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The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
All stories relating to kitchen
Great Spaces: An Aussie expat takes a sledgehammer to her Creemore farmhouse
Carolyn Chapman, who was an administrator at Upper Canada College for almost 25 years, and her husband, Patrick, bought their 25-acre farm near Creemore soon after they got married. Chapman had been longing for rural vistas like the ones she remembered from growing up on a sheep station in Australia. Their farmhouse, originally built in the 1880s, had a crumbling 1960s addition and became a decades-long work-in-progress. “Once, my husband and I were having tea with a friend, and we mentioned that we’d been meaning to knock down one of our living room walls,” Chapman says. “Our friend said, ‘There’s no time like the present.’ So we picked up some hammers, and that wall went out the window.”
Cottage of the Week: $8.5 million for a Lake Muskoka log cabin
ADDRESS: Peninsula Road, Port Carling
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Lake Muskoka
AGENT: Richard Scully, Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage
PRICE: $8,495,000
THE PLACE: This giant log cabin overlooking Lake Muskoka proves that the classic cottage can be both rustic and luxurious.
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Cottage of the Week: $350,000 for a rustic waterfront oasis that’s fit for a waltzing log driver (or anyone, really)
ADDRESS: 492 Maple Point Rd., Kagawong
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Manitoulin Island
AGENT: Timothy Fenerty, J. A. Rolston Ltd., Real Estate Brokerage
PRICE: $350,000
THE PLACE: This 27-year-old, 1,329-square-foot log-cabin cottage sits on the North Channel (the lake above Georgian Bay and Lake Huron) and comes with two bedrooms on a whopping 1.74 acres of land. At only $350,000, this property is a bargain for frugal summer-property buyers. Not convinced? This axe-wielder’s dream (or the perfect spot for someone who just likes to pretend) is homey and rustic (it has a wood-burning stove), qualities that so many modern cottages lack nowadays—anyone looking for granite countertops, turndown service and a tennis court will be disappointed.
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Cottage of the Week: $2.2 million for a country getaway inspired by the Stahl House
ADDRESS: 2000 Strathallan Wood Place
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Lake Simcoe
AGENT: Bernice Whelan, Bernice Whelan Realty Inc.
PRICE: $2,249,000
THE PLACE: This 3,660-square-foot cottage with 103 feet of shoreline is just over an hour outside the city on Lake Simcoe’s Kempenfelt Bay. Originally built in 1968, it features a two-storey stone fireplace, cork flooring and a piece of lawn art that looks like a donut twist.
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House of the Week: $900,000 for a two-storey Trinity Bellwoods townhome
ADDRESS: 1-257 Euclid Avenue
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Trinity Bellwoods
AGENT: Stacey Robinson, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage, and Anabela Bernardino, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage
PRICE: $895,900
THE PLACE: A two-bedroom contemporary townhome at Dundas and Euclid with a black-white-and-grey colour scheme, mini-gym and rooftop deck.
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Cottage of the Week: $1.9 million for a luxe second home with two private islands
ADDRESS: West Shore Road, Kennisis Lake
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Kennisis Lake
AGENT: Gary F. Vasey, Lynne Tate and Ross Jarvis, Gary F. Vasey Ltd., Brokerage.
PRICE: $1,895,000
THE PLACE: Situated on Kennisis Lake midway between Huntsville and Bancroft, this cottage is large, spacious, sun filled and fully equipped with modern features in every room.
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Introducing: Calligaris, King Street East’s newest home decor shop
Calligaris is home to sleek, multifunctional Italian-made furniture
The place: Toronto’s largest selection of Calligaris merchandise is housed in a heritage building, originally built in 1907 for the Sovereign Bank of Canada, on King Street just east of Jarvis. Of course, King East needs more furniture stores like Queens Quay needs more condo buildings, but this Italian import offers a sleek alternative to the more traditional styles of Up Country and the antique stores that dot the strip.
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Fresh-baked goods: a surprisingly sleek bread box
We didn’t expect to write about a bread box, let alone recommend one for its design, but here we are. In modern home accessories, there’s a fine line between something that looks sleek and modern, and something that looks like NASA might shoot it into space. The Jetson family came to mind when we saw this Guzzini bread box ($65) in Homefront the other day; we like its sleek lines, which would work well in most contemporary kitchens.
Also in black. Homefront, 371 Eglinton Ave. W., 416-488-3189.
House of the week: $3.5 million for Yorkville mansion built in 1879
ADDRESS: 24 Elgin Avenue
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Yorkville
AGENT: Gay Louise MacLeod, Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd.
PRICE: $3.495 million
THE PLACE: Built in 1879 by Robert Smarr, one of Yorkville’s foremost developers in the 19th-century, this semi-detached residence still sports the high ceilings and original mouldings, trim and hardware of the Romantic Era. Of course, the property has been carefully renovated and restored over the past 20 years to include modern touches, like the spacious contemporary kitchen overlooking the terrace. The spiral staircase leading from the family room to the second floor dates back to bygone days of live-in help, but the master bedroom’s dressing room and third floor suite will certainly come in handy for modern comforts.
Sixteen things to do in Toronto before summer’s over
(Image: Benson Kua)
The leaves may be changing and drunken freshmen may be stumbling around the streets again, but summer isn’t officially over until September 22. Instead of whinging about the inevitable end of the warm weather, make full use of the remaining lazy, hazy days with our list of 16 things to watch, eat, do, see and buy before it’s time to break out the scarves and jackets.
1. Go to Sugar Beach. The Claude Cormier–designed park is the newest addition to Toronto’s ongoing waterfront rejuvenation project, with quartz-speckled sand, pink umbrellas and grassy knolls. The beach is nestled between the slick Corus Entertainment building and the Redpath Sugar Factory, and the Muskoka chairs are a good vantage point from which to contemplate Toronto’s past and present or work on a late-summer tan. Jarvis slip, lower Jarvis St. and Queens Quay E.
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Introducing: Brockton General, Dundas West’s new snack bar
The day's menu is written by the chef before service (Image: Karon Liu)
Adding to the influx of small, simple restaurants in the city is Dundas West’s week-old, low-key snack bar Brockton General (staff: three, dishwashers: zero). As the chef, Guy Rawlings, explains, opening a room that seats 30 means less bureaucratic finagling. Look at Nathan Isberg’s similar setup a few blocks down at The Atlantic.
Friends and first-time restaurateurs Pam Thomson and Brie Read found the space on Craigslist in June (it was previously a Portuguese sports bar) and hired Rawlings (Cowbell, Célestin) to man the small kitchen. Each night, Rawlings writes the menu, starring produce found at Downsview Park’s urban farm, on a roll of chart paper hung on a blank wall. On one visit, it included two appetizers and three mains—all under $20—in the nose-to-tail Cowbell tradition. Tagliatelle with wild boar’s head, anyone?
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New IKEA catalogue is out: let’s compare it to last year’s
Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. The company that brought umlauts to America and made an L-shaped piece of metal replace an entire toolbox has released its annual catalogue. We got ours at Union Station, where a team of yellow polo–clad Poäng elves was handing out catalogues to commuters. While we saw prices rise last year, things are cheaper in 2011—so as far as we’re concerned, the recession is over, according to IKEA. Billy bookcases for everyone!
A comparison of the 2011 catalogue to the 2010 edition, after the jump.
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Food safety experts want us to stop rinsing our chickens
No bathing: rinsing raw chicken can do more harm than good (Image: snowpea&bokchoi)
Somewhere there’s a vegan flipping through Eating Animals and peacefully enjoying a veggie burger.
Just days after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency warned the country about pathogen-laden sausages and deli meats, the Toronto Star steps up to tell us that washing raw chicken—that first step in pretty much any chicken recipe—is a great way to increase one’s chances of contracting food poisoning. The reason, explains the British Food Standards Agency, is that more than half of raw chicken contains bacteria that cause food poisoning and washing the meat just spreads the bacteria around the kitchen. The best way to combat the bacteria is to cook it to death, so better to put that chicken sashimi on the backburner. Literally.
• Stop washing raw chicken, food agency advises [Toronto Star]
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