Monthly Archives: September 2015

09.30.15
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A CRITICAL MASS OF HIGH-DESIGN RETAILERS HAVE PUT DOWN ROOTS ON TORONTO’S KING ST. EAST

KINGEAST3 It’s taken about fifty years, but King Street East from Jarvis to Parliament Streets is now evolving into a neighbourhood of showrooms, studios and high-end retailers. Al Smith, executive director of the St. Lawrence Market BIA says “it’s a neighbourhood different from anywhere else. The store owners are connected to a global network; they live design at an international level.”

KINGEAST6KEDD (The King Street East Design District) is part of a much larger community known as Old Town. It contains a couple of theatres, George Brown College, some of TORONTO’s oldest architecture, pubs, good restaurants including George Brown’s Chef’s House, the Toronto Sun newspaper, and coming soon The Globe and Mail Centre. The area is an easy walk from the St. Lawrence Market, St. James Cathedral, the Distillery District, and the West Don neighbourhood. On Saturdays and Sundays KEDD is ‘brunch central’ for downtown eastsiders.

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09.29.15
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THE MID-WEST’S GASTRONOMIC CAPITAL – CHICAGO – FINDS TORONTO’S LATIN CUISINE ‘DELICIOSO’

TRIBUNE7 CHICAGO (or at least Travel Reporter ALAN SOLOMON from the Chicago Tribune) spent some time this summer sampling TORONTO’s restaurants – a number of Latin American establishments – and pronounced them really good to excellent.TRIBUNE13  Solomon says “one of the joys of seeking out Pan Am eats in TORONTO is that finding them brings you into so many of the city’s neighbourhoods, most of them easily accessible via TORONTO’s trademark red streetcars or its easy-to-figure-out subway.”

TRIBUNE12He began in Kensington Market “more of a state of mind than a market” and Baldwin Street where “just days before my arrival Sully Rios opened her little empanada shop called Latin Taste.”TRIBUNE1“Julie’s Cuban Restaurant, 202 Dovercourt Road, is the quintessential neighbourhood restaurant . . . try the ropa vieja, a traditional pulled-beef dish with traditional Cuban sides (rice, black beans, plantains).”

TRIBUNE8   Albert’s Real Jamaican Food on St. Clair Avenue West “is a full-sized diner facing a Catholic Church with an Orthodox synagogue right next door. Folks line up to order oxtail, curry goat, stew beef, jerk chicken and other good things.”TRIBUNE3Across St. Clair Avenue from Albert’s: “El Fogon is a 12 year-old Peruvian restaurant. I ordered the lomo saltado, a national dish of sliced sirloin, sweet onions, tomatoes and French fries (‘Inca steak fries’) all tossed together in a wok and washed down with an amber Inca Kola.”

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Valdez on King Street West: “We get quesadillas featuring eggplant and artichoke, an award-winning smoked chicken guacamole, chaufa (a Peruvian fried-rice dish) with duck and edamame, and a brisket-endowed mofongo you’ll find in Santurce.”TRIBUNE4“El Catrin, in its second year in the Distillery District, is a trip, a mind-blowingly gorgeous, theatrical installation whose decor almost, but not quite, overwhelms chef Olivier Le Calvez’s interpretations of Mexican standards. Pulpo carnitas, anyone?”TRIBUNE2“Milagro, with three locations serves the requisite tacos plus surprise variations (rib-eye and bacon) along with other creative foodstuffs, including a wonderfully complex mole poblano.”

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09.23.15
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WITH ITS VAST COLLECTION OF HERITAGE BLDGS & WAREHOUSES, THE FASHION DISTRICT TAKES OFF

FASHION11FASHION6Former mayor BARBARA HALL and her city council can take much of the credit for the success story unfolding today in TORONTO’s Fashion District (roughly Richmond West to King Street, and Bathurst to John.) This area was once a prime industrial hub in the city’s core. But in the 1980’s it was heading to rust bucket land as industry moved out, first to suburbia, then overseas and to the US and Mexico. Brick warehouses emptied out, and property owners began demolishing them with little regard for their heritage value.

FASHION8Mayor Hall and her council brought in The Regeneration Planning Initiative, eliminating traditional land use restrictions and calling for the preservation of these wonderful old structures. Today, the Fashion District is a boomtown within a boomtown. The warehouses are fully occupied with light industrial businesses – new media, technology, fashion, architecture and entertainment.

FASHION2FASHION1With an influx of sidewalk patios, several fine restaurants, office towers and apartment buildings, the district has become a hot, go-to downtown destination. Best of all – the developers are treating the heritage buildings with more than a little respect.

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09.21.15
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ANOTHER SUPER YEAR FOR TIFF – 473,000 OF US LINED UP TO SEE HUNDREDS OF MOVIES

TORONTO loves the movies. With 70 downtown screens and about a dozen neighbourhood cinemas, weekly film festivals, summertime outdoor screenings, TIFF’s galleries, research library, and cinematheque, and three film studio complexes – the Toronto International Film Festival is the cherry on top.

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“Room”, an Irish/Canada co-production, took the top prize this year – The People’s Choice Award. It’s a mother-and-son abduction drama that could well be Oscar material. Based on Canadian author Emma Donoghue‘s novel, the story follows a mother and young son <Vancouver’s Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson> who live in a 10 by 10 foot space.  The boy – for the moment anyway – believes this is the entire world.  But his curiosity is growing, along with his mother’s desperation.

Top prize in the Platform program for global drama went to TORONTO filmmaker Alan Zweig. He took the $25,000 prize for HURT, a documentary about Steve Fonyo, the cross-country Canadian runner who raised millions of dollars for cancer research 30 years ago, and has fallen on hard times since. Twelve international films competed for this prize.  Jurors from China, Holland and France joked there was no chance this was an ‘inside job‘ because “we’re not Canadian!”

TIFF5With 3,000 volunteers, large and comfortable cinemas, films from the four corners of the world (39 from Canada this year), open to the public, financial support from three levels of government, and stars galore – after 40 years, TIFF remains a smashing success and a well-earned feather in TORONTO’s cap.  We do this very well indeed.

09.19.15
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SOME TORONTO PIONEERS WILL REST FOREVER IN THE HEART OF FREEWAY LAND

richview2 RICHVIEW3 Speeding towards Pearson International Airport, you may catch a glimpse of Richview Memorial Cemetery.  It’s on the left, as you approach the bustling 427/401 interchange.  Richview, dating back to 1853, is the final resting place for some of TORONTO’s rural pioneers <PHOTO ABOVE – blogTO>.

richview62richview32Never in the dark, accessible only by car, no trees or windbreaks, the music of jets taking off and landing, and transport trucks – that’s Richview.  PHOTOS ABOVE – Alan L. Brown, Christopher Drost (Torontoist) and Colin McConnell (Toronto Star)

richview1<Richview Memorial Cemetery is in the lower right hand corner>

09.17.15
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CASA LOMA, 1 AUSTIN TERRACE, IS BOTH A MUSEUM & LANDMARK OVERLOOKING DOWNTOWN

CASALOMA2Casa Loma is TORONTO’s castle, a museum, landmark and special events venue, open to the public year ‘round.

CASALOMA3    Built in 1911-14, by Canadian financier Sir Henry Mill Pellat, the house and stables were designed by E. J. Lennox, architect of Old City Hall and numerous other important buildings.  The castle has a fine view of the city centre.

casaloma5casaloma6Subway stop – DUPONT, and then walk northwest uphill, or ST. CLAIR subway stop, and then streetcar #512 westbound to Spadina Road, and walk south.  <INTERIOR PHOTOS:  Steven V. Rose>

09.17.15
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CINECYCLE MIXES BIKE REPAIRS, MOVIES, MUSIC & EVENTS IN AN ALLEY BEHIND 129 SPADINA AVENUE

CINECYCLE4 CINECYCLE’s Founder and Director, Martin Heath, is the recipient of the Tom Berner Award for “providing extraordinary support to the cause of independent film making in TORONTO.” A former print maker, film handler and projectionist, Martin is a longtime supporter of the city’s music scene.

cinecycle1At different times, CineCycle’s coach house was a stable, home to a fine fur company, and a sweat shop.  The “work to rule” graffiti is from a worker’s action that took place here in the 1930’s.  Bike repairs are by appointment; films are screened on an irregular schedule.  <PHOTO ABOVE – Kelsey Adams/canculture.com & BELOW – blogTO>

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09.16.15
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IT’S A BUSTLING FINANCIAL HUB BY DAY, BUT AFTER DARK BAY STREET ROLLS UP THE SIDEWALKS

bayst1When the sun goes down over Canada’s Financial District (Simcoe Street to Yonge, Queen to the edge of Southcore, 15 square blocks), there’s a mass exodus. The population diminishes rapidly from over 200,000 during the day to about 2,239 – the folks who actually live there.Bay at Wellington North_4.30.14 JPRA Census data survey from Environics Analytics for the Toronto Financial District BIA has put the neighbourhood under a microscope and come up with some other facts and figures.  Within the District – there are only 3 residential towers; 2 hotel-condominiums and another under construction. 70% of those surveyed use public transit as their primary commuting mode; 14% either drive or carpool; a significant number who live in surrounding apartment neighbourhoods walk to work, and bicycle use is increasing with the opening of Richmond and Adelaide Street bike paths.

FINANCIAL2A surprising number – 35% – come from outside TORONTO. 64% live in TORONTO, 57% of those polled work in the financial, insurance or real estate sectors, 24% spend $100-$200 weekly on fast food and restaurants in the area. 18% spend $200-$500 weekly on restaurants.  70% have a bachelor’s degree or higher education. 28% speak a language other than French or English.Path273% use the PATH underground tunnel system daily. “It’s a huge economic driver. It’s a significant piece of the vitality here in terms of how the area works,” said BIA executive director Grant Humes.PATH6