Photo by Vik Pahwa in the blogTO Flickr pool.

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

• Ki Modern Japanese + Bar has launched a new recurring feature on Friday nights. Sake and Shochu Nights start at 7pm, and will feature an izakaya sampler for $10, and flights of of sake or shochu for $10.
• THR & Co. (97 Harbord St.) kicks off Sunday Gravy, a three-course feature inspired by Italian-American family dinners. Every Sunday, from 5:30pm onward, expect a Nonna-style prix fixe menu for $30 featuring eggplant parmigiana and creamy polenta with a meatball.
• Teppan Kenta (24 Wellesley Ave.) presents episode one of the Underground Chef Cartel on Monday, February 9. Chef Eric Wood will face off against chef Deron Engbers to cook a secret ingredient revealed with only five minutes' notice. Admission is $25 at the door from 6 pm onward.
• BorrelTO returns with a pop-up dining experience at the Cloak and Dagger (394 College St.) on Saturday, February 7. Enjoy a smorgasbord of Dutch eats from 2 to 8pm.

UPCOMING

• On now until Sunday, February 15, Le Dolci (1006 Dundas St. West) hosts a V-Day Pop Up Shop featuring chocolates, macarons, and pretty cakes, plus adorable gifts curated by Susan and Sapna at Smitten Creative Boutique.
• Brewer's Backyard brings together Beau's, Great Lakes Brewery, and Indie Ale House on Family Day (Monday, February 16) from noon to 5pm at the Evergreen Brick Works (550 Bayview Ave.)
• Multicultural culinary expo, glocal FOOD takes place from 7pm to 10pm on Tuesday, February 17 at 2nd Floor Events (461 King St. West). The student-run event is partnering with Farmhouse Tavern, Richmond Station, Gushi and Song Cooks (to name a few) to present an evening of eating to raise funds for George Brown College's student scholarships and The Stop Community Food Centre. General admission is $20 in advance, and includes three food samples and one drink.

Photo of BorrelTO by Jesse Milns.

Breakfast Television has taken some heat from the sporting world in the wake of a rather poorly executed birthday shout-out to Cristiano Ronaldo, who turned 30 yesterday. You see, BT's birthday wishes were accompanied by a photo of Sergio Aguero in place of the Real Madrid star.

Now, we're not first and foremost a soccer town, but that's the equivalent of wishing Sidney Crosby happy birthday with a photo of Alex Ovechkin or the like. Sports sites quickly latched onto the error and expressed their disbelief that such a mix up was possible. And, needless to say, social media was a flutter with responses to the little bit of drama, which you know someone just feels terribly embarrassed about. Oh well, here's to a new day, BT.

Redbox is closing its operations in Canada, the company has announced on its website. Depending on how you consume your media, this might not have much effect on your life. The movie rental company entered the Canadian market back in 2012, brimming with optimism that its low prices might draw consumers to use its kiosks instead of cuing up Netflix to take in a flick. A few years into the experiment, the company has admitted that it just didn't work out.

"We were excited to bring our service here, but unfortunately, demand just didn't meet our expectations," reads a statement on the website. "We will be focusing our attention on our U.S. business, where demand for physical media remains strong. Redbox Canada kiosks will be turned off on March 5. They may remain in stores for a couple of weeks after that, but they won't be renting out or accepting discs."

I suspect Redbox had particular difficulty in tech-savvy urban market like Toronto. I'm not sure I ever saw someone use the various kiosks that I'd pass by on the way to get groceries. What do you think? Will the service be missed at all?

As bargain hunters descend like locusts from above to pick over the bones of Target Canada, chances are they won't find any decent clothing items from the popular Beaver Canoe line left on the shelves. One of Target's very few smooth moves was landing exclusive rights to the brand from parent company Roots, making affordable shirts, sweaters and jackets which celebrated Canadiana and '80s nostalgia with equal relish. Many wear the logo: a stylized Beaver fashioned above a chunky font announcing BEAVER CANOE, Built by Omer Stringer. Few know the origin.

Omer Stringer was born on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park in 1912 and over his busy lifetime quietly revolutionized the art and skill of canoeing (his famous line - "Canoes don't upset. People fall out of them"). In 1936, Omer and naturalist Lou Handler founded Camp Tamakwa in Algonquin Park.

Popular in lore from generations of campers from Toronto and across the world, Tamakwa also spawned the schmaltzy Hollywood film Indian Summer (1993), notable for a raft of early '90s cheese tempered only by Alan Arkin's uncanny channeling of the real life character he portrayed, "Unca" Lou Handler.

Famous for its alumni - The Tamakwa website lists a U.S. Senator, Congressman, federal judges, a NASA space shuttle astronaut, Evil Dead director Sam Raimi, Chevy Chase and the late Gilda Radner - Tamakwa has always enjoyed a cult like reverence and marked appreciation from those lucky enough to have attended and experienced that rare splendour of summertime in Algonquin Park. Omer Stringer served as Tamakwa's canoe instructor and guide, for decades casting a mythical impression over its campers.

As canoeing increased in popularity across Canada, so did improper technique and preventable accidents. Together with the help of his close friend Dan Gibson, Omer Stringer became the face of canoe safety first with the release of the short film Paddle and Portage (1966), and its essential pocket-sized companion booklet "The Canoeist's Manual". Written by Stringer and featuring photography by Gibson, "The Canoeist's Manual" was for many years available only in Algonquin Park gift shops where it sold for $1, so all and sundry could easily afford to own a copy. It remains the definitive guide to canoeing.

Dan Gibson meanwhile had established himself the sonic maestro of natural, atmospheric sound recordings. First with his seminal Algonquin sourced LP Land of the Loon, and later with the globally distinguished Solitudes series, Gibson transfigured the art by innovating a specialized Parabolic microphone for field recordings. His early, ethereal Solitudes albums took the soothing sounds of Canadian nature into the homes of urban dwellers and created a cottage industry to serve the emerging and lucrative New Age market.

Sadly, Gibson's ground-breaking films and photographic work have not been as well celebrated or documented as his audio alchemy. His frankly bonkers nature based anti-alcohol films such as It Was A Good Day and The Curious Habits of Man remain pink and faded 16mm Eastman stock curios, while his sole feature film Wings in the Wilderness (1975), once a staple of Sunday afternoon Citytv matinees, has disappeared into the murky vortex of "lost" Canadian films.

Omer and Dan's Paddle and Portage was screened far and wide, in schools, churches, scout meetings, pretty much anyplace a workhorse Bell & Howell 16mm projector could be wheeled in to an enthralled audience. Such was the popularity of Paddle and Portage, it was expanded and remade in the 1970s as Paddle Out of Peril, funded by the Canadian National Sportsmen's Fund in association with the Wintario lottery.

Omer's son David Stringer, a popular TVOntario host who appeared in such illuminating educational series as The Half-A-Handy Hour and Not Another Science Show, created a third version of Paddle and Portage in the early '90s entitled The Canoeist's Video. David often hosted his father as a guest on The Half-A-Handy Hour, where Omer would brilliantly explain the lost art of everything from wood burning stoves to working with concrete.

As Omer neared retirement, he began to focus more time on his passion of building custom made Canoes, however his operation remained small and intimate. Enter perhaps Camp Tamakwa's most successful alum - Michael Budman and Don Green, founders of fabled Canadian clothier Roots. Legend has it that as kids at Tamakwa, Don and Michael had been fairly obsessed with Omer's unique style of dress, a mixture of rugged outdoor wear and chic but durable old-school garments obtained from woodsy suppliers in the wilderness.

Starting out with a spin on Negative Heel Shoes, the company soon moved into leather jackets and belts, influenced no doubt by some of Omer's more eclectic duds. By 1976 Roots was firmly entrenched in the national consciousness, worn by the likes of Pierre Trudeau and Paul McCartney, and famously described by People magazine as "the Gucci of the granola set".

Feeling an enormous debt of gratitude was owed to the man, Green and Budman offered to help finance Stringer's burgeoning Canoe manufacturing company, which Omer had christened Beaver Canoe. It appeared to be a win-win: Omer would pursue his interest mostly free of financial constraint, Tamakwa would receive first-class canoes fresh off the line, and Roots would expand its footprint while further legitimizing its treasured Algonquin Park heritage.

In 1981, Green and Budman suggested expanding the brand to include shirts and sweaters featuring Beaver Canoe's timeless logo ("One of the greatest logos ever created", according to Budman). By 1983, Root's involvement in canoe production ceased but they took full control of the brand, which enjoyed a successful decade or so before being retired amid the glut of '90s faux camp ware outfits like Northern Reflections and Cotton Ginny. Sadly, Omer Stringer passed away in 1988.

In 2012, to mark the 30th Anniversary of Beaver Canoe's inception, Roots released a commemorative line available in all of their outlets, including post cards of Omer, reproductions of Beaver Canoe paddles and a re-printed version of "The Canoeist's Manual" (still priced to move at $1). Fans of Beaver Canoe flocked to the resurrected brand, after having spent over a decade fruitlessly searching thrift stores to find the originals.

Many Roots locations sold out initially and once again the streets of Toronto (and the rest of Canada) were awash in those eye-catching ubiquitous red and green hoodies sporting that instantly recognizable logo. The immediate popularity signalled to Roots a sustainable appetite beyond the anniversary, certainly evidenced by the interest online via the Beaver Canoe Facebook page and Twitter account.

Just over a year later, Roots announced that it was granting exclusivity of the Beaver Canoe line to Target Canada, as well as expanding it to a "home collection of more than 65 pieces, including furniture, pillows, lighting, frames, vases and candles" designed by Roots' visionary Diane Bald. An initial partnership which saw the Roots Outfitters collection help Target "settle" into their new found Canadian home and provide some grist for their maple flavoured PR mill was followed up with a bountiful Beaver Canoe deal.

According to Michael Budman, "The partnership was a win-win-win - the consumer was winning because it was a magnificent product, Target was winning because they had something Canadian to latch onto, and we were winning because it woke us up to how valuable Beaver Canoe really is".

While there was something magical about the ease at which shoppers could acquire that once elusive Beaver Canoe gear - jogging pants, sweaters, T-shirts, jackets, toques, mittens and those unforgettable hoodies - Target's inability to meet demand often meant empty shelves. No sooner had a weekly flyer gone out advertising a new Beaver Canoe item then disappointed customers appeared online bemoaning the fact their local Target did not have any left. Good luck finding anything in the liquidation sale.

Now that Target Canada has fizzled, what happens to Beaver Canoe? Asked for comment, Michael Budman offered up a very hopeful note: "We're looking at all of our options, but let me tell you that Beaver Canoe is alive and well and living in Algonquin Park right now. The market place loves the brand, and having Omer Stringer's legacy live on is really important to [Root's co-founder] Don and I".

On the shoulders of the incredible work undertaken by the likes of Dan Gibson, the indomitable Omer Stringer and his family, generations of Tamakwans, Budman, Green and the Roots organization, not to mention the majesty of the Algonquin legacy from which it all emerged, we can't wait to see what's next for Beaver Canoe.

Special thanks to David Stringer & Michael Budman

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.

The Rhubarb Festival is a carnival ride of kooky, unconventional performance pieces. In it's 36th year Rhubarb is Canada's longest-running new works festival. From February 11 to 22 every nook and cranny of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre - and I mean every little corner, including the bathroom - will be transformed to a backdrop for various music, dance, theatre and performance pieces.

An evening pass will get you in to all the shows for the night - from Hamlet in a Hot Tub to Morro and Jasp, a sister-act of clowns. At Rhubarb anything goes, so don't forget your sense of adventure.

Here are my picks for the top shows at the 36th Rhubarb Festival.

Ocean Carving
For this performance the audience is invited to Oasis Aqualounge's rooftop pool, where clothing is optional, to witness the story of a young woman coming to terms with her sexuality and ancestry.

Lulu V.2 // Because Bad Things Happen to Bad Girls
Come and explore this wild technical spectacle about the brutal death of the original femme fatale, Frank Wedekind's Lulu, at the hands of Jack the Ripper. The workshop series will use texts written by various Toronto authors including Salvatore Antonio, Margaret Atwood, Rose Cullis, Susanna Fournier, Sky Gilbert, Jiv Parasram, Evalyn Parry, Russell Smith, and Aurora Stewart de Peña.

Sharron Matthews: Full Dark
This cabaret theatre hybrid piece is a fun but eerie performance that delves into the darker sides of storytelling. A three-piece band joins Sharron Matthews as she tells grim tales about sexuality, danger and other shadowy parts of an unexplained life.

Recent Future
In this collaboration with Dancemakers Centre for Creation Zoja Smutny breaks down the space between the audience and performers. The immersive dance piece allows viewers to walk through the action and interact with the set.

What's Left of Us
Justin Many Fingers and Brian Solomon are two First Nations dancers born with the same birth defect. In this irreverent and unexpected duet, they use dance and storytelling to explore what makes us sexy.

BONUS: For an unforgettable night of confessional tales, check out The WOW Project Comes Out, featuring 10 queer femme/butch voices in an evening of storytelling about what it mean to come out.

Follow Sima Sahar Zerehi on Twitter @SimaSaharZerehi.

Photo of Susanna Fornier

In a week that also saw Let's Be Frankhang up their food truck keys for good, the Crossroads Diner food truck has also been put up for sale. Owner David Gleeson says he's ready to take a breather from the food truck business while he takes on other, more upscale dining projects. (Right now he's cooking at Cambridge's Langdon Hall hotel/spa, which probably beats sweating it out in a food truck all summer long.)

Though he may start up another business someday, the Toronto food truck scene's loss of Royales with cheese and Elvis sandwiches can be an aspiring food truck entrepreneur's gain. The former Purolator van, now up for sale on Kijiji, is packed with a pizza oven and a flat-top griddle, among other kitchen gear. The price isn't listed - but Gleeson tells me he's asking $42,500 OBO.

Shisha-lovers on the east end rejoice - a new hookah bar offering a variety of flavours and fruit-heads has arrived. In addition to shisha, there are refreshing drinks and delectable Bangladeshi Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine to try, like a chicken biryani served in a clay pot, plus belly dancing performances on weekends. If you still need to perfect your smoke-blowing skills, ask the staff here for pointers - they're all experts.

Read my profile of Chill Grill and Cafe in the restaurants section.

Meditation centres in Toronto will ease your worries, heal your soul and leave you feeling at peace with the world. Many of these places are free of charge, so you don't need to stress about money (see, it's already working), and with group meetings all around Toronto, you won't need to go far. So get into that kinda-awkward-cross-legged position and say it with me: ommmmmmm.

Here are my picks for the top meditation centres in Toronto.

Meditation Toronto
With free sessions spanning from Etobicoke to Scarborough (with Annex and Danforth locations) and up to North York, you're bound to find a spot near you. The volunteer-led groups generally meet once a week.

Kadampa Meditation Centre Canada
The Kadampa Meditation Centre in Little Italy is actually a Buddhist temple - but you don't need to be a Buddhist to come here and benefit from its practices. There is a cost to take the various meditation classes, or if you think you'll end up a regular, you can purchase a centre card, which will provide you with unlimited classes.

Mindfulness Meditation Toronto
With meditation programs taking place at two locations, one in Davisville and the other on Eglinton West, Mindfulness Meditation can help you with your stress, management of your emotions, sleep and much more. One of their popular programs is the 8-week core program, which takes place three times a year.

Shambhala Toronto
Shambhala Toronto in Koreatown is all about manifesting people's goodness into society. The general meditation programs for this ancient practice are free to the public, but they also have special focused programs for a fee.

Nithyanada Meditation Academy
The Nithyanada Meditation Academy in Scarborough not only offers free guided meditation, but also free yoga, Kriya classes as well as Energy Healing. This is obviously your one-stop shop for all around wellness.

Yoga House
Located in an actual house in the Dupont and Lansdowne area, Yoga House keeps the class sizes to maximum of 5 people so you can really focus on your meditation. Every Saturday morning they have Satsang class, where you'll get in yoga, meditation and more.

True Peace Toronto
True Peace Toronto gathers Mondays at the University of Toronto campus, and Fridays at the Miles Nadal Centre, for no charge. The focus of their practice is on the Zen Buddhist teachings of a Vietnamese monk - but as always, everyone is welcome.

Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
The Toronto location (at Harbord and Spadina) of Sivananda Yoga Vendanta Centre is just one of 30 worldwide. They offer free group meditation throughout the week from 6 to 7am (just try not to fall back asleep while meditating) and also on Friday and Sunday evenings.

Toronto Zen Centre
The Toronto Zen Centre, in High Park, was established back in 1967 as place to practice Buddhism. They offer an introductory workshop so you can decide if the Zen Centre is right for you before you purchase a membership.

Awakened Meditation Centre
Located in New Toronto, the Awakened Meditation Centre offers a weekly three-hour meditation course, beginning with yoga and ending with a Zen meal (bonus!). The centre has a Zen Master and a number of Dharma teachers to lead you through Buddhist practices, or to take you on multi-day retreats if you need a little extra de-stressing.

Photo via Toronto Meditation.

A new high tech innovation centre is coming to the Toronto waterfront. Planned for a plot of land located next to Sugar Beach and the Corus Building, the 350,000 square foot building is a private sector development that will add a significant dose of commercial space to the soon to rise East Bayfront neighbourhood. Menkes won an open bid process for the right to develop the project and will employ Sweeny & Co Architects in the design of the building.

The first renderings for the project look promising. Not only does the building fit in well with the surrounding area (also home to George Brown's Waterfront Campus), but the sweeping staircase leading up to the entrance confers an openness to public use that's key given its proximity to parks. There's a passing similarity, at least in terms of shape, to the Student Learning Centre that's about to open at Ryerson.

Projected tenants include film and TV production and post-production companies, health care professionals, digital animators, and cognitive computing firms, all of which will take advantage of the ultra-high-speed broadband fibre optic network being installed along the eastern waterfront as part of the heavy development currently in the works and planned over the next decade. 2,000 people are expected to work at the Waterfront Innovation Centre, which is set to break ground in late 2016.

Hungry art students and office workers can chow down at this new spot on Dundas, which offers a variety of kebab-based dishes. The tender meats are the star of the show, but this spot has a few surprises up its sleeve - including an eggplant dish that's one of the best things I've eaten in months.

Read my review of Sumac Kebab Kitchen in the restaurants section.

Pairing eco-friendly products with eco-friendly delivery: It's an idea so clever it's surprising that Greater Goods were the first in town to get to it. The brand-new online store sells all kinds of eco-friendly products, from shampoo and deodorant to home cleaning products and baby care items, then delivers them to you by bike.

The products, which include brands like Weleda, Desert Essence and Andalou Naturals are free of ingredients like parabens, pthalates and BPA. Stocking up might be a smart move - delivery is free if your order totals $50 or more, and they'll bring it anywhere from the Humber River to Coxwell Ave.

If dreams of a huge slip and slide aren't enough to bolster your spirit through the darkest says of winter, perhaps the thought of making your way through heaps a muddy obstacle course will divert your mind from the persistent snow in the forecast. Mud Hero will take place at the Ontario Place grounds during May 24 weekend and promises to be both a physical challenge and a spring bash.

Along with the 6km obstacle course (of which there is a "hard" and "easy" option for participants), there will be live music, a barbecue, and lots of beer. You might want to start drink before the event to make yourself immune to the slime that will accompany the race, but it's probably best to wait until you've completed the race before imbibing. The race gets underway at noon on Friday, May 22nd so you might even be able to fit in a mud bath before heading up to the cottage.

Photo courtesy of Mud Hero

The best roti in Toronto encompasses both Indian and Caribbean varieties, meaning the choice is yours if you prefer butter chicken to jerk chicken. While the definition of roti might refer specifically to the bread, here in Toronto, a roti is synonymous with a wrap stuffed with rich curries or stews.

Here are the best places to grab a roti in Toronto.

See also:

The best Caribbean Restaurants in Toronto
The Best Jerk Chicken in Toronto
The Best Jamaican Patties in Toronto

Photo from Butter Chicken Roti.

Photo by Subjective Art in the blogTO Flickr pool.

The Underground Chef Cartel, a group whose mandate is to showcase up and coming culinary talent in Toronto, has been started by Joe Friday, Devan Rajkumar and Nikko Jacino. The trio has previously run a number of successful pop-ups together, and they will hold their first battle under the UCC banner this Monday at Teppan Kenta at 8pm.

As a world class culinary destination and a city obsessed with food culture, Toronto is ripe for a new, in-your-face food event. This is an opportunity to be surrounded by the yelling, the equipment kicking/throwing (or, less cool, the accidental dropping/spilling/burning), the careful dance, and the creative ebb and flow of a dish coming to life.

"The Underground Chef Cartel and the Underground Chef Battles began as a movement to showcase up and coming chefs in Toronto and to allow well known and established chefs the opportunity to defend and maintain their street credibility and reputation," Friday explains.

"Toronto is a mecca of inspiring and game changing restaurants and driving those restaurants are talented chefs, many of which fly under the radar. We wanted our first competitors to have relatively equal skill sets, not similar cuisines, but skill sets."

Competing in the inaugural match are two Edmontonians Chef Deron Engbers (formerly of Rock Lobster) and Chef Eric Wood of the "re-opening soonish" Maple Leaf Tavern. A secret ingredient will be announced five minutes before the battle begins, and each chef will be required to produce two dishes within an hour.

Unapologetically judging the dishes will be Tom Bielecki (owner of Cafe Bar Pasta), Steve Gonzalez (chef and owner of Valdez Restaurant) and Abbey Sharp (food blogger and media personality). The fourth judge will be a randomly selected crowd member, so be sure to use words like "mouth feel" if you're the chosen one.*

In less than a week, the Underground Chef Cartel's Facebook page has garnered almost 500 likes, so it would appear that Toronto is hungry (ugh) and excited for live culinary entertainment such as this. Admission is $25 and gets you a drink ticket, some appetizers, and a dance party with Freeza Chin. No advanced tickets will be sold. Get there freaking early. If you don't make it in this time, not to worry, as they're aiming to host battles once every two weeks onwards.

*Just kidding.

Photo by Mikka Gia

Even by Leafs standards, the 2014-2015 season has been a disaster. Since firing coach Randy Carlyle on Jan. 6, the team have won just a single lousy game over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Their embarrassing free fall towards the bottom of the league, during which they have been shutout multiple times, is a disgrace and now it appears some fans are starting to lose interest.

In 1973, Leafs management were sweating for different reason. For the first time in a generation, a potentially viable challenger to the team's number one status in Toronto had emerged in the form of the World Hockey Association franchise, the Toronto Toros.

The WHA was established in 1972 explicitly to challenge the National Hockey League's status as the dominant professional hockey competition in North America. By placing teams in smaller Canadian and large U.S. cities, the league hoped their Avco World Trophy would rival the Stanley Cup for drama and spectacle.

Initially based in Ottawa, Toronto's team was bought and moved south after only one season in the capital by John F. Bassett, the leader of a consortium of sports and businessmen named Can Sports, for somewhere in the region of $2 million.

Leafs owner Bill Ballard, who also bid for the franchise, offered the team use of Maple Leaf Gardens, but Bassett initially balked at the idea. "I'd rather play somewhere else, even with less seats, where we could establish ourselves. When people think of the Gardens they think of the Leafs," he told the Globe and Mail. (Avoiding the Gardens and Ballard was a shrewd decision, as we'll soon find out.)

Renamed the "Toronto Toros" from a list of 80 possible names that (apparently) included "Twinkies" and "Twee-dies," the team signed a deal to play at Varsity Stadium on Sunday evenings, though Bassett publicly expressed an interest in building a stadium at the Exhibition Grounds, King and John, or one of several locations in the suburbs.

The home jerseys would be mostly white with red and blue flourishes. The logo, as the team name suggested, was a charging bull, angrily snorting steam.

Before taking the ice, the Toros tried to lure out-of-contract Leafs star Darryl Sittler and disgruntled Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden into signing, but Sittler eventually opted to return to his old team for less money than Bassett was promising. Dryden, upset at a lowball contract offer from the Habs, decided to work for Toronto law firm Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt instead.

The Toros did manage to secure the services of four-time all-star and Stanley Cup champion defenseman Carl Brewer, however.

The first season got off to a difficult start. The team tied its home opener against the Chicago Cougars 4-4 and its second game 3-3 against the New York Golden Blades before losing to the Quebec Nordiques and Minnesota Fighting Saints. Their first win came on the road against the Los Angeles Sharks, 3-0, thanks to the heroics of goalies Les Binkley and Gilles Gratton.

(Gratton would prove to be something of an eccentric presence on the team. From the New York Times: "He told people he was reincarnated and had once been a soldier in the Spanish Inquisition. He refused to play when the moon was in the wrong part of the sky.")

Despite further early season losses to the Winnipeg Jets and New England Whalers, the Toros rallied and finished second in the WHA's Eastern Conference with a record of 41-33-4. Moving to Maple Leaf Gardens for the playoffs, the team ended up playing longer into the Spring than their hosts, eventually being eliminated by the Cleveland Crusaders.

The Toros added former Leaf favourites Frank Mahovlich and Paul Henderson in their second season, which was played under seriously disagreeable terms at Maple Leaf Gardens. Leafs owner Ballard was comically hellbent on killing the Toros. By charging exorbitant rent, forcing the Toros to build their own dressing room and box office, and even deliberately dimming the house lights and removing cushions from the seats, he created an expensive, spirit-crushing atmosphere for the young team. In interviews, Ballard would often derisively refer to the Toros as the Toronto "Lawn Mowers."

The finances of the WHA were looking increasingly shaky, too. The team made the playoffs again, but lost in the first round to the San Diego Mariners.

The 1975-76 would prove to be the undoing of the young franchise. The loss of key players to the NHL, tanking attendance, and bad results, including an embarrassing blown 8-2 lead against the Cleveland Crusaders, prompted Bassett to move the team to Birmingham, Alabama for the 1976-77 season. The team remained in the Deep South until they were eliminated entirely by the merger of the WHA and NHL in 1979.

The only team to find real success in the now-defunct league was the Winnipeg Jets. The team won a record three league titles and were the only ones not to fold, move, or change names.

The Toros might not have been able to steal the hearts of Leafs fans, but for a brief moment they looked like they might.

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

While it seems like there's a juice bar and vegetarian eatery on every corner downtown, in Toronto's west end, this place is an anomaly. The menu promotes nutrient-rich cuisine that encompasses every meal of the day, as well as weekend brunches.

Read my profile of Thrive Organic Kitchen in the restaurant section.

24 hour restaurants in Toronto north of the 401 may conjure up the image of some misguided blue light bus adventure at 3am, but if you happen to live that far north, then these places should be on your radar to avoid the impending hangover that surely brought you home at 5am on a Tuesday.

Cash is king at these places, so don't show up with your debit card for a $5 meal. With a little pre-planning, you can have a proper sit-down meal with actual cloth napkins and tablecloths at any time of day.

Here are my picks for the top 24 hour restaurants in Toronto north of the 401.

See also:The best 24 hour restaurants in Toronto

Owl of Minerva
Almost everyone has ventured into this Korean hotspot just south of Finch on Yonge, guided no doubt by their logo of a friendly woman curiously donning a graduation cap (look for her smiling face at the half dozen other Toronto locations, soon to be expanding into the US and China). The Kam Ja Tang (pork bone soup) is the real deal here, salty and fatty, with just the right ingredients to keep you lucid enough to make it home.

Markham Station
Located on the northern tip of Scarborough, Markham Station has been up and running for 24 hours a day for decades, drawing people in for their all-day breakfasts, club sandwiches, burgers and a full licenced bar during appropriate hours. While you cautiously hope the interior has seen better days, it's likely the décor matches your current state of animal spirit, sloth like and defeated.

Wimpy's Diner
This location up at a sprawling plaza at Bathurst and Sheppard is open 24 hours, making it a pretty central spot if you're looking for a burger and a poutine at 4am. Licenced throughout the day, you can expect regulars drinking Labatt 50 at 11 am at this kitschy franchise replete with jukeboxes (mostly for decoration) and usual cheesy bar flair.

Pyung Won House
This Korean BBQ joint located right at Yonge and Finch has a steady stream of customers day and night, with BBQ grills right on each table to keep the party going, so best to show up when you can handle cooking duties safely. What they lack in English spelling (lunch specail anyone?) they make up for with beefy Bulgogi platters, zippy kimchis and hot pots.

Perfect Chinese Restaurant
This overconfident 24 hour eatery is based in Scarborough and has a bountiful selection of Chinese food for eat in or take out. Known for their sizzling platters, cheap dim sum and faux-Chinese dishes like chicken balls and spring rolls, this place is always packed, and quite possibly the only place to get a whole duck or lobster at 3 am.

Huh Ga Ne
Another Korean gem surrounded by Karaoke bars at Yonge and Finch, Huh Ga Ne is known for its traditional floor seating (drunken pillow fights are generally frowned upon) and big portions for little prices. Most dishes come with banchan (side dishes) like colourful purple rice and spicy soups. Prices all include HST so save the remaining brain cells for calling a taxi, not doing math.

Kayagum
Another Korean spot up at the north part of the city, Kayagum serves the usual hot pots, soups and stews, but if you're looking to add a little sashimi side to your bibimbap then this is your spot, as Kayagum also offers a full sushi menu.

Khorak Supermarket
If you're looking to grab some baklava, dried figs, nuts and a warm meal all in the same spot, then Iranian superstore Khorak (on Yonge, near Steeles) is your destination. Kebab combos and ground meat koobidehs are the draw here, paired with pop, rice, onions and tomatoes for under $10. There are only a few spots for eating in, so your best bet is to grab and go.

Zet's Restaurant
If you're looking for a 24oz New York strip at 2am then, firstly, I applaud your life choices, and secondly, you should head over to Zet's, pretty much the only place in north Toronto with full steak dinners on offer 24 glorious hours a day. Zet's is located by the airport in between a bunch of airport hotels and warehouses. They're also known for their burgers, souvlakis and all-day breakfasts.

Friendly House Restaurant
Another diner serving up burgers, fries and Greek style offerings on Yonge St. by Cummer. All day breakfasts and greasy spoon faves like banquet burgers and onion rings make your hands about as greasy as the rickety chair you'll be sitting on.

Did I miss any? Leave your favourite 24-hour spot north of the 401 in the comments.

AGO's First Thursdays enters its third year of late night gallery parties by celebrating their newly-opened Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit. Headlining the party was one of hip-hop's founding fathers, Grandmaster Flash, who hasn't stopped DJ-ing since he was behind the decks with the Furious Five (see: "The Message"). Local future soul duo Bonjay had the honor of opening for him, using their time to experiment with new material.

Like more recent First Thursdays, most of the AGO was open for all ticket holders, including the featured Basquiat exhibition, with added one-night-only works all relating to the main exhibit. A variety of not-so-fast food was available from the Night Market, while drinks and ballet-break dancing were never far away.

Check out 20 moments of the AGO's party of the year in our photo gallery.

Writing and photos by Matt Forsythe