The best Caesar salad in Toronto makes me wonder if it's possible to classify greens as comfort food. While there's something to be said for the refined take on this classic that you'll find at upscale restaurants, my favourites are the less fussy versions that somehow transform a bunch of romaine lettuce into something as satisfying as a grilled cheese sandwich. And, is there anything better than the tableside preparation that you get to enjoy at some of the city's better steakhouses? There's a certain spectacle to it all that's both nostalgic and entertaining.
Everyone has their own preferences, of course — be it for extra garlic or the absence of anchovies (which aren't actually a traditional ingredient depending on who you talk to). With tableside preparations, you typically get a say in how your dressing is prepared, but even in the absence of this option, given the sheer variety of interpretations of the dish found across Toronto, there's sure to be one to please all manner of tastes.
Here are the best Caesar salads in Toronto.
See also:
Lead photo by Renée S. Suen
Weekend events in Toronto is our guide to events happening this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's what's happening in Toronto this June 14-16, 2013.
This week, I highlight a world that doesn't get nearly enough attention as it should: the beautiful, eclectic universe that is the Toronto sketch and improv scene. Yes And with me as I walk you through This Week In Comedy...
Tired of filing cabinets for your paper bills and managing multiple logins and websites for your electronic ones? Toronto's 
When the sprawling Eaton Centre devoured a large portion of the west side of Yonge Street between Queen and Dundas in the mid-70s, it replicated a much smaller shopping centre construction project started almost a century earlier just 150 metres to the south.
The indoor shopping centre opened with a grand ceremony a year later that included "bands, bunting, and flowers" on a strip of land between Yonge and Victoria streets in 1884. Its four-storey tower and ornate Ohio cut stone facade, located directly opposite Temperance Street, took just under a year to erect and organize so that "every variety of business" could be conveniently accessed regardless of the weather. 
The ground floor contained 32 stores, 24 in the covered pedestrian walkway between Yonge and Victoria and 4 on each end facing out on the street, with 20 more were located on the first floor. The units were "compact little places" at just 12 feet wide and 29 feet deep, though the street-level shops had full basements.
At its opening, the entire third floor of the Arcade was rented and specifically adapted for use by the local British American Business College. Established in 1861 by Professor Isaac Bates in the Whittemore Building at King and Toronto streets, in 1880s the school averaged 200 students a year, ranging in age from 14 to 40.
Below the school, one Mr. Turnbull Smith rented the entire second floor for his Arcade Billiard Hall "fitted throughout in the most tasteful and complete manner" with 14 "new and handsome" tables.
Waxing lyrical about the development, writer and historian Charles Mulvany predicted the Toronto Arcade would be "what Burlington Arcade is to London, the Palais Royal to Paris, the haunt of fashionable loungers, the bazaar whence visitors to Toronto carry away some memento of their stay, a most commendable speculation for whose success we must all wish" in his book Toronto: Past and Present.
Though it never achieved the status some predicted, the Toronto Arcade became an important fixture on Yonge Street and quietly went about its business for more than 70 years. In the 1950s, as the old building began to show its age, two fires damaged the upper floors.
Rather than fix it up, the city decided to pull down the Toronto Arcade building in pieces, this was the 1950s after all. There was talk for a short time of using the vacant lot to extend Temperance Street through to Lombard for an arterial road.
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at 
The Toronto Wine & Spirit Festival is back at Sugar Beach this weekend for its 5th year. Billed as Toronto's first 
A new clevenue (club + event venue) has opened up on King West across from the Lightbox. Hoping to capitalize on TIFF-goers and the folks dining along so-called restaurant row, this new theatre-themed space just might have the stuff to become a hotspot. Well, as long as no one actually refers to it as a clevenue.
The Luminato Festival has been successful at attracting international artists over its impressive seven years on the arts scene. But this year, there's a marked shift in programming with an eye towards attracting younger audiences, the variety that whiles away their weekends enjoying the splendors of Toronto park life.
George Brown's new waterfront campus is the most recent addition to the college, and it's making the rest of its students jealous. The campus opened in September, and the design is hyper-modern. So far, it consists of one building at Queens Quay E. and Lower Jarvis, which is home to the school's health sciences programs, and focuses on hands-on healthcare and dentistry training. The college is also, however, making an effort to play a role in revitalizing the eastern waterfront.
The first floor is classroom-free, features floor-to-ceiling windows, and it's open to the public. People can wander in off the streets and grab the requisite Tim Hortons, Pizza Pizza, or a number of healthier options, like sandwiches and salads from 
The college is billing the new space as a campus within itself, although it's just the one building — for now. They have first right of refusal for the land in front of the current structure, and Lorrie says they're thinking of using the space for further educational initiatives. 
Right now, about 3,000 students in the Sally Horsfall Eaton School of Nursing and the schools of health and wellness, dentistry, and health services management are enjoying the waterfront space. It also includes a library, learning commons, and counseling services (which most university students find themselves needing at one point or another). There are seven floors, with a breezy rooftop green space on top of the building. 
The stretch of waterfront around the campus is still pretty barren. But that will soon change. A new condo development called 
Photos by Kat Rizza
As NXNE excitement dies down, you might be inches away from death yourself. You're going to need to pull yourself together though, pals: Japandroids are in town this Monday night, and they know you have the strength to push through (Tuesday sounds like a good day to call in sick). Speaking of calling in, Japandroids were a little mopey during our phone chat.
After four years of annual searches for the best bartenders across the globe, 2013 represents the first time that Canada has contributed towards the 
Three rounds of original cocktail making set challenges for the finalists, who were under intense scrutiny, being filmed and timed during each round. The first challenge required an original tropical / Tiki cocktail, with bartenders required to get into the spirit in dress and presentation, as well as flavour (read: they had to wear Hawaiian shirts).
Across the competition, bartenders were limited to featuring ingredients from Diageo's premium range, including Bulleit, Zacapa, Johnnie Walker, Don Julio, Ketel One, Tanqueray Ten, Grand Marnier, and the Classic Malts, but without repeating them across the rounds. Shane Mulvany declared on Twitter that he'd personally 
Oliver Stern showed us his whiskey sour, whilst Shane Mulvany demonstrated a Clover Club, and Jenner Cormier made a Martini. Contestants were expected to discuss their drinks at length, with judges 
After a long day of cocktail combat, the winner was declared: Jenner Cormier of The Middle Spoon and Noble in Halifax. He'll be taking a six-day all expenses paid cruise in the French Riviera as part of the global final later this year. Congrats are also due to Shane for taking second place.
This new womenswear shop in the
Toronto events on June 17th, 2013
This Week in Music rounds up the latest news, releases and concerts coming to Toronto.
This new shop at Yonge & Gerrard may be hidden away in a basement, but its aesthetic and philosophy are far from subdued. As part retail space and part dance studio, its plans for the house brand - as well as young local artists - are ambitious to say the least.
Matt Berninger, frontman of 
Here're looking at you drunk guy in the Moosehead tent yelling, "Mr. November!" at the top of his lungs at the end of every damn song until they finally played it. 
I won't treat you to some of the comments I overheard speculating as to the age, name, quality and relative popularity of the band (we'll have more on that later), but it was probably some of the best music journalism I've ever heard. 
The National closed with an acoustic rendition of 
Matt Berninger seemed to be distracted by the glamour of Yonge-Dundas, though. For much of the set, he kept his eyes shut while singing, and made several comments about the models on the H&M billboards. Honestly, I wasn't paying that much attention; Mantracker was on the CityTV screen above their studio, and it was the one with the wrestler guy and... 
Anyway. North By Northeast is consistently the high point of Toronto's musical year. Having The National headline at Yonge-Dundas will prove to be a hard act for the festival to follow in 2014.
