with no added sugar.

The Georgia Sour ($22) uses balsam fir infused-bourbon, lemon, peach and egg whites to create an easy sip. This was my second favourite drink.

The Habanero Pineapple Margarita ($22) is spicy, sweet, and sour all at the same time, with jalapeno and habenero peppers adding some solid spice.

For non-alcoholic options, we had The Botanist ($15) which uses Ceder's rose, guava purée, lime, and grapefruit, and makes for a very sippable drink.

All the food is "hyper-seasonal and the menu is ever-changing based on what's available and interesting to the team," promised Chee.

To start, we had the Amberjack Crudo ($26). The amberjack sits on a pool of passion fruit ponzu, white soy sauce, pickled fennel, and is topped with sliced kumquat. The acid of the fruit balances the richness of the fish with spicy pepper amplifying the flavours in your mouth. 

One of the most unique dishes were the Smoked Gruyère Doughnuts ($16). Savoury donut-like churros are spiced with six types of chilis from around the world — perfect for dipping into a smoked gruyère and emmental sauce while hot.

The Embered Beets ($24) are composed of three seasonal beets and served on top of stracciatella sourced from Prince Edward County.

They're topped with pickled green strawberries, with chamomile honey, almonds, and elderberries scattered around out the dish. This was not only very beautiful, but also very, very delicious — a must order.

The Daphne Potato ($16) comes served on the most perfect silver platter. Twice-baked russet is re-piped with filling that includes egg, nutmeg, and butter for the creamiest of experiences.

Covered in emmentaler and chives, you can also add caviar ($20) if you're in the mood for a decadent upgrade.

The Spaghetti Ubriachi ($28) will satisfy any picky diner. It literally means "inebriated" and the sauce is made from tomaotes and red wine giving it a tannic, nutty funk. 

The Rib Eye ($95) is 16 oz. of Wagyu that's dry aged for 40 days and cooked to perfection with the bone in. 

The BC Salmon ($50) features a lightly-cured juicy fillet on fresh Ontario peas, preserved Meyer lemon purée, Spanish olive oil, and house hollandiase sauce. The skin is cooked to a perfect crisp and overall is an excellently balanced dish. The most surprising dish was the Giannone Chicken ($65). Presented two ways, half the dish is a fried chicken leg drizzled in hot honey that's absolutely delicious, while the other half is a roasted roulade breast in a bourbon jus and topped with truffles. 

You can't leave without trying the Embered Ice Cream Sundae ($15). The milk is smoked over cherrywood embers to give it a smoky flavour before being churned to ice cream. 

The caramel drizzle is also fire-smoked in a josper charcoal oven before topping the ice cream, along with with hazelnut praline and Maldon salt. Crunchy, sweet, decadent, this sundae is perfection, and everything you'd want to end your meal with. On good days, you can sit out on the terrace where the striped cushions and brick walls will transport you to Chelsea. It seats 100 people, so it's a lively space and there are plans to further expand the back alleyway to connecting neighbouring restaurants later this year. 

Daphne is located at 67 Richmond St W and is open 7 days a week.