Toronto unveils DineTOgether program to support local restaurants

Chef Dimitris prepares a take-out order at Athens Restaurant in Toronto, on Saturday, June 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO -

The City of Toronto has announced a new program aimed at supporting local restaurants hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dubbed “DineTOgether,” the program will see participating eateries curate a feature menu, available through takeout, delivery, patio or indoor dining, to showcase their offerings and encourage people to visit a local restaurant.

“Think of it as an updated and reinvented Winterlicious or Summerlicious type of program, but the bottom line is the same: to show support for our restaurant and hospitality business after a period in which they have been very hard hit,” Tory said at a news conference Wednesday.

Restaurants must offer a two-course menu, including a main dish and either an appetizer or dessert. Prices for the feature menu will range from $15 to $50 in increments in $5.

The menu can be offered for lunch, dinner or both.

Applications to the program open on August 4 and close on August 31. The program will run from September 17 to October 3.

Both indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants in Toronto had been off limits for months as the city grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outdoor dining in Toronto only resumed on June 11, followed by the resumption of indoor dining on July 16.