The long-running drama over the city’s decision to grant George Foulidis a 20-year monopoly on selling food and drinks along the Beach got more interesting this morning. After Rob Ford’s repeated accusations that the deal was an example of corruption, Foulidis is now threatening to sue Ford for libel if he doesn’t retract his claims and apologize. The Star broke the story this morning:
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Boardwalk Café owner giving Ford a choice: apology or lawsuit
Showdown at the Boardwalk Café: Tuggs owner gets an earful from local candidate
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There are many reasons readers might be familiar with Sandra Bussin, councillor for Beaches–East York. Some may remember the time she called in to John Tory‘s radio show and called him a “three-time loser.” Others will remember her part in getting the city to renew a monopoly agreement with the Boardwalk Café, the only business permitted to sell food and drinks on the beach in the city’s east end. The cushy deal made against the advice of city staff (where have we heard that before?) guarantees that the restaurant won’t face any competition until 2028. Well, yesterday, the issue blew up in the open as a local candidate challenging Bussin argued with the owner of the Boardwalk Café, George Foulidis.
Get off the Road: Toronto street festivals take the whole city hostage. Jan Wong says that it’s time we learn to say no
(Image: Jack Dylan)
One of Toronto’s biggest, most aggravating problems is traffic. In a recent poll about the upcoming mayoral election, Torontonians ranked congestion as one of their most significant concerns, above even the economy. Gridlock costs Toronto untold millions in lost productivity. Then there’s everyone’s wasted time, not to mention missed flights and appointments, and overall frustration. “Our roads and transit systems are strained,” says Julia Deans, CEO of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, who believes efficient roads are critical to our competitiveness and quality of life.
This summer, if getting from one part of the city to another seemed particularly hellish, that’s because it was. The 2010 municipal capital budget is 50 per cent larger than last year. In addition, road repairs ramped up as the city eagerly spent federal infrastructure stimulus funds that will expire at the end of March. Read the rest of this entry »
Sixteen things to do in Toronto before summer’s over
(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.
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Toronto’s six most memorable neighbourhood naming smackdowns
The city of Toronto's official breakdown of neighbourhoods (Image: City of Toronto)
Toronto: city of neighbourhoods, multiculturalism and, to a lesser extent, bureaucracy. These three attributes collide most often when it comes to naming or renaming Toronto’s diverse enclaves (140 by the city’s last count). And collide they did last week when a group’s efforts to change part of the Danforth Mosaic to Little Ethiopia were dashed. The minor controversy got us thinking about all the other Hogtown ‘hoods that have seen residents bicker and quibble over the proper term for their turf. Here, the six most memorable.
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Risk Assessment: a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood guide to the safest places to buy real estate in Toronto
No neighbourhood will react the same way to a burst bubble. We talked to market watchers, economists, mortgage brokers and seen-it-all real estate agents for the scoop on where to park your money, what streets to avoid and when to sell, sell, sell
The Danforth Guide: our 21 favourite spots along the east end’s main avenue
The east end’s main thoroughfare has long been known for two things: Greek food and the Taste of the Danforth. Over the past many years, though, homebuyers drawn to the subway line have slowly turned the long strip of two-storey brick buildings into a bustling neighbourhood that has attracted a rich selection of fine shops, independent coffee houses, Thai joints and haute cuisine restaurants. The Danforth has reached a wonderful maturity that we think should be celebrated. Here are 21 of the best reasons to cross the viaduct.
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The Weekender: Beach blues festival, bike-in movie night and six other things to do this weekend
Bike to the Beach blues fest or to movie night at Metro Square (Image: Duchamp)
1. RACE FOR DIGNITY CHALLENGE
This event is basically a spin class with a purpose—a purpose other than killer quads, that is. Teams work together to keep their stationary bike going for eight hours straight, all in an attempt to raise money to fight HIV/AIDS in Malawi. June 5. Noon–8. Yonge-Dundas Square, racefordignity.com.
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This five-musician collective combines flamenco guitar, jazz, classical piano, hip hop, poetry and soul flute—yes, soul flute—in a surprising but delightful mix. June 5. 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. $20. Glenn Gould Studio, CBC Building, 250 Front St. W., 416-872-4255, roythomson.com.
The Boardwalk Pub could dominate refreshment sales along Toronto’s eastern beaches
Sandra Bussin (Image: toronto.ca)
As any visitor to Woodbine Beach knows, there is only one spot nearby to grab a bite: the Boardwalk Pub. If city council approves a new proposal, reports the Globe, the refreshment monopoly will remain in place until 2028—and the owners will pay $50,000 less in yearly rent.
The Boardwalk Pub, which opened in 1986, landed its sweet deal in the mid-2000s when owner George Foulidis asked the city about extending the lease beyond 2007. The council rejected competitive bids, with Beaches–East York councillor Sandra Bussin going to bat for the pub, saying that its existence prevented fast-food chains from opening in the area.
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Just Opened: Queen Margherita Pizza
Industrial meets pizza on Queen Street East
Don’t even say the L word—“Libretto”—to John Chetti, co-owner of Queen Margherita Pizza, Toronto’s latest wood-oven pizza joint. “We’ve got nothing to do with them. Sure, one of my cooks worked there, but that’s it.”
“Anyway, we’ve got a better oven,” says chef Romolo Salvati, who has been spinning dough for 20 years, most recently at Back Alley Grill. It’s a 6,000-pound Neapolitan oven made of mortar and stone that had to be hauled into the restaurant by crane. Hovering at 845˚F, the oven scorches one pie after another in a mere 90 seconds. “Libretto’s is good, but ours is better,” he says.
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Holy smoke: Toronto church argues that pot is a religious right
You'll never get to heaven if you're scared of gettin' high (Image: Katheirne Hitt)
Two hippies-cum-spiritual-priests from Toronto are challenging Canada’s drug laws, claiming that members of the Assembly of the Church of the Universe—namely, themselves—should be exempt from marijuana regulations because the plant is sacred to their religion. “Reverend Brothers” Peter Styrsky and Shahrooz Kharaghani were charged with drug trafficking in 2006 after police raided their church. As part of their defence, they say that smoking marijuana brings them closer to God. The Crown begs to differ, however, saying in the Toronto Star that the Church of the Universe is “an inside joke” that “offers no comprehensive system of belief by which to live,” and thereby doesn’t quite qualify as a religious institution.
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Toronto’s 14 new cafés: independent coffee shops continue citywide takeover
(Image: chelseagirl)
By our count, a whopping 22 new indie cafés opened in Toronto in 2009, but it looks like 2010 will be giving the java scene an even bigger jolt. In the four months since our last roundup, 11 new coffee houses have sprung up, and three more are on the way. Below, a list of the latest indie coffee vendors, from Little Italy to Gerrard Street East.
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Just Opened: What Are You Looking At, an east-end bar with a west-end vibe
(Image: Signe Langford)
Israel Sanchez and Stephan Poquet looked around Leslieville and saw a neighbourhood that has plenty of places to grab a drink, but none that were new or shiny or high-end. So they opened the standoffishly monikered What Are You Looking At—or WAYLA, as it’s bound to be known—on Queen East, welcoming a cross-section of east enders as diverse as the area itself: ladies of a certain age, skinny boys who wear woolly hats year-round and giggly girls clustered around martinis.
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Pier 1 to close Yonge Street location
The soon-to-close Pier 1 (Photo from Google Street View)
Pier 1 Imports at Yonge and Shuter will close its doors on March 11, with the teensy Beach store at 1986 Queen Street East left to serve the downtown core. The Yonge and Shuter location is in a state of disarray as the last items sell, most on deep discount, like Christmas decorations on sale for 75 per cent off, home furnishings 30 per cent off previously discounted prices, and, puzzlingly, elaborate Harlequin masks for $75 to $85.
Reasons abound for the closure, but Pier 1 PR rep Harriet Burrow told us the company looks at stores on a case-by-case basis, and though she could not confirm rent prices, she did tell us that rent is a factor in store closures. The location also lacks convenient parking for shoppers to load furniture into their cars, unlike the bustling store at Eglinton and Laird.
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How the mighty have fallen: 24 more restaurant closures
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Since our last report on restaurant closures in August, the wake of the worst economic storm in decades has forced scores of eateries to shut their doors forever. This roundup is as broad as it is long, with stalwarts falling beside start-ups, and takeout chains closing alongside legendary dining rooms. Here, our sad look back at two dozen of Toronto’s former restaurants.
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