Toronto is a city of neighbourhoods - dozens and dozens of them, and if you're new to the city, it can be tough to figure out where to land. Navut, a Montreal-based site which recently expanded to Toronto, aims to solve that problem by matching home/apartment-hunters to neighbourhoods that suit them - complete with available vacancies.

Though the site is primarily geared toward newcomers to Canada, it's handy for anyone - particularly if you're not yet familiar with all corners of the GTA. In addition to rent prices, the site also takes local schools, transportation, amenities, and other information into account. You can also check out their neighbourhood profiles, which feature some fascinating stats on safety, employment, income, population demographics and real estate for each area.

I gave it a spin myself: After plugging in my lowest and highest desired rents, ideal proximity to downtown (very high) and to local amenities (ditto), and ideal method of transport (the Red Rocket), it spat out ... a listing for an east-end apartment building less than a 10-minute walk from my house. Eerie. Check out the site for yourself here.

Toronto has a rich history of success and failure. Luckily, there has been more of the former than the latter, but there are still lessons to be learned from the past. Toronto City Hall is less welcoming to visitors than it was when it opened in the 1960s, and Yonge, one of the city's most famous shopping streets, is configured to favour the minority of drivers who use it as a thoroughfare.

Likewise, the Toronto transit system, once the envy of the world, has fallen on hard times. The cost of building new transit has been passed from the province to the city and there doesn't appear to be a clear, long-term plan to fill the funding gap.

Here are 5 things Toronto could learn from its past.

City Hall is a place of the people, for the people
There was a time when Toronto City Hall was a place people wanted to visit. Instead of trudging through the heavy wooden doors to apply for a permit or pay a fine, tourists and locals were ushered inside by friendly tour guides who were eager to show off the City of Toronto's stunning modern centrepiece.

Funded by citizens, City Hall was built with a number of public features, including a top-floor observation deck, a cafeteria, and, of course, a public gallery in the council chamber. In 2012, activist Dave Meslin pitched the idea of Walmart-style greeters at City Hall, an idea briefly championed by Doug Ford. The observation deck might be ostensibly be closed for safety reasons, but the idea of making the seat of government more welcoming to visitors is a winner.

Investments in technology pay dividends
Toronto used to be a world leader in the application of transportation technology. In 1963, the city dropped $3.2 million (about $24 million in today's money) on a gigantic supercomputer capable of timing the traffic lights, calculating property taxes, and tallying election votes. The spec was impressive by the standards of the day; 256 kilobytes of RAM and 6 megabytes of storage space, which is just a tiny fraction of the processing power and capacity of a modern smartphone.

It turned out the UNIVAC 1107, which filled an entire air-conditioned room at Old City Hall, was best applied cracking the city's traffic flow problems, optimizing intersections to reduce jams and tallying the number of vehicles on the street. The machine had its foibles (the UNIVAC wasn't specifically designed for traffic and many of the peripheral components like the car-detecting road strips had to be invented by local engineers) but at the time no other city in the world was using computer technology to manage traffic.

Engineers from cities all over the world came to learn how we did it.

Yonge St. should be pedestrianized
For four years in the early 1970s, Yonge was closed to automobile traffic and transformed into an open-air pedestrian mall between Wellington and Gerrard. Like today, Yonge was used more by people on foot than those in cars. The response under mayor David Crombie was to give the street to the majority of its users for several weeks during the summer. It was popular, too: users liked the additional recreational space and merchants enjoyed an uptick in business.

The mall was lost in part due to the construction of the Eaton Centre. As John Barber recalls in the Toronto Star, the provincial government refused to make the mall a permanent fixture amid pressure from the owners of the downtown shopping mall. Barber also points out there is no street parking south of Eglinton, so none would be lost by bringing back the mall on a more permanent basis.

Plan ahead for transit
One of the benefits of a Toronto transit master plan would be the ability to coordinate construction in advance of upcoming projects. Take John Tory's SmartTrack plan, for example. If it's to be built out of Union Station, as planned, it will require parts of the transit hub to be modified within a few years of construction wrapping on the last round of improvements.

Engineers built the Prince Edward Viaduct with a train deck in anticipation of a future rail line. It added about $300,000 to the bill in 1913, but when the Bloor-Danforth line arrived in 1966, the roughed-in deck proved valuable. Likewise, Queen station was built in 1954 with an underground streetcar stop beneath the subway tracks. Had it been needed, it would have cut thousands from the cost of burying the Queen line.

The province needs to subsidize Toronto transit
In 1995, under premier Mike Harris, the cost of subsidizing the Toronto Transit Commission (as well as parts of education and welfare) was passed from the province to the city. The province had help cover the cost of building new transit and keeping buses, streetcars, and trains running since the 1960s, and the sudden financial burden placed on the city proved disastrous. Services were cut and plans for new lines were shelved.

"We know the city can't afford it. There's no city in the world that has its transit funding only from the municipal tax base," TTC chief general manager Rick Ducharme said in 2000. If Toronto is going to dig itself out of transit purgatory, the province needs to step in and provide predicable, sustainable funding once again.

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

Lead image by Phil Marion

If you're looking for a Victorian house on a large lot, head up to Weston to this stately home at 125 Rosemount Avenue. The curb appeal of this house is unbeatable. And it has a lot of classic features too like a beautiful front porch, high ceilings, hardwood floors, and dormer windows. This house has good bones to go along with and even better historic charm.

The catch to the intact features, though, may be the loud interior design. The pink walls and loud wallpaper is more 1914 than 2014, so you might want to do an upgrade. Nothing a fresh coat of paint won't fix, though. The kitchens and bathrooms may need an update too. But even that isn't all bad. There's space to shape these rooms into the style of your dreams.

Worried about the location? Don't be. There is plenty to do around these parts.

SPECS

• Address: 125 Rosemount Avenue
• Price: $879,000
• Lot Size: 88.83 x 131.00 ft
• Bedrooms: 4
• Bathrooms: 2
• Parking: 3
• Taxes: $4,538
• Walk Score: 91

NOTABLE FEATURES

• Large property with a large yard
• Victorian curb appeal
• Large back and front porches
• Hardwood floors and wide baseboards

GOOD FOR

They say it's the inside that counts. But if the outside counts just as much to you, this might be the spot for you. The cream brick, mansard roof, and front porches make for top notch curb appeal. Not only that, but the expansive yard leaves plenty of room for gardening or a play space for kids. You can have it all still within the city limits.

MOVE ON IF

You're looking for a central location. This neighbourhood is actually quite walkable - it clocks in with a Walk Score of 91. But transit? You're not so lucky. Weston is distant from any subway or streetcar lines. Be prepared to get used to bus routes or make use of the attached garage if you purchase this home.

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

Thanks to Bosley Real Estate for sponsoring our House of the Week.

Last year, the inaugural Gentlemen's Expo brought a flotilla of vintage cars, bulletproof suits, and musk-scented everything to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. If your apartment smells of rich mahogany, or your interests just run to scotch and pocket squares (guilty), the bigger-than-ever second edition of the expo, set to take over the MTCC this weekend, will be right up your alley.

While celeb guests like UFC's Georges St. Pierre get top billing, the event's also boasting a brand-new live stage set to host unplugged sets from Hollerado, Born Ruffians, Wildlife, Zeus, Basia Bulat and The Darcys.

You'll find threads from the likes of John Varvatos, Tiger of Sweden, and Vince at the fashion pavilion, and about 30 breweries and distilleries doling out libations (along with Bar Chef's Frankie Solarik, who will be doling out a cocktail created for the event).

Gentle-people, start your engines. Ticket packages start at $30 for a single day - check them out here.

Photo from the Gentlemen's Expo 2013 on Facebook.

Photo by g026r in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Today in Toronto see the mesmerizing photographs of Suzy Lake - they've been up at the AGO for about a week, but the official opening for the ground breaking photographer's work is tonight. As always, the AGO is free Wednesday evenings, so it's a chance to see this unique, must-hit exhibit on a budget. At Trinity Square Video Reel Asian Film Fest will co-present Will Kwan's If All You Have is a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail, which looks to be a strange odyssey into CanCon and Toronto real estate.

Lovers of short films will want to be at Carlton Cinema for the International Short Film Festival, and indie music fans can chose between TV on the Radio and Foxes In Fiction, but Partynextdoor is sold out. If you want to get weird, Dufferin Mall is unveiling a "Mural of Toronto's Most Stylish." I'm very excited. For more events, click on over to our events section.

• Art: Introducing Suzy Lake - Public Opening (AGO)
• Film: Toronto International Short Film Festival (Carlton Cinema)
• Art: Will Kwan - Opening Reception (Trinity Square Video)
• Music: TV on the Radio (Phoenix)
• Music: Partynextdoor (Mod Club)
• Music: Foxes In Fiction (Hard Luck)
• Lit: Pivot (Press Club)

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

Growing up in North Toronto often felt like a world away from downtown, which conjured up images of grimy Yonge St. arcades and kids with considerably more street smarts than those who got off the subway at Eglinton or Lawrence stations. Looking back now at a neighbourhood in which nothing much seemed to happen at the time, it's remarkable just how much it has changed over the last 20 years.

The old North Toronto Collegiate is a fancy condo-school hybrid now, development pressure has the days numbered for the strip of stores on the east side of Yonge north of Eglinton, and so many independent businesses have shuttered or changed hands. Given this transformation (one of which is very much still underway), let's get nostalgic for the place that once was.

Here are 10 signs you grew up in North Toronto.

1. There's a polaroid of you on the wall at Bellybusters, where you went regularly late into the night to gorge on turkey bacon subs to fight off a looming hangover or because you were young enough that you had nothing better to do.

2. You celebrated a birthday at the sprawling, retro-styled Lime Rickey's just east of Yonge and Eglinton. The food was terrible, but you probably didn't care because the place actually seemed fun at the time (or at least much more fun than the Spring Rolls location that's there now).

3. Despite the arrival of the SilverCity cinemas at Yonge and Eglinton, you still go to Canada Square for the 1985-era cinema decor, and remember hitting up Mr. Grumps for dinner downstairs before taking in a flick. You also still remember what it was like to catch a film at the Eglinton Theatre, which closed in 2002. The new theatres might have bigger screens and better concessions, but there's just so little character.

4. You navigated the way-too-small parking lot at Sporting Life on a weekend for the privilege of buying running shoes, a tennis racquet, or skis that you knew were overpriced but you didn't want to travel elsewhere to buy.

5. Northern Secondary kids loved the Homeway diner, probably as it was so close, the owners were happy to take their money, and turned a blind eye to the fact that loads of them were stoned and skipping classes. The place has since been renovated (2006), but its greasy spoon character lives in our hearts.

6. You bought tapes at Vortex, beads and other worthless crap at Inti Crafts, books at Lichtmans, illegal cigarettes at Midtown coffee shop, and wandered aimlessly through the Yonge-Eglinton Centre before the Indigo and HMV arrived.

7. Berlin Nightclub was a place that you knew existed, even as you never actually went. Underage drinking was done either outside of the neighbourhood, at the crappy sports bar Cheers, or at the Rose & Crown (but only if you had bang-up ID).

8. You've dashed for a bus at the old terminal at Eglinton Station because the light above the bay was flashing and you thought you might make it -- but were inevitably greeted with a mouthful of exhaust from an old fishbowl pulling out just as you hit the top of the stairs.

9. Chances are that you loitered at the shitty Coffee Time at Yonge & Lawrence before it became a Starbucks. There's a library across the street, but all the high school students congregated at the coffee shop and tried to avoid spending any money on coffee or doughnuts.

10. You remember eating at the St. Hubert at Avenue and Lawrence, back when Toronto actually had a few locations of the Quebec-based rival to Swiss Chalet. The all you can eat coleslaw is worth some nostalgia, but the decor was incredibly stale. A huge Shopper's Drug Mart sits there now.

BONUS

11. Consumer's Distributing was a storehouse of retails dreams for you, even as the unassuming location at Avenue and Melrose always seemed so depressing in person, especially when the item you came for wasn't in stock. Things improved when the location became an LCBO, though that, too, has come and gone (there's a fancier version up the street now).

What signs did I miss? Add your suggestions to the comments.

Hidden bars in Toronto are hard to come by (for obvious reasons). They're the places you need to hear about by word of mouth, or discover yourself in the off-chance that you actually notice them when walking by. These are the kinds of bars where locals take their out-of-towner friends when they visit, where secret menus reign supreme, and are likely the best spots for adventurous first dates.

Here are my picks for top hidden bars in Toronto.

The Libertine
Hidden behind a door labeled with a neon sign advertising tarot and palm readings, The Libertine is another offspring of the faux speakeasy trend. The atmosphere has hints of the carnival-esque - the stuffed peacock, mythological artwork, and fortune-teller help. Bartenders here make strong drinks and the chef, who formerly worked at Momofuku, serves up some mean appetizers.

Toronto Temperance Society
The owners of Sidecar always wanted to open a speakeasy, and while those are a thing of the past, their modern rebirth has come in the form of the members-only bar. The Toronto Temperance Society can be found above Sidecar on College Street and accessed through an unmarked black door near tables in the front of the restaurant. Memberships to sponsor "the art of drinking well" go for $25 a month and come with a series of house rules to abide by (including the controversial "no cosmos" request).

Unlovable
Unlovable is Dundas West's most famous underground bar - its entrance is hidden beneath street level and opens up into a warm, cavernous atmosphere. With its bright orange classroom chairs, arcade games, and retro half-moon bar, Unlovable has plenty of charm. It's been known to host students throughout the weekend and a slightly older crowd during weekdays. In any case, its cozy for crowds or great for a few lonesome evening brews.

LoPan
Situated above Dailo on College, LoPan is a quaint second floor bar that you won't find on your radar unless you know it's there. Its sophisticated décor is the prime setting for a night spent sipping original Eastern-style cocktails.

Hole in the Wall
The Junction's Hole in the Wall is pretty self-explanatory: it's a long and narrow with exposed brick and an entrance that's easy to miss. The doorway to this long-standing music venue appears to be more of an afterthought, tucked into a narrow path beside what looks to be the entryway to a residence upstairs. Though it may be a tight squeeze, fear not: there are plenty of craft brews to go around here.

Escobar
Through the kitchen and behind a freezer door at King West's Latin restaurant, Valdez, is Escobar, a hidden gem where VIP guests can go to enjoy a cocktail in a Prohibition Era setting. First, let's acknowledge the name play - a secret spot named for Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar that just happens to be a bar. Another highlight is the drink selection, or rather, lack there-of: Escobar has no official menu, so be prepared to have the bartender prepare you something new and unexpected.

Junction City Music Hall
Another basement-level secret is Junction City Music Hall, a concert venue with all the fixings a good bar should have. It's accessed by way of a steep staircase just off Dundas Street West and - bonus points! - is not too far from Hole in the Wall, in case you're doing a secret-bar crawl.

The Green Room
Tucked in an alleyway between Brunswick and Borden, The Green Room is part of a family of restaurants - including The Red Room, Pour Boy, and Nirvana - in Toronto's west end. At this point, it's hardly a well-kept secret - particularly among local students, thanks to its lasting reputation for cheap eats and run-down, bohemian atmosphere.

York Station (Royal York Hotel)
Few are well acquainted with York Station, The Fairmont Royal York's 24-seat bar hidden away on the mezzanine level of the 85 year-old hotel. The bar, which is train-themed and has the feeling of an old-timey train car, is only open during the day from Monday to Fridays and has been run by the same bartender for 25 years.

Cold Tea
If you've heard music and loud talking come from parts of Kensington that don't seem to host anything other than clothing stores, you've likely overheard the goings-on of Cold Tea. There's a doorway inside Kensington Mall with a single red light above it that opens up into the bar, where the bartenders make specialty cocktails based on your liquor base preferences and the patio outside is always packed (in the summer, at least).

Did I miss any? Leave your favourite hidden bar in the comments.

Photo of Junction City Music Hall by Jesse Milns

Cheap winter coats in Toronto, like in most cities, are generally the provenance of end-of-season sales at big chain stores. But what if you'd rather give your dough to a locally-based business - or you just don't want to wait around for Boxing Day? Generally, you've got two options: Buy used (which can be hit or miss), or buy super-cheap (and potentially have your new coat disintegrate by Valentine's Day).

Do a little bit of digging, however, and you can satisfy your sorry budget with your desire to build a quality winter wardrobe. Here are a few of my favourite places to score an inexpensive winter coat in Toronto.

Thrift stores
The local Goodwill or Value Village is generally the first stop for any bargain-hunter (and each one has their own secret source). Outerwear selection and pricing, naturally, varies from store to store; consult our list of Toronto's top 10 thrift shops for the one nearest you.

Winners
Canada's favourite discount chain (and its sister store, Marshalls) trucks in plenty of outerwear for the winter season; some is made specifically for discounters (like all those "Calvin Klein" pieces inevitably packing the shelves), and not everything will be markedly discounted - but the possibility of finding name-brand gems is always worth a hunt. Check out our list of the best and worst Winners stores in Toronto as a starting point.

Outlet malls and stores
Few of these are in Toronto proper, but if you're ever in the area, it's worth it to make a trip. A couple of potential sources: the Le Chateau outlet on Orfus Rd. (there's a fair bit of outerwear to be found among all those satin-y party dresses), the J. Crew Factory location at Vaughan Mills (they may not be "cheap" by most standards, but compared to regular J. Crew, you're saving a pile), and the Danier outlet store on St. Clair West, which unloads leather jackets at up to 80% off retail.

Black Market
At least here, you know you're getting a deal: At Queen West's favourite basement full of dirt-cheap vintage, literally everything - including winter coats - go for $10. They've divvied everything into short and long coats for men and women, and though there's plenty of '80s nylon mom jackets, it's worth trawling through to find a $10 gem. (Pro tip: their sister store, Parkdale's Public Butter, tends to get the best stuff - at still-reasonable prices.)

Bungalow
Head to the back to find the vintage selection at this new/used clothing/furniture shop in Kensington. Coats range between $45 (for a sportier nylon-outer jacket for women) and $60 (a wool men's peacoat), while rarer finds will go higher (I recently spotted a to-die-for '50s rainbow-boucle coat for $95).

Vintage Depot
This newer Kensington spot keeps prices reasonable across the board. They have a few mall-brand coats (including some new with tags) kicking around for about $40, but even oddities like mod striped vintage capes don't go far above the $60 mark, and they've got some Burberry trenches on for $125. (That's better than Exile a few doors down, where coats generally hover around $90.)

Kind Exchange
Toronto's most ridiculously fast-growing chain of resale clothing stores is now accepting winter-wear - look for used coats to keep trickling into stores as the weather turns. A recent visit to their Queen and John location turned up name-brand peacoats at around the $50 mark. And if you come up empty, just head to another location - there's one in your neighbourhood, and your neighbourhood, and yours, too.

Common Sort
The other major player in Toronto's resale clothing game, Common Sort's two locations (in Parkdale and Riverside) keep things a little more tightly-edited than KX. Expect to find modern brands alongside real-deal vintage, and try not to leave with 17 more used finds.

Flashback/Flashback 2/King of Kensington
Granted, you will pay between $75 and $85 for a winter coat at Kensington's reigning family of vintage stores. But that kind of dough will buy you a wool military peacoat (for considerably less than at the army surplus store further north), or a beautiful Gloverall duffle coat - both of which will probably last you way longer than that nylon thing you got at Joe for the same price.

Off The Truck
This brand-new store in Kensington, which focuses on overstock or damaged goods, definitely comes by its cheeky name honestly - much of the clothing, which comes from Joe Fresh, French Connection and other fast-fashion brands, is a little worse for the wear. But you might also find a perfectly serviceable men's Calvin Klein peacoat for $39, or a beautiful vintage coat (with a fixable rip) for half of what you'd pay elsewhere in the market.

Did I miss any? Leave your favourite spot to score a cheap winter coat in the comments.

Photo of Black Market by Jesse Milns.

Veggielicious is once again about to spring forth from Toronto's kitchens. Starting this Friday (November 14), the fourth annual event will bring vegan-friendly prix-fixe menus and other specials to a couple dozen Toronto restaurants through November 30.

Naturally, vegan spots like Grasslands and Rawlicious will be offering specials, along with newer faces like Grasshopper Restaurant and Doug's Public Kitchen. A handful of vegetarian restaurants will also be offering all-vegan specials, including Castro's Lounge and Sadie's Diner. But you don't need to be a vegan or a vegetarian restaurant to take part - Glas Wine Bar, Free Times Cafe, five different Magic Oven locations, the Steady, and both locations of Tabule will all be banishing meat for their vegan-friendly specials.

On the bakery side of things, there's specials from vegan-friendly haunts Bunner's (in the Junction and Kensington), Through Being Cool, Sweets From The Earth, and some rotating specials from the prepared foods counter at YamChops. Menu details are still being finalized, but there's plenty to start salivating over on the Veggielicious website. (Who else could really go for a chickpea burrito and a vegan donut right now?)

The top sandwiches in Toronto display an astounding variety, offering everything from classic childhood faves like tuna melts and BLTs to prevailing picks like banh mi, veal, panini and grilled cheese.

Here are my picks for 30 sandwiches that are neighbourhood heroes.

See also:

The top 30 burgers in Toronto by neighbourhood
The top 30 pizza in Toronto by neighbourhood
The top 25 falafel in Toronto by neighbourhood

THE ANNEX
Solid sandwiches can be found at Victory Cafe and Vinny's Panini but if you want a really deluxe bagel sandwich with thick cream cheese and smoked fish, Schmaltz on Dupont is the place for you.

THE BEACHES
Tori's Bakeshop is home to scrumptious veggie BLTs, daiya grilled cheeses and, country vegetable pate with pickles, sauerkraut and mustard on rye buns

BLOORDALE VILLAGE
Brock Sandwich is a specialist on Bloor West where chicken piri piri on a bun, and shrimp and giant squid po'boys are menu staples.

BLOOR WEST VILLAGE
Baka Gallery Cafe is a perfect spot for paninis like muffuletta, or braised brisket with fried onions.

CABBAGETOWN
Adjacent to Steak & Chops butcher, St. Jamestown Deli piles custom sandwiches high with cured meats, assorted cheeses and fresh veggies.

THE DANFORTH
Oyster po'boys and Southern fried chicken sandwiches at The Wren are mighty fine examples of sandwich artistry.

DUNDAS WEST
Dundas West is a diverse pocket of delicious sandwiches but when it comes to picking favourites, it's hard to ignore Porchetta & Co. where porchetta and crackling sandwiches doused in truffle sauce are the house specialty.

EAST CHINATOWN
Rose's Vietnamese Sandwiches offers incredible value for banh mi layered with assorted cold cuts, pickled veggies and fresh sprigs of cilantro.

ETOBICOKE
Hot Italian sandwiches at SanRemo are okay, but the thing I like best at this Etobicoke bakery is the giant slab sandwiches built on whole loaves layered with cold cuts and crispy fried onions.

FINANCIAL DISTRICT
BLTs and coronation chicken sandwiches are among the stellar selection of hot and cold sandwiches at Brick Street Bakery in the PATH.

JUNCTION
Locomotive in the Junction is a top pick for its breakfast sandwiches, pressed tostas and meaty pada buns loaded with house-cured or brined meats like roast chicken, porchetta or beef brisket.

JUNCTION TRIANGLE
Sterling Social is a good bet if you want delicious made-from-scratch sandwiches with top quality meats. The humble ham and swiss here was one of the best I've had, made with hand carved chunks of roast ham with maple mayo and mustard.

KENSINGTON MARKET
There are lots of good sandwiches to be had in Kensington Market but my go-to is Sanagan's where the lunch counter serves up supremely delicious sandwiches loaded with fried chicken sandwich always impresses.

KING EAST
Over two dozen grilled sandwiches at Sky Blue Sky offer enough variety to eat something different for lunch everyday of the month. If the selection overwhelms, start with
the "Say You Miss Me" with roasted beef brisket, barbecue sauce and Swiss cheese.

LEASIDE
Proper tuna melts with cheddar and tomato are among the nostalgic classics on the menu at the Millwood Melt. Along with sides of tomato soup and pickles it's like the quintessential nostalgic Canadian lunch spot.

LESLIEVILLE
The east side is home to excellent options served between sliced bread. Rashers is a good source for a BLT fix, but the real winner is Completo for its churrasco sandwiches loaded with avocado and hot sauce.

LIBERTY VILLAGE
The lunch hour hero in Liberty Village is Merci Mon Ami where baguettes are packed with things like prosciutto, roast beef, chicken souvlaki or eggplant parm.

LITTLE ITALY
While Bitondo's and San Francesco Foods duke it out for the title of best Italian sandwich in this hood, Yunes' Fish Sandwiches (The Fish Store) is a worthwhile lunch option where fresh grilled fish sandwiches are a highlight.

NORTH YORK
Classic deli is the specialty at Ben & Izzy where pastrami, corned beef and rubens on rye are among the favourites. Inquire about the knish-wich -- it's nothing short of exceptional.

QUEEN WEST
Queen West is like sandwich shop central but my fave is the seasonal soft shell crab sandwich from Fresh Off The Boat. It's one impressive and delicious seafood sandwich.

ROSEDALE
Don't be deterred by the line-up that snakes out the door at lunch hour - it moves fast anyway and it's only a testament to the greatness of Black Camel sandwich shop. Pulled pork, brisket and BLTs are among the house specialties.

SCARBOROUGH
Focaccia layered with deli meats and veal or meatballs on a bun from the well stocked Italian hot table at Agincourt Bakery are exceptional examples of the fresh, home-style foods made with love at this longstanding lunch destination.

ST. CLAIR WEST
The Stockyards does many things well and sandwiches are no exception. The menu features five varieties stacked with delicious goodies from the smoker like pulled pork, brisket and bacon.

ST. LAWRENCE MARKET
Carousel Bakery's peameal is perhaps the most famous sandwich in the city, beating out other stellar sandwiches like Buster's lobster roll and Mustachio's fried eggplant.

WEST QUEEN WEST
West Queen West has seen a recent surge of sandwich purveyors but for me Sud Forno is the winner with a line up of sandwiches on fresh house-made bread.

YONGE & BLOOR
Grab and go concept, Picnic in the underground is a great source for affordable, ready-made sandwiches stuffed with wasabi tuna, curry chicken, or brie and apple slices.

YONGE & DUNDAS
The Barberian's Steak House spin-off, TLP is home to superbly tasty steak sandwich loaded on a bun with cremini mushrooms, peppers and garlic butter.

YONGE & EGLINTON
Boar is a popular pick in this neighbourhood thanks to a solid roster of veal, chicken and meatball sandwiches but the under the radar top pick is La Salumeria, a no frills Italian deli where they make old school sandwiches with thick stacks of cold cuts.

YONGE & LAWRENCE
Belly Busters at Yonge and Lawrence is another old school sandwich shop, best known for submarine sandwiches slapped with cold cuts and a no frills assortment of toppings on squishy bread.

YONGE & ST. CLAIR
The toasty "Spicy Bird" sandwich with buffalo chicken, blue cheese and shredded carrots is among the many reasons Delica Kitchen is my top pick in this neighbourhood.

What did I miss? Disagree with my selections in the comments.

Top photo of Completo by Jesse Milns.

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

• Toronto Bourbon Week kicks off today, Friday, November 14 with two spirit-filled events held each day for the next seven days. The full schedule of tastings, cocktail nights and food pairings is online, but highlights include a bourbon brunch at Insomnia and a Triple 'B' & Q at Triple A Bar.
• Veggielicious, a two-week celebration of meat-free prix fixe menus, and specials at participating Toronto restaurants (Bunner's Bake Shop, Doug's Public Kitchen and Humble Beginnings, to name just a few) starts today, Friday, November 14 and will run until November 30.
• The Gourmet Food & Wine Expo featuring tutored tastings, a Food Network chef stage and a spiritology pavilion, is on at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre starting Thursday, November 20 and running until Sunday, November 23. General admission ranges from $20 to $45 depending the day.

UPCOMING

• Toronto Common and Ryoji Ramen & Izakaya (690 College St.) present an Okinawa Tofu Tasting on Tuesday, November 18 and 25. Sample tofu dishes from the regular and late-night menus for $16 and enjoy 10% off additional food purchases.
• On Tuesday, November 25 the Drake One Fifty (150 York St.) hosts a pop-up dinner with Minneapolis chef Jamie Malone for a one night preview of her new restaurant, Brut.
• The Food Dudes and MBA Restaurant Group present a Winter Chef Series with dinners featuring top chefs from across Canada held between December 2 and 21 at The Templar Kitchen (348 Adelaide St. West). Chef Coulson Armstrong of Canoe kicks off the series with a 12-course dinner on December 2 and 3, while dinners from chefs Roy Oh (Anju, Calgary), Marc Lepine (Atelier, Ottawa), Eric Hendry (Model Milk, Calgary), Martin Juneau (Pastaga, Montreal) follow. It all culminates with the Toronto Plate Swap, an eight-course, multi-chef collaboration for charity.
• Rose & Sons is pairing up with Collective Concerts for new series in 2015. Eat & Greet with the Band kicks off with dinner with Elliot Brood at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on January 24.

Photo by Jen Hunter.

Toronto's newest record store is already a hit with local music fans, with a slick interior playing host to an impressive, tastefully selected stock of hard-to-find indie vinyl releases grouped in an unusual fashion - by record label - as well as guitars, cassettes, record players, and radios. They may be surprised, however, to learn owner Julian Seth-Wong is 18-years-old.

Find out more in my profile of Tonality Records in the services section.

Do you remember Global TV's Train 48, which took place on a GO Train car carrying average denizens home from Toronto to Burlington every evening?

After ambitiously setting off in 2003 to reform the hoary format of television soap operas, Train 48 also experimented with the burgeoning techno interaction between viewers and their stories, but most importantly addressed the still pressing need for inexpensive, compelling local content. By the summer of 2005, the whole enterprise de-railed.

Anyone who commutes daily on GO Transit knows about Train families - those groups of 2-4 people who sit together morning and night, gossiping loudly about their mundane lives, the weather, their idiot bosses, current events, did you see that on TV last night? Blah, blah, etc., etc. Spending ludicrous amounts of time huddled together in transit hell with strangers forges unlikely bonds, so it's not all that surprising these mostly annoying archetypes might yield dramatis personae for a soap opera.

Australia got there first with Going Home (2000), a shot-on-the-same-day-as-aired soap detailing a shared public transit commute between a cast of local characters, with loosely improvised storylines based upon suggestions made by viewers on the show's interactive website. While in Australia participating in a debate about the importance of lucrative international co-productions to compete with moneyed American TV hegemony, Toronto based producer Steve Levitan optioned the rights for Going Home on the spot.

Its creator had offered up a compelling argument that cheap local content married to audience interaction could be just as compelling and competitive as bigger budgeted U.S fare. "I instantly became very excited about the production model. I still think it is the way of the future" muses Levitan.

Originally Train 48 was to be set on a VIA train (Train 48 is actually the designated Toronto to Ottawa train which leaves every morning at 9AM), however at the time VIA was sponsoring the CFL and rather narrowly saw little value in a daily 30-minute commercial. While GO did not actively sponsor the show, it allowed the crew to salvage any materials they needed from the GO graveyard for the 64-foot replica carriage on which Train 48 was filmed.

Focusing on 12 or so GO commuters, Train 48 took its cues from British "kitchen-sink" soaps more than glossy American dailies (Coronation Street has been a CBC fixture for almost 50 years and its warts and all realism is certainly more "Canadian" than the assorted waxworks of Genoa City), specifically its improvisation techniques a la Mike Leigh.

Scripts were written very loosely, then beefed up through actor input and improv - shot by 1:30pm, edited by 5:00pm and ready to air by 7:00pm - allowing for timely real life events to be incorporated. Many wrongly recall Train 48 as being driven by headline news such as the Iraq war, SARs and Transgender issues, but mostly the material served as window dressing for defining the characters.

Heading up the cast was Lisa Merchant, a veteran of the Second City improve comedy scene, who remembers spending the weeks leading up to filming at workshops honing character development "so that when we got there it wasn't stiff, it was like we knew each other well by that point". In fact, many cast members were from the Canadian sketch comedy/improve world, signposting the series was meant to be as comedic as it was a dramatic. Actors like Paul Braunstein, Joe Dinicol, Krista Sutton, Amy Price Francis, Ingrid Hart, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Andrew Martin looked like the kind of people you see on the GO train every day. Memorable cameos included John Neville, Pinball Clemons, and Sheila Copps.

The heady innovation came in the form of audience interaction. Levitan recalls a (then novel) time when Global TV wanted Train 48 to drive traffic to their blooming website Canada.com, "so we did an experiment where we had Pete the Stockbroker (Raoul Bhaneja), on fear of getting his knees broken, on the phone with his bookie betting on the outcome of the Jays/Yankees game that started at 7:30pm, right when our show finished. We invited the audience to go to the site and vote for who they thought would win, and it ended up freezing Canada.com for a few days."

In addition to involving the audience in storyline and character evolution on the Train 48 forums (now long gone) at Canada.com, Train 48's greatest magic trick may well have been its cost effective Henry Ford-ian assembly line ethos. Coming in at around $40,000 per episode, Train 48 routinely got around 200,000 - 300,000 viewers per night. Contrast that with expensive current CBC series such as Strange Empire and The Honourable Woman, which receive roughly the same viewership but come with a price tag of $1.5 million a show.

Consider the current climate where conventional TV networks scramble to stop the migration to Netflix and numerous online options: other than live sporting events, or big ticket reality series, most series are no longer "sticky," and can be viewed wherever and whenever. A series in the mold of Train 48 can be current, custom made by the viewers as every episode became a focus group on what they want to see, which characters need to go, and how conflicts might be resolved. It was the closest television ever got to the insanely popular Choose Your Own Adventure books on which the most prized target demo had grown up on.

Train 48 also existed in a time before social media exploded, as Levitan laments "Perhaps the train left the station a little too early". Can you imagine such a robust format with built in viewer interactions via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube? It seems bizarre that such a show has yet to emerge, although Levitan boils it down to the fear broadcasters have in giving up the amount of real estate a daily soap requires. Entertainment Tonight Canada (which ultimately replaced Train 48 in 2005), E Talk and Seinfeld reruns are a much safer, albeit more expensive bet.

Levitan has ruled out a return engagement set on a train, but still has several series in development which adhere to the Train 48 format. He hopes that one day a Canadian broadcaster will see value in re-running the entire Train 48 series, if only to comply with stringent Cancon quotas.

While Lisa Merchant still gets approached by people on the street who remember her from Train 48 ("Hey, you were on the train!" is their most frequent observation), the online legacy of the series is strangely low-key. Aside from a few clips on YouTube, the music video for the theme song by 9 Point Landing ("Train Goes") and a full episode courtesy of Steve Levitan's Protocol Entertainment channel on Vimeo, you would be hard pressed to know it ever existed. Weirder even when you consider its grassroots internet pedigree and the fact that it was only a mere decade ago.

After 318 x 30 minutes episodes, Train 48 pulled into the station and allowed viewers a sight which before then had been unseen - the riders disembarking - victims of changing priorities and leadership at Global, and a TV landscape which was about to experience a seismic shift due to social media's rising crust.

When riding GO transit in 2014, it's a lot easier to tune out the mostly vapid Train families with the aid of mobiles, or simply retreat to aural comfort in the Quiet Zone. But for a brief time in the mid-2000s, Train 48 brought them into our homes every night and showed that it is possible to creative innovative TV series, cheaply and with a uniquely local bent.

With special thanks to Steve Levitan and Lisa Merchant

Retrontario plumbs the seedy depths of Toronto flea markets, flooded basements, thrift shops and garage sales, mining old VHS and Betamax tapes that less than often contain incredible moments of history that were accidentally recorded but somehow survived the ravages of time. You can find more amazing discoveries at www.retrontario.com.

After almost three years of construction, the pedestrian tunnel to the Toronto Island airport is finally nearing completion. According to the latest status update from the Toronto Port Authority, much of the technical infrastructure is in place and the pouring of concrete for the base of the land side entrance portal is complete.

The news also means the days are numbered for one of the most ridiculous ferry rides in the world.

The tunnel, which will be the first permanent public link to the Toronto Islands, is due to feature four moving sidewalks along its 243.8-metre length. A bank of elevators on the mainland and a set of escalators on the airport side will move passengers the 30 metres from the tunnel to the surface.

It's expected the journey will take six minutes to complete and help steady the flow of passengers in and out of the terminal. Right now, the airport ferry, which runs every 15 minutes and takes 90 seconds to reach the opposite side, is responsible for sudden surges in demand for taxis at the foot of Bathurst and check-in desks.

Still to be completed is the atrium building that will provide access to the tunnel on the island side, the escalators, and the main entrance pavilion.

In March this year the Toronto Port Authority announced the opening of tunnel had been delayed due to thick ice forming on the unfinished walls.

The ferry, one of the shortest trips of its kind in the world, will stay use once the privately funded $82.5 million walkway opens in early 2015. The vessel will be used to transport vehicles to the airport and continue to be an option for passengers, says Erin Mikaluk from the port authority.

Will the Islands still be the Islands? You decide.

The shaft down which the elevator will be installed on the land side of the tunnel.

Workers install escalator frames on the airport side.

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

Images: Toronto Port Authority.

Toronto is a city of laneways. There are over 250 kilometres of these mostly unnoticed urban arteries, places that are typically granted practical status but that also serve as the site of some of the city's best graffiti, some of our most interesting houses, and more basketball and road hockey games than you can imagine. For as little as we talk about laneways, they're a core feature of Toronto's built landscape.

Prior to last night, I had never seen Toronto's laneways mapped. This, in fact, had been a something that I've wanted to investigate for a while, but there's no need. Thanks to a late night visit to Reddit TOMaps, a resource all urban nerds should visit once in a while, I've discovered that there are already multiple Toronto laneway mapping projects.

My favourite is likely Owen McCabe's laneway project, which has both an Instagram and map component. I has previously known about the former, but not the latter. McCabe is steadily building an encyclopedic record of Toronto laneways, which is fascinating to watch develop.

Tom Weatherburn's map for the Laneway Project looks just like a Flavio Trevisan sculpture, so I'm a big fan of this map on a visual level, though it's hard to use it to explore much in the absence of a zoom feature. This is why the most recent map, an OpenStreets version courtesy of Richard Weait is so useful. Ever lived on a street with a laneway? Now you can go back and track its course through the neighbourhood and how it connects to other laneways around the city.

Which Toronto neighbourhood most needs an LCBO? If the question makes your ears perk up and your pulse race, it looks like you might live in the southern portion of the Annex - or at least a lot of eager Annex drinkers were online yesterday evening when we posed the question to our Twitter followers.

While the battle between LCBOs is forever ongoing (if your entire Eastern European section is Portuguese wines, I'm judging you), some hoods in Toronto still don't yet have the privilege to complain. I used to cry into my pillow about Toronto's lack of horseradish vodka, but now that I'm back in the once-dry Junction, I've got bigger woes.

Unfortunately for you, thirsty Annexers, one of the more recently opened LCBO's is just south in Little Italy at College and Euclid, so a Bloor location may have to wait. But there is, of course, a locationin the Annex on Dupont near Spadina. People-Of-Honest-Ed's, while you're not Weston and 401, at least you have the Wine Rack and you don't live by Fort York, where one can't buy beer, booze, or groceries. (Unless you do - tell us about it.)

TWITTER POLL: what Toronto neighbourhood is most in need of an #LCBO location? #boozeTO

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 14, 2014

@blogTO annex!

— tara robertson (@taraarobertson) November 14, 2014

@blogTO Annex by far

— tod hansen (@sherwoodallan) November 14, 2014

@blogTO the #Annex! One in little Italy, one in the DuPont village, one at ossington, one in Chinatown - none here!

— Stacy McFarlane (@stacemcf) November 14, 2014

@blogTO THE ANNEX!!!

— Sandip (@sadpidnas) November 14, 2014

@blogTO the annex/harbord village!!

— Darcie Blair (@dblairrr) November 14, 2014

@blogTO#boozeTO#LCBO Corktown

— Michael Grimes (@msgrimes1959) November 14, 2014

@blogTO main and gerrard.

— RockStarRochelle (@RockinRochelle) November 14, 2014

@blogTO Fort York. No grocery stores, no LCBO, no Beer Store...

— Adam Stewartsonburg (@astewart91) November 14, 2014

Upper Beaches "@blogTO: TWITTER POLL: what Toronto neighbourhood is most in need of an #LCBO location? #boozeTO"

— Michael Orpen (@MichaelOrpen) November 14, 2014

@blogTO Scarborough East at the STC!!!! STAT!!!! -;) #LCBO#boozeTO

— Michelle Jones (@maej43) November 14, 2014

@blogTO scarborough centre

— Lainey (@Buster8Kitten) November 14, 2014

@blogTO Bathurst and Lawrence! Only thing missing in the Lawrence plaza is an LCBO

— Amy Tinsley (@amytinsley) November 14, 2014

"@blogTO: TWITTER POLL: what Toronto neighbourhood is most in need of an #LCBO location? #boozeTO" Roncy

— Ed Chan (@Architect_Ed) November 14, 2014

@blogTO The Junction

— DawnGordaneer (@dawngordaneer) November 14, 2014

@blogTO ossington and college please #LCBO

— Chanel (@chanellerissa) November 14, 2014

@blogTO all of them! The city doesn't have nearly enough LCBO locations considering our awfully strict liquor selling rules.

— Anastassia (@AnastassiaL) November 14, 2014

Does your neighbourhood need an LCBO more than the whiney old Annex? Let us know in the comments.

This year-old boxing club is tucked into an industrial building - but it's worth seeking out for some serious (and seriously fun) workouts. Staff are warm and engaging, and the industrial-cool atmosphere even makes it a great place to hang out between classes.

Read my profile of Clancy's Boxing Academy in the fitness section.

The best cannoli in Toronto are the domain of old-school bakeries and a few new, but always-reverential Italian chefs. Whether you like ricotta or custard, the GTA's best examples have one thing in common: The bakers pipe the filling into the sugar-dusted shell fresh for that perfect contrast of creaminess and crispness.

Here are the best cannoli in Toronto.

See also:The Best Italian Bakeries in Toronto

Photo by Ronnie Yip in the blogTO Flickr pool.