Toronto Food Events rounds up the most delicious events, festivals, pop-ups, winemaker dinners, supper clubs and other food related happenings in Toronto this week and next. You can find us here every Friday morning.

THIS WEEK

• Market 707 hosts Flavours of the City tonight, Friday, August 9h from 5pm to 9pm at 707 Dundas Street West. The outdoor art show and exhibit includes highlights like interactive art stations, food from Market 707 vendors and live entertainment.
• Pilaro's Taste of the Danforth street festival is on this weekend August 9th to 11 featuring the annual feeding frenzy from Broadview to Jones.
• The Roundhouse Park Craft Beer & Food Truck Fest takes place this weekend, August 10th and 11th from noon 'til 7pm. The two day event bills a stellar (and too long to list) line-up of food trucks and Ontario craft breweries Tickets are $15 at the door ($10 in advance).
• Tickets ($100) are still available for the six course Sweet and Savoury Chocolate Tasting Dinner happening Saturday, August 10th at Playful Grounds (605 College Street).
• Grillin' & Chillin returns to the Fuel House (53 Clinton Street) on Monday, August 12th at 6:30pm. The BBQ cooking class and pig roast presented by Pork Ninja, Jason Rees costs $95 to participate includes a whole hog feat with all the fixings and Ontario craft beer and wine pairings.

UPCOMING

• Awestruck is back for round two on Saturday, September 21at from 2pm to 8pm at Fort York, Garison Common. Tickets go on sale Tuesday for what is promising to be the largest food truck rally in Canada.
• Bristol Yard (146 Christie Street) has announced a Mods & Rockers Breakfastin celebration of Toronto's largest vintage motorcycle and scooter festival happening on Saturday, August 17th. See the bikes lined up on nearby Pendrith Street before they take off for a city wide ride.
• Bier Markt (58 The Esplanade) is hosting a Small Batch Bier Dinner on Tuesday, August 20th starting at 6:30pm. The four course dinner with beer pairings is $50 and tickets are available now.
• Diner en Blanc is secretly plotting its next soiree. The al fresco white party/pop-up picnic will be held Thursday, August 29th but as always the location won't be revealed until the day of.

OTHER NEWS

• Voodoo Child (388 College Street) is starting weekends early with brunch now being served Fridays too. The first 10 people to show up for brunch tomorrow, Friday, August 9th and say "I want to get lucky" will get a free coffee or cocktail of their choice.

Photo of a previous Taste of the Danforth

Determining the most beautiful place in Toronto in any objective sense is surely a fool's errand, but presumably the very act of toying with the question should serve to remind us just how many pockets of this city are truly gorgeous. Whether it be our many ravines and parks or sweeping views of the skyline — or, in the case of Riverdale Park, both — there are some obvious candidates. But surely there must be some under the radar places, too.

We took the question to our Twitter followers earlier this week and received a wide variety of suggestions. The list of places is varied, but there were a few places that received more widespread support. If I had to pull a top five list out of the responses, it go something like this:

1. Grenadier Pond in High Park (during the cherry clossoms or fall colours)
2. The Scarborogh Bluffs
3. The view of the skyline from the Toronto Islands
4. Crothers' Woods (and other Don Valley trails)
5. The Leslie Street Spit

Other places I might add are the view of the city from Polson Pier, the view across city and Riverdale Park from Broadview, and the eastern beaches leading to the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant. Surely, however, this working list only scratches the surface. Weigh in with your suggestion for the most beautiful place in Toronto in the comment section.

Lead photo by ~EvidencE~

Shotgun Jimmie is a pretty happy guy these days. The singer/songwriter has been touring steadily since the March release of his 4th LP, Everything, Everything, and his outlook as of late is just as relaxed and content as his music would suggest. His most recent record finds Jimmie in songwriting marvel mode, with 16 fully realized songs breezing by in a mere 39 minutes.

Despite a whirlwind touring and recording schedule, Jimmie took the time to answer some questions we had for him on influences, Polaris Prize underdogs, and the greatness of Kelowna rock heroes Ladyhawk. You can catch Jimmie this Saturday at 6:00 as part of the final edition of Wavelength's ALL CAPS! festival on the island — it'll be one for the ages.

Who is Shotgun Jimmie, and what drives you do what you do?

I'm Shotgun Jimmie, and as I write this Cole Woods (who plays drums with me) is driving me to do what I do. Literally.

What is the origin of your name?

It comes from riding shotgun. I happen to be occupying the shotgun seat as I write this.

The new record, Everything, Everything, is easily your most focused in my eyes. At the same time, it seems like there was a deliberate attempt to make this album a little more collage-like, à la Guided by Voices. How did the writing and recording process differ with this record in comparison to couple albums?

I took a lot more time with this one, and I had a clearer picture of what I wanted it to end up like from the get-go. I was mixing and matching lots of different equipment and techniques. I had been listening to tons of GBV and I'm not surprised that that came across.

There are a lot of geographical landmarks mentioned on the record (Big Sur, Greenland, Sackville, etc). How does travel inspire you?

I love traveling. It keeps things fresh and is good for the brain.

In what ways is Shotgun Jimmie a nomad, and in what ways is Shotgun Jimmie not a nomad?

I used to tour so much that I gave up my apartment (nomad). I think anyone who has done that will agree it's not a sustainable way of life.

I now have a home that I very much enjoy (not a nomad).

You were a member of John K. Samson's touring band last year in support of the excellent Provincial. Did that influence your approach to this record at all?

John is a very inspiring guy. He was and is a huge influence.

Is your upcoming round of shows a full band affair, or will it be the ever-ferocious one-man-band approach? If the former, who's playin' with you?

I'm playing all my summer shows with the aforementioned Cole Woods. Cole is a super musician and super human. He plays in a couple Winnipeg bands, Haunter and Cannon Bros. Jay Baird who plays in hundreds of thousands of bands will be joining us at ALL CAPS. Jay is also a super human/musician.

Ladyhawk are mecca gods of the rock and roll shrine. If it ever shines, it shines for them. I feel as if you likely think along similar lines (as evidenced by the song "Ladyhawk" from the new album). Elaborate, if you can, on the greatness you see in the 'hawk.

Ladyhawk are my favourite band. They have all the best songs. Their sum is greater than their parts but their parts are untouchably tops. They are like a well-oiled machine of golden gears.

Standard Polaris question. Who do you think will take it this year, and why?

I think Ladyhawk will win. I know they weren't nominated but I think they will win. No Can Do is the best album of 2012. Either them or Kurt Vile— I know he is an American and also not on the list, but I still think he has a pretty good shot at it.

If you had to interrupt an acceptance speech in order to profusely praise the artist at hand (a la Bizarro World Kanye West), what accolades would you bestow and upon whom?

I might interrupt Kurt Vile when he accepts his Polaris prize. Just to let him know that it's not really fair for him not to win because of his nationality. Then I'd give the Cons a Polaris Prize for each of the albums they made. I'd give Christine Fellows a couple and grab a few myself.

Photos by Kevin Bertram

Toronto might have its fair share of bubble tea options, but this new offering near Dundas & University surely takes the prize for cutest, with its Shaolin warrior monk mascot. Over and above the kitsch factor, this shop distinguishes itself by skipping the sugar, instead opting to sweeten its tea with honey, the amount of which can be controlled based on a customer's taste.

Read my review of Kung Fu Tea Shop in the cafes section.

You tend to hear a lot about what Queen West looked like back in the 1980s and '90s, before the furniture stores moved in and the iconic Big Bop closed. These memories tend to take familiar nostalgic form, idealizing some putative authenticity that has been lost to gentrification and redevelopment. And while there's some truth to such narratives, this tendency toward glorification likely paints an inaccurate picture of the place. Don't get me wrong, I wax nostalgic often enough about Toronto's lost grittiness — a process that's sanitized the city to a degree that's perhaps problematic — but there's a more complicated story than the one that surrounds questions of authenticity.

That's why I was so pleased to stumbled across this set of images of Queen West from the 1990s on the Toronto History Flickr page. Part of a larger exhibition of Toronto street photography running until May 2014 at the Archives, these photographs by Ivaan Kotlulsky, a jeweller who had a shop at 692 Queen Street West, reveal the characters who passed by his shop and offer a glimpse at the makeup of a street that's changed profoundly over the years.

Some of them depict folks down on their luck, while others hint at the changes to come, but they're all shot with a keen eye for the neighbourhood's residents and their experience of the street. These aren't about architectural documentation, as you might see more obviously in the work of Patrick Cummins (who incidentally is the curator of the exhibition), so much as the people who called the neighbourhood home. And there's a certain tenderness in the manner in which they're depicted that offers considerable insight in to the life of the street.

PHOTOS

Queen and Bathurst, 1995

Sign of the times, 1995

Remember Black Ice? Queen and Markham Beer Store, 1998

Queen and Markham, 1995

Near Queen and Manning, 1995

Lester Pawis outside the Red Indian Art Deco Antique Store, 1999

High Life, Queen and Portland 1995

Squeegee kid at Queen and Bathurst, 1996

Squeegee crew at Queen and Bathurst, 1998

Walking past Cabaret Nostalgia, 1996

Hanging in a back alley, 1995

Photos from the Toronto Archives. To view additional photos, check out the complete set on the Toronto History Flickr page.

The best stores to buy greeting cards in Toronto go beyond the typical selection you can find at your local Shoppers Drug Mart. At these stores you can usually find greeting cards that have that almost too-adorable, handmade look (often because they're actually handmade and made by local Toronto artists). These shops are just about guaranteed to have what you're looking for, especially if you need something a little less Happy Birthday thou most special of flowers and a little more Yo, I'm sorry the cat shat on your bed.

As any child will tell you, a greeting card can easily be the most pointless part of a gift. But if you've ever received a handmade, heartfelt little card with thought behind it, you'll know a card can mean everything. These shops allow you to skip the DIY factor and avoid ye olde Hallmark shop, and check out a local solution to your greeting card needs. The best thing about cards from these spots, other than the fact that many of them have a handmade quality, is that they've also got a great sense of humour.

Here are the best stores to buy greeting cards in Toronto.

See also:

The Best Card, Paper and Stationery Shops in Toronto
The Best Places to Buy Unique Gifts in Toronto
Letterpress Printing in Toronto

Weekend events in Toronto is our guide to events happening this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's what's happening in Toronto this August 9-11, 2013.

FOOD

Taste of the Danforth 2013
The 20th annual Taste of the Danforth street festival goest down this weekend, and you can be sure to encounter huge lines as the annual frenzy gets underway between Broadview and Jones at 6pm tonight. You can expect lots of food on sticks (some of it Greek in origin), some dancing, lots of corporate advertising, some children, and just generally lots of bodies and food.
Friday (6pm-12am), Saturday (12pm-12am), Sunday (12pm-8pm)

Market 707: Flavour of the City
Market 707, better known as the market with shops in shipping containers, is expanding this Friday night for Express Yourself: Flavour of the City, a sidewalk-wide celebration of art, food and food art. Express Yourself will feature interactive art stations and workshops as well as food art by vendors (not just for visual enjoyment). Swing by Bathurst and Dundas to catch a performance by Black Mink and to eat grotesque amounts of food because you need to train your stomach for the CNE anyway, so why not do it here?
Market 707 (707 Dundas Street West), August 9, 2013, 5PM Free

Agak, Agak, Hawk!
So, I have no idea what agak means but chances are the Chop Suzies Collective does. Spending their Friday night at the Daniels Spectrum, this dumpling crimping chain gangs is hosting a street food event where local restaurants and eateries like Gushi, Kashmiri BBQ, Paintbox Bistro ,Santo Pecado, Sukhothai, Tito Flips and Yakitori Bar will hawk food and tell stories of the women who inspired them. If delicious food wasn't enough of a draw, admission is free.
Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas Street East), August 9, 2013, 4PM Free

Fortune Cooking
Harboufront Centre's weekend festivals are typically stroller-filled tourist attractions but foodies will love Fortune Cooking. The best of Southeast and South Asian food will be served at the festival's World Café and Lakeview Market. Local ramen experts will compete in Ramen Runoff to see who makes Toronto's best noodles. The festival includes performances by bands from all over Asia and Canada, with events scattered throughout the weekend.
Harbourfront Centre (235 Queen's Quay West), August 9-11, 2013, 6PM Free

For more food listings, check out our Toronto Food Events post.

PARTY

Bellwoods Block Party
This is a new market/party taking place each month just south of Trinity Bellwoods in the back lane behind 198 Walnut Street. Look for a mix of designers, food vendors, vintage dealers as well as live music. Oh, and it's BYOB, so think party as much market, and you're there.
August 10, 1pm-7pm

GAMING

ROM Game Jam
Gather round, gamers: this 3-day game jam at the ROM is a meeting of animated minds. Roaming the museum, budding game developers will create video games out of the contents they find, each completing a project and owning the IP and right to sell and distribute the game after the three days spent workshopping. 30 galleries and endless artifacts will be a part of the development. If you can't join, come watch the gamers in action all day by paying regular admission prices.
Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queen's Park), August 9-11, 2013

FILM

Sharknado
Ask and you shall receive — Sharknado storms the Carlton this weekend, opening for a very limited engagement. This Friday night only, the tornado of sharks will terrorize a small town that just so happens to be occupied by fantastic actors like Tara Reid and Ian Ziering. A TV movie no more, the film screens at midnight so cult film lovers will never have to see the light of day to attend. Tickets are available at the theatre box office.
Carlton Cinema (20 Carlton Street), August 9, 2013, 12AM $9.50

For more film listings, check out our This Week in Film post.

THEATRE

How Can I Forget?
Sook-Yin Lee's multimedia dream poem that has earned a great deal of pre-performance buzz opens tonight at LOT as part of the 2013 SummerWorks Festival. Performed by Lee and Benjamin Kamino, How Can I Forget? explores rememberance and forgetfulness with the two actors embodying aspects of the same person. The piece will be performed every night this weekend and closes on the 14th. Still unsure of what to see at SummerWorks? Check out our 10 must-see performances at this year's festival.
Lower Ossington Theatre (100 Ossington Avenue), August 9-11, 2013, 7:30PM $15

For more theatre postings, check out our This Week in Theatre post.

BIKES

Bike Rave
If you're tired of the corporate "raves" in the city's stadiums, this is a nomadic alternative with some gumption. The folks behind Bike Pirates are hosting this party for the second year in a row. Everyone will gather at Dufferin Grove Park, gather their bikes in glowsticks, lights and anything with colour and then cycle from dance party to dance party across the city, all night long. Download the playlist (http://zeus.justinbull.ca/bikerave2013.mp3) and be at the park at 8:30PM sharp so everyone can hit play in unison.
Dufferin Grove Park (875 Dufferin Street), August 9, 2013, 8:30PM Free

MUSIC

ALL CAPS! Island Festival

Camp out on the island and listen to music all weekend long at ALL CAPS!, the annual island festival that takes place at Gibraltar Point on the Toronto Islands. Sadly, this will be the festival's final year, which means this is your last chance to enjoy massive bonfires, swim and camp out overnight on the island while upcoming musicians perform. But before you mourn the end, there is still a festival to be had! Take the ferry out to Hanlan's Point this Saturday and Sunday and catch performances by the likes of Rich Aucoin, Hooded Fang, Eons, Magneta Lane and beekeeper amongst others. Ferry prices are not included in the ticket price but they are under $10 for a round trip. Show your enthusiasm about ALL CAPS! and maybe you can get the organizers to reconsider.
Artscape Gibraltar Point (443 Lakeshore Road), August 10-11, 2013, $67 camping pass, $30 festival pass

For more music listings, check out our August Concerts and This Week in Music posts.

BOOKS & LIT

Small Press Book Fair, Curio and Vintage Sale
For those who need calmer Sundays, Mercer Union is opening its doors to a lovely little book fair and sale. The Small Press Book Fair will feature print publications by small local zines and writers like Worn Journal, Nothing Else Press, Papirmasse, and Anchorless Press. Vintage and curios vendors will also be on site, from shops like Odds & Mends, Grocery, Pack Rats Vintage and Marjorie Francis. Swing by the Blansdowne art centre this weekend to sneak a peek.
Mercer Union (1286 Bloor Street West), August 11, 2013, 10AM PWYC ($2 suggested donation)

ART

August Programming at Xpace Cultural Centre
Xpace Cultural Centre celebrates the opening of its August shows with a reception in their new-ish College/Lansdowne gallery space this Friday evening. This month's shows include Storied Telling, a group show about how artists use their work in sculpture, 2D and performance to tell stories; Julia Dickens' Don't Go, an examination of how spaces change physically through redesign, gentrification and similar shaping, and Tobias Williams' Yellow Pages Catacomb, a paper installation about obsolete media. All shows will remain in the gallery until the end of the month. Join the artists at the opening reception this Friday.
Xpace Cultural Centre (2-303 Lansdowne Avenue), August 9, 2013, 7PM Free

MARKET

The Backyard Farm Market
The Backyard Farm & Market is a new urban farmers market set up at Eglinton and Erin Mills. With farmers from across the city and province joining to sell their chemical-free produce and artisans selling handmade pieces on a 1.5 acre piece of land, visiting this market feels like a trip to the farm. Stop by on Saturdays for the remainder of the summer for live entertainment, food and gardening opportunities.
2475 Eglinton Avenue West, August 10, 2013, 10AM Free

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

Photo of Taste of the Danforth 2012

Photo by Sally Hunter in the blogTO Flickr pool.

52 years ago this month, a herd of eager motorists took excitedly to the first completed section of the Don Valley Parkway from Bloor Street to Eglinton Avenue. The road, designed to be a rapid and scenic connection between the new Gardiner and 401 highways, was touted along with the Bloor-Danforth subway as a proud testament to the power of the new Metro level of government.

To get it built, engineers would have to drastically reshape what was already a heavily altered and overtaxed river valley while navigating existing bridges and inconvenient geographical features. Driving in Toronto would never be the same again.

The Don Valley might seem like a relatively natural oasis from the a perspective on the popular biking and walking trail that winds between the rail tracks and roaring highway, but really few of Toronto's ravines have been more extensively manhandled and reconfigured over the last 150 years.

As described by early settlers, the Don River meandered the full width of the valley and was lined with dangling willow trees. Periodic islands in the water, the largest of which was just north of Queen Street, made ideal skating and canoeing destinations. South of present-day Eastern Avenue, the water fractured in to hundreds of small creeks as it entered a extensive marsh and eventually the sheltered waters of the Toronto Harbour.

In 1886, the stretch of river south of the Prince Edward Viaduct was tamed and straightened from its original course in one of the first major engineering projects undertaken in Toronto. The costly action was an attempt to solve the "Don problem," a perception that the marsh at the mouth of the river was unhealthy and the winding curves were an impediment to industrial boat traffic.

As such, an entirely new 14-foot deep, dog-legged channel, lined with cedar, rock elm, and white pine timbers, was dug for the Don and the original course of water filled in. When it was finished, the ruler-straight river provided new space for railway lines and, almost a century later, Toronto's first (and only) fully-realized Parkway.

Construction of the road and extension of Bayview Avenue required the removal of several notable features of the Don Valley, including Sugar Loaf Hill, a large cone-shaped eminence located just north of the viaduct on the west side of the valley.

"The visitor who glanced down from the ramp of the viaduct, sees the top of the hill almost level with the floor of the bridge," Charles Sauriol, a naturalist who wrote several books on the valley, wrote in his book Remembering the Don. "The C.N.R. line flanks the hill on the east. North-westwards, a panorama of woodland (Old Drumsnab), becomes in summer a vista of undulating waves of billowy leafage extending towards Rosedale Ravine."

Sauriol also recalled a treacherous swimming hole in the shadow of Sugar Loaf Hill called Sandy Point, where river rapids moved quickly over soft sand and there were several drownings. It's not clear from his writing why people continued to bathe there if the water was so dangerous.

Another landmark, Tumper's Hill, located near the Don Mills Road, was also flattened and the dirt used as fill in the highway foundation.

The winding parkway was proposed in the mid 1950s by Metro Toronto in the hope of easing traffic congestion in the east end, a problem government calculated was costing $10 million a year in lost productivity and "weeks and months" out of commuters lives.

The original budget allocated for the project, which would be built in parallel to the southerly extension of Bayview Avenue, was $15.8 million. The "eastern gateway" to Toronto, as it was once dubbed, was seen as a panacea that would take heavy trucks off Kingston Road and provide capacity for the additional 25,000 people that were expected to arrive before 1960. The Don Mills development alone was projected to add 5,000 new faces.

Critics argued that spending $137.8 million (in today's money) on a highway was poor planning when many of the core's commuters arrived by transit. A rapid road link between the Gardiner and the new 401 would benefit relatively few and a subway along Queen to Bloor and the Danforth would be a much better way of tackling congestion, they said.

The original five-mile stretch of the Don Valley Parkway that opened on August 31, 1961 ran between Bloor Street, just north of the viaduct, and Eglinton Avenue. North and south of the termini work was already underway on additional phases that would reach the Gardiner and the 401.

The winding six-lane highway with its green median, one of the first transportation projects for the young Metro government, was designed to carry 6,000 vehicles an hour, up to around 70,000 a day when operating at full capacity (current traffic flow is around 100,000 vehicles a day, for comparison)

Opening day turned out to be something of a shambles once the formalities of opening the road were completed. A motorcade of dignitaries, including Premier Leslie Frost, Metropolitan Toronto chair Fred Gardiner, reporters, and police, traveled the length of the still-closed road lined with spectators and refreshment trucks.

Alderman Joe Piccininni was involved in the embarrassing first road accident on the DVP. While trying to execute a turn, he backed into the central guardrail and smashed one of his taillights.

At the opening ceremony, Fred Gardiner, who was already the namesake for a Toronto highway, joked the new road should be named the Leslie Frost Thruway in honour of the Premier. Perhaps luckily, Frost hated the idea, even in jest, saying he was "allergic" to having things named for him.

"It's no good for them to name anything after you when the roof falls in and the blinds go down," he said. "Recognition is better when you're alive."

Despite his wishes, Toronto now boasts the Frost Building at Queen's Park and York University the Leslie Frost Library.

In a few short minutes after the barricades were flung open to a line of eager motorists, the DVP rapidly became impassible. While the south end of the road at Bloor was almost completely silent - so few cars "I could have sat down in the middle of the road and boiled a three-minute egg," in the words of reporter Fred Hollett - the intersection with Eglinton was a parking lot.

The lopsided flow was attributed to the confusing temporary entrance at the Bloor Viaduct. Like today, drivers heading north used the Danforth side of the valley while motorists making the short (and pointless) hop south reached the road via a bridge over Bayview Avenue.

The delay went down as "one of the worst traffic jams in Metro history" despite being only a mile long and holding up most motorists a mere 20 minutes.

The impending opening of the stretch south to the Gardiner posed a big challenge for the central core. The additional cars required wider roads, additional traffic planning, and more parking spaces.

Engineers and town planners urged the city to build park-and-ride lots - pencilled in at the Bloor Viaduct, Gerrard and River, and King and Queen - with enough space for 5,000 cars that would be served by the TTC in an attempt to spare the narrow streets of the core from the worst of the traffic.

In a column in 1961, writer Ron Haggart warned of a "double loss" for the city if the lots and transit connections weren't built as they were originally conceived in 1955: congested roads and the proliferation of surface parking on prime land would prevail, he said.

The park-and-rides were of course never built. Instead, Toronto pushed ahead with the highway in sections between Eglinton and Lawrence, Lawrence and the 401, the 401 to Steeles, and south to the Gardiner with no links to public transit.

The final stretch - a short, quarter-mile hop from Sheppard Ave. to the 401 - was opened with little fanfare on April 6, 1967. Weeks earlier, the complex tangle of flyovers and slipways that connect the road to the east- and west-bound express and collector lanes of the 401 was finally completed after two years of construction work.

For the first time drivers could, in theory, travel downtown at an unbroken 90 km/h.

The traffic snarls didn't end, however. High levels of car ownership kept the pressure on the DVP and the cancellation in 1971 of the Spadina Expressway, the parkway's sister, ensured it remained the sole north-south artery for cars heading to and from downtown.

As it dawned on drivers that perhaps the road wouldn't be a cure-all, Toronto's chief traffic engineer Sam Cass tried to issue some reassurance, predicting traffic would "ease considerably" in the coming years as more connections were built.

"Until then - patience," he said.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Images: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Public Library, Toronto Star

The Regent Park Farmers' Market is sandwiched between the ultramodern Daniels Spectrum and across the street from the new Regent Park Aquatic Centre. It occupies a small longitudinal strip just south of Dundas Street between Sumach and Sackville Streets that is worth seeking out.

The market is sponsored by the Daniels Corporation (which supplies the tents) and by Paintbox Bistro whose freshly made fruit smoothies, coffee, and muffins occupy the fists of many of the Market's patrons. While the market is small it has a welcoming community vibe. It runs Wednesdays between 3 and 7pm. Local musicians accent the day with tunes played on lyres, guitars and steel drums. There's much on offer, but the emphasis is on fresh and organically grown veggies.

Here are some of the vendors at the Regent Park Farmers' Market.

Fish Shak
I know almost nothing about the Fish Shak except that I love it. The cook who runs the pop-up sandwich and roti stand politely but firmly refused to answer my questions, averring a general distrust for the internet bespoken by the shop's sign: "Influenced by grandparents, not the Food Channel, not the internet, not recipe books." Whatever he's influenced by, the guy's butterfish sandwich tastes positively unreal, a Jamaican-style dish with a spice mix I can only guess at.

Greenwood Organic Vegetable Farm
Natalie Fedchak, who runs the Greenwood booth at the Regent Park Farmers' market, has been growing veggies for two years now, and is currently enduring the long, tedious process of getting her organic certification. She operates as sustainable a farm as you can get, powered by geothermal heat with a living roof and pond-irrigated. Her mustard greens, radishes, arugula, and baby kale - all for three dollars - are bunched and dewey; it is, however, her organic, all-natural olive oil soap I love. Get one bar in each scent: peppermint, eucalyptus, lavender, and lemongrass.

Highmark Farms
In the business for more than seven years, Zach Theo is an intensely likeable chap whose farm, Highmark, is a family-run affair operating just outside of Cookstown. Though Highmark does raise meat, including pigs, cows, wild boars, sheep, goats, and chickens, Theo assures me that his specialty is good old-fashioned vegetables, and it shows. The Highmark tent is piled high with gorgeous leaves of kale and arugula, mushrooms the size of my fist, massive bundles of asparagus tender and fresh. My recommendation: get a bunch of their salsify. This is a nutrient-rich root vegetable that tastes of oysters when cooked.

Wicklow Way
Founded by former Canoe and Scaramouche head chef Elaina Asselin, Wicklow Way is a certified organic farm in Northumberland County. They make artisanal breads, as well as dried beans and tomatoes, but the real treat is their screamingly fresh Red Russian kale.

Foley Mountain Co-op
Freshly grown herbs for $3.00 a pot include celeriac, clary sage, cinnamon basil, and dill, but the real highlight from this small tribe of farmers, bakers, and enviro-activists is the Vermin Kit: a pound of Red Wriggler worms for $25 bucks, plus a complete set of easy-to-follow instructions on how to set up your own worm-based compost system, possibly the cheapest and most environmentally friendly soil production system in history. They eat just about everything but citrus, garlic, onions, and meat.

de la terre bakery
For baked goods, there's frankly no place better than this Vineland-based bakery. Chad Smit, who's running the booth, showed me the full product list - an almost dazzlingly long litany sourdoughs and pastries, croissants and cookies. The breads come in not just plain, delicous sourdough, but in olive, cheese, herb, rye, carroway, and more. Their monkey bun, a cinnamon bun-ish blob of deliciousness, is a particular treat. All of de la terre's ingredients are organic, made with cane sugar.

Fatima's Kitchen
This mother/daughter duo prepare traditional Sri Lankan and South Asian dishes including samosas, Asian beer rolls, fish patties, and beef rolls. The fillings are juicy and flavourful, but what's really special is the pastry - flakey and ethereal, perfect. The two cook in community kitchens nearby, and the value is fantastic - most treats are under two dollars.

Footstep Organics
Paul Stewart and Shira Katzberg are the couple behind Footstep, a product of FarmStart, an initiative designed to help small farming start-ups by providing them with the tools and education they need to get going. Footstep's Brampton-based operation produces arugula, beets, peas, and spinach, but it is their herbs that get me - I have never encountered rosemary so fresh and fragrant, and acid-sharp wafts of chive make my mouth water.

Incredible Spice
Having worked in a couple of kitchens myself, I can tell you that Sri Lankan cooks are not only one of the most widely represented groups in Torontonian restaurants, but also one of the hardest-working and most underrated. On average, it takes about two years of grueling for most cooks to make it just to the dish pit. Sanjit Matthews had enough of this - so he took fate into his own hands, and used it to flavour his food. The result is magical - samosa chaat covered in a psychedelic mix of spices, herbs, and other traditional South Asian seasonings (he won't give me the complete ingredient list, clever man). Eating these things is about as much fun as it's possible to have with your pants on, and washed down with Sanjit's rich, frothy mango lassi, it's good enough to come back for seconds. Or thirds. Or fourths. Or fifths, as one young woman did. Sanjit also uses local ingredients - in fact, his famous smoked beet dip is made from beets from Highmark Farms, just three tents down.

Red Pocket Farm
The lovely Amy Cheng runs Red Pocket, and though she grows western veggies the real treats of her booth is the wide variety of Asian vegetables. Seven different varieties of Japanese mustard green, Chinese pea shoots, Chinese kale, and baskets of bok choy a colour green only found in nature. Want a real treat? Try her Japanese salad turnip, a sweet and juicy radish-like vegetable perfect for slicing raw, and placing in salad made of the greens. All of Cheng's stuff is organic and sustainable.

Dave the Food Smythe
Dave Smythe is doing his part in celebrating and popularizing the underrated cheeses of Ontario. The moustachioed purveyor of Ontarian milk solids dedicates himself to small, independent dairies whose cheeses don't often get touted in the big city: Gunn's Hill, Crossroad Farms, Glengarry, and more. Best bets? The Gunn's Hill is a firm cheese and is superb, and the Crossroad's sheep gouda has a wonderfully nutty flavour.

Discover more of Toronto's farmers' markets via our Toronto Farmers' Markets Pinterest board.

Writing by Alexander Offord. Photos by Jesse Milns.

A trip to Taste of the Danforth last night by Rob Ford has re-heated the controversy surrounding the Toronto mayor since the so-called crackgate scandal. Numerous reports from witnesses allege that something was "off" about Ford as he made his way to the annual street festival. In one video being circulated online, Ford is seen walking alone just west of Danforth and Greenwood outside a Beer Store, clutching a large Tim Horton's cup. In another, he appears to be rambling incoherently while walking along Greenwood.

"We're going to go up to the party, man," he says groggily as he prepares to have his photo taken with a group of young people. Just before starting to move away, he says "I gotta get these kids to play football."

In the videos Ford appears to be minus his staff and any sort of guidance. In a separate video, Ford is near his car, most likely on Greenwood, announcing "I'm not driving, I'm not driving." He mutters something, then begins to walk away, declaring "I'm [inaudible], you know me, brother."

A third, 7-second shot captures Ford saying "I wanna go up to the Danforth, let's go party."

News of the unexpectedly friendly walkabout came as the Toronto Sun (yep, not the Star) broke a story alleging a drug dealer burst in to Rob Ford's home in January 2012, demanding to be paid.

"You owe me money, your sister owes me money, if I don't get it, they will kill me," Scott MacIntyre, an ex-boyfriend of Ford's sister Kathy, recalled in a Finch Ave. courthouse in April last year. It's not clear from the court documents ordered by the Sun what the debt involved.

He was later corralled by members of his staff and a significant number of police outside Guardian Drugs just west of Jones, but not before reigniting questions related to his behaviour and earlier controversies that have dogged him.

Here's a sampling of his sojourn last night as it appeared on social media.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: jaimecastillo6/Instagram

FIlm and condos. If either of these words just grabbed your attention you might be just the person we're looking for to join the blogTO team. Starting today we're sending out an open-call to all writers interested in joining our team of contributors. We have a short list of subject areas we're looking for expert and enthusiastic writers to dive into. Maybe one has your name on it?

We're actively seeking writers expert in the following topic areas:

• Condo and House of the Week
• Film

Condo and House of the Week
Do you surf Realtor.ca and other real estate web sites in your spare time? If so, you're probably a perfect fit to take on either our weekly Condo of the Week and/or House of the Week posts. To apply for this role, simply send us a complete Condo or House of the Week post featuring a property current available for sale that you think would be a perfect fit to be featured on blogTO. If we agree, we can use this post as your first post on the site.

Film
Are you passionate about the local film scene? Do you regularly attend local film festivals and follow news about new productions filming here and what films Canadian directors are working on next? If so, a role as one of our film writers might be just the ticket. For this role, we're looking for festival previews, list and news based posts, not film reviews. If you're interested in applying please send us a written post with one of the following titles: (1) The 5 worst places to watch a film in Toronto or (2) 5 film festivals not named TIFF to look forward to this Fall in Toronto. If we like your post, we'll use it as your first post on the site.

And that's it! Please send all applications to jobs [at] blogto [dotcom]. Thanks in advance to everyone interested in joining the team. We aim to respond to all applicants who send us a complete application with a written post as per the instructions above.

Photo by ~DaveC~ in the blogTO Flickr pool.

This fitness club in Forest Hill Village recently expanded and now features a small clothing boutique and cafe serving up a variety of vegan eats. Already a popular gym, I stopped by to check out the new space and to give the once over to its yoga class.

Find out how it was in my review of Track Fitness in the fitness clubs section.

Photo by Jack Landau in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Toronto events on August 12th, 2013

MUSIC | Finntroll, Trollband, Nordheim, Havok
Fintroll hit the Opera House tonight, to headline a quadruple metal bill! These guys are a metal band from Helsinki, Finland, that combines the black and folk metal genres to produce an original sound. Despite being based in Finland, their lyrics are Swedish, and are largely based on Finnish folk legends. Also on tonight's bill are two Canadian bands: Trollband, an outfit with similar metal leanings, based out of Alberta and BC, and Nordheim a folk metal band from Québec. Rounding out this lineup is Havok, a slight departure being in the "thrash metal" department, but there is little doubt that this Colorado-based band will get the evening started with vigour.
Opera House (735 Queen Street East) 7:30pm $28.75-$70

BOOKS & LIT | Tales Of Heat
Tales Of is a relatively new monthly event taking place at the Rustic Owl on Bloor Street West, which is all about the ancient tradition of storytelling. Yes, a good storytelling session can't be loaded onto your e-reader, and it doesn't translate well on digital video - you have to be there, soaking in the atmosphere, the human pacing, and the reaction of your fellow listeners. It's a "live" thing. Tonight's gathering will feature tales with "heat" as the common theme, with storytellers: Sage and Todd Tyrtle, Heidi Brander, Dean Young, Francis Brian Shaw, and host Joel West.
Rustic Owl Cafe (993 Bloor Street West) 8PM pwyc

MUSIC | Euphonia & Lula Lounge Present Cool Classics For A Toronto Summer: Part 3
Tonight, Euphonia gathers at Lula Lounge for the last of their popular Cool Classics For A Toronto Summer series. Euphonia is an ensemble that has taken what many consider "high brow" music back to of the concert hall, and back to where much of it was originally played: informal gathering places like the local pub. While Lula is a little more slick than your average pub, the point has been made. The jury is in, and the verdict has been delivered: "classical" music and a few drinks with friends is a winner! Tonight's program includes music by Paisiello, Mozart, Salieri, and Haydn.
Lula Lounge (1585 Dundas Street West) 7PM pwyc ($10 suggested)

CULTURE | TEDxRichmondHill
TEDxRichmondHill is an independently organized TED event based on the well-known TED conference series, upholding the original's "ideas worth spreading" mandate, and based in... you guessed it, Richmond Hill. Amin Sharifi has organized and curated a one-day event that is York Region's largest TEDx event, featuring 28 speakers (including 12 who are students) and four performances. Today's conference follows the theme of "the perfect form", and a wide range of speakers will engage this theme is some way or another. The event will run from morning until evening with meals and refreshments provided.
Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts (10268 Yonge Street) 9AM $50

Also Of Note

• Grillin n' Chillin
• Block Printing Workshop with Vintage Press

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

Photo by herman.stehouwer on Flickr

Rob Ford says he "had a couple of beers" at Friday night's Taste of the Danforth event where he was filmed appearing to slur and wander aimlessly. "And if I offended anyone, you know what, I apologize. I don't believe I did offend anyone," he said on his Sunday radio show. "I just had a good time, and let my hair down a bit."

On the same show, Doug Ford, his co-host, decided to dispense with his earlier claim that he'd never seen his brother take a drink (even denying he ever said it while speaking to a caller), and now admits he's seen the mayor "hammered" in the past. Rob and Doug Ford are now "average guys." "We go down to a festival, we have a couple of beers." Got it?

The Globe and Mail is reporting on a different bizarre incident involving Rob Ford. Back in March, it seems the mayor dropped by unannounced at a west-end jail, several hours after visiting hours had ended, and demanded a tour of the facility. When that request was denied, he tried to get a meeting with then-inmate Bruno Bellissimo, which was also turned down. The paper says Bellissimo has "a history of drug-related activity."

In case you missed it over the weekend, the Toronto Sun has accessed court documents that describe how a convicted drug dealer burst into the mayor's home, demanding money. Scott MacIntyre, an ex-boyfriend of Ford's sister Kathy, said he would be killed if he didn't get the cash he was owed from the family, though the details of the debt are not clear.

Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti is facing five campaign finance charges relating to the 2010 election. The city's compliance audit committee launched legal proceedings in February against Mammoliti, who exceeded the legal spending limit by 44%, according to the results of a forensic audit. He's also accused of failing to keep proper records of contributions and expenses and accepting cash donations over $25. The provincial charges could result in a steep fine or disqualification from office.

Finally, Toronto has several world class beaches but it's reputation as a toxic dump or giant septic tank is keeping many from enjoying the cool water. Eight beaches in Toronto are recognized by the international Blue Flag program as being clean and safe. Are you happy swimming in the lake?

FROM THE WEEKEND

• Forest Hill gym expands, now offers vegan eats
• Rob Ford's Danforth sojourn causes a stir online
• The Regent Park Farmers' Market
• That time Toronto opened the Don Valley Parkway

IN BRIEF:

• Downsview man wants more info about dangerous freight [CBC]
• Family seeks help to bury teenage son after parade tragedy [Toronto Star]
• Blue Jays' comeback falls short against Athletics [CBC]
• Rafael Nadal beats Milos Raonic in Rogers Cup final [CBC]

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Image: Empty Quarter/blogTO Flickr pool.

This Week in Music rounds up the latest news, releases and concerts coming to Toronto.

IN THE NEWS

Bloor Ossington Folk Festival rolls out lineup

Summer may be quietly winding down, but the festival scene is still going strong. And while the Bloor Ossington Folk Festival may not be the highest profile event out there, it still promises to offer a few great days of music in late September. Scheduled to run from September 20-22 at Christie Pits Park, the festival's main stage will host a number of bands, including Memoryhouse, The Golden Dogs, Catl., Pick a Piper, Minotaurs, The Schomberg Fair, Bidiniband, and more. In addition, vendors of all kinds will offer a variety of food, drinks, and wares. You can expect more names to be added in the weeks leading up the festival, so to keep up-to-date, head on over to the official website.

THIS WEEK'S HOT TICKETS

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 14 / JOHN MAYER / MOLSON CANADIAN AMPHITHEATRE / 909 LAKE SHORE W / $46.75 - $110.25 / ALL AGES

When it comes to John Mayer, there seems to be no middle ground - you either love him or you can't stand him. It's not difficult to see why a lot of people tend to lean towards the latter, as Mayer does often come off as extremely arrogant. But there's no denying his raw talent when it comes to the guitar, and while a lot of his music is predictable pop, he does have a few great tracks ("Neon," for example, is nothing short of magnificent). Phillip Phillips, he of American Idol fame, will offer support.

SATURDAY AUGUST 17 / BLUE RODEO / MOLSON CANADIAN AMPHITHEATRE / 909 LAKE SHORE W / $30 - $100 / ALL AGES

Blue Rodeo is one of the most beloved Canadian bands of their generation, and it's a status that's very well-deserved. The Toronto-based sextet, led by Jim Cuddy, has been on the scene for almost 30 years, and their body of work has been remarkably consistent. Even if you're not a fan of country, their music has enough of a rock-influenced sound to appeal to a very broad audience. I can't attest to ever having seen them live, but I'd reckon that this will be a can't-miss show.

RECENTLY ANNOUNCED CONCERTS

• LONDON GRAMMAR / BLK BOX / OCTOBER 4 / 8PM
• HUGH LAURIE / DANFORTH MUSIC HALL / OCTOBER 20 / 8PM
• BORN RUFFIANS / NOVEMBER 22 / DANFORTH MUSIC HALL / 7PM

WHAT WE GOT UP TO LAST WEEK

• Shotgun Jimmie talks Polaris Prize fantasies and new LP
• Breakout Toronto Bands: Isla Craig
• Drake taps Kanye and Diddy for best OVO Fest yet
• Breakout Toronto Bands: Beliefs
• 25 photos from the weekend rave at Downsview Park
• Grove Festival goes down easy, maybe a little too easy
• 6 lessons Toronto music fests could learn from Osheaga

Photo of John Mayer courtesy of wfuv on Flickr.

Two Toronto dudes are taking it upon themselves to remind those of us living in the city just how lovely we can really be. They've chosen to illustrate this point using robots. Rodger Beck and artist Matthew Del Degan have embarked on a city-wide art project called The Robot Love Invasion. "The aim of our project is to illuminate the love, kindness and compassion that exists in Toronto and help inspire and spread more of the same," Beck says.

The project's symbol is Lovebot, pictured above. No fewer than 100 2' tall concrete statues of Lovebot will be put on display in "secret locations" across the city. Like humans, each statue is connected to a specific story of love, kindness or compassion that the curators have collected from the public. The call for submissions is still open,too. Pay Lovebot a visit on Facebook, or the Feel Good Guru on Queen West, Atomic Toybot on Queen East, Serpentine on Cumberland or A&C Games on Spadina. Happy lovins!

Breakout Toronto Bands features local artists that we think you should give a listen to.

Who they are?

Majid Jordan is Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman, former University of Toronto classmates who unveiled their debut EP afterhours last summer on SoundCloud under the pseudonym 'Good People'. Although the tracks have since been taken down, and the page stripped of virtually any content, the stir the tracks caused is worthy of note.

Over the last few months the duo has changed their name to the more exotic (and search engine optimized) Majid Jordan, and kept a low profile until last Tuesday, when Drake released his latest single. The two are featured on the track, and helped co-produce "Hold On, We're Going Home," which proves to be another sultry synth masterpiece about good girls, bad boys, and, you guessed it, going home together.

Evidently, sometime between last summer and last week, afterhours found its way into Drake's rotation, and Forest Hill's reigning king of pop-hop scooped up the duo, harnessing their talents on "Hold On..." ahead of the duo's own debut. No date or details of an album release have been announced, but last week Drake revealed to MTV that the duo, along with Mississauga R&B crooner PARTYNEXTDOOR, are the two latest signees to his OVO label.

They sound like...

Majid Jordan mixes the house-inspired, reverb-drenched sounds of Toronto's Nouvelle Vague R&B movement, with the campy (yet amazing) 80's retroism of Phoenix or Digitalism, making for an engrossing listen on the afterhours EP. Majid's sparse vocals come off as both meticulously calculated and yet soul-inspired.

It's on the most dance-driven tracks where the group takes flight. Here, they obscure Majid's most emotionally-charged lyrics under the repetition of building vocal-loops and driving beats. Ullman's production is equally sublime, showing both restraint (like the bare bones scratching guitar of "Chill Pad Deluxe") and excess (the building, pounding anthem "Hold Tight") when necessary.

Even though the group emerged with afterhours from the unknown, the disc has surprisingly remarkable production value. The samples are perfectly placed, and the keys are perfectly played — it's seems that the only direction from here for Majid Jordan is up, especially with their newfound friends at OVO.

Hear them / see them

Unfortunately, this is the trickiest part for now. With no official release of tracks or announcements for new ones, the only place to hear them groove is on YouTube (where almost every track from afterhours has been uploaded), or on various music blogs who are streaming the whole EP. That said, with their first high-profile feature spot out last week (and a massive one at that), a full announcement and ensuing world domination shouldn't be far away.