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The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
ADDRESS: 43 Hanna Avenue, Unit 311
NEIGHBOURHOOD: South Parkdale
AGENT: Caroline Bokar, Forest Hill Real Estate Inc.
PRICE: $1,499,000
THE PLACE: A corner unit in Liberty Village’s Toy Factory Lofts, a century-old building that once housed the Irwin Toy factory.
Claudio Aprile, the chef and owner of molecular gastronomy temple Colborne Lane, has announced that he’ll be opening two new locations of his more accessible Origin in the new year. The first, according to The Grid, will be a 150-seat restaurant in Liberty Village, complete with lounge, open kitchen, raw bar and patio and set to open in April. The second will take over the space vacated in November by the decidedly more casual Sierra Grill at Bayview Village, and will open by Christmastime next year, if all goes according to plan. The new locations will apparently share the “DNA and core values” of the original King and Church space, but will have menus more tailored to their surroundings. Aprile has often hinted that he wanted to be running a chain of restaurants. Indeed, he told Chris Nuttall-Smith last year that he could see himself running six restaurants within a decade. Judging by this new announcement, that might happen a lot sooner. Read the entire story [The Grid] »
Diners phoning in to make a reservation at Liberty Belle Bistro have been met for a few weeks now with a recording saying the restaurant is temporarily closed. Over at The Grid, Karon Liu confirms that Aidan Pascoe’s little oasis of French cooking is unfortunately closed for good due to “personal health issues.” While Liberty Belle’s run was extremely short (it only opened back in February), it had already gained quite a following in Liberty Village, which our reviewer pointed out can sometimes feel like “the Bermuda Triangle of cooking.” Read the entire story [The Grid] »
The Buyers: Jennifer Zimmermann, a 30-year-old systems analyst, and Dustin Vaughan, a 32-year- old ad exec.
The Story: Vaughan and Zimmermann each owned a condo near Front and Spadina when they met online in May of 2009. Four months later, they decided to move in together. First they tried living in Zimmermann’s 600-square-foot one-bedroom, then Vaughan’s slightly larger place, but both units were too small for the two of them and their 85-pound greyhound, Jax. They loved living in a condo and wanted to stay within walking distance of their favourite hangs along King and Queen. With location in mind, they set a budget of $500,000 and embarked on a six-month search.
La Liza, Día de los Muertos candy skulls and Sahr Ngaujah as Fela Kuti
1. LIZA MINNELLI
La Liza, one of the world’s few EGOT winners (that’s Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony), takes the stage this weekend for a one-night-only roundup of the biggest hits from her decades-long career—and, with any luck, a reprise of her cover of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” from Sex and the City 2. Oct. 28. $59.50–$199.50. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., 416-872-4255, roythomson.com.
2. DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS AT EVERGREEN BRICK WORKS (FREE!) Read the rest of this entry »
While this is the season for spooky, it’s not all haunted houses and black cats. Take, for example, the Day of the Dead. Closely tied to the Catholic holidays All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, this Mexican holiday is a time for honouring loved ones who have passed away. The Brick Works incorporates traditional elements of el Día de los Muertos, like decorated altars, candy skull making, Mexican folk music and a craft workshop. Oh, and for $5 you can judge a churro competition featuring Cava’s Chris McDonald, Frida’s José Haddad and five other chefs. Oct. 29. Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Ave., ebw.evergreen.ca.
Bar Vespa, FAB Concepts’ new Liberty Village restaurant and bar
After opening the Sugar Beach–fronting Against the Grain in June, FAB Concepts, the group behind places like Mill Street Brewpub and The Pour House, is now launching Bar Vespa. Located in Liberty Village next door to their Brazen Head pub—and right across from the new Williams Landing—Bar Vespa was inspired by a recent trip through Tuscany by co-owner Sean Bayley and his partners.
Read the rest of this entry »
Liberty Village’s new Beer Boutique is the Beer Store’s attempt to craft a more welcoming retail environment (Image: Leo Petaccia)
With the rise of craft breweries, Ontario drinkers have been clamouring for access to a wider variety of brews. The Beer Boutique, which officially opened on Tuesday in Liberty Village, is the Beer Store’s answer to that demand (and to the LCBO’s steady erosion of their market dominance). Targeted at beer drinkers both discerning and recently re-educated, the idea is to turn grabbing a Friday-night sixer into a legitimate shopping experience, perhaps with a a quick lesson in beer appreciation thrown in on the side. According to Ted Moroz, president of the Molson-Coors-Labatt-Sleeman joint venture, “The store was created from listening to our urban consumers who told us they wanted a space where they can learn about new beers, as well sample and enjoy food pairings.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Mexican street food reborn in the market, a greasy spoon–less diner on Dupont, and Liberty Village’s latest bistro
Agave y Aguacate 
214 Augusta Ave., 647-208-3091
Read the rest of this entry »
Chef-owner Francisco Alejandri’s excellent food stall is the headliner in a shoestring–budget Latin American food court in Kensington Market. It consists of little more than a stainless steel prep table with a deep fryer, two induction burners, a small refrigerator, a toaster and a food processor. Alejandri, who wears a suave white Panama hat while he works, is an exceedingly good cook. He does a fantastic flank steak salad—the meat, sliced into thin strips, is tossed with tomatoes, red chilies, red onion, cilantro and lime juice, then garnished with house-fried tortilla chips. It makes for a brilliant lunch. The lime charlotte is better than most desserts you get in proper restaurants: the sweet-sour lime curd and Maria cookies are decadent but light with a squirt of lime juice and a drizzle of arbequina olive oil. Wait times can exceed 20 minutes but the trade-off is that the place is incredibly cheap. It would be thrilling to see what Alejandri would do with more space and a properly equipped kitchen. Closed Monday.
The Crêpe Québécoise at Liberty Belle Bistro (Image: Andrew Brudz)
Chef Aidan Pascoe’s Liberty Belle Bistro is a welcome reprieve from the prefab chic taking over Liberty Village. The rustic room is peppered with antiques, and the cast iron–fenced patio is a quiet spot for a cozy lunch.
Read the rest of this entry »
After the hectic holiday season is over, we’re looking forward to snuggling up by the fire with this über-soft throw from West Elm. The 50-inch-by-70-inch hand-knit acrylic-wool blend throw comes in three great colours and is a steal at only $59.
West Elm, 109 Atlantic Ave. (at Hanna Ave.), 416-537-0110, westelm.com.
BEAN SPROUT
Parents can stock up on winter boots, snowsuits and coats for the kids from such brands as Geox, Rip Zone and Kenneth Cole; everything is at least 20 per cent off. 565 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-932-3727, beansprout.ca.
CANOPY BLUE
For one night, all merchandise in the womenswear boutique is 25 per cent off. Ten dollars from every purchase will go to Blessing in a Backpack, a local charity that provides in-school meals for children. Champagne and nibbles sweeten the deal. RSVP to 416-483-2583. Nov. 26. 2582 Yonge St.
ESPRIT Read the rest of this entry »
At this warehouse sale, clothing and accessories for men and women are up to 80 per cent off regular price. View the sales flyer here. Nov. 24, 6–9 p.m.; Nov. 25 and 26, 9–9; Nov. 27 and 28, 9–6. Queen Elizabeth Building, 190 Princes Blvd.
Why bother with a boring office job when you can share code at networking parties, design games for smartphones and sell your idea for a fortune?
Peter Kieltyka and Jeff Brenner NuLayer makes Crowdreel, an app that collects and categorizes photos uploaded onto Twitter. Photos processed: 100 million.
A 20-something dressed in jeans and a T-shirt enters a stern, early-20th-century brick building near King and Yonge and gets on an elevator. He stands beside suits who spend their days plying commercial real estate and trading securities. The man-boy stops at the sixth floor and enters a cloud blue–coloured lobby, pulls a magnetic security card from the wallet in his jeans and swipes his way in. He removes his ear buds, drops his backpack at his desk and picks up a bagel in the kitchen, passing the room with the ping-pong and foosball tables and another room with the staff Xbox. Then he returns to his desk and becomes one face in a sea of young, so-nerdy-they’re-cool Michael Cera types, though many of these Michael Ceras are Asian, and a few are female. They sit at rows of computers organized by platform, like a really cliquey junior high lunchroom at the world’s smartest school: there’s the BlackBerry row. Android. IPhone. The room reverberates with chatter that sounds, to an outsider, like the kind of talk on a TV medical drama that makes no sense but communicates urgency through tone: “Fleshing out the photo imaging…test for download…integrated platform…” Read the rest of this entry »
On the agenda this weekend: Apocalypse Now, a Leafs game, a soup festival and Afrika Bambaataa
1. HARBOURKIDS: HARVEST (FREE!)
Despite our enjoyment of the word “hootenanny,” we were surprised to find out we didn’t know what it means. Far more than just any old party, a real hootenanny requires folk music and audience participation. Check one out with the kids this weekend. Oct. 9 to 11. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000, harbourfrontcentre.com.
2. WALTER MURCH PRESENTS APOCALYPSE NOW AND THE STATE OF CINEMA
Walter Murch—a film editor, sound designer and film theorist—is a behind-the-scenes kind of guy who holds considerable influence. His audio work on Apocalypse Now netted him his first Oscar in 1979, making him more than qualified to discuss both the movie (Saturday) and the state of cinema (Sunday). Oct. 9 and 10. $18.15. TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W., tiff.net.
The patio season started early this year, which simply means there’s more time to hit the city’s best al fresco dining and drinking destinations. Here, 10 of our favourites »
Liberty Village may be late to the party when it comes to the fancy burger trend, but good things come to those who wait
Lamb and portobello burgers (Images: Catherine Hayday)
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