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Nota Bene team to open new restaurant at Queen and Church

Waiting for Nota Bene (Image: PJMixer from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)

Yesterday evening, Shinan Govani broke the news that the team behind Nota Bene—Yannick Bigourdan, Franco Prevedello and chef David Lee—was getting set to open up shop due east from their fine dining mainstay at Queen and University. Rumours of a Nota Bene “clone,” however, turn out to be a little exaggerated. Instead, Bigourdan told The Dish, the unnamed restaurant will have a somewhat different concept, something that’s now being ironed out between the partners. They’ll have some time: the new place, which will be located in a currently empty 7,000-square-foot space at 111 Queen Street East, right near George and B Espresso, isn’t scheduled to open until early next year. It’s also located right beneath the Toronto Life offices—which means we’ll be watching developments closely.

The Hype

The Velvet Rope

January 24, 2012 | 12:24 pm

2 Comments

Toronto’s well heeled celebrated The Obamas author Jodi Kantor at Victoria Webster’s Rosedale home

Celebrating Jodi Kantor’s <em>The Obamas</em>

Gabe Gonda, Jodi Kantor and Victoria Webster have a party for The Obamas (Image: Tom Sandler)

Fabulous Rosedale homes are meant for more than just real estate porn and housing Toronto’s aristocracy—they also provide a great backdrop for parties. Toronto Life contributor Victoria Webster and her husband, Gabe Gonda, weekend editor at the Globe and Mail, opened their home Friday evening to New York Times correspondent and The Obamas author Jodi Kantor. Complete with a question-and-answer period, libations and a book signing, this party was a proper toast among friends. Find out what Kantor had to say about Michelle Obama and who took his shoes off (when no one else did) after the jump.

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The Dish

Restauran-TO

October 18, 2011 | 10:39 am

6 Comments

The cat’s out of the bag: Daniel Boulud to open restaurant at the new Four Seasons

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.

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The Goods

Rogue Fashion Week

October 12, 2011 | 12:27 pm

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Greta Constantine draws a big crowd at Century Room (yes, that Century Room) for the kick-off to Rogue Fashion Week

Draped, as per usual (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

Rogue Fashion Week is upon us, and Greta Constantine kicked it off last night with a show and after-party at King West’s Century Room. Designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong are known for their extravagant shows (held at car dealerships, Rosedale mansions and TIFF hot spots with celeb models), so it was no shock to see the bevy of gussied-up Torontonians at the typically bottle-service-heavy club (oft complete with heavy beats, and rowdy men and women) for Greta Constantine’s spring/summer 2012 show. This city always seems to show its love for the Greta boys, and last night was no exception, with the many guests including socialites Suzanne Rogers, Sylvia Mantella, Amoryn Engel, Jenna Naumovich, Alexandra Weston, Suzanne Cohon and Catherine Nugent, gossip columnist Shinan Govani, performer K-os, ET Canada’s Rosey Edeh and MuchMusic personality Sarah Taylor. We also spotted Global News anchorwoman Anne Mroczkowski smoking outside with FDCC chair Robin Kay (who carried out an entire conversation with someone across the runway during the show using only hand gestures) and club king Toufik Sarwa, but the most interesting gossip was about Vanessa Mulroney, who requested 10 front row seats for her gal pals, a collection of Maple Leaf hockey wives—no word of a lie. Sitting front row alongside socialite Mulroney were Emilie Witt, Brittany Perlman, Jessica Peczek, Katarina Brown, Ania Rembacz, Dale Chaplin, Jeanne De Partout, Mel Armstrong and Jessica MacArthur. Check out our full collection gallery after the jump.

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The Goods

Scene Stealers

October 7, 2011 | 12:54 pm

1 Comment

THE SCENE: The Bay and Topshop host an intimate dinner at One in the Hazelton Hotel

Susie Sheffman, Coco Rocha and The Kills’ Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince (Images: Jason Hudson)

This week marked the opening of Topshop and Topman at Yorkdale, which we’re certain is already yesterday’s news. Frankly, as hosts Bonnie Brooks and Sir Philip Green would agree (they both mentioned it in their speeches), this was a move on The Bay’s part that has been years in the making (and as such, we’ve been hearing about the acquisition for what feels like years as well). To celebrate, Sir Philip Green, Brooks and other Topshop dignitaries—like brand director for Topman David Shepherd, Topshop managing director Mary Homer, Topshop creative director Kate Phelan and Topman design and development director Gordon Richardson—hosted a dinner at One restaurant that brought together model Coco Rocha and fashion plates like Fashion’s Susie Sheffman and Bernadette Morra, Flare’s Liz Cabral, Sharp magazine’s Jeremy Freed, National Post society columnist Shinan Govani, Suzanne Boyd, MuchMusic’s Sarah Taylor, writer Sarah Nicole Prickett, the Globe and Mail’s Tiyana Grulovic, Men’s Fashion’s David Livingston and the Kills’ Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince. Check out the scene after the jump.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 9, 2011 | 12:00 pm

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SPOTTED: Juliette Binoche taking a walk through U of T

Juliette Binoche was spotted earlier today strolling through U of T campus. Shinan Govani tweeted: “Juliette Binoche! Noted walking through the grounds at University of Toronto! (Perhaps she’s auditing a course?)” Lucky for her the sun decided to shine today (the special presentation of her film Elles is tonight).

Find this story on our Star Spotting Map, where we plot the locations of celebrities spotted around Toronto.

The Hype

TIFF Talk

August 15, 2011 | 1:46 pm

1 Comment

CONFIRMED: Mrs. Robinson (Kathleen Turner) will be in town during TIFF 2011

Local society columnist Shinan Govani tweeted this morning that A-lister Matty Walker Mrs. Robinson Kathleen Turner would be appearing at this year’s Best Buddies gala in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 10. We spoke with the event’s executive director, Stephen Pinnock, who confirmed that she’ll be the marquee guest this year. There’s no word yet on where else Turner will he heading that week, but if Belinda Stronach can get a man to take his shirt off while she’s out and about, our guess is Turner will be surrounded by nearly naked would-be Benjamin Braddocks all night long.

The Dish

From the Print Edition

August 11, 2011 | 1:00 pm

25 Comments

Chris Nuttall-Smith takes on La Société, Charles Khabouth’s sexy, buzzy French bistro

La Société serves up social cachet wrapped in sex appeal, and some decent French food, too (Image: Eugen Sakhnenko)

Four million dollars buys a lot of restaurant, even on Bloor Street, at the heart of the city’s richest retail mile. Charles Khabouth, the nightclub impresario behind La Société, the new, two-storey, 380-seat, more or less slavish recreation of a belle époque Paris bistro, brought in 29 tile workers, many of them from Montreal, to complete the spectacularly elaborate black, white and gold mosaic floors in the restaurant’s main bar and dining room. He and Alessandro Munge, of the Munge Leung design firm, commissioned a stained-glass ceiling for the bistro’s main space (which they’ve backlit, inexcusably, with sallow fluorescent lights), purchased their zinc bar top from France, outfitted the banquettes in brass and burgundy leather, and panelled the room in enough mahogany to deforest the best-endowed of banana republics. The rent, meantime, likely adds $2 million annually to Khabouth’s overhead. He’ll need to sell a lot of steak frites to cover that, but the man isn’t afraid to go big.

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The Goods

Scene Stealers

June 1, 2011 | 2:19 pm

10 Comments

The Scene: Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez hosted a hot party last night

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez don’t sweat it at The Bay last night (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

Last night in The Room at The Bay, this month’s fete celebrated Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. The Room is almost the perfect environment for a party, with good lighting for photos and lots of room to explore, but like any good party, the best place to hang out is the kitchen, or in The Bay’s case, one very cramped corner, hovering around the title guests. This gave way to sweat-lodge heat that created what one partygoer described as a “distinct fashion B.O.,” but McCollough and Hernandez drank very chilled champagne anyway and toasted an appearance-well-done alongside Suzanne Rogers, Nicholas Mellamphy, Shinan Govani, Stacey Kimmel, Jeremy Laing, Tommy Ton, Kimberley Newport-Mimran, Stephen Wong, Kirk Pickersgill, Susie Sheffman and Liz Cabral. Check out our full scene gallery below.

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The Hype

Telling Tales

May 31, 2011 | 2:25 pm

1 Comment

Mark Wahlberg may be seen shirtless more often in his rumoured Yorkville property

Mark Wahlberg can make Rhea Durham do this, but what will he do for Toronto? (Image: WEBN-TV)

Unless someone is shooting a movie or revisiting a favourite Toronto haunt, we’re typically limited to boldface Hollywood types on our less-glistening Toronto streets during TIFF. At least that was the case before we heard that Dirk Diggler Mark Wahlberg is scouting property in the Yorkville area. Shinan Govani reports that the actor was heard saying, “I love the fact that it’s a smaller building,” which we thought we’d never hear from a celebrity who makes countless millions every year (especially considering that Lady Gaga just announced that her decadence has essentially bankrupted her). Apparently its micro size and a nudge from other local small property Tie Domi seem to be enough to hold Wahlberg’s interest in the to-be-renovated building that once belonged to St. Basil’s Catholic School (and, well, it doesn’t cost $28 million). Nothing has been signed, but Govani seems confident that there’s a good chance he might, which will mean more abs and pecs for everyone.

• Shinan: On the Marky Market [National Post]

The Dish

Rumours & Rumblings

May 18, 2011 | 11:14 am

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Could this be the location for a new upscale grocery store by Lynn Crawford?

The former home of Ring Audio at Queen and Grant (Image: Signe Langford)

Rumours have been swirling among Riverside dwellers and foodies alike that Lynn Crawford is preparing to jump into the boutique grocery business. The hoarding is up over the glass at the former home of Ring Audio, just a few doors down from her Riverside restaurant, Ruby Watchco. But when we called her, the chef and host of Pitching In was keeping mum on the details—at least, she says, “until I have my ducks all lined up in a row.”

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The Goods

Scene Stealers

May 17, 2011 | 1:50 pm

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Greta Constantine’s Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill launch Skin, their collaboration with Danier

Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong have turned to leather in a collaboration with Danier (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

Last night, Toronto’s glossiest glamourpusses—well, at least the ones willing to trek to Queen Street West and Brock Avenue on a rainy Monday—hit Neubacher Shor Contemporary for the premiere of Skin, the much-hyped collaboration between Danier Leather and Greta Constantine tag team Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill. The event brought out Sebastian Pigott (we had to catch ourselves from referring to him as Kai Booker, his character from Being Erica), Shinan Govani, Ivana Santilli, Glen Peloso, Katie Boland, Andrew Sardone, Natalie Lecomte and Sandra Pittana, and on display—on a model and at an on-site pop-up shop—were the six outfits from the capsule collection. See our coverage of the showcase and a gallery of the pieces and the scene after the jump.

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The Hype

Prime Time

April 7, 2011 | 12:02 pm

11 Comments

Dream-casting The Real Housewives of Toronto: seven ideal stars for the Canada-bound reality show

We learned recently that the Real Housewives franchise is officially looking into a Canadian spinoff. No word for sure on which major city will get the nod, but Toronto seems like an obvious choice. According to the Post’s Shinan Govani, our top duelling divas Stacey Kimmel and Suzanne Rogers have already declined offers to participate. Meanwhile, the city’s original glitter girl Catherine Nugent told ET Canada that she “wouldn’t even consider” an offer.

Luckily, not all Toronto socialites have such resolve. Govani reported that Jessica Mulroney, wife to Ben and new mom to the couple’s new chinny-chin twins, is “in talks” (though her hubby later recanted on her behalf). Ainsley Kerr, the best local example of the famous-for-being-famous phenomenon, played coy when asked about her involvement. We thought you had to be married or divorced to be qualify as a Housewife, but maybe not.

Depending on your feelings about trash television, this is either the best news since So You Think You Can Dance Canada, or a sign of the cultural apocalypse. Personally, we think a show like this would be must-see TV. Torontonians are so stiff and serious—a little mudslinging might do us some good. And so—with our fingers crossed and our PVRs primed—we set about coming up with the ultimate cast list for The Real Housewives of Toronto. Our picks, after the jump.

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The Goods

Toronto Fashion Week

March 30, 2011 | 1:40 pm

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Pink Tartan packs the house with party-goers at LG Fashion Week

That's right, I'm a Mimran (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

The Pink Tartan show is one of the week’s scene-iest, luring in crowds with the promise of seeing (and being seen with) Toronto notables. It often seems the clothes are an afterthought for these supporters of Canadian fashion, but who needs style when we’ve got Canadian celebrities? Last night didn’t disappoint—society mavens like Suzanne Boyd, Suzanne Cohon and The Bay bigwig Nicholas Mellamphy rubbed elbows with Shinan Govani, Adrian Mainella, Harper’s Bazaar editor at large Derek Blasberg and the New York Times’s Sandra Ballentine. See the complete collection, our review and yet another reason we saw front row (and photographer) scowls after the jump.

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The Hype

Prime Time

March 28, 2011 | 4:04 pm

6 Comments

Apparently, the Real Housewives of Toronto is for real, and casting has already started

The Real Housewives of Toronto may be coming to a TV screen near you. The National Post’s Shinan Govani reports that a new version of the series is in the works, and it will feature Hogtown’s finest domestic goddesses—or at least the ones who sign on. Housewives franchises have popped up across the United States (including New York, Orange County, Beverly Hills, New Jersey, Atlanta and D.C.), resulting in electric cigarette smoking, alleged White House crashing and even table-flipping screaming matches.

So, which Toronto housewives have been asked? Who said yes and who said no, after the jump.

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