BMO Field should be renovated and expanded to house the Toronto Argonauts, the owners of the CFL team say. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the company that also owns the stadium's current tenants Toronto FC, is asking the City, Queen's Park, and Ottawa to chip in $10 million each for a new roof and up to 10,000 extra seats.

In a report to be considered by the City's executive committee next week, MLSE says it wants the stadium, which is owned by the City of Toronto, to seat 30,000 by 2016 - many of them in a new tier above the east stand - and have rain protection for almost all spectators. Right now, all seats at BMO Field are exposed to the elements.

The proposed roof, which is similar to those in European soccer stadiums, would not cover the field.

Diagrams presented to the Exhibition Place Board of Governors show new retractable seats at the north and south end of the field to be used during Major League Soccer games and special events such as the MLS All Star Game and the NHL Winter Classic. MLSE is also promising two new high-resolution video screens, a sound system, and field lighting.

The Argos' current stadium agreement with the Rogers Centre expires in 2017. Moving to a new "appropriately sized" arena is vital to the long-term stability of the franchise, the team says.

All being well, initial construction is anticipated to start Sept. 1 and be in full swing by 2015, working around the soccer schedule. The roof is predicted to be complete by May 2016.

MLSE says it will cover the remaining $90 million of the predicted $120 million cost and tweak its revenue sharing agreement with the city in order to pay back the taxpayer investment.

What do you think of the plan? Will expanding BMO Field benefit Toronto FC and the Argos?

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

Photo sandifjm in the blogTO Flickr pool

Now that spring is almost here and construction season is upon us, we're looking to bolster our real estate team. Are you passionate about Toronto's building boom? Do you find yourself losing hours to scrolling through REALTOR listings? Can you spot bad condo design from a mile away? You might be the right person to join our team.

We're looking for two writers, one to post our House of the Week column and another to take on our New in Toronto Real Estate posts. Ideal candidates would be real estate enthusiasts rather than professionals (for risk of various conflicts of interest), but still highly knowledgable about the local real estate scene. If that sounds like you, read on.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested in applying?

For a real estate writing role, simply send an email to jobs [at] blogto [dotcom]. In your email please include the following:

1. State which role you're applying for (you should choose one).

2. Please explain to us why we should pick you instead of another applicant.

3. Tell us which Toronto neighbourhood you live in and how long you've lived in Toronto.

4. For House of Week candidates, please suggest three recently listed properties (with links) that you think we should cover and explain why you think they'd be of interest to our readers. Please also provide a list of real estate-focused websites/blogs that you read on a consistent basis. For New in Toronto Real Estate candidates, please suggest three recent condo developments that you think deserve coverage and the rationale behind your selections. Please also provide a list of any real estate websites/blogs that you read on consistent basis.

5. Links to any of your previous writing or photography (if applicable).

6. Please don't send us any attachments, resumes or cover letters. Anything you want to communicate to us should be done via text and hyperlinks in the body of the email.

These are paid positions, with a post frequency of once per week. Thanks in advance to everyone interested in applying for one of our writing roles. We aim to respond to all applicants who send us a complete application as per the instructions above.

Photo by Vic Gedris in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto the Pages Festival kicks off for the first time ever, brought to you by Marc Glassman, the former owner of Pages Books (RIP) and founder This Is Not A Reading Series. Then Arcade Fire will be getting fancy at their sold out ACC gig: the Montreal band actually called their own fans out on being too frumpy at their arena shows, demonstrating their status as the last true punk band in indie rock. Not fancy? Northwood's got nibbly deals on, and OCAD is hosting a zine fair. For more events, click on over to our events section.

• Arcade Fire judging you omnipotently
• Pages Festival Conference Opening Night
• 6th Annual OCADU Zine Fair
• Buck a Bite Menu Tasting at Northwood
• PPOP & Mark Pesci Present: Cellos, Foam & Toque at Smiling Buddha
• exhibit opening: Regular Art at Weird Things
• Luminous Fashion Show & After Party

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

Photo via Arcade Fire on Facebook

BassWeek is almost upon us, and a number of TO concert promoters including Toronto Jungle have come together to present two weekends of ear-bleeding, lung-shaking, face-melting acts. Huge names in dubstep and drum and bass are coming across the pond to join local Toronto favourites at some of Toronto's best venues starting next weekend. Here are five sets you would be ill-advised to miss.

Doctor P
With tons of remixes released already this year, the champ of the dubstep whistle is coming to Toronto. It's been a long time since "Tetris" and "Sweet Shop" were mainstays of every dub club, but the Doctor hasn't slowed down for a second. Catch him at Adelaide Hall on March 22 with our next candidate (see below).

Cookie Monsta
The grime/industrial basshead from Nottingham melted faces with his 2010 release, "Ginger Pubes". I had the opportunity to catch him shaking Wrongbar in 2011, and if there is one dubstep show you should see in your life... well, let's just say that in a genre where it's very easy to sound like everyone else, no one sounds quite like the Monsta.

Marcus Visionary
I spoke with Toronto's drum and bass ambassador back in January about the state of the bass scene in our city. Marcus will have a great chance to test the waters again when he smashes Sound Academy with Lush and some other big names on March 21.

Mampi Swift
Jungle legend Mampi Swift has been in the game for almost 25 years now. Old dogs will know him from his massive 1997 release "The One", and he has been leading the way as label boss of Charge Recordings ever since. You can bet a guy who has been around this long has tweaked his set to perfection. Check him out at Barcode (upper level of Product Nightclub) on March 28.

Andy C
This Hornchurch, UK native is bound to rattle windows at the Sound Academy on March 29 when he takes the stage with Toronto legend Rene LaVice and many others. Energetic drum and bass beats that will resonate in your chest - this is what to expect from Andy C when the lights are flashing and your feet start moving.

BassWeek runs March 21-29 and features four events, one on each Friday and Saturday of the weekends. Find the full line up here.

Photo of Cookie Monsta via Facebook. Follow Adam on Twitter and Instagram

Our ability to make and take payments with our smartphones has never been easier. While our mobile wallet hasn't yet become more convenient than plain old cash or cards, it's becoming even more appealing to pay using a mobile device with apps that combine rewards programs with payment, like the hugely successful Starbucks app.

Toronto startup SmoothPay is taking it one step further with its all-in-one payment, offers and rewards app, without having to download a new app for every retailer. Here's how it works: once you've downloaded the free SmoothPay app for iPhone, Android and Blackberry Z10, you can browse all the locations around you that accept SmoothPay and any incentives they offer. When you're ready to pay, launch the app and display the QR code pay screen to the retailer's SmoothPay terminal, and presto - you've paid, collected rewards, cashed in on offers, and had your receipt emailed to you.

Founded by Brian Deck, David Yellowlees and Ryan Hall, Smoothpay launched in January 2014. The company currently has 30 businesses locally using its service, including cafes, cupcake shops, fitness studios and hair salons. Here, Co-Founder and CEO Brian Deck shares some more details about his startup's loyalty-promoting mobile wallet.

You've been focused on small businesses so far. Why is SmoothPay of particular interest to independents?

One big benefit is that while companies like Starbucks have the resources and brand strength to achieve adoption of a mobile payment and loyalty app, the costs of developing such an app are out of reach for most small businesses. Consumers also don't want thousands of apps in their phone and SmoothPay is a single app for many great businesses. This convenience appeals to both independent businesses and large franchise chains.

How does SmoothPay make money?

SmoothPay is a free app for consumers and as soon as you sign up you are entitled to offers from every location. For businesses, we don't charge credit card processing fees, but the business pays $1 the first time a SmoothPay customer pays with the app at their location, then pays 4% when a loyalty milestone has been met. There's also a $12 monthly fee for our terminal.

Do you have any significant competitors in this space?

We haven't seen anyone doing what we are doing here in Canada. There are many payment companies and many loyalty companies, but no one that effectively combines both (except for Starbucks, but they aren't really our competitor). Mobile apps like theirs are actually great for us since it helps consumers become accustomed to using their phone to pay. If you know how to use the Starbucks app you use regularly, you'll know how to use SmoothPay.

You're creating a local "digital foodie community" around SmoothPay. How are you doing this?

There is so much great food and drink that our awesome cafes and restaurants serve. We want to make it known, so we post to our blog, tweet and share with our community as much as possible. There are so many really cool restaurateurs here that work hard and love what they do. We really want our customers to know that when they open the SmoothPay they will not only be very pleased with the quality of their experience with the app, but also with the culinary experience offered by the restaurant or cafe they chose.

Toronto Restaurant Openings highlights the latest restaurant openings and closings in Toronto and also gives a preview of what's coming soon. Find us here every Thursday morning.

OPEN NOW

• 650 Cafe Bistro opened a second outpost this week in Cabbagetown at 194A Carlton Street, formerly Cafune.
• Oxygen Restaurant and Lounge a new restaurant with a broad menu including sandwiches, pastas and smoke house specialties is now open at 35 Sheppard Avenue East.
• County General East opens today at 798 Queen St. East offering breakfast, lunch and snack bar menus. [Zagat]

RECENTLY REVIEWED

• Starving Artist (St. Clair West)
• Yakitori Kintori
• Pizza Nova

OPENING SOON

• Nick Liu's pop-up concept, Gwai Lo has finally found permanent digs at 503 College Street, the address most recently home to Grace. [Toronto Life]
• Montecito, a new 12,000 square foot spot is opening in the quasi-near future at 299 Adelaide Street West. Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman and New York chef, Jonathan Waxman's Innov8 Hospitality group are behind the project. [Toronto Life]
• The Tavern by Trevor is currently in the works at 147 Spadina Avenue north of Richmond. The project is an extension of Trevor Kitchen and Bar.
• Fish Street Market has announced plans to launch a seafood-focused food truck this summer.
• M'Zaar, a new Lebanese eatery is opening soon at 668 Yonge Steet.
• California Sandwiches is expanding its Italian sandwich empire once again with the impending opening of a 12th location at 435 Yonge Street across from College Park.

CLOSING

• Less than a year after launching, Happy Child (1168 Queen Street West) appears shuttered and the website is down.
• The North east corner at Yonge and Eg is about to undergo major redevelopment for a condo and in its wake, What A Bagel, Burger King and Boston Pizza are all closed. [Chowhound]
• Five year-old Mogette Bistro (581 Mount Pleasant Road) is set to shutter with March 29th advertised as the last day of service. [The Grid]

Have you seen restaurants opening or closing in your neighbourhood? Email tips to liora@blogto.com

Photo of Gwai Lo pop-up by Jason Finestone.

Olivia Chow officially joined the 2014 Mayoral race when she filed her registration papers yesterday. And even though she doesn't hold her initial press conference until this morning at 11am her team has already come out blazin' with the launch of the campaign web site and Olivia Chow for Mayor video.

While the video isn't as catchy as ones we've seen in the past, it's not as dull as John Tory's. Chow is all smiles as she plugs her experience and focus on families, job creation and better transit. She ends with "It's time for a new Mayor. It's time to build a better city together."

William Randolph, owner of the popular food truck The Feisty Jack, is threatening to quit if the proposed new Toronto street food regulations pass in their current format. While many of us might have thought the recent developments would be a boon for the local food truck scene, many truck operators have been voicing their concerns and frustrations this week about certain aspects of the long awaited staff report that will be presented to the licensing and standards committee later this month.

In a Toronto Star article published on Monday, Zane Caplansky sounded off on one aspect of the new proposal that would allow local BIAs and City Councillors to essentially prevent food trucks from setting up in a particular neighbourhood if they felt trucks were cannibalizing sales of local businesses. Caplansky called this provision "ridiculous" and suggested in would "gut the entire initiative."

Even Mayor Ford came to the food trucks' defence today, decrying the latest recommendations saying they would not make it easy enough for food trucks to operate in the city. He told the Toronto Star "I think food vending is very important. I don't like how the BIAs or councillors can kick them out of their area at any given time. That...kills it."

Which brings us back to Feisty Jack. In a post to Facebook yesterday, Randolph wrote that the "recent proposals put forth by Metro Licensing and Standards have essentially ignored what every single food truck in the city has been saying and working towards for the past 3 years. They have taken something that is extremely simple and non-complicated and made it into one of the most confusing messes that has ever graced City Hall."

Aside from the BIA provisions, Randolph cited the $5,000 licensing fee as a major issue and characterized it as a "cash grab". He has a point considering similar fees in cities like Austin, TX clock in at only $600. The current licensing fee in Toronto is $1,000 and there seems little justification for the City to raise this by a factor of five.

Toward the end of his Facebook post Randolph writes "Toronto, you have failed me, and the industry we hold so dear. You have killed an industry with micro management, policing before it has ever even had a chance to become something."

"If these new rules should pass, The Feisty Jack will cease all street food operations in the city of Toronto, because it will no longer be cost effective to continue. We have no desire to vend in a park on the outskirts of town, or pay ridiculous $300 parking lot fees, the cost is too great, and the effort is too much....We can no longer continue fighting for a city that has clearly made a point of saying we do not want you, you have no right to exist, you are worthless to us, give us you're money."

If there's a silver lining for fans of the Feisty Jack it's worth noting that Randolph will continue to serve festivals, private and corporate events. He also dropped the news that a brick and mortar location of the restaurant is on its way soon.

At 20 Jerome Street near Dundas West and Dupont, there's a house covered in weather-worn terracotta tile. Across the front, down the sides, and round the back hundreds of mismatched decorative reliefs make the building look like a displaced Asian temple.

The house was built by J. Turner Sr., a west-end Toronto builder in 1905. Terracotta tile had been in vogue in the decades before Turner set to work, but around 1895 tastes started to change and the material went out of fashion, leaving Ontario producers with stockpiles of unwanted product.

Turner's first house on Dundas West near Dupont - long since demolished for townhouses - was the first to take advantage of cheap excess terracotta in Ontario. He decorated the home with floral and lattice patterned tile and installed little flourishes on the lintels above the doors and windows.

According to Terra Cotta-Artful Deceivers, a book published by the Toronto Region Architectural Conservancy, Turner's elaborate exterior may have been a way of advertising his construction business but "the display seems not to have had the desired effect," it says, somewhat ominously.

Turner doubled down and built a new home from scratch on nearby Jerome Street, this time leaving no space on the exterior for exposed brick. Many of the tiles he selected were intended for much larger buildings, the book says says, and, as a result, dominate the home. Repeated faces stare out along the roof line while a bust in an elaborate headdress takes pride of place a the centre of the facade.

The book calls Turner's eccentric design a "misuse" of the sudden excess of tile, but I love the eccentricity and sheer excess.

What do you think?

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

Second photo by Michael Greco on Flickr

Electronic fans in Toronto are gearing up for Foundry, a month long concert series entering its second year as a powerful new force bringing international and local producers and DJs such as Four Tet, DJ Harvey, Shed, Purity Ring, Gingy, and Kevin McPhee together for high energy, art-first dance parties.

The promoters hit a snag yesterday, and the city of Toronto is to blame -- yes, the same city championing us as a "music city" on the same scale as Austin, where SXSW is taking place right now. The entire series will be forced to move from the historic Tower Automotive Building (recently used for the Promise Heart Party) to 99 Sudbury -- still a worthy venue, but at best a serious inconvenience to both promoters and ticket holders.

While Foundry has been working with City authorities and received "repeated reassurances" that the permits would go through, a zoning technicality stood in the way at the final minute (even after the promoters took a chainsaw to the building to make extra exits). Foundry's statement on the venue change reads in part: "We hope that one day in the near future, we will be allowed to take greater creative risks in a city that we love so much."

Foundry promises the concept and spirit of the will remain the same at 99 Sudbury, where their connected project Visions has hosted events in the past. The show will go on, but city officials should be taking note of what's happened here -- Foundry is pulling international attention toward Toronto's music scene, and this doesn't make us look like we have our act together.

Read our preview of Foundry's month long series, which begins this weekend with Four Tet on Friday night at 99 Sudbury, here.

Photo at 99 Sudbury by Javin Lau

Another music fest has driven its flag into Toronto's summertime sod: TIME Festival is back in Toronto for the first time in three years, so basically you are screwed. Break up with your partner/s so you can work 90 hours a week instead of 60 this spring, or quit all your jobs and rob a bank, because those are the only ways you're going to all the festivals blooming and booming in the city this summer (TURF, Field Trip, NXNE, Riot Fest, Digital Dreams, VELD, what am I forgetting?).

Electronic focused-ish TIME will claim the Fort York Garrison Commons for a one day mega show on July 19 from 12pm - 11pm. Grimes, Death Grips, Flume, Action Bronson, St. Lucia, Smith Westerns, Kaytranada, Jon Hopkins, Charli XCX, Majical Cloudz, and Haerts are on the line up, making it a pretty impressive one, especially since early bird tickets are $25. Line up superiority aside, let's hope this is better all around than Grove Fest was last year.

Photo of Grimes by Brian Morton

Every season, The shOws - a two-day fashion show spotlighting "the very best of Canadian talent" - doesn't disappoint. Its curated handful of designers coupled with producer Paola Fullerton's vision wows industry professionals and sets the standard high as the precursor to World MasterCard Fashion Week time and time again.

The Fall 2014 round, held at the Storys Building this past Tuesday and Wednesday, was no exception. Bellavance, Steven Tai, Kaelen, and Antonio Azzuolo brought a level of creativity and progressiveness unparalleled by even some of the biggest names in the game.

Though each designer made a name on far-away stomping grounds, Canada will forever be warm and familiar territory - and there's no better way to celebrate their very brief return than with a roundup of their best work.

Here are my picks for the top 10 looks from The shOws.

Bellavance's Nolan Bellavance and Ava Hama wanted their Fall 2014 collection to find a sweet spot between rigidity and rebellion - something they definitely achieved with this two-piece knit. The angular cuts and hard lines juxtaposed with the soft hand of merino wool complete a look that's equal parts uptight librarian and foxy lady.

Antonio Azzuolo took the sweat suit to a whole 'nother level with structure, luxury fabric, and innovative layering. Not to mention the sleeves, which are detailed with berry-hued embroidery.

Every season, Kaelen Haworth's eponymous label explores the realms of both femininity and masculinity. For Fall 2014, she took the concepts of a boxy, orange jumpsuit and ran with it - coming up with a soft pink number that hugs the body in all the right places.

Steven Tai sent a chockfull of indigo down the runway, but not without a little (read: a lot) of TLC. The designer and his team spent something like 12 hours stitching and slashing this bad boy up, resulting in a semi-sparkly, super fringy ensemble unlike any other.

With a couture-level tailoring background, it's no surprise Antonio Azzuolo brought something this sharp to the table. This gem of a coat is somehow both oversized and perfectly fitted, just like the trousers that go with it.

This achromatic look by Bellavance played nicely with sheers and opaques, but its most unique feature is a graphic chain link fence screen-printed over meticulously formed pleats.

Although Kaelen's pieces are designed from a minimalist perspective, there's nothing boring about this midi dress, draped to perfection with a semi-sheer, burnout printed chiffon.

Antonio Azzuolo always keeps sartorial tradition in mind, even when designing something a little more casual. This utility jacket is about as swanky as they come - especially when worn with a pair of up-to-the-minute high water pants.

The silhouette of a long sweater, midi skirt, and oxford shoes may be a bit heavy, but Steven Tai's air of eccentricity is what makes him stand out. Plus, it's hard to dismiss something with hand-appliquéd velvet daisies all over it.

Though the duo behind Bellavance claimed this shiny fabric looked like a garbage bag when they found it, they pleated and layered it 'til it was shoddy no more. I think we can all agree on its impeccable asymmetry and texture.

Photos by Michael Ho, courtesy of The shOws

Tucked in on 50 Wagstaff Drive you'll find the epicentre of specialty coffee culture in Toronto. The new facilities are out-of-this-world good, with education, interaction, and superior product equally high on the priority list. Try their award-winning beans by multiple brew method, including a Modbar espresso machine - the only one in Canada, or get in on a training session and up your knowledge. Your tastebuds will thank you.

Read my review of Pilot Coffee Roasters in the cafes section.

The shOws, a two-day industry event leading up to Fashion Week in Toronto, took place at the Storys Building this week. And while the attention was mostly affixed on the runway, audience members were also dressed to impress. Not a formal event, creativity was the order of the day as the attendees strutted their fashion mettle despite the winter weather.

See all the looks in our style section.

The City of Toronto has released its new neighbourhood rankings, which puts Black Creek at the bottom of the list. An area best known for the intersection of Jane and Finch, it's not surprising to hear of the low position accorded to this neighbourhood -- particularly when one considers that Lawrence Park North received the highest ranking. Economic prosperity and livability are indelibly linked? No way!

The question one might ask, however, is whether or not rankings of this type do more harm than good. While it's crucial to identify neighbourhoods in need of additional community support (and this has been a "priority neighbourhood" for some time), the stigma associated with residing in Toronto's "least livable neighbourhood" is a burden in its own right, one that is just as likely to erode community pride as it is to aid the City in directing social assistance programs to the most deserving places.

Obviously if there's a neighbourhood ranking system in place, there will be a lowest score. And, in fairness, the City of Toronto's efforts to track the health of our various neighbourhoods is one way to address challenges that are faced by some areas that are absent in others. But perhaps there's a way to employ terminology that avoids the baggage that goes with being ranked at the bottom of the heap?

What do you think? Do neighbourhood rankings play a role in community pride?

Photo by ZenBohemian in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Not a fan of names like, Coxwell, Pharmacy Avenue or Orfus Road? Now's your chance to leave a mark on Toronto maps of the future by coming up with a name for one of Toronto's newest streets.

It's all part of the Help Name a Toronto Street competition just unveiled by Waterfront Toronto. Remember that massive Bayside development we wrote about last year? Turns out there's going to be a new street running between it and the lake that needs a name. Send them your suggestions between now and March 27th but, remember, names with the words lakeside, beach or thisistoofarawalkfromthelcbo need not apply. Oh, and there's this. (PDF)

Photo by JL1967 in the blogTO Flickr pool

It's easy to hate the Canadian music industry. The way we grant funding to artists is biased and weird, the acts we do hear about are overwhelmingly blasé white indie-rock, and Justin Bieber only started to get kinda enjoyable recently with this whole deposition thing.

Despair not, Toronto. There are tons of great dance music labels that buck trends, challenge expectations, and animate bodies around the world. Here are a few of them.

DNH Records
Now over two decades deep, releases from Nick Holder's seminal label are often sought by international acts dropping by Toronto like Prosumer and Session Victim. Listening to the clanking garage prowess on Toronto Track Symphony's "Do Me Right", or narrative house monologues talking about life in Ontario social housing projects, and it's not surprising why some of the label's records are now fetching around $150 on Discogs. But it's not all bravado - the melancholic saxaphone of Holder's "Feelin Sad" provides the kind of rollicking, soulful groove that Theo Parrish would surely nod his head to. While DNH's output has slowed slightly from the 90's, Holder is still honing his craft today.

Invisible City Editions
Kicking off their label with a re-release of experimental industrial electronic sets from 1986 by cosmic disco legend Beppe Loda sets some high standards, but Toronto duo Invisible City Editions (comprised of Brandon Hocura and Gary Abuga) seem up to the task. I've mentioned before how much of an impact Stephen Encinas' "Disco Illusion" had on the Balearic community this year, but what really distinguishes Invisible City is their approach to collaboration as opposed to appropriation, which involves touches like having Encinas himself preface the release of the record with his reflections. 2014 ups the ante for the label with a planned ten releases in the works for the year, beginning with an LP by the 80's Zambian jam band Witch, which airs out some seriously infectious Fleetwood Mac vibes.

What Rules Records
While Vanessa Smith's label hasn't been active recently, it's responsible for two classic ear-bending CDs of beatmaking that defy definition. They're both full of treasures, jagged house cuts that flitter with trip-hop and broken beat, such as the interstellar-reaching "Spaces Like This". Though it may be difficult to snag a copy of elusive Fun Like Passion and Wild Art Forestry these days, Smith is gracing other labels with her work, such as her recent release on female-centric Sound Warrior Recordings or her work dropping knowledge and chopping up dollar bin finds at Off Centre DJ School.

New Kanada
New Kanada label-runner Adam Marshallcredits local institution Play De Record as part of the reason for his diverse musical upbringing, remembering days when Jamacian 7's got played back-to-back with techno records in the Yonge St. store. Even though New Kanada's output hones in on the tech house productions, there's a fluidity and comfort with experimentation present throughout the label's catalogue, such as the anonymous DIVA's "Paris Stabbing", which sounds like a computer becoming sentient and letting out an anguished pixelated wail.

Public Transit Recordings
Don't think Public Transit got on this list on the strength of their Christie station-referencing EP alone - this label has a gift for serious eclecticism, spanning everything from Moonstarr's crunchy Detroit-inspired analogue freakouts to Voice's collaborative hip-hop projects. With a website including podcasts, documentaries and enough YouTube videos to turn your workday into a blur of unproductivity.

BONUS

Obviously I've missed tons of great projects (which I'm sure folks will fill me in on in the comments) but special quick shootouts to Bedroomer, especially Eytan Tobin's thoroughly satisfying juke-influenced work, as well as Neighborhood Watch, who hopefully will follow 2013's great debut with more soon. The Dovercourt EP on Martyn's 3024 label kind of counts because it's all local Toronto artists - and of course, you can't talk about Toronto dance without mentioning Bonjay in some capacity.

Writing by Brendan Arnott

Photo of Graze by Caroline Hayeur

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

• Twenty three year old chef, Luke Hayes-Alexander hosts a snack-focused Supper Club at The Depanneur (1033 College Street) this Saturday, March 15th at 7pm. Tickets are $40.
• St. Patrick's Day is March 17th and so drinking green beer in excess on a Monday night is totally cool this week. Check out our round-up of where to get your Irish on.
• Macaron Day Toronto is Thursday, March 20th and French patisseries citywide will be serving up complimentary macarons. A portion of addition macaron sales will go to Red Door Family Shelter.

UPCOMING

• The 5th annual 86D Monday Battle Offal goes down at 8pm in the lounge at The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen Street West) on March 24th. The Saint Tavern, Small Town Food Co., Citizen Catering, The Geraldine and Lamesa Filipino Kitchen will each be offering up samples of their best "blood, guts + glory" and those in attendance will vote on the winner.
• Yum Cha! Dim Sum Fest happening Sunday, April 13th from 11am to 6pm at the Chinese Freemasons Association, (436 Dundas Street West, 3rd floor) promises 10 vendors offering innovative takes on fried and steamed dumplings, buns, and assorted small plates. Tickets are $10 and divided into two admission times presumably to avoid a scenario like this.
• Gather the whole mishpocha (yiddish for family) 'cause Caplansky's Deli (356 College Street) is booking tables now for The Second Seder, the Jewish passover feast on Tuesday, April 15th. Two seatings are offered at 5pm and 8pm. Tickets are $49 for adults and $24 for children.
• Find & Dine: Scavenger Hunt and Brunch, a fundraising event in support of Toronto Foundation for Student Success and Humber College, is happening throughout Liberty Village on Saturday April 5th from 10am to 2pm. Early bird tickets are available now for $35.

Photo by letyeu on Flickr