Once upon a time in Toronto KFC was actually a tasty, gingery golden brown coloured fast food known as Kentucky Fried Chicken and sold at a chain of take away restaurants called Scott's Chicken Villa. Their coleslaw was made with Miracle Whip, sugar and carrots and the gravy was a delicious stew of thick and lumpy goodness.
Master chef and creator Colonel Sanders was a proper old-school eccentric gentleman from small town Indiana who grew so disillusioned with the draconian tax laws of the Internal Revenue Services that he liquidated personal ownership in all Kentucky Fried Chicken chains in America, retired to a feathered red-bricked home in Cooksville Ontario and concentrated on franchising his auric style of deep-fried fowl in the great white north. "In Canada, you don't have to watch for tricksters and shysters," he once said. "You can do things on a handshake."
Scott's was part of the Scott's Hospitality empire, founded by the late entrepreneur George Gardiner, which opened its first Scott's Chicken Villa under the Kentucky Fried Chicken banner in 1962 and who also owned a fleet of school buses, hotels, Black's photography shops, and the Manchu Wok fast-food chain before closure in the 1990s. There were over 100 Scott's Chicken Villas in Ontario, all designed with the same retro style slanted roof buildings (some of these unique buildings still house modern KFC franchises) and catering the original recipe flavour that many Canadians still fondly recall. Amazing to think that even as far back as 30 years ago, disgruntled Kentucky Fried Chicken fans from the United States would cross the border just to re-live the "finger lickin'" glory they had grown up with.
Sanders had bolted from America to Mississauga in 1965, although he continued to serve as the world wide face of Kentucky Fried Chicken in advertising and tireless personal appearances, rather impressive for a man of his vintage. He retained full control of the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand in Canada until his death at age 90 in 1980.
Even though he was complicit in the mass marketing of it, Sanders was openly hostile and extremely vocal about the lack of quality control in favour cost-cutting and money grubbing that he saw sullying the brand he had slaved so hard to build south of the border. He was sued (unsuccessfully) by a group of U.S franchisees when he commented "My God, that gravy is horrible. They buy water for 15 to 20 cents per thousand gallons and then they mix it with flour and starch and end up with pure wallpaper paste. And I know wallpaper paste, by God, because I've seen my Mother make it! To the wallpaper paste they add some sludge and sell it for 65 or 75 cents a pint. There's no nutrition in it and they ought not to be allowed to sell it." One can only imagine the fury of the good Colonel if he saw what a travesty the steroid laced, overpriced KFC menu has since become.
Colonel Sanders was a deeply religious, hardworking promoter who valued quality control over profit, marking him a man out of time in the burgeoning corporate environment of the 1970s. Well liked in Canada (amongst other philanthropic endeavours he helped fund the construction of the Trillium Health Centre, Sanders was more bullish in America. He would personally visit random KFC locations and if service and food were not up to his high standards, he would have their franchise licence revoked. Sanders had over time developed that mythical blend of 11 herbs and spices, the now discarded pressure-cooking process, and most importantly the desire to serve diners' chicken fresh, not frozen.
When Pepsico acquired the Canadian Kentucky Fried Chicken Scott's chain in 1987, global brand uniformity was swiftly implemented and the legacy of dirty bird was cast. In the vacuum created by Sander's absence, gimmicks (Oppee), imitation (Nuggets) and heart attack snacks became the norm, culminating in the Double Down sandwich, an ultimate carny styled glut of empty calories and salt that would make even Chris Farley types think twice.
It wasn't always so bleak. Admitted fried chicken fiend Dan Aykroyd (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000101/) made sure the Colonel's chicken got lots of free product placement in his very first film, the dreary but cheery love story Love at First Sight (1977), which also featured a totally bizarre yet strangely fitting cameo from Sanders himself milling around Niagara Falls.
A recent survey from that stalwart of journalistic integrity USA Today revealed that 61% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 do not know who the bespectacled, goateed old boy on the KFC logo is. Considering that parent company Yum Brands Inc., have claimed in the past that their initials stand for Kitchen Fresh Chicken, who can blame them?
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.
You might've seen the outdoor mural announcing this new hot dog shop on College St. in the last month, but it's finally opened its doors to an onslaught of customers. It boasts a menu of innovative, but weirdly successful gourmet toppings, a donut machine arriving soon, and an eye towards perfecting the hot dog itself.
This Week in Food rounds up the week's food news, restaurants openings and closings, chef movements and upcoming food events in Toronto. Find us here every Friday morning.
Leonard Cohen, the great Canadian bard, novelist and poet himself, is returning to Toronto this December to promote his latest album, Old Ideas. 
The name of this new restaurant tells the whole story of how it came to be: a family went to Philadelphia, and had their lives changed by the Philly cheesesteaks they tasted there. The menu here is simple and concise, the sandwiches are huge, and Cheez Whiz is slathered on absolutely everything.
There's been hammering and crashing in the basement of Union Station for well over a year. Behind plywood panels and locked doors, the giant limestone Beaux-Art transport hub is receiving a massive $640 million facelift and expansion that will include new Via and GO transit concourses as well as an improved retail space.
"Every single one of these columns is individual and unique," says Coveduck. "They were sometimes out of alignment or built a little bit deeper or a little shallower. We've gone in on every single individual one and had to modify it."
Rob Ford, also present on the tour with a host of councillors and MPPs to view progress and pose with a shovel, said the work so far was "amazing." 
Photos: Chris Bateman
The best gastropubs in Toronto may share an annoying designation — Gastro? Yuck. — but are worth highlighting for the elevated fare they offer in relation to the standard issue pub (or as I like to call them, non-gastro pubs). Forgetting the problematic nominology, this city is blessed with a strong collection of establishments that think beyond chicken wings and nachos without feeling the need to lay down a white tablecloth. 
Weekend events in Toronto is our guide to events happening this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's what's happening in Toronto this October 12-14, 2012.
MUSIC 
No secret to those living near Shaw and Dupont, this character-filled diner is not your ordinary greasy spoon. They serve up dinner six days a week but are much-loved for their weekend brunch offerings such as the huevos rancheros, black angus burger and buttermilk pancakes.
The show was much more of a concert performance than 
It was nice to hear a more bare-bones approach to the instrumentation in Spektor's live show. The use of cello in particular helped a lot of the songs and, together with a deft touch of the drum kit, provided a rather laid-back rhythm section (no bass or electric guitar at all on stage here).
Spektor remained at the piano most of the night, taking sips of water after each song and only occasionally standing up with a microphone to sing, facing the audience for a song or two.
The simplicity of the evening's arrangements was perhaps most felt during 
It might not seem like much now, but the intersection of King West and Simcoe Street was once of considerably greater importance in Toronto. As a home to a premier educational institution, the residence of Ontario's lieutenant governor, a bawdy tavern, and a significant place of worship, the intersection was somewhat divided in its world view.
As I touched on last week, 
The Upper Canada College grounds, or Russell Square, encompassed the space between John, King, Simcoe, and Adelaide streets. Its mostly green property included a playing field, residential building for boarding students, gym, and the main school building. In this time before zoning, a saw and lead works was located over the street at King and John.
The school gave up its downtown location for Deer Park in 1891 and the buildings fell into dereliction. Eventually, Duncan Street was extended south through the playing field (it was later renamed Ed Mirvish Way). Pearl Street was also lengthened west to meet John Street, making four blocks out of the old land. The Royal Alexandra theatre was one of the first new buildings to appear on the subdivided land in 1907.
The lot over the street on the south west corner of King and Simcoe, now home to Roy Thompson Hall and Metro Hall, is the former location of Ontario's second and third Government House. 
Set in landscaped surroundings, the third Government House was first occupied by John Beverley Robinson, a former mayor of the city and ex-student of Upper Canada College. Robinson, a skilled cricketer, was on the Canadian team that played the first ever international cricket match against the United States in 1844. As Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Robinson enjoyed a south-facing state bedroom with a view of Lake Ontario, a dining room, morning room, and access to a greenhouse.
The oldest building standing on the intersection, St. Andrew's Church was completed in 1876 to designs by renowned architect W. G. Storm, the man behind Osgoode Hall and the main building of University College on the U of T campus. Before it held its first service, the church had already caused a rift among its congregation. 
St. Andrew's Church struggled financially early on in its location over the street from Upper Canada College and Government House, away from the core of the city. As the city naturally spread and the value of the surrounding land started to climb, St. Andrew's was able to capitalize on its location. It is now an important downtown heritage structure.
I suspect just a tad of hyperbole at work here. The northwest corner of the intersection was once home to the British Hotel, a place we know relatively little about today. The proprietor, J. J. Doyle, seems to have run a bar and rooming house with a reputation for heavy drinking and shenanigans, at least by the standards of the day.
Inside, the bar of the British Hotel looks pretty sparse. No tables, no chairs, just a bar and a wall-mounted radiator and a long wooden bar. The picture below was taken for a tin ceiling company brochure. Check out the suspicious looking gent by the wall and the gas chandelier in the centre of the room.
Norm freakin' MacDonald is in town. 'Nuff said.
Paws for the Cause was at it again on Thursday night at 
Here's something you don't see every day — or every decade, for that matter. Toronto finally has another community food co-op, and it's the first new grocery co-op to open in the last 25 years. From the same group behind the Sorauren Farmers' Market, this shop has many of the local and organic goodies you'll find at the weekly market (and more), with just a $5 lifetime membership acting as your all-access pass. 
Thursday night saw the Front Room of the Great Hall play host to the release party for 
Music certainly made a strong showing, though. Following an engaging reading of "Whole Lotta Nothin'," the music portion of the night's events began with a sparse, haunting set by relative newcomer 
Following a second reading by Bower, a noticeably ill 
A (comparatively) stripped-down Bruce Peninsula took the stage to close out the night, Bower finally having the opportunity to fully show off her expansive, sonorous voice. Performing sans drums on this occasion, Bower and the four-strong "choir" were flanked by three guitars for a catalog spanning set that foregrounded not only their incredible voices but also the sense of community present in the band.
Regardless of the stellar performances, the most striking aspect of the night was its incredible atmosphere. As there was no stage to speak of in what seemed like a converted living room, it gave the launch an air of intimacy, although next time, a few more readings from Bower wouldn't hurt. Now let's hope we're not waiting so long to see her words in print again.
This Week in Theatre rounds up the most noteworthy live theatre playing right now in Toronto. It includes just-opened shows as well as productions that are about to close.
Although this gallery is closely affiliated with the University of Guelph, you'll find no student thesis projects in the small, whitewashed space. Having settled in after their recent move west-wards to Ossington, you'll find the experimental work of artist collective vsvsvs, and an array of conceptual pieces.
Toronto music fans would do well to keep tabs on a few key Twitter accounts in order to stay apprised of the latest that's happening in this city's music scene. Want to keep up to date on shows, gear, record releases and the bowel movements of your favourite musicians? Look no further. Here's a list of 10 Twitter accounts worth following for local music fans. As always, your suggestions are warmly welcomed in the comment section below.
