(Image: S Pakhrin)

TIFF is still a few months away, but the celebrity sightings are already starting. In the last week alone, Robert Pattinson made an appearance at Goodnight, Martha Stewart dined at O&B Canteen and Rihanna proclaimed her love for the T-dot on Twitter. Then, yesterday, the Toronto Star reported that Mark Wahlberg, the man who would’ve been on one of the two L.A.-bound Boston jets crashed by the 9/11 hijackers were it not for a last-minute trip to Toronto, just bought a $12-million condo in Yorkville. Sure, he didn’t spend a record $28 million on his new digs—but who needs an unnamed international man of mystery when you can have Marky Mark?

The penthouse is slated for completion in 2013 and comes with all the luxuries you’d expect at such a hefty price tag, including enough space to house the entire Funky Bunch. Wahlberg will occupy the top floor of the seven-storey building, and we hope for his neighbours’ sake that he’s not much of a partier—they might not want to feel those good vibrations (even though they’re a sweet sensation).

• Mark Wahlberg buys $12M Yorkville penthouse [Toronto Star]

Milla Jovovich sneaking out of her premiere (Image: Mauricio Contreras-Paredes)

Our dance card was full this weekend as we attended all the best TIFF parties and premieres. But we don’t just brag about hobnobbing with Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin; we’ll give you all the insider gossip. If you haven’t been following the action as it happens, here are the highlights:

• Robert DeNiro and Milla Jovovich skipped out of their own premiere
• Hayden Christensen caused K-Os!!!…to spin at Ultra
• We staked out the red carpet and let you vote on who was best dressed
• James Franco, Hilary Swank and Marion Cotillard partied at the Thompson Hotel
• Jennifer Garner was spotted without makeup at a Yorkville Starbucks
• Martin Sheen showed us his undies
• Josh Brolin smoked inside the Thompson Hotel
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants reunited in Toronto, minus one member

We’ve also posted hundreds of celebrity photos (check them out here). You can also find out where the stories happened on our celebrity sightings map and read everything we’ve overheard at TIFF. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow us on Twitter or visit our TIFF hub throughout the day.

(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.

2. Taste killer sorbet. The Drake Hotel’s ice cream and T-shirt shop, Scoops and Tees, will lose the ice cream come October. Go on a sweltering day and order the refreshing lemon–olive oil sorbet. 1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042.

Sugar Beach opened this August (Image: Carley Fortune)

3. Worm your way up to the Thompson rooftop. Sure, the 18th-floor patio is reserved for hotel guests and VIPs with access cards, but where there’s a will, there’s a cute doorman to sweet talk. We recommend going on a weeknight, when revellers aren’t jostling for a poolside perch. 550 Wellington St. W., 416-640-7778.

4. Watch The Last Exorcism at the 5 Drive-In in Oakville, where you can cringe and cower in the privacy of an air-conditioned sedan. 2332 9th Line, Oakville, 905-257-8272.

5. Eat at Enoteca Sociale. With its house-made pastas, laid-back attitude and pedigree (chef Rocco Agostino also heads up the kitchen at Pizzeria Libretto), the new Dundas Street West wine bar will be just as appealing in the fall. But we suggest going before the leaves drop: the small patio is shaded by leafy trees, making dinnertime lighting nicely dappled. Order the casarecce pasta with eggplant, heirloom cherry tomatoes and ricotta salata. 1288 Dundas St. W., 416-534-1200.

The bar at Parts and Labour (Image: Jon Sufrin)

6. Order a French 75 at Parts and Labour. The cocktail—gin, prosecco, lemon and simple syrup—is the ideal thirst-quenching drink for balmy September evenings: equal parts fizzy, tart and sweet. Plus, a bar stool provides the best view of the restaurant’s hot clientele and an opportunity to chat up Constantines drummer Doug MacGregor behind the counter. 1566 Queen St. W., 416-588-7750.

7. Hear The Wall. During the course of Roger Waters’ full performance of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, a 35-foot barrier will be constructed (and ultimately knocked down) between himself and the audience. There are three dates for the show (September 15, 16 and 18) at the Air Canada Centre. 416-870-8000.

8. Get lost in the foreboding cedar hedge maze on Centre Island. The dark, overgrown paths can be scary for kids, but it’s frustrating fun for adults.

Dufferin Grove's corn is delicious (Image: Tracy O)

9. Buy corn. This year’s late-summer crop of sweet Ontario corn at the Dufferin Grove farmers’ market is possibly the best we’ve eaten. Thursdays 3–7. 875 Dufferin St.

10. See Best Coast. Technically, the band’s September 25 Lee’s Palace concert date is in the fall, but listening to the indie surf-rock California trio is sure to extend the summertime buzz.

11. Swim at Sunnyside. The lakeside public pool has been closed most of the summer because of flood damage, but it reopened last week for the final weeks of the season. Weather permitting, Sunnyside will be open until two weeks after Labour Day, but brace for cooler-than-usual waters: save for a small propane unit, the heaters remain inoperable after the flood. Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Parkside Dr., 416-392-7929.

Marben's decadent ice cream sandwich (Image: Matthew Fox)

12. Sneak into a TIFF party. There’s more free booze and celeb sightings to be had in Toronto during the film festival (September 9 to 19) than at any other time of the year. Plus, it’s not that hard to get past the velvet rope. Sidle up to the doorman, talk on your cellphone and look bored. Wear something low-cut or bring a date who will.

13. Hunt for the city’s best burger. We’ll point you in the right direction: the thick John’s Burger (made of braised short rib) at Marben comes on a just-baked bun with aged cheddar and Branston pickle. For a full-on coronary, finish the meal off with the decadent chocolate ice cream sandwich. 488 Wellington St. W., 416-979-1990.

14. Watch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The Michael Cera summer blockbuster hasn’t exactly broken box-office records, but it’s a cute flick with enough Toronto references to keep people averse to comic book adaptations entertained. May we recommend our Scott Pilgrim drinking game?

15. Fire up the barbecue. Before outdoor grilling becomes a task for the most devoted toque-wearing carnivore, try making a batch of finger-licking pork ribs from Union chef Teo Paul’s recipe. We’ve got it right here.

16. Shop at Vaughan Mills. Until the end of September, the humongous shopping centre runs a free shuttle that leaves twice daily from Union Station. All the better to save pennies for purchases at Holt Renfrew Last Call. vaughanmills.shopping.ca.

Julia Roberts doing double denim on Queen West (Image: Mr. Will-W.)

Julia Roberts is in Toronto shooting Jesus Henry Christ, a film she’s producing starring Martin Michael Sheen and Toni Collette, and of course, there have been a number of pretty woman sightings. According to Shinan Govani, Roberts was spotted Tuesday dining at Terroni, browsing the macaroon delicacies at Nadège Patisserie, foraging through the vintage sartorial selections at Preloved and picking up some how-to-knit reads at Type Books. Her outfit: pale jeans and a denim shirt. That’s right, double denim. So, then, it’s official—Julia Roberts is a Queen West hipster.

• City woman [National Post]
• More Julia Roberts in Toronto [Mr. Will-W.]

Cinq 01: Take the boy out of Yorkville, but not Yorkville out of the boy (Photo by Karon Liu)

After finding success among the socialites with Yorkville’s Amber, nightclub king Toufik Sarwa opened Cinq 01 to create a more grown-up venture—a place where the emphasis is on the food rather than the guest list. But no such luck. Since the spot opened last fall, it has been increasingly packed with the well heeled, making this the first time since the ’90s that the glitterati are partying on College Street (and this time, they’re not slumming it).

Adding to the westward shift was Sarwa’s decision to move his famous white parties from Amber to Cinq 01. Last week, Shinan Govani wrote about Daniel Craig being a no-show and socialite Stacey Kimel having mile-high hair. The week before that, a fundraiser at Cinq 01 brought the fashion types (dressed head-to-toe in white, natch) out of their Bay-Bloor haunts to Little Italy. Jeanne Beker also tweeted back in October that “the fashion crowd is really adopting it as the place to be,” with fashion writer Bernadette Morra and Holts’ Barbara Atkin among her sightings.

The dream of food over fashion, however, has yet to be achieved. Joanne Kates’s Globe review notes that the place has a “Yorkvillian” vibe, and the food is “very of the moment,” citing chef Jo Castrinos’s foie gras hot dog. She concludes that Cinq 01 may be a great date restaurant, but that the food takes a back seat to the company. That said, we heard that Beker did enjoy her hot dog.

• Guest Missed: The Wear White fundraiser could only have been improved with some 007 attendance [National Post]
• Cinq 01 is a great date spot [Globe and Mail]
• Wearing White After Labour Day For Windfal [BlogTO]

Ultra Supper Club is attempting rebirth (Photo by Matt MacGillivray)

Recession menus and food giveaways are quickly becoming the norm for Toronto restaurants. It is in the midst of such bad-times ballyhoo that Ultra Supper Club has gone in a defiant direction, choosing to adopt a new look, a new name (“Ultra” instead of “Ultra Supper Club”) and a new menu (Asian fusion). Since its inception in 2003, the supper club has become known as a TIFF hot spot and the site of non-festival celebrity sightings. It hardly seemed to be in need of a facelift—so why now?

The make-over was apparently in the works before the recession struck. “Five years is a long time in the entertainment industry,” said Ink Entertainment’s Tara Hendela, and much has changed since ’03. Although Ink—also involved with This Is London, Spice Route and Tattoo Rock Parlour—isn’t seeing a “major” drop in sales, the number of corporate events is diminishing. Said Hendela, “Gone are the days of the three-hour dinner.” In place of a lengthy three-course meal, Ultra is moving to small, shareable plates with an Asian-fusion menu by chef Chris Zielinski—and the prices will be as low as $8 per dish.

The interior renovation was undertaken by Ink’s go-to designers Munge/Leung Design Associates—the firm that produced Ultra’s original look, as well as the futuristic environments found at Sopra, Lux and the Orange Room. A new seating arrangement has been installed, complemented by a long wooden communal table that was designed by Castor and can double as a runway. The new look and re-branding will be unveiled tonight at a party in the redone digs.

Asian fusion? Sharing plates? Communal table? Castor? Certainly, no one can accuse Ultra of not being trendy enough. Just to be sure, though, we’re putting on our party shoes and scoping the scene tonight. Stay tuned.

Spotted outside The Windsor Arms today was the Degrassi squad: Adamo Ruggiero, Nina Dobrev and a couple of buds fresh from the IT Lounge on the second floor. They are tiny people, all of them, and make us feel old (but not as old as we feel next to Degrassi alum Shenae Grimes—the new 90210 vixen was born when we were well into grade school).

Dobrev was dwarfed by her swag bag, which weighs almost as much as she does. Inside, aging model Monika Schnarre was attentively listening to someone talk to her about sportswear. She was as dewy as a summer day—no small task, because it’s closing in on 30 degrees in Yorkville.—Katy P

Cougars were virtually eradicated from our province in the 19th century by fearful settlers who treated the poor kitties as violent outlaws. In recent years, however, the wild cats have clawed their way back, with their numbers now estimated at about 550 (spread widely across both northern and southern Ontario). Organizations such as the Toronto Wildlife Centre and the Ontario Puma Foundation have received several reports of Rouge corridor cougar sightings in recent years. There hasn’t been empirical proof yet, but the river’s valley has more than enough green space to support a few of the reclu-sive beasts. We also know that there are plenty of white-tailed deer around for lunch (the carnivorous cats dine frequently on deer, as well as moose, beaver, rabbit, skunk and woodchuck, among other treats). Cougars do occasionally target humans—preying mostly on children, as well as a few solo hikers—but the most recent attack in Ontario was four and a half years ago, near Cornwall. Which is to say, you probably don’t need to stock up on weapons before your next walk in the park. In fact, of the 66 attacks in North America over the past 110 years, there have been a mere 15 fatalities.

In 1849, the old King’s College (Ontario’s first university) became U of T, and its original pillared marble digs at Queen’s Park were converted into the Auxiliary Female Asylum, an independent institution that, due to its proximity to the school, was popularly referred to as the University Lunatic Asylum. (The name was bemoaned by the school’s vice-chancellor—not out of respect for patients, but because he feared jokes at his colleagues’ expense.) In the late 1860s, the asylum moved to 999 Queen Street West, and its former home was left to crumble until 1886, when it was razed to make way for parliament. The new legislature inherited some marble from the old building, as well as a fabled trio of spectral tenants: a woman in white with streaming hair, another with a checked dress thrown over her head and a third who had hanged herself in the basement. Sightings have decreased over the years. Perhaps the genuine lunacy of provincial politics was too much for them to bear.