Last month the already shaky legs of Toronto Fashion Week officially gave out when its sudden end was announced to the public. Many were sad, many shrugged their shoulders and kept shopping, others rubbed their hands together and thought: this is the time to really shine.

Though the official week is gone, there are a swell of other recurring fashion events in this city worth paying attention to. Even more so now that the official week is dead and gone, it's these small, more interesting shows that truly support Toronto's fashion scene without Joe Fresh's Canadian leftovers trampling in the way.

Here's a round-up of other Toronto fashion weeks and events you should know about.

International Muslim Fashion Design Festival (August 13-14)
IMFDF is a two-day fashion and design festival geared towards Muslim women, "creating a more cohesive tie between fashion and modesty, while creating stronger ties between Muslim women entrepreneurs and fashionistas," according to their website.

Toronto Men's Fashion Week (August 15-23)
TOM is still working at building its reputation as a professionally run and managed event but it still stands strong as a fashion event worthy of your attention. This August they present Spring/Summer 2017 collections from a slew of local menswear designers. I recommend catching the Joao Paolo Guedes' show.

African Fashion Week (August 18-21)
One of the most recognized fashion weeks in Canada in its own right, AFW takes over the Design Exchange and supports local, national and international designers. The African Fashion Industry Awards take place on August 21. There's also a student designer competition, and runway showcases.

TFI Fashion Labels Design Competition Show (Fall 2016)
Move over Toronto Fashion Week, the Toronto Fashion Incubator is the fashion beast on the block with lots of cred and cash. They host a Design Competition and Show, which basically acts as a boot camp for new, talented Canadian designers. Stay tuned for an exact date.

Startup Fashion Week (October 3-7)
SFW has a model casting call happening August 29, but if you're just a fan or blogger or fashionista, then you'll have to wait for the fall. Beware: the four-day fashion frenzy sold out last year. This Fashion week supports "startup entrepreneurs by providing a one week program filled with events that will help them connect, launch and accelerate."

Fashion Art Toronto (Spring 2017)
FAT was already cooler than Toronto Fashion Week when that old thing still existed. Five days, over 100 designers and 50 shows, this fashion week features local and international designers who "celebrate contemporary art and design through fashion." So there's also art shows. It all happens inside Daniel's Spectrum in Regent Park.

Mass Exodus (Spring 2017
One of the most exciting student-run fashion events in Toronto is Mass Exodus. It's Ryerson's Fashion Design program's year end show and often a launch pad for future fashion stars. It's like a hockey draft but with silks and stitching instead of pucks and blades.

Top photo courtesy of FAT.

Locations for shooting movies in Toronto are rarely so well disguised that the astute viewer can't identify them even when they pose as some place else. We're so used to the city being disguised in movies that it's almost startling to see it blatantly represented in productions like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World or Enemy.

Here are some of the most popular locations for making movies in Toronto.

Lower Bay Station
It's not surprising that Toronto's ghost subway station is consistently used for film and television shoots. It features prominently in Total Recall and Suicide Squad, two of the biggest Hollywood productions to film here, but there are a host of older examples as well (remember Johnny Mnemonic?). Transit Toronto has some good info on movies made on the TTC.

The Hearn
Before it got so much attention for Luminato, the Hearn was best known as the city's coolest film location, featuring prominently in contemporary movies like Robocop (remake), Pacific Rim, Red, and Resident Evil:Retribution. There were 17 productions shot at the Hearn in 2015 alone.

Casa Loma
Casa Loma has a rich cinematic history poses as various mansions and upscale apartments. It features in Cocktail as the Mooney's New York penthouse, as Xavier's school in X-Men, and various scenes in Johnny Mnemonic, Chicago, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Hannibal.

U of T
It's difficult to account for all the films that have been shot on U of T's various campuses, from Cocktail to Good Will Hunting to Mean Girls to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle to the Robocop remake and Enemy (and that's only naming a few). For a longer list complete with a few surprises, head here.

The Distillery District
Film shoots were going on here long before the area's revitalization as a tourist district thanks to its Victorian industrial architecture. Even now post-cleanup it remains a popular spot for film crews. Toronto's former distillery has featured prominently in The Fly, Three Men and a Baby, Blues Brothers 2000, Chicago, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Cinderella Man, and X-Men to name just a few.

Yonge Street
Yonge Street has long subbed in for other cities in American film productions, most notably in The Incredible Hulk and Suicide Squad, where it played host to a massive plane crash and a chase between Batman and the Joker. Beyond these blockbusters, you can seen the street movies like Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Kick Ass 2.

City Hall
Let's be honest, City Hall's most famous moment on film will always be in Star Trek TNG, but over the years Nathan Phillips Square has seen many productions take place, including Resident Evil: Apocalypse, The Sentinel, Pacific Rim, and The Vow.

The Financial District
Bay Street has a long history in Hollywood movies, though American Psycho would probably be the most obvious example, where the TD Centre serves as Patrick Bateman's office. More recently, the Financial District has played host to massive blow-ups in Suicide Squad, Pixels, and Poor Richard's Almanack. As watchers of the show will know, Suits is also regularly filmed in and around here.

The Royal York Hotel
The opulent Royal York Hotel has been put to good use in films like Cinderella Man, Where the Truth Lies, The Killing Fields, Serendipity, Max Payne, and Red. The ballroom is the most popular location, though everything from hotel rooms to the elevators have featured on the silver screen.

Under the Gardiner
Total Recall attracted a lot of attention when it pulled out its futuristic-looking vehicles on Lake Shore Blvd. East under the Gardiner Expressway, but it's not alone in filming here. It features most prominently in David Cronenberg's Crash, but also makes an appearance in The Vow.

Got a location to add to the list? Let us know in the comments.

Photos by Tom Ryaboi, Ronnie Yip, Syfractal, nm coutinho.

Single family homes aren't the only expensive pieces of property in Toronto. Our city's filled with swanky condo that soar well above the $5 million mark. If you're willing to shell out big money for your corner of the sky, or just want to lust after a gorgeous abode, take a peek at these units that are currently on the market.

From lowest to highest, here are the most expensive condos for sale right now in Toronto.

#6002 180 University Avenue - $9,000,000
For $9 million, you can live at the edge Financial District in this 4,400 square foot space inside the Shangri-La Hotel. It has three bedrooms, five bathrooms and four terraces as well as panoramic views of the Toronto skyline.

PH1 80 Yorkville Avenue - $12,900,000
This penthouse unit is right in the heart of Yorkville. It includes 5,600 square feet of living space, four bedrooms, four bathroom and a state-of-the-art kitchen - basically, you never have to leave.

#5002 50 Yorkville Avenue - $13,000,000
It seems like there are plenty of units available in the Four Seasons, so perhaps this one is what you're looking for? Along with stunning views of the 6ix, it features three bedrooms, four bathrooms and $5,102.39 in maintenance fees.

#2401 50 Yorkville Avenue - $13,495,000
With three bedrooms, huge windows and more than 5,000 square feet of living space, this unit in the Four Seasons is what dreams are made of. It also has a 2,000 square foot patio making it perfect for summertime soirees.

PH3 88 Davenport Road - $13,750,000
If you want to live the penthouse life in Yorkville, you're going to have to pay - seriously, the maintenance fees for this unit in the Florian are $5,825.34 per month. But this two storey unit includes sweeping views of the city as well as four parking spaces, so perhaps it's worth it.

#5401 50 Yorkville Avenue - $14,900,000
For nearly $15 million, you can cozy up in the sub penthouse at Toronto's luxurious Four Seasons Hotel. This ultra modern pad isn't as over-the-top as you'd think, but it features multi-coloured accents, so it's definitely not for everyone.

Any of these worth the asking price? Let us know in the comments.

Today in Toronto you're invited to watch a couple of movies outdoors and to hang out in some local breweries listening to lies your parents told you or looking at a collection of Leo Dicaprio-inspired illustrations. It's a great hump day.

For more events, click on over to our events section.

• Open Roof Festival (99 Sudbury)
• Meow Meow queer social with DJ Cam Lee (Holy Oak)
• Astronomy on tap T.O. (Tranzac Club)
• Coxwell laneway open house (Bus Terminal Diner Patio)
• We Stand With Orlando (Smiling Buddha)
• Draw me like one of your French Girls - Leo Dicaprio-inspired illustrations (Steamwhistle Brewing)
• Under the Stars: Movies in the Park presents The Jungle Book (Regent Park)
• Oysterlicious (Old Mill)
• Holodeck Follies - Spontaneous Star Trek (Social Capital Theatre)
• A book about sex (Type Books)
• Lies my parents told me (The Burdock)

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events section.

Photo by kkazandj via the Open Roof Festival's Facebook page.

If you've ventured down to Toronto's waterfront lately, you probably saw hundreds of people hunched over their phones chasing Pokemon. That's because the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal is one of the best places in the city to play Pokemon Go. The relatively small area has about five PokeStops and a gym. Rare Pokemon also spawn at this lakeside location.

But along with playing PoGo, thousands of people use the ferry terminal to escape to the Toronto Islands and apparently, the outdoor space is just too crowded these days.

"This level of use and potential congestion is not sustainable," said Toronto Parks and Recreation spokesperson Matthew Cutler to CP24.

The city has asked Niantic (the company behind Pokemon Go) to remove the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal-area PokeStops and gyms from the game - Toronto PokeMasters are already rallying together to save them.

On Facebook, an event called Pokemon Go JLFT CleanUp! emerged, urging players to band together to tidy up the terminal this Saturday, August 6.

Others are taking to Twitter and Instagram to share their frustrations.

Pokemon Go CleanUp at #jacklaytonferryterminal Sat Aug 6, 2-4pm. Everyone welcome. #JLFTCleanup#PokemonGo#torontopic.twitter.com/pDy771dDJh

— Jermain Virgo (@jermainvirgo) August 3, 2016

Hey @johntory leave the Pokemon Go players at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal alone. I was there for hours, we aren't causing any problems.

— Johnny Fry (@TheAngryUnicorn) August 3, 2016

People hanging out by Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. They're ALL playing #PokemonGO#the6ixpic.twitter.com/sUCyqSN3Da

— Elizabeth MW (@analyticeye) August 3, 2016

in my opinion, removing the jack layton ferry pokestops is the right move, it's not good for the ferry terminal to be that congested

— Ali (@AliHayabusa) August 2, 2016

Photo by Natta Summerky.

Watch out SUSHITTO On the Road, there's a new sushi burrito truck in town. Sushiburri Toronto is the city's latest truck to hop on the sushi burrito trend.

The truck launched just last week and can be seen around town dishing out a variety of sushi burritos including ones filled with spicy salmon, lobster, chicken and even unagi. In addition to giant sushi burritos they also serve poki salads and yakitori.

To find out when you can catch them next visit Toronto Food Trucks or download the Food Trucks app on Android or iPhone.

Photo by @sheismaja.

It seems like west coast-based restaurants are taking over downtown Toronto. Along with Cactus Club, Joey and Earls, the Financial District will soon be home CRAFT Beer Market's first Toronto location.

This incoming eatery is slated to open next to the second location of Sud Forno at Yonge and Adelaide some time in 2017. It'll feature 160 taps, but hopes to maintain a focus on Ontario brews.

Along with its massive beer selection, it'll serve up a menu of what it's calling new North American classic cuisine. You'll be able to enjoy it at brunch, lunch and dinner - perhaps even from the restaurant's outdoor beer garden, weather permitting.

The CRAFT Beer Market already has outpost in Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. These spots feature an eclectic array of beer-friendly dishes, like fast food sushi or, "Cheeseburger and fries wrapped in bacon and presented sushi style." Yes, for better or for worse, you'll be able to eat that here in Toronto too.

Photo of the Vancouver location via Facebook.

Who says burgers need to be more than beef with a little salt and pepper, and be dressed with more than cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a little hit of that special sauce? The fun-loving partners behind a new small-menu burger joint don't think so. They also make a heck of a fried chicken sandwich.

Read my profile of Rudy in the restaurants section.

The Toronto International Film Festival revealed its 68 gala and special presentation films last week. But as we move closer and closer to the festival, which runs from September 8 to 18, TIFF will continue to release information about its robust roster of screenings.

Today it announced its lineup of Canadian features, which includes work from notable directors such Xavier Dolan, Alanis Obomsawin and Deepa Mehta.

While many will rush to see Dolan's Cannes Gran Prix-winning It's Only the End of the World, there are numerous other films that look promising, especially among the documentary titles.

Fred Peabody's All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and The Spirit of I.F. Stone looks at how investigative journalists work beyond the confines of the mainstream media while Dilip Mehta's Mostly Sunny explores how Sarnia's Sunny Leone transformed from small-town girl to a Penthouse cover girl and then to a Bollywood Star.

Ann Marie Fleming's animated feature Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming) seems like it'll be especially dreamy as it follows the journey of a young poet. It includes the voices of Ellen Page, Sandra Oh and Don McKellar. And having it's world premier is Below Her Mouth, directed by April Mullen, about a weekend affair between two women.

Deepa Mehta's Anatomy of Violence takes us back to 2012 when a woman was gang raped on a moving bus in New Delhi. Her film uses 11 actors to present a fictionalized account of the lives of rapists.

In Alanis Obomsawin documentary We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice , she looks at the 2007 court case that put Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations against the Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

There's also a Canadian title under the Primetime category and Toronto music fans will be happy to note it's the web series nirvanna the band the show about two roommates who are trying to score a gig. The show's making the leap from the internet to the big (well, small) screen.

Here's the full lineup of Canadian films TIFF announced today:

Masters

• Deepa Mehta's Anatomy of Violence
• Alanis Obomsawin's We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice

Special Presentations

• April Mullen's Below Her Mouth
• Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World
• Nathan Morlando's Mean Dreams
• Kim Nguyen's Two Lovers and a Bear
• Bruce McDonald's Weirdos
• Ann Marie Fleming's Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming)

Docs

• Fred Peabody's All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and The Spirit of I.F. Stone
• Nicholas de Pencier's Black Code
• Hubert Davis's Giants of Africa
• Dilip Mehta's Mostly Sunny
• Brigitte Berman's The River of My Dreams
• Jamie Kastner's The Skyjacker's Tale
• Hugh Gibson's The Stairs

Contemporary World Cinema

• Chloé Robichaud's Boundaries
• Juan Andrés Arango's X Quinientos

Vanguard

• Anne Émond's Nelly

Discovery

• Tony Elliott's ARQ
• Kevan Funk's Hello Destroyer
• Stella Meghie's Jean of the Joneses
• Johnny Ma's Old Stone
• Vincent Biron Prank
• Ashley McKenzie's Werewolf

Primetime

• Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol's nirvanna the band the show

TIFF Cinematheque

• Sidney J. Furie's A Cool Sound from Hell

Image from It's Only the End of the World.

There are plenty of ways to get your health on in Toronto, and this location of one of Toronto's favourite producers of raw, organic and gluten-free foods offers a ton of them. Whether you want brunch, a takeout lunch or dinner, or the best vegetarian burrito you've ever had, this place has it all, and it's almost all certified organic.

Read my profile of Live Organic Food Bar in the restaurants section.

Imagine walking into a dimly lit downtown cabaret bar. There's a man at a piano belting out show tunes while several others sit around him staring up into the night. You grab a drink and every single person in the room is quietly checking you out. You've just walked into their Cheers, their home away from home and you're totally welcome, but who the hell are you?

Trying to find something to stare at other than your glass, you spot a thick, red velvet curtain in the back corner of the room.

Walking over to it you start to hear a distant thumping, but it's when you pull back that impossibly heavy curtain, that a scene from an '80s gay cruising flick reveals itself.

Flashing lights, stainless steel dancefloor, and a crowd of gay men and women with their hands and cares in the air. This is Zipperz, there is nothing like it in Toronto, and it's now closed because of yet another condo development.

The Church and Carlton bar opened as Buttons in 1998 by a couple friends of current manager Harry Singh. Singh, a ball of endless energy who talks a mile a minute, filled with village histories and late-night tales, worked with them, but eventually took over the bar in 2000 when the original owners were running the place into the ground.

Despite the sign outside showing a man's crotch with a button fly on it, Singh changed the name of the bar to Zipperz. A bar he then ran for 16 years.

"From what I see on Facebook, people feel lost, like gay refugees," Singh laughingly says. "They're missing the retro night and that regular watering hole feeling. I had very loyal customers here from day one and it was them, the daytime crowd, who kept me in business."

A campy cabaret bar during the day and into the evening with piano men James Quigley or Stephen Wong, Zipperz attracted an older crowd.

Before the days of hookup apps and Netflix, it was a spot for older (mostly) men and women to hang out and chat with each other, watch a classic drag queen and flirt with the odd straggler who would stumble in from somewhere on Church.

When Singh tookover, he transformed the back room into what is now known as Cellblock, the dark, chain-walled dance area where the village-famous retro nights with Cory Activate. (Sidenote, the big black thrown in the backroom was a set prop from The Last Emperor that Sing snagged in a movie set sale years back.)

"The retro nights were a big thing because Boots [old gay bar on Sherbourne Street] had just closed their retro nights when I tookover when I saw there was a niche for a more mature crowd and market," Singh says.

"I would go to certain bars and I felt like somebody's grandmother, and everyone was waiting for the mothership to come in. I wanted to go to a place to go where I recognized the music and felt comfortable, where the older crowd felt welcome. It was their own age group, there was no attitude, the bartenders would talk with them."

Singh adapted to the times and had nights for Drag Kings, Queens, industry nights, TICOT evenings, Miss Gay Toronto and legendary Pride parking lot parties in the back of the bar.

Otherwise known as The Yard, the back area had a wading pool, which Singh called his tropical oasis. The place also stood out as a rare downtown space with a big dancefloor that could handle over 100 people.

After 16 years Singh ran a bar that became a second home to many. It was campy, carpeted and comfortable and was often forgotten on The Village strip because of that.

"It's a good feeling to leave, it's also bittersweet," Singh says. "You nursed something for 16 years and then are forced to let it go ... you have no choice. It's not like it was a decision I made. I will miss the village, I've lived there for the last 30 years. But I'll be coming back."

Singh hasn't lost the drive to create cool, much needed spaces for the LGBT community. He's looking into new spaces.

"The landlords are not the same as they were 20 years ago, and people are not going out the same way they used to because of social media," he says.

"Especially gay men don't need to go out to gay bars anymore to meet people. You can meet them all over the place. Back in the day gay bars were the only places you could go meet people. things have changed, you have to go with the times."

Photo of Zipperz by Greg's Southern Ontario via the blogTO Flickr pool.

The saga continues. Toronto's taxi industry says that Uber isn't following the city's new regulations, which came into effect a few weeks ago.

In May, city council voted to regulate the ride-sharing service and created a new set of rules for private transportation companies (or PTCs). However, some taxi drivers say the city is doing little to make sure Uber's actually complying.

As 680 News reports, the United Taxi Workers Association will meet tomorrow and is considering holding another protest, possibly in early September around the same time as TIFF.

The last taxi protest shut down streets (and the 501 streetcar route) in December 2015.

The best Filipino restaurants in Toronto are becoming more diverse. From fried chicken joints and brunch destinations that command seriously long queues, to indie food stalls and contemporary eateries, there's a slew of new establishments ready to please your palate.

Here are the best Filipino Restaurants in Toronto.

Toronto's downtown core lacks green space, but that'll hopefully change soon enough as the city gets to build the 21-acre Rail Deck Park, which will run above the railway tracks between Blue Jays Way and Bathurst Street.

This initiative sounds almost too good to be true and seems to emulate incredible pieces of urban infrastructure, like Manhattan's incoming Hudson Yard and even the High Line (to a degree). Although unlike that popular New York City tourist destination, our incoming park will be on top of a working rail line and it won't be quite as long and linear.

It'll take about four or five years to bring this park into fruition. And the city hasn't announced how much it'll cost yet. Still, when you consider what the area looks like right now (above), it's hard not to get excited about the possibilities.

"Great cities have great parks. As Toronto grows, we need to take bold action to create public space and make sure we build a city that makes future generations proud," said Mayor Tory in a news release. "This is our last chance to secure a piece of land that could transform the way we experience our city."

Images via the City of Toronto.

Today in Toronto your mind will be blown. There are so many fantastic summer concerts, films and art shows, you'd swear we're trying to impress someone with our very finest. But nope, we're just doing us, thank you very much. Here are some key happenings worth checking out today and tonight.

For more events, click on over to our events section.

• Summerworks opening night party (Factory Theatre)
• Free Outdoor Screening of Haida Gwaii (Fort York)
• Dancing on the Pier: Soul, Funk and R&B (Harbourfront Centre)
• Mad Max Fury Road 35mm screening (Kingsway Movie Theatre)
• U of T Pokemon Go Party (Goldring Centre)
• Julie Doiron, Adrian Teacher & The Subs, Construction & Destruction and Protruders (Sneaky Dee's)
• Blue Jays X Samara Shuter: Art Exhibition (Rogers Centre)
• Cute and Crazy: Old School Jazz and Rock n Roll Dance Party (Tranzac Club)
• Muskoka Brewery 20th anniversary party (Evergreen Brick Works)
• St. Lawrence Market Summer Series party (St. Lawrence Market)
• Peaches and The Hidden Cameras (Massey Hall)
• Toronto Leather Pride (Church Street Village)
• World Music Series: Fannah-fi-Allah Sufi Qawwali Party (Aga Khan Museum)
• Gwen Stefani and Eve (Molson Amphitheatre)

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events section.

Photo of Peaches by Alejandro Santiago.

The area around King and John is one of the most densely packed with restaurants in Toronto, so much so that there's not a whole lot of existing space to add new eateries despite the obvious demand. A new development at 86 John St. might offer a novel solution to this conundrum in the form of a stacked restaurant complex.

Documents filed with the city of Toronto outline plans for a thin eight-storey tower to be located right next to the always bustling La Carnita / Sweet Jesus combo between the TIFF Lightbox and Pinnacle on Adelaide. The proposal isn't for a condo, though. This vertical wedge would house restaurants and possibly other retail.

While the project isn't far enough along to reveal specific tenants, the architectural plans call for a ground floor bakery and cafe, various retail, a wine bar, a top floor restaurant, and a rooftop patio. Yes, that's right. Not a condo unit in sight. The entire building is designated for retail.

The developer behind the project is listed as Tawse Realco, which shares an address with First National, the financial group headed up by winery owner Moray Tawse. He's also behind the redevelopment of the Paradise Cinema site on Bloor St., though this would be a far bigger venture than the revamp of the theatre. Notably, both developments feature plans for wine bars.

A two-storey historical building currently occupies the space where this development has been proposed, though it is not listed on Toronto's heritage inventory. A historical review of the property by ERA Architects concludes that "the existing structure has insufficient design, associative or contextual value to be commensurate with heritage recognition."

In other words, this unique development has a lot going for it as it enters the review phase. Its food-focused retail element is appropriate to the neighbourhood, the slender design put together by Sweeny & Co. Architects is pleasing to the eye, and the concept could be one that Toronto turns to more often as premium downtown space becomes rarer and rarer.

Renderings via Sweeny & Co.

This newish pub, named after the architect who built the Bloor Viaduct, has a dozen brews on tap in addition to hearty, well-made fare like schnitzel, Reuben sandwiches and a Chicago-style burger.

Read my profile of The Edmund Burke in the restaurants section.

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

OPEN NOW

• The new Sweet Jesus location at Yonge and Eg is already open. Another La Carnita and the incoming Good Fortune Bar are both launching this weekend at 130 Eglinton Ave.
• Idle has replaced Drift at 1063 Bloor St. W.
• King's Tacos, known for serving up authentic Mexican staples since the 1980s, has relocated to 1190 St. Clair Ave. W.
• Rolltation, a new spot slinging sushi burritos and poke bowls opens Friday, August 5 at 207 Dundas St. West.

RECENTLY REVIEWED

• Live Organic Food Bar
• Rudy
• Empire Grill
• Shamone

OPENING SOON

• Allwyn's Bakery, which makes of one of Toronto's best jerk chicken sandwiches is opening another location at Yonge and Sheppard this fall. The new spot is at the base of the Emerald Park condo at 9 Bogert Ave.
• Attico opens this week on the mezzanine level at 134 Peter Street. The 30-seat bar promises cocktails and tapas where you pay for the number of toothpicks you're left holding at the end of your meal.
• Cafe Fiorentina has closed its location on the Danforth and is set to reopen down the street this fall at 463 Danforth Ave.

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

A popular Parkdale florist has expanded east and this time, it has teamed up with one of the city's most popular makers of cold-pressed juice. Now you can browse amongst succulents, terrariums, full-size trees and cacti as you make your way to an organic smoothie bar.

Read my profile of Crown Flora and Greenhouse Juice in the design section

The top girls weekend getaways from Toronto will let you escape from the city for a little while. It's not always easy living life in the 6ix, so sometimes you need to pack up and head out of town with your closest friends. Whether you're looking to bond over a few bottles of wine or rough it in the wilderness, there's plenty to do just a short drive away.

Here are my picks for the top girls weekend getaways from Toronto.

Eat and drink your way through Prince Edward County
Rent an Airbnb at one of the many small towns in Prince Edward County. These spaces should accommodate your entire squad. You can either book a wine tour or rent bikes and stop at the many small, artisanal food producers in the region. Don't forget to head down to the water for some R&R.

Pamper yourself at the spa
Toronto might have its share of day spas, but there's nothing like venturing out of town to a relaxing retreat. The Nordic-style Scandinave Spa at Blue Mountain is always popular with groups, but if you have a little more cash to burn, consider Ste. Anne's Spa in Grafton, Ontario.

Head south
The dollar may not be strong right now, but the shopping always seems better just beyond the border. But if you don't feel like wandering around the Walden Galleria, there's plenty to do in Buffalo, from premier art galleries to top-notch craft breweries.

Lounge lakeside
Brave Highway 11 and drive up to Muskoka for the weekend. Rent a cottage for you and your friends, or venture a bit north of Huntsville and go camping on one of the many pristine lakes in Algonquin Park if your crew is more adventurous.

Soak up some culture (and wine)
If you're going to Niagara-on-the-Lake, you can cram in lots of culture, drinking, eating and of course, gambling at the nearby Niagara Falls-area casinos. Stay at a locally owned B&B and check out the Shaw Festival, which bills plays and musicals suitable for a variety of tastes. To top it all off, you can eat and drink at some of the province's best wineries and restaurants.

Thanks to Port Hope & Cobourg Tourism for sponsoring this post.

Photo of St Anne's Spa via Facebook.