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Kudos are due on two counts today for Montreal meat mecca Joe Beef. Reason No. 1: the operators of this long-lauded restaurant (David McMillan, Frédéric Morin, Meredith Erickson) have penned a volume—The Art of Living According to Joe Beef—that just took first place in the third annual Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks.
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Battle of the department store windows: wherein Lady Gaga makes Christmas about Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga’s crystal cave—whatever that means (Image: Courtesy of Barney’s New York)
There’s so much to love about the holidays in a city: the aroma of freshly prepared seasonal drinks to get us going in the morning, hearing carols inside shops, fresh snow blanketing our favourite monuments and the many festive window displays at nearly every department store. Fashion magazine takes a look at the windows of popular department stores Holt Renfrew and The Bay and puts them side by side with Lady Gaga’s Barneys windows (which barely have anything to do with the holidays), Ogilvy’s woodland-themed tableaus, Bergdorf Goodman’s gaudy gilded birdcage and more. How do The Bay and Holt Renfrew’s efforts compare to the show-offs in New York? Take a look at the gallery and pick your favourite in Fashion’s poll »
Toronto takes first and second place in this year’s best washroom competition; see why
(Image: Cintas Canada)
After losing out to Vancouver last year, Toronto has ascended the, erm, throne in Cintas’s annual Canada’s Best Restroom contest (no, we’re not entirely sure why this exists, either, but why not?). This year, first place went to E11even, MLSE’s iPad-toting fine-dining restaurant, with second-place honours going to the Allstream Centre (a.k.a. that conference centre out at Exhibition Place). The five finalists were selected, according to a press release, “based on exceptional hygiene, style, public accessibility and usability,” after which the public got to have its say through an online vote. So what makes E11even’s washrooms so special? Huge expanses of marble, mosaic tiling and judicious use of the Toto washlet, which is basically the modern incarnation of the bidet (glimpse the future at Toto’s website). The LEED silver restrooms at the Allstream Centre, meanwhile, feature a carpeted makeup lounge (in the ladies’ room), complete with individually illuminated mirrors with walnut accents. In third, fourth and fifth place were Montreal’s Hôtel Le Germain, Edmonton’s David Morris Fine Cars and the Ottawa Convention Centre. Check out a slideshow of E11even’s winning w/c, after the jump
VIA Rail reveals just what a $923-million investment will buy you
Earlier this week VIA Rail announced its plan for a slew of service upgrades, the result of the biggest government investments in the company’s history: $516 million in 2007 and $407 million in 2009. The improvements include refurbished passenger cars, station renovations (plus a few brand new ones), more trains and reduced trip times for the well-travelled Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor. In particular, there will be twice as many trains between Toronto and Ottawa, meaning you can enjoy lunch at Fran’s down by Union Station and still make it to Bistro St. Jacques for dinner. Read the entire story [Where] »
Rob Ford marks the first anniversary of his election with news that he’s only the second-least popular mayor in the country
Don’t worry, Rob, at least you didn’t rank last (Image: Christopher Drost)
A new poll finds that Hazel McCallion, she of the conflict-of-interest fame, is Canada’s most popular mayor, while Rob Ford sits in second-to-last place (a cruel gift from the folks at Forum Research Inc. on the same week of the anniversary of his election victory). Because Gérald Tremblay is the only mayor less popular than Ford, we’re tempted to suggest that only a major scandal could knock Ford down any further—but hey, look how things worked out for Hazel.
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The cat’s out of the bag: Daniel Boulud to open restaurant at the new Four Seasons
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Back in April, we reported that Daniel Boulud was another in the growing group of Michelin-starred chefs to snub Toronto in favour of Vancouver or Montreal. Not so, apparently: the National Post’s Shinan Govani confirmed yesterday the rumours that the lauded New York chef of Daniel fame will be opening a restaurant in the new Four Seasons hotel and condo complex on Bay Street (there’s an official announcement scheduled for next Thursday). This is the second Canadian hotel partnership in the works for the chef, who is opening Maison Boulud in Montreal in early 2012 to coincide with a $150-million renovation to the Montreal Ritz-Carlton. Previously, Boulud opened and subsequently closed two restaurants in Vancouver, DB Bistro Moderne and Lumière, after only two years in business.
High-speed rail travel between Toronto and Quebec could radically affect poutine consumption
The Toronto Star obtained a report that says a high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City is viable, and the details would tantalize anyone who regularly makes the Montreal-to-Toronto trip (or underagers heading to La Belle Province to engage in a little weekend debauchery). The trains would travel between 200 and 300 kilometres an hour, potentially cutting the five-hour trip to Montreal in half. Just think: a two-and-a-half-hour ride could be the only thing separating you from a steaming plate of fries, gravy and cheese curds. Oh, and the 15 years the link would take to build. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
New magazine caters to Toronto’s wealthiest homeowners, revives classism
Toronto’s elite neighbourhoods, according to the distribution of free copies of Toronto Home Magazine
Last week Toronto’s wealthiest homeowners likely received one of the 25,000 free copies of Toronto Home Magazine, a new publication that showcases the city’s most glamorous and expensive abodes. Those copies are for select neighbourhoods only, where residents could conceivably afford the luxuries advertised (if the rest of the plebs want a whimsical glimpse, they’ll have to buy it on newsstands).
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RIM spends $100 million—possibly (hopefully) to be more like Apple
Research in Motion announced Friday that it has agreed to buy Irish developer NewBay for a reported $100 million. The 200-employee firm creates software for mobile phones that allows users to upload and share pictures and videos, as well as automatically update their social networks. We dare say that it appears the Waterloo-based company may have finally realized that entertainment and social interaction sell phones. The company’s previous acquisitions this year—Montreal-based Tungle, Waterloo’s tinyHippos and Seattle-based Gist—stuck to the “business first” motto often cited as the reason behind RIM’s downfall. If the company is targeting more casual users, the change can’t come soon enough. Last month, comScore data revealed that the 16-gig iPhone 4 is the most popular phone in Canada, with 763,000 users, beating out the 421,000 patriots who favour the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Read the entire story [National Post] »
Cities across North America—including Fargo, N.D., but not including Toronto—are exploring novel ways to raise revenue
Strained municipal budgets across North America mean that cities have a choice to make: according to the Globe and Mail, they can either cut municipal services or seek out new ways to raise revenue. The paper looks at what other locales are doing to bolster revenue and in the process finds that even North Dakota’s politicians might be more innovative than our own. Montreal has a parking fee that’s expected to generate $20 million. New York City has a long-standing personal income tax. Other cities tack hefty fees onto hotel occupancy and gambling. Toronto, meanwhile, axed the vehicle registration tax. With so many North American cities heading in the opposite direction, we have to wonder if Rob Ford knows something we don’t—or if the city is in serious trouble. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »
Best of Fall #8: Jonathan Crow, the TSO’s new concertmaster, makes his debut with a multi-million-dollar violin
Just below the autocratic conductor in a symphony’s strict hierarchy is the prestigious post of concertmaster. The concertmaster is always a violinist, performs the showiest solos and leads the orchestra in pre-concert tuning. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra spent three years searching for a replacement for its last concertmaster, the fiery Jacques Israelievitch. His successor, Jonathan Crow, is notably young—he’s 33—in a greying man’s field. He’s also an incredibly talented violinist, playing his instrument with a combination of precision and vigour. Crow comes from Prince George by way of Montreal, where he joined the MSO at 19. He likes a challenge, seeking out tricky compositions (he’s fond of Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin). He’ll debut at the TSO’s season opener and perform solos in a Beethoven romance and two Bach concertos over the following month.
Dîner en blanc, Toronto’s other white meet
About 400 sartorial albinos descended on the Distillery District yesterday for Toronto’s first Dîner en Blanc (apparently unconcerned that Nuit Blanche usually has dibs on the colour this season). Partly organized by Suresh Doss—the man behind Food Truck Eats—the feast was a pilot of sorts, not formally affiliated with the official events in Paris, Berlin, New York and elsewhere. The concept remained the same: dress in your finest whites, bring your own haute cuisine and show up at a public locale that’s revealed only shortly beforehand. The dinner bills itself as a high-class affair; indeed, its code of conduct warns that “only the most proper decorum will be tolerated,” attested to in the photos up at Torontoist and The Grid. In Montreal, on the other hand, it seems they do things a little differently: this video from 2010 features a very posh Gandalf the White at 3:30, as well as a truly graceful conga line at 5:45. Read the whole story [Torontoist] [The Grid] »
Exodus to the burbs: why diehard downtowners are giving up on the city
The reasons to abandon the overcrowded, overpriced, not-so-livable city are beginning to outnumber the reasons to stay. More and more of us are tempted by the 905 and beyond. Screw Jane Jacobs. We’re outta here
Brian Porter and Carrie Low thought they’d hatched the perfect plan to avoid the eight-lane gridlock they faced every week on their drive to the family cottage in the Kawarthas. Porter, a soft-spoken 41-year-old Toronto firefighter, would arrange his work schedule to be home on Friday. He’d pack the car at noon and pick up his daughters, Lily and Amelia, from daycare shortly after lunch. Then, rather than head from their home in the Beach to pick up Low downtown, he’d drive to a strategic pit stop in Oshawa. Low, a slim 41-year-old redhead, works as a lawyer with RBC in the financial district, her days and nights packed, respectively, with meetings and paperwork. Her role in the escape plan was to get off work early and catch the GO train to Oshawa Station. Often, she’d end up working a pressure-packed day until 5 p.m. anyway, leaving Porter and the girls waiting at the station for hours. In the end they never gained that much time—it could still be a challenge to get to the cottage before nightfall. But at least they’d avoided the worst hours on the DVP and the 401.
Latest StatsCan report confirms all our stereotypes about commuting in the GTA
(Image: Paul Sherwood from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)
Statistics Canada’s latest report about commuting across Canada came out yesterday, and there are lot of interesting goodies in there (to the point that the Toronto Star basically geeked out and ran a half-dozen different stories). The numbers for Toronto basically confirm every stereotype we previously held about ways to get around this city.
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Rob Ford shoots down 2020 Summer Olympics bid put forward by a group of influential Torontonians
(Image: Patrick Hoesley)
Apparently the sport-loving Brothers Ford aren’t entirely indiscriminate in their love of big-time sporting spectacles. While the Fords are keen to bring a National Football League franchise to the Big Smoke, they aren’t so keen to see Toronto host the Olympics. A hopeful group led by local businessman Bob Richardson—and supported by Dalton McGuinty, the Canadian Olympic Committee and a group of influential Torontonians, including John Tory, Mike Harris and Paul Godfrey—approached the mayor’s office to get its blessing to bid on behalf of the city for 2020 Summer Olympics, but was promptly rebuked—albeit in a more polite manner than we’ve sometimes seen.
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