Ricky + Olivia

The story

Ricky + Olivia: Toronto's Bib Gourmand Wine Bar & Tasting Room

A Toronto restaurant born from a kitchen meet-cute

Ricky Casipe and Olivia Simpson met in 2016 when Ricky, then executive chef at Hawthorne Food & Drink, hired Olivia as his sous-chef. After working together at Aft Kitchen and Bar, they decided to forge their own path. In 2018, they began hosting popup events around Toronto under the name Ricky+Olivia—starting with one-off nights at Chez Nous Wine Bar—and quickly built a following. Their popups grew into collaborations with Wine Country Ontario, the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance, and other local partners, and in summer 2019 they cooked for the World’s 50 Best during their Ontario tour. That momentum eventually led to a permanent home.

The restaurant and tasting room

Ricky + Olivia now operates a dining room and bottle shop on Queen Street East in Toronto’s east end. The space doubles as a tasting room, with a bottle shop open Tuesday through Saturday from 3pm. Happy hour runs 3–5pm, offering $10 glasses on select wines and $6 lagers, along with a bar snack menu. The dining room opens for dinner from 5pm Tuesday to Saturday. The restaurant’s focus is on thoughtful, ingredient-driven cooking and a carefully curated wine list, with an emphasis on Ontario producers. The bottle shop lets guests take home bottles from the same roster.

The people behind it

Ricky is a proud Toronto East Ender and George Brown College alumnus who previously served as executive chef at Hawthorne Food and Drink and as chef and partner at AFT Kitchen and Bar. Olivia, also a George Brown alum, has worked in kitchens at O&B, Bar Buca, Dirt Candy, and Blue Hill Stone Barns, among others. These days she runs the front of house. Their personal touches—Ricky’s fondness for 90s country and mixing red wine with Diet Coke, Olivia’s preference for a dry, bruised dirty martini—give the restaurant a relaxed, unpretentious character.

A Bib Gourmand nod

The restaurant earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2026, recognizing its good quality, good value cooking. The award reflects the approachable yet polished cooking that Ricky and Olivia have been refining since their popup days, now served in a space that feels like a natural extension of their partnership.