HOME February 9, 2012 The Magazine | Digital Edition | Subscribe | Newsletters
Advertisement
The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
ADDRESS: 138 Bedford Road
NEIGHBOURHOOD: The Annex
AGENT: Barry Smith, Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage
PRICE: $4,450,000
THE PLACE: Bringing a little of the 8th Arrondissement to the heart of the Annex, this Parisian-inspired townhome embodies European luxury with inlaid-pattern marble floors, traditional custom millwork, plaster cornice mouldings and fireplaces in nearly every principal room (many of them are even wood-burning).
Read the rest of this entry »
ADDRESS: 61 Brunswick Avenue
NEIGHBOURHOOD: University
AGENT: Kevin Alvarez, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage
PRICE: $1,869,000
THE PLACE: A 117-year-old bay-and-gable that’s Victorian on the outside, modern but comfortable on the inside.
Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s face it: taking a peek through a stranger’s home gives us all a voyeuristic thrill. But aside from when a place goes up for sale, it’s pretty well impossible to get inside without breaking windows (and the law—an open house with a realtor is one thing; gaining access with a crowbar is completely another). That’s why we take such delight in scouring the city every week to find the most opulent, outrageous and storied church conversions, summer getaways and stately mansions on the market. Here, our 10 favorite houses, condos and cottages of the week from 2011 (with a yurt thrown in for good measure).
Read the rest of this entry »
Read the rest of this entry »
Jamba Juice may not have Blue Jay José Bautista shilling for its smoothies, but the cult California chain probably doesn’t need him. Found in 1990, Jamba Juice served as the blueprint for a raft of Canadian smoothie joints like Booster Juice and Jugo Juice. Now the original mega-smoothie bar has opened its first Canadian location, on Bloor Street in the Annex, and we decided to take a look.
Elbow-patched academics, keg-emptying frat boys and earthy middle-incomers have long ruled the Annex. But lately, a clutch of moneyed, high-powered Forest Hill and Rosedale types have wandered south, looking for cool downtown bustle without having to give up the acreage. And who can blame them? The east Annex is a natural geographical nexus for the intellectual and moneyed elite, what with U of T and all the museums to the south, and the revamped Bloor Street promenade—not to mention Whole Foods—a short stroll away. The choicest address is Admiral Road, a winding, bucolic boulevard with huge heritage homes ripe for renovation. Margaret Atwood is its most famous resident; she’s lived there since ’85. Ex-GG Adrienne Clarkson became her neighbour in ’05. Adrienne’s ex-hubby, eminent egghead Stephen Clarkson, is down the way on Lowther—a strip dotted with luminaries like George Cohon of McDonald’s and real estate king Jimmy Molloy. Above, we chart the most recent arrivals to Toronto’s newest Golden Mile. Read the rest of this entry »
Chef Véronique working a crêpe machine (Image: Gizelle Lau)
Crêpes à GoGo first started building its cult following at the corner of Bedford and Bloor in 2002, decamping for 18 Yorkville Avenue five years later to make way for a condo development. Now owner Véronique Perez—known to her customers as Chef Véronique—has returned to the Annex with a new location at Bloor and Spadina.
Read the rest of this entry »
Late last year, Marlon Pather, owner of a midtown meat shop called The Butchers, embarked on an ambitious plan to sell thousands of online coupons. Like other merchants seized by the daily deal mania of websites such as Groupon, he thought that his deep discounting would bring in new shoppers. It did. He quickly became Canada’s biggest coupon merchant, selling 22,000 coupons, worth millions of dollars, in a few months. Pather thought the new customers would redeem the value of their coupons gradually, but they cashed in all at once. By spring, he realized that his loss leader strategy had turned into a straight loss. Customers were lined up around the block, and the fridge was constantly running out of stock. The coupon clients came for the discount—$400 worth of steaks and burgers for just $100—but every time the cash register rang, Pather lost money. And his established clients, who until then had been willing to pay full price, were having trouble even getting into the store.
They love it. We want it. Three red-hot releases
“Troll Hunter is Norway’s answer to the ‘found footage’ trend. It’s funny and absorbing, more akin to a comic This Is Spinal Tap mockumentary than a terrifying Paranormal Activity horror. Otto Jespersen is wonderfully deadpan as Hans, a government worker whose job killing trolls involves long hours and low pay, so he confides in three amateur filmmakers. The movie also shows off the lush Norwegian landscape.”
—Kate McEdwards Staffer at Queen Video on Queen
Troll Hunter, directed by André Øvredal (Aug. 23)
Read the rest of this entry »
Rakim, the Queen West Art Crawl and Private Lives
1. PRIVATE LIVES
This 1930s comedy by Noël Coward is responsible for about three quarters of romantic comedies today. Just look at the plot: divorced couple Elyot and Amanda and their respective new partners find themselves on vacation at the same hotel on (wait for it) the French Riviera. Campy, banter-laden shenanigans ensue, naturally. Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross star as the lovely ex-couple, which sounds just about perfect. Sept. 16 to Oct. 30. $35–$175. Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W., 416-872-1212, mirvish.com.
2. STIFFED! FILM FESTIVAL Read the rest of this entry »
TIFF wraps up this weekend but that won’t stop this indie film fest from trying to steal its thunder just a little. The filmmakers featured at this one-day event have three things in common: they’re all Canadian, they’ve all recently directed a short film and they were all passed over for a screening at TIFF. Sept. 18. $15. The Annex Wreck Room, 794 Bathurst St., stiffedfilmfest.com.
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.
ADDRESS: Unit 2002, 1 Bedford Rd.
NEIGHBOURHOOD: The Annex
AGENT: Vicky Tal and Meir Gluzberg, Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage
PRICE: $1,629,000
THE PLACE: This 20th-storey unit in the newly completed One Bedford condos is defined by a beautiful south-facing view of the Toronto skyline and a variety of custom finishes: a leather-upholstered wall in the master bedroom, a light box in the master ensuite shower, his-and-hers master closets, a custom kitchen by Paris Kitchens and, of course, a wall-mounted iPad to control the sound system.
Read the rest of this entry »
(Image: Steve Brodner)
Hey you. Yeah, you on the bike. You, NOW magazine reader, fair trade lentil soup eater, citizen of the People’s Republic of the Annex-Riverdale-CBC Consensus. Allow me to introduce you to the guy who wants to destroy your world. His name is Nick Kouvalis. He’s quite the amiable fellow.
Kouvalis, a former Chrysler assembly line worker, autodidact campaign strategist and long-time Conservative organizer, was the field marshal behind Rob Ford’s election victory. Together with Richard Ciano, the former VP of the Conservative Party of Canada and his business partner in the polling and marketing agency Campaign Research, he figured out what Toronto voters wanted and found a way to package Ford as the embodiment of those desires. For a few months after the election, he was the mayor’s chief of staff. Then, last January, he stepped down in preparation for a bigger act on a bigger stage. He’s building a new organization, tentatively called the Respect for Taxpayers Action Group. He aims to make the Ford Nation phenomenon permanent and take it national. He claims he already has several hundred thousand dollars in pledges, and he hopes to gain support not just from conservatives, but from populists across the political spectrum. Read the rest of this entry »
Some of Yorkville and the Annex’s best restaurants participate in Summerlicious each year. Here, 14 of Toronto Life’s favourites. Read the rest of this entry »
(Image: Nicole Villeneuve)
The sign still reads “Chippy’s,” but it won’t stay that way for long. The Bloor Street West location of the self-proclaimed “rock ’n’ roll chip shop” is no longer, and the windows are now covered with the distinct caricature and familiar red-and-black flannel motif of the incumbent Smoke’s Poutinerie.
Read the rest of this entry »
Two sisters search for the right buyer for their parents’ place, a 19th-century Annex coach house with a mid-century modern interior
Listed for: $1.099 million. Relisted for: $999,000. Sold for: $960,000
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
© 2012. All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part strictly prohibited. Toronto Life is a registered trademark of Toronto Life Publishing Company Limited
Follow Toronto Life on Twitter, Facebook and via RSS