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The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
Rumours have been circulating forever now that Target is joining the ranks of U.S. retailers setting up in Canada, alongside J. Crew, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney and Crate and Barrel. Well, today those rumours were confirmed—and Toronto Life’s prediction from early 2010 was right. Target—or Tar-jay, in sarcastic French—will open in the Great White North by 2013, replacing the HBC-owned chain Zellers.
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Like every chef with a new venture and a pulse, Susur Lee has taken to Twitter to drum up buzz for his new restaurant, Lee Lounge. Last night, Lee dropped some tantalizing hints (and blurry pics) about the much-anticipated space’s status:
@susurlee: Lee lounge ready for a opening! Stay posted
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This week has been an emotional rollercoaster for Being Erica fans (such as ourselves). First, we had to say so long to season three, with no definite plans from the CBC for season four (who knows if we’ll ever get to see who that mysterious glove belongs to). And then we find out that Temple Street Productions, the Toronto company that produces BE, has made a deal with ABC to develop an American Erica. Try saying that 10 times fast.
Word is the Canadian scripts will be adapted by American script doctor Maggie Friedman—she of the amazing Dawson’s Creek and the less amazing Eastwick—and as far as casting goes, the jury is still out on who will play everyone’s favourite time-travelling ginge, Erica Strange. Our picks after the jump.
Despite some speculation that Rob Ford was going to make peace with Transit City after his election win, the National Post is reporting that he is as anti–light rail as ever, looking to put a stop to the LRT project during his first day of business tomorrow.
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Peter MacKay: Bay Street bound? (Image: Benjamin J. DeLong)
Being a Conservative MP must be tough these days. There’s the boss, who doesn’t make winning elections easy. Then there’s the pay ($150,000 doesn’t go as far as it used to). Add to that the frustrations of a year of minor political crises in Ottawa, and anyone can see why some cabinet ministers would be beating a path to the doors. First there was Jim Prentice, who abruptly announced he was done with politics and heading to work for Bay Street bank CIBC. Now there are rumours swirling about Defense Minister Peter MacKay ditching the capital for Toronto.
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With over two million viewers, ecstatic live audiences and almost as many cast dating rumours as Gossip Girl, the first season of Battle of the Blades was a Canadian sensation. So last night’s season two premiere had a lot to live up to. But the new crop of ice-queen and puck-prodigy pairings looks promising. As head judge Sandra Bezic noted, “The level of this competition is already around week five from last year.” By the way, were the women’s costumes always so XXX? Based on episode one, it would be fair to assume this year’s ladies have a visible midriff clause in their contracts.
We’re as excited as you are for a whole new season of lifts, lutzes and locker room gossip—last year, at least one couple took their chemistry off the ice. With that in mind, we’re analyzing every episode to decide who should stay, who should go and who should, you know, get it on. Our first breakdown after the jump.
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Based on her list of ex-beaus, one could assume that Rachel McAdams has a type. Ryan Gosling, Josh Lucas and Jake Gyllenhaal (whom she may or may not have dated after last year’s Oscars) are all cut from the same scruffy high-school-boy cloth. We approve. Except that—sigh—if the latest rumours are true, it looks like Rach may be saying so long to her flannel years and moving on to a more sophisticated type of gent. Specifically, Michael Sheen, the Brit who played Tony Blair in The Queen, David Frost in Frost/Nixon and the other Wesley Snipes on 30 Rock.
Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner and Ben Affleck look worn out at The Town presser (Image: Karon Liu)
The cast of Ben Affleck’s crime drama The Town showed early signs of TIFF fatigue at a junket press conference Friday afternoon. The Hurt Locker’s Oscar-nominee Jeremy Renner rocked back and forth in his chair, his arm resting behind co-star Blake Lively, as they fielded questions for nearly an hour. The pressing matter of the day: Affleck’s grey-speckled tresses. “I didn’t have a single grey hair until I started directing movies,” the 38-year-old said. “Directing movies gives you grey hair. And my brother. My brother gives me grey hair.”
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The mean streets of King West (Image: Google Maps)
With the Bell Lightbox TIFF headquarters at King and John finished, doomsayers have begun predicting the demise of Yorkville as the festival epicentre. The new Lightbox—with its five screening rooms, festival programming and trendy new restaurants—is obviously going to provide Yorkville’s facilities with some competition. It’s also across from the Hyatt Regency, the official host hotel, and very close to the Thompson Hotel, where Shenae Grimes, Adrian Grenier and Enrique Iglesias have been spotted recently.
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(Image: Karon Liu)
We heard the rumours, but the prospect of having Edward Norton interview Bruce Springsteen as part of the gala presentation of The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, while exciting, seemed rather far-fetched, considering Norton was nine when Darkness was released. But TIFF has confirmed that the Fight Club star will join the Boss onstage on September 14 to discuss the documentary and Springsteen’s long-standing musical relationship with movies as part of the Mavericks series, in which filmmakers and artists discuss their work. Norton will also be in town for the prison drama Stone, in which he stars with Milla Jovovich and Robert De Niro (both are scheduled to appear).
This telephone poll of 400 people was conducted by Ipsos Reid, for Global News, Newstalk1010 and the National Post
Political junkies in the city were finally blessed at 4:04 yesterday afternoon with the news they’d been waiting for: a new poll! Released by Global News, the poll confirms what everyone already thought: Rob Ford is in the lead (32 per cent), George Smitherman is behind him (21 per cent), and the other three front-runners are trailing badly. In particular, Rocco Rossi—once the darling of the anti-Smitherman forces in the city—is now rapidly approaching what statisticians call “the Mammoliti zone”; at seven per cent, he’s almost within the poll’s margin of error. (The Rossi campaign announced yesterday that it would be changing management now that rumours are swirling that Rossi’s own campaign manager was urging him to drop out and endorse Smitherman.)
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Prime, that famed steakhouse at the Windsor Arms Hotel, has become a revolving door for chefs, of late. After executive Stephen Ricci left earlier this year, alumnus J.P. Challet (he helmed the kitchen during Prime’s 1999 relaunch) returned to liven up the joint. Just five months into his tenure, Challet abruptly announced his resignation. “I don’t believe in the steak house. I don’t believe in fine dining anymore,” he told us in June. The restaurant has managed to pick up the pieces with a new head chef—Richard Andino of Flow—and brand new menus. There are also plans for an all-new restaurant at the hotel.
The King is dead: this Annex property may be the next Guu (Image: Google)
Torontonians have been salivating over the possibility of a new location of Guu, rumoured to be located in the Annex. Well, word got out via the Compendium Daily’s Twitter feed last week that the second iteration will likely be at 559 Bloor Street West, former home of a Burger King. A quick call to Guu owner James Kim confirms it. Well, sort of: “It’s coming, but we’re still working on the paperwork for the lease and going over things with the head office. For it to be 100 per cent confirmed, it’ll take some time,” he said, to be on the safe side.
• Guu’d news? The jam-packed izakaya may be opening second location in Toronto [Toronto Life]
Thanks to language barriers and cultural divides, it is sometimes difficult to understand news coming from another country. That’s why Taiwanese newspaper Apple Daily breaks it down for its readers with CGI re-enactments of real-life events. First, the paper gained international recognition for its animation of Tiger Woods spanking his mistress, then for a very accurate explanation of the Conan/Leno late-night war (complete with Conan transforming into the Incredible Hulk). Now they’ve set their sights on the mystery kid who keeps popping up on their Twitter trends list: Justin Bieber.
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Toronto the Guu'd: the Church Street izakaya may be expanding (Image: Gabriel Li, from the torontolife.com Flickr pool)
Our appetite for Japanese food spiked today after hearing the rumour, via Chowhound, that Church Street’s Guu Izakaya is planning on opening a second location at Bloor and Spadina in the fall. Since the Vancouver import opened up in Toronto last December, it’s been packed to the rafters (a two-hour wait for a table is not uncommon). A new Annex counterpart would suit Guu’ casual-yet-authentic Japanese offerings, but Vancouver office manager Yoshi Negishi says they haven’t officially decided where they’re going to open a second location. “The first one is pretty good,” Negishi says. “In the future, if it’s possible, we would like to open up a second.”
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