Catching a taxi in Toronto is going to become a very different experience over the next decade. After more than three years of talks and consultations with cab drivers and company owners, city council past a raft of changes that will result in a fleet of safer, wheelchair-accessible, hybrid vehicles plying the streets.

Many of the changes affect drivers and cab companies - there's a new license that all drivers must hold by 2024 - but some of the new rules trickle down to customers. Here are five things to know about the taxicab industry review.

TORONTO IS SWITCHING TO ACCESSIBLE CABS

City council voted to transition all taxi plate owners to a new license, the Toronto Taxicab License, by 2024. The new license requires all holders to own a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, which will mean an end to the current taxi fleet. A motion by Councillor Joe Mihevc asked city staff to report on the possibility of a standard accessible taxi design for the city, like in New York City and London.

YOU SOIL IT, YOU CLEAN IT

Passengers who vomit or otherwise "soil" the back of a taxi (use your imagination) will be fined $25 to cover the cost of cleaning. It's not clear when the fee will become legal and it remains to be seen how drivers might reasonably collect the money, especially if the passenger doing the soiling is drunk, alone, or paying cash. The cost is deigned to reflect the average fare in Toronto.

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO PAY IN ADVANCE

To discourage ride-and-run customers and would-be robbers, the new rules allow drivers to ask for a maximum of $25 up front if they deem it necessary. The money can be paid in cash, on a credit or debit card, or via a card pre-authorization, similar to pre-payment at a gas station. More than 70% of drivers believe taking a fare in advance will improve safety.

TAXIS MUST HAVE SNOW TIRES

This one is surprising, mainly because somehow it wasn't the law until now. A motion moved by Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker and adopted by a vote of 31-12 now requires all taxis operating in Toronto to have a set of snow tires. The city will decide on a date each year when all vehicles must be fully winterized.

TAXIS ARE SWITCHING TO HYBRID (SOMEHOW)

Right now, just 10% of licensed taxicabs in Toronto are alternative fuel vehicles, but that will change in the next few years, apparently. The new rules require all taxis to be replaced with alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles at the end of the mandatory five-year life cycle. Confusingly, wheelchair-accessible vehicles (i.e. all new Toronto taxis) are exempt because no cars that fit the city's criteria are currently available, which is one of the reasons Toronto is looking at standardizing its taxi vehicles.

The staff report estimates $18.8 million will be saved annually in fuel and annual greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 30,000 tonnes of CO2.

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

Image: Grey van der Meer/blogTO Flickr pool.

The top architects in Toronto are largely responsible for the changing face of our city, constantly breathing new and exciting life into the local landscape. Granted, when most of us think of Toronto's standout architecture, the splashiest, most notable new buildings that come to mind -- Daniel Libeskind's love-it-or-hate-it ROM crystal, Frank Gehry's AGO, Will Alsop's OCAD building -- are the handiwork of architects based abroad. But there's no shortage of architectural genius at work in the city; it's all over our schools, hotels, museums and homes.

While it's true that Toronto may not be seen as a true mecca on architecture's international stage (indeed, we're still debating amongst ourselves over whether or not Toronto should be considered beautiful) our best and brightest have increasingly made a mark around the world in recent years, designing everything from chapels and homes to embassies, resorts and cultural centres. There'll be a Toronto school of architecture yet.

Here are top 15 architects in Toronto.

KPMB
The world-renowned firm has three Order of Canada-honoured principals (Bruce Kuwabara, Shirley Blumberg and Marianne McKenna), twelve Governor General's Awards, and countless massive Toronto landmarks under their belts. Prominent projects include the Bell Lighbox, the National Ballet School of Canada, the Gardiner Museum, U of T's Rotman School of Management, and the retrofitting of the Stock Exchange into the Design Exchange.

Shim Sutcliffe
Shim Sutcliffe has matched KPMB's 12 Governor General Medals for Architecture in their 20 years of existence -- quite the feat considering their small size (only 11 people). They're well-known for their residential work, but architecture-hounds can visit U of T's Massey College, where the firm's touch is everywhere -- particularly in the Robertson Davies Library and the arched ceilings of St. Catherine's Chapel.

Ian MacDonald Architect
MacDonald is renowned known for his focus on the relationship between a building and the surrounding landscape. Perhaps for this reason, he's best known for residences, including a legendarily at-one-with-nature structure in Caledon. (He also may or may not have saved a marriage through an ingenious kitchen renovation.) Outside of private homes, you can see his handiwork at U of T's Sidney Smith Hall.

Bortolotto
Bortolotto does it all, including educational design (OCAD's digital media research centre and U of T's OISE building), residences (overhauls of homes on Borden Street and in Summerhill), and revitalization of existing sites (including Fort York and the Merchandise Building condos). Currently, they're designing York's new Welcome Centre for Student Services.

Moriyama & Teshima
Founded in 1958, MT's longest-lasting legacy on the Toronto landscape may be the Ryerson's engineering centre, U of T's "urban living room"-inspired School of Continuing Studies. Some of this firm's most-lauded projects are outside Toronto, including Ottawa's Canadian War Museum (designed to evoke a theme of healing and regeneration) and the colour-shot Waterloo Region Museum.

Superkül
The cheekily-named Superkül handle everything from single-family homes to commercial and institutional buildings. Most fascinating are their sustainable projects, including +HOUSE, a dwelling in Mulmur, Ont. created with fungi-inhibiting building blocks, clay-treated walls, and a green roof. Their ingenious 40R_Laneway house (located at 40R Shaftesbury in Summerhill) also became a local design-watcher favourite.

architectsAlliance
There's a brooding, mysterious vibe to many of architectsAlliance's projects; chief among these is the dark-glass-clad X Condominiums project at Charles and Jarvis, designed as an homage to TD Centre designer Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. Further standouts: the Bloor St. revitalization project, the Thompson Hotel, and the curious mix of glass modernism and Gothic Revival architecture in the expanded St. James Cathedral Centre.

RDH Architects
RDH specializes in corporate and institutional buildings; a recent project is the overhaul of the Bloor/Gladstone library, which saw the space in the original heritage building nearly double. Other local projects include Ryerson's Continuing Education building and a trio of modern libraries in Mississauga; elsewhere, you can see their work in Ottawa at the Bank of Canada building (which features an indoor garden) and the RBC headquarters.

Stephen Teeple
U of T's Graduate House, which netted the firm a slew of international design awards, is the shining Toronto example among a number of Teeple-designed university buildings scattered around Ontario. The firm's range of residential, institutional and commercial projects also includes a housing co-op at 60 Richmond St. East; at the time, Toronto Community Housing reps said Teeple was specifically selected to improve the board's architectural reputation around Toronto.

Diamond Schmitt
Diamond Schmitt's lengthy, prestigious portfolio reflects the firm's age (founded in 1975, predating most of the firms on this list) and scope (a whopping 137 people). Their Four Seasons Centre may be top of the list for Torontonians; other recent projects include the Ryerson School of Image Arts and the LEED Platinum-certified Centre For Green Cities at the Evergreen Brick Works. The firm's fingerprints are also all over the Regent Park revitalization project, including the Paintbox Condominiums and the Daniels Spectrum community centre.

Hariri Pontarini
The firm's profile has skyrocketed locally in recent years, with projects including York's Schulich School of Business, AGO'S Weston Family Learning Centre, and numerous residential buildings and homes. (You'll soon be seeing their work at One Bloor East; they were tasked with the reboot of the long-running project after the site changed hands.) Their greatest triumph, however, may be the forthcoming Baha'i Center of South America, a translucent stone-covered structure reminiscent of a flower ready to open.

Drew Mandel Designs
The firm's claim to fame might be an open-concept Rosedale home that doubled as the setting for much of the action in Atom Egoyan's film Chloe (fun fact: the exterior shots are of a different home -- one designed by Teeple). They also won numerous accolades for the restoration of a home originally commissioned by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris. (Bonus: check out the brilliant staircase in this open-concept family home in the Beach.)

The Drawing Room
Drawing Room is a smaller firm focusing on residences, with Bloor St. apartments, cottages on Lake Simcoe and luxury homes in the Beaches, Rosedale and Forest Hill under their belts. In a scene dominated by neomodernist buildings, the firm's occasional nods to the traditional architecture of the neighbourhoods they touch without turning into cheap replication -- as in this Rosedale home -- is downright refreshing.

Paul Raff Studio
Paul Raff Studio may be best known in Toronto for the Cascade House, which features a front window feature evocative of a waterfall; we named it one of Toronto's coolest houses back in 2010. But Raff has made his mark worldwide, including resorts and multi-unit buildings in Thailand and Argentina.

Taylor Smyth Architects
Commercial and institutional buildings are this firm's specialty, including spaces at York and George Brown and a handful of Toronto middle schools and junior highs. But their residential projects also shine, including this insane renovation of a former Yorkville graphic design office into a bachelor pad.

Got a favourite Toronto architect or firm to nominate? Tell us in the comments section.

Photo by Sam Javanrouh

Magic Pony has closed the doors of their West Queen West shop in a move that's taken Toronto's art community off guard. The vibrant, downright magical shop was the first designer toy store ever to open in Canada, and has been a creative hub on the street for the past 10 years. Citing changing times, Magic Pony is "looking forward to new adventures in the next dimension," which will hopefully include a new shop on the horizon, though no location has been announced as of yet.

A heartfelt blog post on the shop's history and decision to close the Queen St. location reads in part:

"As a business fueled by creative projects, we've always found a way to survive, but there's been a harshness to the last few years in small business that has taken it's toll and threatened our existence. We've found that there are compromises we don't want to make in order to remain on Queen Street and we'd rather take this somewhere new, where the sky is open with possibility. And so, with the inevitable development of Queen Street, our time has come to leave."

Read the post in its entirely here.

The shop will live on online via their webpage, and in their Design Exchange (234 Bay St) pop-up shop for the This Is Not a Toy exhibition until May 19.

A new record shop will open on Queen West on Saturday, meaning another spot for the city's already spoiled vinyl collectors to get their grip on. Lincoln Stewart, manager of Vortex Records, a Yonge & Eglinton shop that consistently makes our best record stores in Toronto list, is opening Good Music at 256A Queen West inside Black Market, taking over where Penguin Music used to be (and downstairs from the old Pages Books spot - RIP). It looks like the record store resurgence is still going strong in Toronto.

The news of the new shop comes on the heels of Magic Pony announcing abandonment of their current location, demonstrating that you never can predict what's going to happen along this stretch of Queen Street. Music fans can browse "Japanese pressings, out-of-print titles, micro-labels, classic rock, ambient, indie, alternative, and jazz" stock at the official opening after 11:30 on Saturday, and those looking to sell will be able to make appointments for the coming weekends (Fridays through Sundays). For now, you can browse some vinyl titles on Instagram.

Note: an earlier version of this post stated that Stewart is Vortex's owner -- he is in fact Vortex's manager.

A small group of brave cyclists hit the ice at Dufferin Grove Park on Saturday to participate in the 2014 edition of the Icycle Bike Race, which is pretty much what it sounds like, a battle to see who can manoeuvre his or her bike over a fresh sheet of ice the fastest. Organized by Derek Chadbourne of the Bike Joint, the event raised $1300 in proceeds for the Bicycle Messenger Relief Fund, which provides emergency compensation to messengers who've been injured on the job.

The race was well attended this year, as onlookers took in the strange scene of cyclists whipping around icy corners on their spike-outfitted bikes. Cycling isn't necessarily the best spectator sport (camping out at Alpe D'Huez notwithstanding), but the ice adds a whole new dimension to the sport, one that makes it hard to take one's eyes off the action.

Check out the daring feats of these cyclists in our photo gallery of the 2014 Icycle.

When the first of the sleek new low floor, air-conditioned streetcars leave Spadina station this summer it will mark the beginning of the end for the 195 iconic red, white, and black streetcars currently circulating in Toronto. At nearly 40 years old, the CLRVs, as they are technically known, hark back to a time when the TTC seriously considered doing away with surface rail entirely.

The first six CLRVs - numbers 4000 through 4005 - are particularly special. Built in Switzerland, they still feature several interior design choices not found on other TTC streetcars. The very existence of the "original six," and the streetcars that followed, is the result of a well-timed and effective citizen-led protest.

The story starts in the early 1970s, when Toronto, like Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and many other cities in North America, did not foresee a future for streetcars: Toronto's some 400 maroon and cream Presidents' Conference Committee vehicles were nearing retirement age and only a costly new fleet of streetcars could make future service viable, the TTC said.

By 1972 the official TTC plan was to gradually replace Toronto's streetcars with trolley buses - electric vehicles powered by overhead wires - or diesel vehicles, and it had already begun using the former on St. Clair east of Yonge in 1971. The rest of the line was due to be converted by the end of the year. The Dundas and College lines would be closed in 1975 and 1976; King and Queen cars would stop with the opening of the Queen Street subway line.

Enter Streetcars for Toronto, a citizens' committee organized to represent the users of surface rail. The group was founded by Andrew Riemiller, a University of Toronto psychology professor, with the intention of convincing the TTC that streetcars, popular with riders, made financial sense.

For a time, the province seriously considered replacing many of the old streetcar routes with a 56-mile monorail network. The magnetic levitation trains would have floated above a elevated concrete guideway, similar to parts of the Scarborough RT. Trouble was the West German Krauss-Maffei prototype displayed at the CNE in 1972 struggled to turn corners, which led the province to back away.

When it became clear the monorail idea was fundementally flawed, the province threw its weight behind a vehicle being developed by its own Urban Transportation Development Corporation, which would eventually become the ICTS Scarborough RT cars.

Meanwhile, a research paper by Streetcars for Toronto had successfully convinced the TTC that sticking with surface rail made financial sense. Since the Commission was 75 per cent funded by the province at the time, the vehicles it selected to replace the PCCs would also to be supplied by UTDC.

The design of the new streetcar was produced Swiss company SIG to the TTC's specifications. As part of the agreement with SIG, the first 10 vehicles would be built in Europe and shipped to Toronto where the design would be replicated by Kingston engineering firm Hawker Siddeley, the company that was also building Toronto's subway cars.

Of the initial 10 only six were completed - two were spliced together to make a prototype articulated model that would eventually lead to the ALRV streetcars that run on Queen. The rest were cancelled.

The six streetcars that made the Atlantic crossing were given the registration numbers 4000 though 4005 by the TTC and were different in several ways from many of the ones currently operating in Toronto.

Most noticeably, the front rows of seats were angled diagonally inward. The interior trim - ceiling air vents, seat backs, and panels that divided up the car - were accented bright red and the windows were sealed shut in anticipation of air conditioning. On the outside there were coupling devices that allowed the CLRVs to be joined together in a train.

The first of the $363,000 streetcars - about $2.1 million in today's money - were extensively thrashed during testing, leading to several derailments. One caught fire after a build up of snow caused an electrical short circuit.

According to Transit Toronto, a treasure trove of streetcar, bus, and subway information, the TTC ditched the angled seat arrangement shortly after the first six vehicles entered service on the now-defunct 507 Long Branch line, but the red interior trim remained. The subsequent 190 Canadian-built streetcars were given metal seats and a distinct 1970s wood-effect look.

What's most impressive about streetcars 4000-4005 (and really the rest of the fleet) is their longevity. All but one remains in service thanks to a team of mechanics at the TTC's Hillcrest facility - there's even an in-house blacksmith who forges metal parts.

The only streetcar to be destroyed, 4063, was gutted in anticipation of a refit program that was subsequently cancelled. The shell was sold for $4.32 in 2009.

When the first of the new low floor streetcars enters service on Spadina this summer the TTC will start the process of retiring the existing fleet, including the original six cars, on a "one-for-one" basis. The head of streetcar maintenance, Kevin Seto, says the ALRVs will be the first to go.

"CLRVs will be prioritized for retirement based on a number of different factors and just because these were the first vehicles built doesn't necessarily mean that they will be first to be retired," he says.

Finding one of the streetcars for an early farewell ride is tough: the TTC doesn't say where they are at any given time, though recently number 4000 has been on the 506 Carlton route between Main Street station and the High Park Loop.

Catch them while you can.

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

Images: Chris Bateman/blogTO, City of Toronto Archives

The best soup in Toronto can fill tummies, warm souls and cure colds all at once (or so says folklore). Easily added as a side to a simple lunch, many of these piping hot examples are nourishing and hearty enough to be considered a meal in their own right. Rich broths, chunky chowders and aromatic purees are available across town in endless varieties. Distinguishing the best from the rest, these kitchens start from scratch and make one-pot wonders that draw from cross-cultural inspiration and time-honoured traditions.

Here is the best soup in Toronto.

See also:

The Best Ramen in Toronto
The Best Wonton Soup in Toronto
The Best Congee in Toronto
The Best Pho in Toronto

Photo by Vik Pahwa in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto NXNE presents a special show at The Garrison with Army Girls, Fresh Snow, Michael Rault, and Wish, plus they'll be making a huge announcement about the upcoming festival. It's free but you've gotta RSVP here. Then at Horseshoe you can find Bookie's Nu Music Nite featuring Atom & The Volumes and others presented by Indie88. If you're looking for more of a visual spectacle, Art Battle celebrates its 100th event at The Great Hall tonight, and the Art Bar poetry series carries on at The Black Swan with guests Elana Wolff and Peter McPhee.

• NXNE presents Army Girls, Fresh Snow, Michael Rault, Wish + DJs
• Atom & The Volumes - Nu Music Nite presented by Indie88
• Art Battle 100 - Toronto
• Art Bar Poetry Series

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

DineSafe didn't hand out any red cards this week but a pair of falafel shops were among those served conditional passes. Sfizio Pizzeria & Wine Bar tops the list with seven infractions that stem mainly from issues of cleanliness.

The rest of this week's worst offenders are rounded up here:

Ali Baba's Middle Eastern Cuisine (1430 Queen St W)
Inspected on: February 18, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 2 (Minor: 1, Crucial: 1)
Crucial infractions include: Operator fail to maintain hazardous foods at 60C (140F) or hotter.

Ba Le Sandwiches (538 Dundas St W)
Inspected on: February 19, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 3 (Significant:3)

Forno Cultura (609 King St W)
Inspected on: February 21, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 1 (Significant: 1)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

Frankies Bar & Cafe (994 Queen St W)
Inspected on: February 19, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 6 (Minor: 2 Significant: 2 Crucial: 2)
Crucial infractions include: Operator fail to ensure food is not contaminated/adulterated. Operator fail to maintain hazardous food(s) at 4C (40F) or colder.

Ghazale (504 Bloor St W)
Inspected on: February 19, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 2 (Significant: 1 Crucial: 1)
Crucial infractions include: Operator fail to maintain hazardous food(s) at 4C (40F) or colder.

One Hour Cafe (435 Spadina Ave)
Inspected on: February 19, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 2 (Minor: 1 Significant: 1)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

Sfizio (401 Bloor St E)
Inspected on: February 19, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 7 (Minor: 1 Significant: 6)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

1870 Lake Shore Boulevard E is one of the Painted Lady-style houses in the Beaches sitting directly across from Ashbridges Bay. The house would make an excellent compromise for someone nursing an itch to swap slushy, grey TO for coastal, colourful San Francisco -- but don't get too excited. This place managed to sell just days after listing, thanks in part to a frantic pre-spring real estate market. Kudos to that buyer for choosing to pull the trigger early. To everyone else, consider this blue and yellow lady the one that got away.

There are several of these brightly-coloured houses running along Lake Shore Blvd E, but #1870 is one of only a handful that look out directly onto the lake. While the view is enviable, the traffic and noise produced on this busy road might not be ideal. Parking is no issue, though -- there's lane access to a detached private garage with space for two cars and a hydraulic lift. The house is easily walkable to the Beaches neighbourhood, Martin Goodman Trail and the boardwalk are seconds away, and high-ranked Kew Beach Junior Public School is just a block over.

On the inside, you won't find the "Full House" set (how rude) but you will find high vaulted ceilings, a spacious kitchen and fresh hardwood floors. The contemporary aesthetic won't appeal to everyone but the house has good flow and is designed with family living in mind. There are more bathrooms (5) than bedrooms (4), and all of the windows are oversized to bring in natural light and waterfront breezes.

SPECS:

• Address: 1870 Lake Shore Blvd. E
• Price: $1,115,000 (sold)
• Bedrooms: 3 + 1
• Bathrooms: 5
• Storeys: 3
• Parking Spaces: 2 spaces in detached garage, with space for 1 additional car
• Taxes: $6,138
• Walk Score: 82

NOTABLE FEATURES

• large eat-in kitchen with granite countertops
• view of Lake Ontario from 3rd storey balcony
• upper-floor laundry room

GOOD FOR

The person who bought this place was likely looking for modern style, spacious rooms and a pretty special East End location. Although the house has an architectural, Victorian look from the street, on the inside it contains all the hallmarks of contemporary living. These houses don't enter the market too often, so it's worth it to act fast when one does.

MOVE ON IF
The cookie cutter drops like a knife. You want something unique. Head east, there you'll find the cottage of your dreams, and, you know, lake water lapping.

MORE PHOTOS

Read other posts in this series via our House of the Week Pinterest board.

This grilled cheese joint took up residence in the Village late last year, and brings a nice combination of affordable and gourmet eats to the table, with vegan options as well as a selection of soups.

Read my review of Get Melted in the restaurants section.

Where to watch indie wrestling in Toronto depends who you'd like to see throw down, as the city's amateur groups are as unique as they come. Toronto, as we know, is glorious for many reasons, and chief among them is its diversity for and access to everything niche. This couldn't ring more true than for wrestling. Mix a dash of entertainment, a dollop of The People's Elbow, a suplex here and a suplex there, and top it all off with a hell of a night. As they say, let's get ready to rumble.

Here are Toronto's top indie wrestling groups.

Fight! Brand
Zombies. Burlesque dancing. Wrestling. And more zombies. Meet Fight! Brand and their epic wrestling battles that include everything from luchadores, zombies and even wrestling against cancer. One thing is for sure, they know how to entertain. Holding events all over the city from The Tranzac (zombie wrestling) to The Great Hall (for the upcoming Fight! For Cancer event, Fight! Brand often incorporate various side acts like burlesque, stand-up comedy and breakdancing spliced in between the flying luchadores. Good and weird times abound.

The League of Lady Wrestlers
This past weekend, wrestling in Toronto reached a new pinnacle. League of Lady Wrestlers, a band of comedic characters, unleashed The Hogtown Throwdown at the Polish Combatants Hall. A self-titled art collective, they crowdfunded over $1,500 for the event, which included Shreeka (she shrieks a lot), Dyke Master 3000, Lady Boy, Big Jody Mufferaw and Dirty Ol' Maude. Originating in Dawson City in the Yukon last summer, the ladies returned to Toronto to "stage the battle for justice." Through wrestling and comedic interplay, the group's goal is to highlight gendered stereotypes and inequalities.

Victory Commonwealth Wrestling
Albeit their websites is an eyesore, to put it mildly, Victory Commonwealth Wrestling knows what's going on in the ring. With the slightly confusing yet appropriate tagline "This is your granddaddy's pro wrestling!" VCW was founded in late 2012. The events, which happen around the GTA at such haunts like the El Mocambo air locally on a Rogers specialty sports station. With ample cheesy video content and over-the-top wrestling characters, VCW is what you'd expect from amateur wrestling events that your granddaddy would apparently approve of. And that's mighty OK.

Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers,
"Bonecrusher" Steve Brown. "The World's Greatest Entertainer" RJ City. "Dirty South" John Greed. One cannot get enough of wrestlers' taglines. And these are just some of the "pros" from the Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers a Toronto-based sports promotion group offering "hard-hitting and high-flying" wrestling action. With the next big match, WRESTLESTOCK, taking place in early March at Scarborough's Rockpile East nightclub, you'll be sure to see "Dirty South" John Greed and his magnificent beard in action.

Smash Wrestling
Smash Wrestling is good for the whole family. With a roster of nearly 20 male and female wrestlers, Smash has a solid level of polish on their amateur events. "A cut above the rest," Smash takes pride in its body slams but has a focus on the community as well with fundraisers for local charities like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Make-A-Wish Foundation. And there you have it: headbutts with the family and community in mind.

An environmental assessment into the future of the Gardiner Expressway east of Jarvis Street says knocking down the crumbling 50-year-old elevated structure is the best course of action.

Removing the 2.4 km stretch of highway would mean expanding Lake Shore Blvd. into an 8-lane arterial. Traffic lights and turning lanes would be installed at major intersections and there would be a ramp to the remaining portion of Gardiner at Jarvis.

The cost of knocking down the highway was pegged at around $240 million by Waterfront Toronto and city staff earlier this month. The demolition could free up land worth $80-90 million but it would mean commutes take 15 minutes longer by 2031, even with a Yonge subway relief line.

According to a traffic study, the eastern Gardiner carries around 120,000 vehicles per day. The portion west of downtown sees closer to 200,000.

Of all the possible options - remove, repair, replace, or maintain - removing the Gardiner is believed to be the cheapest and quickest. Once given the green light, the work could be complete in 3 years. Replacing the road, the most expensive option, could take 8 years and cost three times as much.

Removing the highway would mean no more maintenance bills related to the elevated structure, which represents significant future savings.

Simply doing nothing is not an option: the Gardiner requires significant investment whether city council chooses an option or not. Chunks of concrete, loosened by salt corrosion and a decades of freeze-thaw, have been falling from the underside of the road for years.

Rob Ford has already said he is against demolition. "I want to maintain it just like most Torontonians do," he told CP24 earlier this month.

Last week the board of Waterfront Toronto, the group charged with revitalizing Toronto's waterfront, endorsed the demolition option. The Gardiner East EA, a comprehensive study of the options for the road, was restarted in January 2013 after being quietly shelved when Ford became mayor.

The environmental assessment will be presented to the public works committee next month and could reach city council by April. If approved, the removal option will be fleshed out and presented for final approval after the election in 2015.

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

Image: Waterfront Toronto

Three months ago Rob Ford spoke with Today Show host Matt Lauer as part of a string of interviews the embattled mayor took after revealing he had smoked crack cocaine. During the segment, Ford dared Lauer to check in on him in five or six months to see if he had implemented the changes he promised to make. Well, it's three months later, and Today Show producers just couldn't wait to get our mayor back on the show.

It's not the most engaging interview you'll ever see, as Ford regurgitates many of the lines we've heard from him before -- you know, "saving tax payers money," "moving forward," "we're doing great" -- but it gets at least a little interesting when Lauer asks about the incident at Steak Queen. Just like he did last time, Ford responds by noting that "he's not perfect," but perhaps more importantly, that Lauer has jumped the gun by interviewing him after just three months.

Watch the whole interview here.

You can't throw a contact mic in Toronto's underground music scene without hitting Inyrdisk, yet Kevin Hainey's prolific and influential record label rarely reaches the mainstream radar. With Wolfcow's new (dangerzone of a) full length This is Wolfcow, Inyrdisk will mark its 93rd release in a catalogue that runs from free-jazz to harsh noise (and more listenable stuff in between).

As the label nears its 10th year and its 100th disc, even music fans who solidly place microphone feedback as an involuntary phenomenon have to stop and appreciate the contribution the strange and colourful label has made to Toronto's music community.

A typical for-the-love endeavor much like Toronto's Pleasance Records or music blog Weird Canada, Inyrdisk was born back in 2005 when Hainey (Disguises, The Pink Noise, Cave Dudes and way more) wanted a release of his solo recordings and figured no one else would do it. His Kapali Carsi disc was quickly followed up by Women in Tragedy's Women in Love, and the catalogue has been expanding at a blistering pace ever since.

While a ton of Toronto experimental musicians and bands (and Canadian and international artists) have found lodgings on Inyrdisk, maybe none are so represented as Wolfcow, once a solo endeavor of Greydyn Wolfcow, now a band with a fluctuating line up and a maddeningly on point graveyard garage sound, to which lo-fi commander Greydyn brings a little bit of Jad Fair / John Dwyer and a lot of his own weirdness into the mix.

Hainey describes Wolfcow's This Was Wolfcow, available for order as of today but to be released officially in March 2014, as "a prolific artist's defining release," and his enthusiasm for the new disc is infectious -- and justified, going by what I've heard. Fans of Thee Oh Sees or Ty Segall are likely already tapped into Wolfcow, but if you're not, this is your cue. There's talk of a vinyl release for the tracks come summertime.

Inyrdisk doesn't do cassette tapes like many limited-run labels -- just discs, aka CDRs and vinyl. While Hainey loves the aesthetic of the CDR and the ease of producing them, he tells me he's often most proud of the vinyl releases he's put out, in part because they take so much more time. He sights a 2013 Pink Noise / Man Made Hill split 7" and a Voidfolk LP as recent notable local vinyl releases.

Currently the label is on a path towards a more vinyl focus, Hainey tells me, and releases will probably become more spaced out to accommodate the costs of production. That 100th release is coming (what will it be? Maybe a compilation like the unforgettable Street Liquors, Inyrdisk's 40th release?) but it may be a ways down the road -- though judging by the obsessive output to date, probably not too far down.

So how is releasing stuff barely any one has heard of sustainable? Again in typical fashion, Inyrdisk runs on the hope that someone wants to hear this music as much as Hainey does. CDRs are stocked at Soundscapes and vinyl at most Toronto record stores, but the label's main market is international: all available releases are for sale online and a dozen different distributors carry Inyrdisk stock, which can go pretty quick as CDRs come in runs of 100 or less, vinyl at about 300 discs. This is the mad world of collectable ephemera, and once you're hooked you're hooked.

Hainey, a novelist who's contributed to Eye Weekly and Exclaim and now writes for Weird Canada, cites labels Beniffer Editions, HP Cycle, Wintage and Pleasence as inspirations and friends, and says he'd love to do more work for bands like Wolfcow, The Soupcans, Andrew Zukerman, and John Milner You're So Boss. Releases are a split between local friends, artists he approaches, and artists who come to the label with music. Polyphasic Studio's Brandon Hocura is often hooked for mastering.

If you want to get lost in the Inyrdisk catalogue, Street Liquors, featuring Pink Noise, Doom Tickler, Toddler Body, Man Made Hill, Matthew Dunn and way more, is a good entry point (free download here). Another method might be to dive in and search the archives for other downloads and streamables, as once something sells out the digital files often become free offerings.

Some wicked releases include Bile Sister's debut, and what was once a Brian Ruryk disc with hand-stitched jackets made from old blue jeans (download Ruryk's sounds of guitar mayhem here), now sold out, naturally. That said, half the joy is in the diverse and eclectic artwork of the releases, all artist selected (the new Wolfcow features a painting by Greydyn's dad), so dropping a few dollars on an available limited edition is the ideal way to go.

While all this might seem like a toil born of an odd dementia, go to any experimental show in Toronto and tap anyone (any of the 20* people in the room!) on the shoulder and ask them about Inyrdisk. While the wilds of lo-fi music aren't for everyone, the wonder at the existence of items like these will always keep me hanging on when things are looking their bleakest. What was that line in The Band that Would be King? Something about clogging up the works.

*or three

Man Made Hill photo by Bruce Emberley, Wolfcow by Denise McMullin. Aubrey Jax clogs up the works on Twitter.

Secret menus (or, better, "secret" menus) might not have originated in Toronto, but we have a long history of keeping things on the DL, ahem... "cold tea" anyone? U.S burger chain In-Out-Burger might get credit for popularizing the scheme, but there are plenty of local establishments that keep good stuff off the menu to reward regulars, un-clutter an overwhelming selection, or really... just to get a little freaky in the kitchen.

Here are the top 10 secret menu items (we know of) in Toronto.

Asada Mexican Grill (809 St. Clair Avenue West)
Situated on St. Clair, the family friendly eatery offers hidden menu items like the veggie baja tacos ($8.95/3) topped with deep-fried baja coated avocado, and customizable flautas ($8.95/3) and tostadas ($8.95/3). Also not on the menu: breakfast burritos ($8.95) are available all day.

The Burger's Priest (1636 Queen Street East)
Toronto's own local chain of cult burger joints posts only the simple and straightforward essentials in stores. The secret menu outlines over a dozen fancy, over-the-top options that can be order by ominous sounding names like the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

Enzo Pizza Bar (646 Queen Street West)
The Americano, a.k.a "Big Mac pizza" is hardly a secret any more, but the hush-hush menu also includes the lesser known, "Buongiorno" a pie covered with fior di latte, fresh bacon and fresh farm eggs. Solo-sized pizzas sell for $14, a large goes for $25.

The Happy Hooker (887 Dundas Street West)
It's available by request anytime, but the Cod Father goes unmentioned on the menu at this licensed seafood snack bar on Dundas West. The $7 sandwich stacks fried cod slathered with tartare sauce onto a toasty buttered bun then loads it up with jalapenos, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Hot Beans (160 Baldwin Street, Unit #1)
This vegan take-out spot in Kensington Market let's Instagram followers in on it's secret menu that currently bills 8 different taco and burritos specials like pizza tacos ($9.75) and the Mac Truck burrito ($8.75) that comes stuffed with fried potatoes, mac 'n' cheese, shaved seitan, beans, tofu sour cream and chili aioli.

Banh Mi Boys (392 Queen Street West)
Unadvertised but available at both locations, order a Club Bao ($6) and discover the double pleasure of this secret steamed bun loaded with fried chicken AND a slab of pork belly.

Salad King (340 Yonge Street)
Longtime patrons can still get Thai Islamic Noodles at this Yonge Street curry house. The unlisted dish improves upon a standard pad thai with a dollop of coconut milk curry generously ladled over top.

The County General (936 Queen Street)
Off-menu items from this Queen West restaurant include the oversized Big Boi Mac ($16) and the option to transform the normally sharable serving of KFC (that's Korean fried chicken) into a sandwich ($15) on request. Both orders include sides.

Lisa Marie (638 Queen West)
The menu at this cicchetti bar features an always-changing array of snacks and nibbles, but if you're looking something more substantial, ask for the off-menu steak ($36) or a hearty order of sugo ($28), an Italian meat sauce pasta.

The Steady (1051 Bloor West)
Ask about the cornbreadict ($14) at brunch or order anything on the menu "like it was cool in 2012" and it will come with bacon... even the vegan selections.

Spill the beans on your favourite "secret" menu specials in the comments section.

Photo by Brian Rome Photography in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto the big screen lights up for the Festival Of New Spanish Cinema, which begins this evening and runs on Wednesdays at The Royal on College until March 26th, showing a total of five films. Then there's also a free screening of My Prairie Home starring Rae Spoon at CineCycle, and Rue Morgue's Little Terrors: Fear The Other. Meanwhile Punk Rock Bingo at The Beaver is a promising option - if you're feeling lucky. For more events today, make sure to click over to our events section.

• Festival Of New Spanish Cinema
• Free Screening of documentary "My Prairie Home"
• Kings Of Leon @ ACC
• HomeEc #25: Craft Beer Salon
• Punk Rock Bingo
• Queer Fear: Lost Boys
• Rue Morgue & Unstable Ground present Little Terrors
• Wearable Wednesday

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

Image from My Prairie Home

This Week in Fashion rounds up the week's style news, store openings and closings, pop-up shops, sales and upcoming fashion and design events in Toronto. Find it here every Wednesday morning.

NEWS

In the fall of 2012, Holt Renfrew set off a $300-million expansion plan to revamp every Canadian location. Earlier this month, we finally got to see the project in fruition at Yorkdale (3401 Dufferin St). The store is now a whopping 120,000 square feet (twice its original size) complete with a 10,000 square foot women's shoe section, an area for pop-up shops, a luxury private shopping lounge, and a space on the ground floor dedicated to contemporary brands like Acne and Phillip Lim. Plus, shoppers can get pampered at the men's on-site barbershop with a hot shave or at the women's "primp and polish" beauty bar with a blowout, manicure, and facial wax.

The shOws, an offsite fashion event happening just before the official Toronto Fashion Week, recently announced a date change. Mark your calendars for March 11th and 12th to catch fall/winter 2014 collections by outstanding Canadian-turned-international designers Antonio Azzuolo, Bellavance, Steven Tai, and Kaelen.

EVENTS

This Saturday, Leatherfoot (24 Bellair St) will be hosting a bespoke trunk show of a different kind. Their previous events have featured renowned shoemakers, giving guests the opportunity to order luxury footwear custom-built for their feet. But, from tomorrow (February 27) until Saturday (March 1st), they're bringing in Canadian master tailor Michel Karkar of Michel's Bespoke - and a lovely array of high-end fabrics - to create a suit made just for you. To book an appointment, call 416-967-3668 or email events@leatherfoot.com.

Bellwethers Vintage, a once-a-month vintage clothing pop-up, is launching this Saturday (March 1st) at 306 Grace Street. Stop by some time between 10am and 7pm to snag some handpicked treasures and second-hand designer garb - or be doomed to wait a whole month until they open their doors again!

SALES

All sale merchandise from every TNT store has once again been moved to the outlet (388 Eglinton Ave W) for a massive blowout sale, meaning you finally have a fighting chance at finding that one ridiculous coat you wanted last season in the right size. Everything's going for 70% - 80% off until March 31st, so be sure to head over earlier than later to avoid missin' out.

WHAT WE GOT UP TO THIS WEEK

• Street Style: 15 takes on the winter scarf

Photo by Denise McMullin