Sun, sand and surf, er, super calm and (for the most part), swimmable waters make Toronto beaches the perfect retreat from the sticky city just as summer temperatures spike. We challenged our readers to share their favourite beach-side moments for our latest photo contest. Congratulations to danthowe_ for the above photo, which has earned our prize of a Pure Leaf Real Brewed Kit for winning this instalment of our photo challenge series.

Check out all the submissions in our Toronto Beaches stream.

John Tory is without a doubt the most politically experienced candidate among this year's mayoral hopefuls. Since the late 1970s, the wily conservative strategist and perennial business leader has held numerous high-profile positions, yet he has only held political office once, as an MPP from 2005 to 2007.

Tory got his start in politics while a student at University of Toronto Schools, a prep school affiliated with the university, when a friend convinced him to buy a $1 membership to the York Mills Young Progressive Conservatives Association. "It sounded like an interesting thing to do. He made it a story with a little intrigue. He made it all sound very exciting. If I bought a card, I could vote for this friend of his who was running for treasurer against this other fellow who was somehow bad news," he told The Star in 1983.

A socially-liberal conservative, Tory has run political campaigns at the municipal, provincial, and federal level since the 1980s, working under premier Bill Davis and later co-chairing Kim Campbell's disastrous 1993 election campaign. If he ever lags in the polls, Tory could perhaps listen to his own advice from 1985:

"50 per cent of the campaign takes place between Day 1 and Day 37, and 50 per cent takes place on election day. It doesn't matter how you've done during the rest of the campaign."

He liked leopard print suspenders
For a 1987 Toronto Star fashion feature, John Tory revealed his favourite fashion gifts--Oxford cloth button-down shirts--and was photographed in a pair of $30 leopard print suspenders. Handkerchiefs were Tory's least favourite: "I have yet to figure out what to do with 300 or 400 handkerchiefs," he said. "I once received a pair of pyjamas. That was the most unusual gift because I don't know what to do with them either."

He's the fourth John Tory in an unbroken line of five
John Tory's great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all called John Tory, and so is his son. Our John Tory's father co-founded the law firm Tory, Tory, Deslauriers and Binnington--one of the largest in Canada--and later became the president of Thomson Enterprises, the media company founded by Roy Thomson, now known as Thomson Reuters. Tory became a partner in the firm in 1981 when his father joined Thomson.

Was a key piece of the Progressive Conservative "Big Blue Machine" of the 1980s
In the 1981, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party had been in charge of the province close to four decades. That year, a 27-year-old Tory became executive assistant to premier William Davis, and later his de-facto spokesman. A 1982 Toronto Star profile called Tory a "workaholic whizz-kid." Davis quit in 1985, triggering the leadership race that left Frank Miller briefly in charge of Ontario. A Liberal-NDP coalition under premier David Peterson took over later that year.

He was once in charge of the corporation that redeveloped the Toronto harbourfront
Following the ousting of the Ontario PC party in 1985, Tory was appointed director of Harbourfront Corp., the crown agency tasked with redeveloping the city's waterfront along Queens Quay. He remained on the board during the controversial construction of several high-rise buildings within the corporation's one-mile area of focus. He left the position in the early 1990s and later become co-chair of Brian Mulroney's re-election campaign.

His election attack ads backfired spectacularly in 1993
When Brian Mulroney quit as Progressive Conservative leader in 1993, Kim Campbell took over as Prime Minister. As a result, Tory, who had previously worked with Mulroney, took responsibility for Campbell's election campaign that same year, crafting a series of attack ads that appeared to focus on Liberal opponent Jean Chrétien's facial paralysis to widespread criticism.

"He's the campaign manager, so he had final approval of the ads. As the person responsible he should turn in his resignation," said Hamilton-Wentworth Progressive Conservative candidate Ray Johnson at the time. Campbell and the federal PCs were obliterated in the election, losing all but two of the party's 156 seats.

BONUSES

David Crombie predicted Tory had a future in politics
David Crombie, Toronto's tiny, perfect mayor, was full of praise after Tory ran his successful (if not particularly challenging) 1976 re-election campaign. "He has all the graces an establishment upbringing can give him. But he was smart enough to know the world has something to teach him. He didn't just observe. I think he has influence to give in the future. The best way it could be directed is by an elected position. I'd be happy to run his campaign," Crombie recalled to the Toronto Star in 1983.

He narrowly lost out to David Miller for Mayor of Toronto in 2003
Following stints as the CEO of Rogers Communications, Chairman of the Canadian Football League, and high-level positions with the St. Michael's Hospital Foundation, United Way, and Mel Lastman election campaigns, Tory ran against David Miller in the 2003 mayoral election, eventually losing by about 35,000 votes or 5 percentage points. Following the defeat, Tory became leader of the Ontario PC party and later the chair of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance.

Next week: 5 things you didn't know about Olivia Chow.

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

TIME Festival's 2014 return after a three year hiatus will be over-shadowed in tales of its one-day glory by one thing: rain. From light haze to down pour, it never stopped raining at Fort York Garrison Common. Add to that the festival losing two of its major draws - Death Grips (to the band breaking up) and Charlie XCX (to...?) and the day could've been a write-off.

Against the odds, people still showed up and partied through it all. Grimes, Flume, Action Bronson, St. Lucia, Majical Cloudz, Kaytranada and more did their part to keep everyone's minds off the weather (or their confiscated umbrellas) and focused on the music.

Check out our photo gallery for 20 of our favourite rainy memories from TIME 2014.

Drive-ins, dinners and dives (into the lake off your boat) are just some of the fun ways to watch a flick this summer in Toronto. Cinephiles can tuck into dark theatres, or celebrate in the open-air, watch blockbusters or rarities, pay for lux seating or get in for free. There's really something for everyone.

Here are 10 fun ways to watch a flick this summer in Toronto.

See a movie outdoors
What better way to watch a movie in the summer than al fresco in the park? Haul our your lawn chair, bring a couple of wobbly pops and find your self watching the stars under the stars. There are a whole slew of outdoor movies options in the city; find one near you.

Get in a rush line at TIFF
Am I the only one that feels TIFF sneak up on me; I forget to get tickets and then miss all the good movies? Not this year. I'm going hit the rush lines and secure myself a front seat to this year's Oscar hopefuls. Not into line-ups? Advance ticket packages are now on sale.

Hit an adults-only cinema
The Queensway VIP cinema just opened this winter, and the extra plush seating and pre-movie cocktail lounge makes for some smooth and easy movie watching. It costs a little extra, but there is a guaranteed no-kids policy.

Watch a movie in your car
Ever want to recreate that scene in Grease when they are all at the drive-in? Me too. The whole experience has that 50s/70s feel, with teenagers and steaming windows, or more PG family affairs, with kids tucked in the back seat in sleeping bags, and lots of Goodies and greasy popcorn being passed around. The only Toronto drive-in is at The Docks but the 5 Drive-In in Oakville isn't too far away. Here is a list of them all in Ontario is you fancy a pre-movie drive.

See a movie without paying a dime
The list of free movies in the city is so long it's a wonder why you'd pay for a movie at all. Most of them are out of doors, so you can enjoy the movie with the pseudo-anarchist spirit that accompanies anything open-air and free. If you are looking for something air-conditioned and a little more tame, the Toronto Public Library has a lot of free films showing, just check the branches for movies and times.

See the best sequels ever made
They say the second born in any family is largely ignored, left to fend for itself, while the first-born shines. Go to TIFF to watch the originals and their great follow-up films, however, and you'll see why nobody puts these babies in the corner.

Watch a movie from ship or shore
The programming at The Toronto Port Authority's Sail-in Cinema is especially exciting this year- "Creature Craze", featuring Jaws, Jurassic Park and E.T. You can watch the movies on the giant two-sided floating screen from your anchored boat or from a lawn chair at Sugar Beach. Be sure to book ahead.

Watch a flick at Buddies in Bad Times
The Queer West International Film Fest bills themselves as a small, but quality film festival, with a $100 budget and that lasts four hours long. With just that, you get to watch some of this year's most engaging and interesting international LGBT films, and all the proceeds to Basement Arts. Keep it proud, August 9th.

Try it with beer and rare 16mm
Trash Palace brings its rare collection of 16mm films to non-for-profit community cinema The Revue on Roncesvalles. Now that's what I call a winning combination, and what's even better is the screenings are licensed.

Under the stars, with music and food
Open Roof Festival, on top of 99 Sudbury, combines the best of an outdoor film viewing and an open-air music fest. The 'double feature' pairs a band with a movie, and offers booze and great food to create one magical event, which happens several times over the course of the summer.

Thanks to Growers Cider for sponsoring this post.

For more fun things to do this summer, check out our Toronto Fun Guide.

If Toronto was music festival city last summer, 2014 started out packed and is now becoming somewhat of a joke - or would be if local music fans weren't so thirsty for the word "festival." Appetites for the combination of stacked outdoor music line ups with added perks of anything from food vendors to art installations to bouncy castles seem insatiable, and now Wavelength, some of Toronto's most seasoned event promoters (organizers of the annual Wavelength Festival amid other projects), are jumping on board.

On August 16, Wavelength's Endless Summer will swarm Dundas West at Vintage & Flea Outdoor Market at Dovercourt (1251 Dundas St. West). You might have already stopped by this quirky market and been dazzled by its studded cut-off shorts, normcore backpacks, and haphazard array of vintage footwear. V&F is more akin to a real raw flea market than most Toronto markets, and now for one Saturday you can browse to your thrifty hearts' content with live bands.

Stellar Montreal pop duo Blue Hawaii headlines with Comet Control, Mexican Slang, JFM, Alpha Strategy, Hiawatha, and more are on the musical menu, with Hand Eye Society supplying video games, and the usual tripped-out Wavelength visuals and art installs by General Chaos. Best of all, the whole deal goes down for $10. When Drake renamed Toronto "The 6," maybe he meant the number of music festivals Toronto hosts per weekend.

Are outdoor festivals better than club shows? Will you never let go of your affinity for no-frills three band bills with in dingy clubs? Should we write a festival attire listicle specific to Wavelength's psych vibes? Let us know in the comments.

Photo of Blue Hawaii: Brooklyn Vegan

King West Eats, Toronto's newest food truck alley, served a lot of hungry lunch diners last week. Now, it looks like the alley, Toronto's second, will be sticking around for a while longer - but in a more limited capacity, serving only on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during lunchtime.

The trucks are slated to return this Wednesday through Friday, and a representative from Allied Properties, who teamed up with local food truck Curbalicious to launch the site on a company-owned parking lot, says they're looking into establishing that as an ongoing schedule.

Allied and Curbalicious owner Brittney Pawlick worked together to launch the alley, which ran Monday to Sunday and saw over a dozen trucks driving in throughout the course of the week to dish out everything from healthy wraps and Mexican fare to smoked meat and cupcakes.

Service started at 11am daily to cater to the local lunch crowd; though the parking lot at 7 Morrison St., just off of Adelaide and Brant, is tucked away from view, diners still found their way in fairly steadily throughout the week, with lunch crowds often lined up a few dozen deep.

Trucks stuck around until 11pm until Friday and Saturday night to catch bar-hopping diners; evidently, lunch service seemed to be the far stronger draw (and a rainy Saturday that washed out business probably didn't help).

This week's schedule is yet to be unveiled; for the latest info on truck locations in Toronto, check out Toronto Food Trucks.

Photos by Jesse Milns

Photo by Blaze Calaclay in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto Gallery 44 undergoes a transformation into a classic bingo hall. The subject will be photographers from 1826 - 2014, and $5 gets your three cards (bring toonies for snack and drink deals). The strange and visually enchanting Holy Motors will screen at Belljar, and classical fans can look forward to Toronto Summer Music Festival celebrating The Modern Age at Koerner Hall. Abstract percussion group OOIOO (Boredoms) are at Lee's if you're looking for more experimental sounds. For more events, click on over to our events section.

• Music: OOIOO (Lee's Palace)
• Art/Games: photoBINGO (Gallery 44)
• Film: Holy Motors (Belljar)
• Classical: Toronto Summer Music Festival (Koerner Hall, Walter Hall)
• Music/Streefest: Beaches Jazz Festival

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

Photo of Koerner Hall by Rick McGinnis

Let's say you've got an apartment that needs painting, but lack the time, patience, and smooth, steady rolling hand needed to make that happen - let alone the amount of cash required to bring in the professionals. You can, however, teach the guitar / proofread a report / fix a bike like nobody's business: Problem solved. Thanks to a new skill-swapping endeavour, the Toronto Time Bank, you can turn your own areas of expertise into a little free help from someone else in the community.

Here's how it works: You volunteer to perform a task for someone, and when you've completed the agreed-upon amount of time, those hours get put into your own personal "time bank" for you to spend on a free task from someone else. It's a relatively new idea in Toronto, where the local Time Bank chapter has only 67 members so far, but there are over 400 such groups registered across the U.S., boasting a total of about 40,000 members.

To learn more, visit the Toronto Time Bank website. Do you think this idea will catch on in Toronto? Would you barter your time?

Photo by Roger Cullman via the blogTO Flickr pool.

This new Annex bakery serves up a multitude of rotating from-scratch cupcake flavours and some perfectly light French macarons. But they specialize in elaborate custom cakes for special occasions and weddings. If you need a cake that looks like, say, a tortoise smoking and drinking a beer, owner Tolinda Trinh is your gal.

Read my review of Bake Them Pretty in the bakeries section.

This week on DineSafe, there are some unexpected heavy-hitters on the list, including cult-favourite barbecue and brunch spots and a couple of high-end operations you'd never expect would get downgraded to a conditional pass. (I'm looking at you, Origin North and Oliver & Bonacini.)

The Whippoorwill (1285 Bloor St. West)
Inspected on: July 16, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 4 (Minor: 3, Significant: 1)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

Origin North (2901 Bayview Ave.)
Inspected on: July 16, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 6 (Minor: 2, Significant: 3, Crucial: 1)
Crucial infractions include: Operator fail to maintain hazardous food(s) at 4C (40F) or colder.

Oliver & Bonacini (2901 Bayview Ave.)
Inspected on: July 15, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 5 (Minor: 1, Significant: 3, Crucial: 1)
Crucial infractions include: Operator fail to ensure food is not contaminated/adulterated.

Mainsha (1669 St. Clair Ave. West)
Inspected on: July 15, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 5 (Minor: 1, Significant: 4)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

Hot Oven Bakery (2974 Bloor St. West)
Inspected on: July 15, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 3 (Significant: 3)
Crucial infractions include: N/A

Hogtown Smoke (1959 Queen St. East)
Inspected on: July 16, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 5 (Minor: 1, Significant: 3, Crucial: 1 )
Crucial infractions include: Operator fail to provide potable water supply.

Jerk King (522 Bloor St. West)
Inspected on: July 14, 2014
Inspection finding: Yellow (Conditional)
Number of infractions: 1 (Crucial: 1 )
Crucial infractions include: Operator fail to maintain hazardous food(s) at 4C (40F) or colder.

Craving home-style baked goods made with love (and tons of butter)? You'll find them at this new bakery, owned by one of the co-founders behind Bakerbots and baked by a former baker at Sud Forno. Find ice cream sandwiches alongside treats like cakes, butter tarts and cookies.

Read my profile of Home in the bakeries section.

This house at 9A Casimir doesn't look like much from the outside - really it's just a diminutive warehouse building - but walk through the door and you'll stumble upon a stunning example of modern design and adaptive reuse. The house maintains great warehouse features like exposed brick, high beamed ceilings, and industrial accents. But it's not all look - it's livable too, with modern kitchens and bathrooms, central air, and finished basement. Who says you have to pick fashion over function?

The second floor is made up of a large master suite including an en suite bathroom, walk in closets, and a fireplace. Floor to ceiling windows open up onto a large deck with great unobstructed views of downtown. A perfect private space away from the rest of the house. No pesky kids getting in the way of romantic evenings!

SPECS

Address: 9A Casimir Street
Price: $1,598,000
Lot Size: 14 x 105 ft
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 3
Parking: 2
Taxes: $5,577
Walk Score: 100

FEATURES

• Unique converted warehouse residence
• 13-15 feet ceilings
• Large rooftop terrace with a skyline view
• Extremely walkable location downtown just off of Bathurst and Dundas
• 2 Car private driveway

GOOD FOR

Just about any urbanite who can afford the $1.6 million price tag (or more - this one might have a bidding war). The open concept feel and deluxe master bedroom makes this house seem ideal for a wealthy bachelor or childless couple. But, on the other side of the coin, there's three bedrooms - plenty of room for a family. There's not a whole lot to criticize about this one, unless you're the type that craves a yard.

MOVE ON IF

Industrial chic doesn't do it for you. This house has a definite warehouse loft feel. Exposed brick and beamed ceilings offer a very specific aesthetic. If you're looking for something more conventional, this isn't the house for you. Your loss!

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

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

Writing by Isabel Ritchie

Summerlicious is in the books for another year, complete with full bellies and now more manageable reservation books. Busy as ever, the aftermath of the bi-annual prix fix fest is a smattering of nomworthy photographs of the meals prepared by the hands of talented Toronto chefs. Prior to the start of the festival, we challenged our readers to share their favourite photos of the standout dishes they enjoyed, and now we ask that you vote for the best candidates from this year's crop of hunger-inducing captures.

Our winners are up for three prizes:

1st place: a $200 gift certificate to Ganzi Osteria
2nd place: a $100 gift certificate to Turf Lounge
3rd place: a $50 gift certificate to Trevor Kitchen & Bar.

Show some love to your favourite Summerlicious food porn by voting in the poll below. See all the submitted photos in our Summerlicious stream.

Lead photo by the Meandering Spork at Jump.

2. Photo by ecarmacide at Bent.

3. Photo by hihigh0808 at Origin North.

4. Photo by elleburry at Mildred's Temple Kitchen.

5. Photo by kungfu_panda_foto at Oliver and Bonacini.

6. Photo by stardchiu at Origin North.

7. Photo by dreaming_brenda at L'Ouvier.

8. Photo by is_a_belly at Fabricca.

9. Photo by modernpicasso_ at Bymark.

10. Photo by candicemok at Canoe.

Plans are afoot to bring another soaring condo to the Distillery District. Already home to a number of recent developments, including the smart-looking Pure Spirit condos, the south end of the former industrial area could soon feature a 57-storey KPMB-designed tower. Urban Toronto has the early info on this one, which would be built on a portion of the Distillery that's currently home to a parking lot and effectively enclose the space by blocking off the view and sound of the nearby Gardiner Expressway and rail corridor.

If the early renderings are any indication, the project will feature an elongated podium (what the designers call "a ribbon building") scaled to the height of the historical buildings on the west side of which the tower will rise. Designed by KPMB for Dundee Realty and Cityscape Development Corporation, the development looks like it could make a nice addition to the increasingly touristy neighbourhood without taking much (if anything) away from the historical makeup of the District.

What do you think of the early plans for the development?

Film buffs and star-spotters, your time has come: The first wave of the Toronto International Film Festival's 2014 screenings and galas have been announced, with movie-nerd catnip (David Cronenberg!) and A-grade celeb sighting material (Robert Pattinson!) both on the docket.

Among the highlights coming to the annual film fest September 4-14: Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, starring Julianne Moore, John Cusack and Mia Wasikowska; family comedy-drama This is Where I Leave You, starring Jason Bateman, Girls antihero Adam Driver, and everyone's actual hero Tina Fey; and the film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's international bestseller Wild, starting Reese Witherspoon. The closing night gala: Alan Rickman-starring (and directed!) A Little Chaos.

If you are excited neither by movies, nor the famous people that appear in them, you still might have to sit up and take notice of this year's fest. Organizers have announced that part of King St. will be shut down completely for the TIFF's opening weekend (September 4-7) for a street fair, a new addition to the festival this year. The stretch between Peter and University will be transformed into a pedestrian mall. (Downtown commuters, you've got a month and a half to steel yourselves.)

To find out more about what's hitting the big screen this year, check out the full list of 48 announcements on the TIFF site.

Photo by Greg's Southern Ontario.

A large portion of Yonge and Bloor streets will be handed over to pedestrians, cyclists, and outdoor community events for two Sundays this August as part of an plan to create two temporary linear parks.

The Open Streets concept, which has been adopted in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles, promotes physical activity and allows businesses on the route to temporarily open onto the street (no outside vendors are allowed.) Toronto's event, the first of its kind in the city, will operate on Sundays two weeks apart: Aug 17th and 31st.

Bloor will be closed to auto traffic from Spadina to Parliament and Yonge from Bloor to Queen from 8 a.m. to noon. Intersecting streets will remain open and cars allowed to pass through the event.

The event has been in the works for more than a year. Originally, organizers planned to open up a larger portion of Bloor and Yonge, from High Park to Greenwood on the Danforth and Bloor south to Queens Quay, over a larger number of Sundays.

What do you think of the idea?

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the time of the events.

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

Opening a couple of months after this winter's Art Spiegelman exhibition, The AGO has another blockbuster show in the works: Canada's first large-scale retrospective of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The NYC graffiti/fine art artist rose to fame in the 80's only to tragically join the so-called "27 club," dying of a heroin overdose in 1988. His often massive paintings (Jay Z is a collector) are fascinating to behold in person, as child-like sketches and sardonic scrawled wordplay tackle issues of racism, social justice, and politics that are (unfortunately) just as relevant today.

The Toronto Basquiat exhibition, curated by Austrian art historian, curator, and critic Dieter Buchhart, will be "the first thematic examination of the artist's work" - though the paintings tend to speak for themselves thematically no matter how they're arranged, so perhaps Buchhart is getting a little ahead of himself. Nonetheless this will be a significant show, and any excuse to watch David Bowie as Andy Warhol in Basquiat is gladly received. Lets hope the AGO calls local artist Henry Benvenuti to speak - any chance to hear to him talk New York stories is a gift.

Basquiat opens at the Art Gallery of Ontario Feb. 7, 2015 and runs until May 10, 2015.

The growth of the food trucks scene in Toronto is a story of ingenuity and perseverance in the face of the numerous obstacles created by City Hall, the restaurant lobby and local BIAs. Even though we've seen some food trucks disappear from the local landscape in the last few months, there have been more than an equal number of new trucks take to the streets in an effort to elevate our street food beyond the forgettable a la carte initiative.

Joining the ranks of Toronto's mobile kitchens, this freshman class of new food trucks finally seems to reflect the appetites of the people in this city. Dishing up impressive diversity, you'll find that street foods du jour come in the form of roti, rice balls, samosas, regional BBQ and acai bowls.

Here are my picks for the top 10 new food trucks to eat at this summer in Toronto.

Stoke Stack BBQ
Catch this truck in service at a regular spot equipped with picnic tables on Gerrard, next to the Zero Gravity Circus, when it's in between catering gigs. The menu features Texas-style BBQ, meaning that the meat is seasoned simply with just salt and pepper and relies solely on thick smoke, low heat and patience to draw out the best flavours. The sampler platter with a slab of Wonder bread is awesome, or look out for a rotating selection of sandwiches and fully loaded poutines.

Burgatory
Co-owned by a mom and son team, this food truck idolizes burgers and cites the seven deadly sins as inspiration for its indulgent line-up of Cumbrae's beef patties nestled into puffy brioche buns. The menu tempts with selections like the Sloth burger, dressed with hickory sticks and Velveeta, or Greed, stacked with bacon and bourbon sauce.

ME.N.U
This highly-anticipated food truck finally hit the streets this spring after a well-documented year of research, working the line on other trucks, travelling, food testing and then vending at pop-ups and in rented trucks. Now with four wheels to call their own (courtesy of the now defunct Stuft food truck), owners Allen Tan and Brian Siu-Chong are making the most of their city-issued curbside license and serving up fried rice balls, rice burgers and peking duck tacos.

Acai Dreamzz
The launch of this frozen treat truck coincided perfectly in time to piggyback off World Cup fever and a piqued interest in all things Brazil. Since debuting in May, the menu, specializing in smoothies and fruit-topped sorbet bowls, has introduced Torontonian street food junkies to the sweet, refreshing superfruit that is the Amazonian acai berry.

Kal & Mooy
Toronto's first East African food truck is introducing Somali home cooking to the thriving curbside scene. The mom 'n' pop operation is helmed by Ahmad Duale and his wife, Aisha Mohamed, who have been dishing up a comforting, grab-and-go menu of beef, chicken and vegetarian samosas, and wraps assembled on sabaya, a traditional pan-fried Somali flatbread.

Steel Cut Coffee
Coffee trucks are the best. Seeing one at an open air market, festival or even at a food truck rally where your stamina is being tested by so, so much tryptophan can be (and, for me, has been) the highlight of many excursions. While Steel Cut Coffee is neither the first nor the only coffee truck in town, it's the only one brewing locally roasted Pig Iron espresso and offering hearty oatmeal bowls along with fresh baked goods.

Randy's Roti
Having launched a first food truck late last season and second one this spring, there are double the opportunities to mow down on house-made doubles, stuffed rotis, hearty stews and soups from this roaming West Indian kitchen.

Cornehcopia
Specializing in an all time festival staple, this mobile kitchen offers an alternative to the deep-fried foods that dominate most curbside menus. Keeping things simple and straightforward, the menu offers buttered corn on a cob or in cup, plus fun fully-loaded options like Mexican corn topped with queso and chili.

Bacon Nation
No longer do Torontonians need to wait for the CNE to indulge in over the top, bacon covered delights. The food truck rolls with its established menu featuring bacon, bacon and you guessed it, more bacon. Order up a Pig Mac or Notorious P.I.G burger and wash it down with a Peanut Butter Bacon Milkshake or bacon wrapped, deep fried Mars bar for dessert.

Funnel Cake Dream
Making fried confections its niche, this sweet new food truck is taking this classic festival staple on the road. The menu features freshly fried, sugar-dusted funnel cakes dished out with the usual assortment of vanilla ice cream, fruit coulis, whipped cream and syrups. If that doesn't sound gluttonous enough, entertain the option of smothering it with maple syrup and sprinkling bacon bits over top.

Honourable mentions go out to Rancho Relaxo, Rose City Kitchen and We Got Balls!

Thanks to Pure Leaf for sponsoring our summer adventures. For more things to do this summer, check out our Best of Summer page.

Did I miss any? Give props to your favourite new food truck in the comments.

Road closures in Toronto for July 24 to 27 rounds up the key transportation shut-downs affecting the city, including street and TTC closures.

KEY ROAD CLOSURES IN TORONTO

Queen: Woodbine--Beech. The Beaches Jazz Festival requires the closure of Queen Street through the neighbourhood from 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday July 24, Friday July 25, and Saturday July 26.

TTC CLOSURES

510 Spadina: Dundas. Water main replacement work (and later streetcar track replacement) means Spadina and Dundas is closed to all streetcar traffic until Aug. 11. The 505 Dundas streetcar will divert via McCaul, College, and Bathurst. The 510 Spadina is being replaced by bus until July 28.

504 King, 505 Dundas: Broadview. For six weeks starting Sunday, July 20, the 504 King and 505 Dundas streetcars will be unable to reach Broadview subway station due to construction on Broadview at Danforth. The 504 will turn south at Dundas and Broadview and return to King via Queen and Parliament. The 505 will divert via Parliament, Gerrard and Broadview. Both routes will be completed by shuttle bus.

ONGOING CLOSURES

Over and above the special closures this weekend, construction projects across Toronto result in numerous other road restrictions across the city. For a comprehensive list of such closures, you can consult the official map maintained by the City of Toronto (also available as a PDF.)