Looking at Steve Gonzalez you’d be surprised to hear that he has been cooking for over twenty eight years. It seems that the Latin blood that courses through his veins keep this former Top Chef alumni looking very young.  About three years ago Steve opened the highly popular Valdez on King West and served up some of this city’s best Latino street eats, but like so many great places in this city, Valdez had to close it’s doors to make room for, you guessed it, condos!

Goat Roti Chronicles - Baro Toronto - Steve Gonzalez

As you can imagine, this decision was met with sadness, disappointment, and even anger from Valdez’s fans but Steve bounced right back by announcing a bold new venture. His new restaurant, called Baro, will be located in a brand, spanking new, four storey building at 485 King West. To be honest it’ll be more like an entertainment complex than a restaurant. According to Steve, “The first floor will be a grown up version of Valdez with proper dinner service. The second floor will have the bars including a raw bar and a cocktail bar. The third floor will be an event space and the fourth will be the rooftop patio but this patio won’t be opened till next spring.”

Not one to sit back and wait on things to happen Steve has brought out a new food trailer and has been making stops all over the GTA. I met up with him in Oakville when he made a stop at Organic Garage and we spent a few minutes chatting. I asked him why the new trailer since I was sure the new restaurant would be taking up most of his time, “I got this trailer to keep the team cooking and just another way to drop the Baro name and keep us out there”.

The menu on the trailer has some Valdez favorites like ceviches and chaufa as well as new items like churros and savory pastels but it usually changes from event to event. At Organic Garage his menu included Trout Ceviche, Beef Fried Rice, and Churros with Dulce De Leche. The next stop for the Baro food trailer will be at 3105 Dixie Road in Mississauga on August 12th and 13th.

Goat Roti Chronicles - Baro Toronto - Steve Gonzalez - Ceviche Goat Roti Chronicles - Baro Toronto - Steve Gonzalez - Chufa Goat Roti Chronicles - Baro Toronto - Steve Gonzalez - Churros

The opening date for the new restaurant hasn’t been finalized as yet, since construction is still ongoing, but if anyone wants they can head over to the Baro website to register for an exclusive opening weekend invitation.

All photos that were included in this article were taken by Josh Tenn-Yuk courtesy of Baro.

Disclaimer: I was compensated for this article