A chophouse with a pan-Asian accent
Markham diners will get a new steakhouse this fall from one of Canada's best-known chefs. Alvin Leung, the celebrity chef who judged MasterChef Canada for its first seven seasons, is opening The Leo at 162 Enterprise Boulevard in Downtown Markham, with a planned launch in September 2026.
The 68-seat restaurant, announced in late July, will include an eight-seat bar and patios on both levels, according to reports from Toronto Life and BlogTO.
The Leo is Leung's first chophouse concept. The menu will feature Canadian Prime beef and Australian Wagyu alongside steakhouse standards such as crab cakes and steak tartare, with seafood and seasonings drawn from East and Southeast Asian cooking.
"I didn't want to open just another chop house," he told BlogTO. "The Leo is about taking premium beef and seafood and serving it with flavours I've spent my career cooking."
Diners will be able to order à la carte or choose a three-course set menu starting at $120, with a choice of appetizer, steak or seafood, and dessert. Leung has said the set format is modelled on Café Bau, his Michelin-recommended Hong Kong project with LUBUDS, and that sets will be scaled for parties of one, two, four or six people. BlogTO describes the dining room as Van Gogh-inspired.
Closer to a suburban fan base
Leung already runs two Toronto restaurants with partner Eric Chong: R&D in Chinatown and the one-Michelin-star aKin downtown. He is also known for X-treme Chinese cooking at Bo Innovation in Hong Kong, a restaurant that currently holds two Michelin stars after previously holding three.
Leung grew up in Scarborough and still lives in Canada. Markham, he told Toronto Life, is a city where he already has a fan base of Chinese and Southeast Asian diners.
Two members of the aKin team are joining him at The Leo: chef Edan Lister-Stevens, a Stratford Chefs School alumnus who serves as executive sous chef at aKin, and beverage director Nathan Murray.
The Enterprise Boulevard location already carries an upscale dining cluster, with hotel restaurants, a sushi restaurant upstairs and a Ruth's Chris Steak House a short walk away.
Reservations and opening hours have not yet been published. For now, the confirmed details are the address, the September target date and the menu shape: Prime and Wagyu beef, Asian-seasoned seafood and a set menu starting at $120.
