Future Bistro

There's nothing warmer on a blustery day than a big bowl of beef borscht, a schnitzel sandwich on dark rye with mashed potatoes and salad, or a buckwheat cabbage roll with mushroom sauce. This is the rib sticking, soul-stirring. Satisfying cooking of Eastern Europe, and its good vibrations are spreading faster than thick sour cream on a hot potato-and-cheese varenika. What started as a bakery on Queen Street has blossomed into a small chain of stand-in-line cafeterias supplied by their own dairy. Beloved by students for its generous portions, by homesick Europeans hungry for goulash and knishes, by the cheesecake and coffee crowd, by health-conscious foodies looking for fruit salad with homemade yogurt and honey, by people-watchers looking for people worth watching. Future's is the best place to eat your heart out without emptying your wallet out. Alas, in some locations, they seem short on housekeeping staff.~Sara Waxman.