Though this restaurant may serve brunch with small town heart, they've implemented some big changes - literally. With a larger space including bar seating, they've also made it easier than ever before to access your favourite homemade frozen and baked goods, and serve booze now, but still have those tasty biscuits and brekwiches.
Read my profile of the new Emma's Country Kitchen in the restaurants section.
Taking its cues from an upscale design district in Mumbai, where influences range from Anglo-Indian, Portuguese and the native Koli fisherman, Toronto's newest Indian restaurant brings something original to the city's dining scene.
Read my profile of Colaba Junction in the restaurants section.
This four bedroom, 4,700 square foot contemporary home has hit the market, with an asking price of $3,450,000. While a new-build isn't for everyone, there's no denying this David Small Design home comes with no shortage of luxurious features, and plenty of outdoor space.
Unique design details like the complimentary dark wood and glossy white cabinetry give the kitchen a modern design kick, with other well-placed wooden details available throughout the home.
If your preference lies in the west end, location is key for this home. It's walking distance to Bloor West Village, and the subway and Humber River is in your backyard. Also in the backyard: a covered deck complete with gas fireplace and overlooking a tree-filled backyard; it's the perfect spot to entertain or cozy up with a coffee and a great book.
SPECS
NOTABLE FEATURES
GOOD FOR
A family that's looking for a home that's move-in ready. This new build won't (or shouldn't) need any renovations or upkeep for years to come, offering a stress-free move and excitement to get set up in a new home.
MOVE ON IF
You want a house with a bit more history. While it is in proximity to Etienne Brule Park (Etienne Brule being the first French explorer to delve into Upper Canada), the house itself is a new build, offering none of the historical significance that some other Toronto homes in this price range possess.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS
Would you live in this contemporary home? Let us know in the comments.
Back in the 1970s, neon signs lit up Yonge Street and a slew of businesses announced themselves with colourful marquees. But as these signs slowly go dark and get dismantled, the Downtown Yonge BIA is now thinking about how to preserve them.
This business improvement association wants to create an outdoor neon sign museum in O'Keefe Lane, which runs adjacent to Ryerson between Gerrard and Gould, reports Metro today.
As Metro notes, the Downtown Yonge BIA has already started collecting signs. It's also talking to the Markle Brothers, who designed many of Yonge Street's old signs, to rebuild some of the ones we've lost over the years. The BIA is also looking for partners on this project.
Toronto's neon signs aren't just fun to look at. They can also help teach us about our city. And we're not the only place serious about neon. Las Vegas, unsurprisingly, already has a neon museum and it's, according to its website, "dedicated to collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting iconic Las Vegas signs for educational, historic, arts and cultural enrichment."
It's one of the city's most intriguing tourist attractions, and a sign (ahem) that there's real appetite for this type of preservation.
Local photographer Tanja-Tiziana is arguably one of the most accomplished documenters of neon signs in Canada and the United States. Her just released Buzzing Lights book showcases some of the best examples of the genre from Toronto to Los Angeles and cities in between.
Do you think Toronto needs a neon museum? Let us know in the comments.
Photos by @ThetaState and via the Toronto Archives.
To give thanks to its patrons on Thanksgiving, Toronto eatery Rolltation decided to serve up free sushi burritos from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. With over 5,000 people clicking attending on the Facebook event, it was no surprise when hundreds and hundreds of people showed up for a taste of one of the summer's hottest food trends.
Lines snaked all the way from Centre St. across to University Ave. and down, proving once again Toronto absolutely loves to lineup for things. If you don't believe me, here's yesterdays madness as documented on Instagram.
Photo via @myblockto.
The best organic grocery stores in Toronto are located throughout the city, making it easy for you to stock up on seasonal, locally sourced produce, organic meat and dairy as well as yummy prepared foods. From food co-ops to bigger supermarkets, you can find everything you need to eat clean in these stores.
Here are the best organic grocery stores in Toronto.
Bloor is surely one of Toronto's most important streets, up there with Yonge and Queen as the head trio of our urban grid. It didn't take its current name until the mid-1850s, but its history dates back to the turn of the 19th century in Toronto, when it existed as the northern end of the city. Toronto has since grown around it, leaving behind a fascinating and quirky trail of trivia along the way.
Here are 10 quirky things you might not know about Bloor St.
1. Bloor used to end at Sherbourne. The section of the street that cuts over towards Parliament is built on infill and actually a part of the Prince Edward Viaduct.
2. The street was variously known as the Second Concession and Tollgate Road until 1855, when it was named after Joseph Bloore, a prominent businessman and the founder of the Village of Yorkville. No one knows why the "e" was dropped.
3. At one point, Bloor was the northern terminus of the city. Toronto's key east/west thoroughfare was Lot St. (present day Queen St.), from which the city was divided into estates that ran all the way north to Bloor -- hence the Second Concession designation.
4. Bloor used to be covered in streetcar tracks. Before the Bloor-Danforth Line opened in 1966, it was one of the busiest surface rail routes in the city.
5. Speaking of the Bloor-Danforth subway line, have you ever noticed that it's not actually built under the street? Because the TTC used the cut and cover method to build the line, it was decided that it should be placed just north of the main street to reduce traffic disruption.
6. On occasion, Bloor St. serves as the north/south dividing line for non-sequentially numbered streets, as is the case on Sherbourne St. and Prince Edward Dr. in Etobicoke.
7. That strange-looking building at 315 Bloor St. West (at Devonshire) that now houses the Munk School was once a meteorological observatory. There used to be a dome above the tower that housed a telescope until 1930.
8. The so-called Mink Mile (the stretch of Bloor between Yonge and Avenue Rd.) is the priciest retail space in Canada and is regularly listed as one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world.
9. The north side of the street used to be a dry zone. The borders of West Toronto (what we now call the Junction neighbourhood) extended to the middle of Bloor St., which meant that establishments on the south side of the street could serve booze, while those on the north could not.
10. The Michael Lee Chin Crystal at the ROM, likely the most recognizable structure on Bloor St., was once ranked the worst piece of architecture built in the 2000s.
Did I miss any Bloor St. trivia worth sharing? Let us know in the comments.
Photo via Chuckman's Collection.
If you've ever wanted to own a piece of Toronto Blue Jays playoff history, you now have your chance. The MLB is auctioning off pieces of the games from both the Wild Card and ALDS sweep that some diehard fans would love to own.
You can get your hands on everything from the first pitch and first out game-used baseball from the Wild Card game to the Rougned Odor two-run home run baseball from game 3 of the ALDS. While big ticket items like this may set you back a couple thousand dollars, there are plenty of other items up for grabs like locker tags that are more than reasonably priced.
For a complete list of playoff memorabilia available visit this MLB auction website.
Photo via @BlueJays.
Skateboard decks make great canvases. Toronto's Collectif NUDE knows that so it's hosting a massive art show featuring more than 100 skateboard decks for one week only.
Bare Decks open this Friday, Oct. 16 at Free on Claremont Street near Trinity Bellwoods Park. It'll feature skateboard decks dressed up by local and internationally based artists, athletes and musicians. But you'll have to move quickly if you want to check them out.
The show will stay open for one week (until Oct. 22) and afterwards, Collectif NUDE will sell all of the decks at an online auction. Proceeds will go towards the Canadian Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Photo and deck by maggiemichella.
Have you ever been watching your fave cult classic film and thought, man I would love to have been on that set? Well now you can, and then you can party with the other actors on set afterwards thanks to the folks behind The Secret Sessions.
The Movie Experience is a an immersive event where you find out the location and the cult film on the day of the event (the next session happens November 8-12), as well as the character you'll be playing. Once your ticket is purchased, you receive a private email with dress code and prep notes.
After that it's costume, makeup, lights, camera, action! Ticket holders are thrown onto a real film set and to keep things are close to reality as possible, the whole thing is lightly catered. There's a cash bar also, but no free drinks to ensure you don't get hammered during your key scene.
Actors and non-actors (there's no training required for this) will be on set for a total of four hours, and then you can go back to your trailer and tweet about your cast mates to make sure you make it into People next week.
Photo by Ronnie Yip.
What do you do if you want to take your relationship with your morning cup of coffee to the next level? Obviously, you can drink more coffee. Or, you can buy a painting featuring cups from all of your favourite Toronto cafes.
Locally based artist Erin Rothstein paints food. But her work usually looks good (and by good I mean real) enough to eat. For her latest series, she's painting stacks of to-go coffee cups from some of our city's favourite indie cafes including Rooster, Sam James and Dark Horse.
Rothstein tells us she got the idea while drinking a latte at Ezra's Pound. She's also a self-proclaimed coffee lover.
"I love the landscape of Toronto cafes," she says via email. "I try to visit a different independent coffee shop every morning. They each have their own vibe, and their own loyal tribe, and I like being a part of that. When you stumble upon a great cafe in this amazing city, you begin to unlock the incredible cultural landscape (or foodscape) that is Toronto."
While many of her prints and pillows are currently for sale online, you'll be able to see these caffeine-centred paintings at the Artist Project happening from February 23 to 26, 2017.
The Broadview Hotel had been under a sheath of scaffolding for over a year as crews worked to restore the nearly 125 year old building. We've seen a few renderings of the promised restoration in the interim, but it wasn't until an unveiling ceremony the other day that the new face of the hotel was unveiled. And what a gorgeous face it is.
Just a few years ago, the building was entirely rundown, best known as the home of Jilly's strip club. It was still an intriguing place in the way that once-grand hotels often are as they weather and age, but now Streetcar has given it a new lease on life in the form of a massive facelift that will bring 58 hotel rooms, a street-level restaurant, and a rooftop bar.
It'll take until 2017 before all of this is ready, but we no longer need to wait to see what the restored exterior looks like. It's already left a mark at Queen and Broadview, where it looks particularly stunning at night when its facade is lit up like a beacon. Check out the video above to watch as the building is unwrapped and shown off for the first time post-restoration.
Photo by Marcus Mitanis in the blogTO Flickr pool.
College Street, between Havelock and Shaw, might look messy right now, but what's happening on the street is just the tip of the iceberg. The city of Toronto terminated its contract with Four Seasons Site Development, the company that was working on College Street, after numerous delays. The entire project was supposed to be finished on Oct. 8.
According to a construction update, work stopped on Oct. 6. The fencing came down and another contractor stepped in to make the street safe again. Streetcar service resumed on Oct. 9 because, as the Toronto Star writes, the city couldn't keep paying for replacement buses.
The College Promenade Business Improvement Area initiated the project in order to beautify the streetscape with art installations, interlocking stone sidewalks and a slew of other enhancements.
Next spring, the city will re-tender in order to complete all of the remaining work. Local stores owners aren't too happy with what's happening.
Many told the Star that business has been way down and they're not looking forward to another summer of construction next year.
Earlier this summer we spoke to a number of businesses. While they were frustrated with the delays, many were still excited about how the finished project would enhance this stretch of College Street.
Photo by Hector Vasquez.
Today in Toronto marks the return of Crystal Castles to the Hoxton. I have no idea what happened, but I'm glad this duo are back making racket in the city. If you need a quieter hump day, the Reelworld film fest launches tonight as well as a new food and drink guide by the Monocle team inside their Toronto store.
For more events, click on over to our events section.
Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events section.
Photo of Crystal Castles by aktivioslo.
An elegant restaurant with rustic Italian foundations to the dishes, this is where to go for that fancy pasta dinner or some bread, olives, and a bottle of wine, all expertly directed by reputed chef Craig Harding.
Read my profile of Campagnolo in the restaurants section.
Popular Toronto taco joint La Carnita sparked a social media storm last night after a Donald Trump-inspired Instagram post was called out for being sexist. The offending image was quickly removed from the restaurant's feed, but not before a host of other restaurateurs and diners weighed in on the indiscretion.
The caption in question reads "What if Donald said, "grab her by the taco..." Over and above the trivialization of the wildly problematic nature of Trump's original comments, this just isn't funny at all. It sounds like it was written by a teenage boy who needs sensitivity training.
Unsurprisingly, the backlash was quick and harsh. The Black Hoof's Jen Agg was particularly vocal, but she wasn't alone in condemning La Carnita for the post. There was a chorus of criticism that erupted following the post and its subsequent resurfacing on @chefgrantsoto's account.
La Carnita wouldeventuallyapologize, but only hours after the photo was taken down, a delay that was noted by some who were critical of the restaurant's actions and eventual response. To their credit, the restaurant didn't make excuses and promised to be better, but that likely won't mollify everyone who followed along.
What do you think about the situation? Let us know in the comments.
There's more troubling news related to the PRESTO rollout on the TTC today. Even as it's been revealed that many card readers installed on buses aren't working properly, the project is already millions over budget even without significant elements of the work accounted for.
According to a report in the Toronto Star, the rollout had already cost Metrolinx $276 million by the end of March, which is $22 million more than the original budget of $255 million.
That wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that this number doesn't factor in the costs associated with finishing installation of PRESTO on buses and Wheel Trans vehicles and increasing the number of self-serve reload machines across the system.
There's a lot left to do, though it's worth noting that the TTC is covering the cost of fare gate installation at subway stations. TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told the Star that its end of the PRESTO rollout is currently on-budget.
One contributing factor in the cost overruns is the delay in the delivery of new streetcars from Bombardier, which necessitated a wider rollout of PRESTO on legacy vehicles. Even with that factored in, however, it appears that the implementation of a fare card system for the TTC will ultimately cost far more than expected.
Photo by Tom Ryaboi.
The best consignment stores in Toronto will let you live your very best green life all while looking fabulous. These shops, which carry a range of designer goods and more affordable vintage pieces, are located throughout the city. Get ready to rummage through clothing racks in order to find a hidden treasure, a coveted handbag or a perfect party dress.
Here are the best consignment stores in Toronto.
Toronto's food scene is pretty fast-paced, but holy crap, this cafe is really hot shit. This is the dessert place all relentless users of the poop emoji have been waiting for, serving a variety of Asian desserts in toilet-shaped bowls.
Read my profile of Poop Cafe in the restaurants section.
Come off their sweep of the Texas Rangers in the ALDS, the Toronto Blue Jays are starting to climb oddsmakers ranks when it comes to the World Series. Entering the playoffs, the Jays carried odds of +750 (or 15/2) to win the pennant. Now, entering the ALCS, those odds have improved to +225 (or 9/4).
At this point, the Jays still trail the Cubs as favourites to win it all. Chicago presently carries odds of +160 (8/5) to take the World series this year, though Toronto has closed the gap considerably based on its current hot streak. In terms of relative probability, the Jays come in at nearly 31 per cent, while the Cubs are ranked at 38.5 per cent.
In any case, the prognosis looks good for the next series, assuming that you put any faith this sort of stuff. Cleveland has been pegged at +375 (15/4) to go all the way, which gives the Jays a considerable edge in oddsmakers eyes heading into the ALCS.
Let's hope they're right!
Photo via the Toronto Blue Jays.
