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50 Reasons to Love Toronto: Nos. 40-41, Wild beasts roam wild in the city’s ravines

(Image: James Lourenço)

Toronto’s ravines have long been a hospitable home for wildlife. Now we’re seeing all manner of strange beast roaming our city: peregrine falcons roost atop downtown towers; chinook salmon jump the weir only steps from the Old Mill subway station as they make their way to the headwaters of the Humber; and coyote and fox counts continue to climb, as does the city’s Virginia possum population. The elusive white squirrel—or squirrels, no one knows for sure—of Trinity Bellwoods Park is thought by some to bring good fortune and lauded with a namesake café. Across town in the Beach, visitors to a garage sale were recently surprised to see a white-tailed deer trotting down the street.

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The Informer

In Transit

April 26, 2011 | 4:41 pm

14 Comments

Check out BIXI Toronto’s 80 downtown bike locations on one interactive map

Click map for interactive version

BIXI is slated to launch in Toronto on May 3 with 1,000 bikes spread out over 80 stations. While we’re all for bringing the Montreal bike-sharing company to the city’s congested streets, the initial offering is a little limited. All 1,500 docking stations are confined to the area between Bloor, Spadina, Queens Quay and Jarvis Street, with a pair of outliers at Jarvis on Queen Quay and in Kensington Market.

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The Informer

Cityscape

March 30, 2011 | 4:51 pm

2 Comments

Signs of Spring #4 and #5: the creative class and white squirrels recolonize Trinity Bellwoods Park

Trinity Bellwoods Park last spring (Image: jbcurio)

When the sun starts shining and the birds start chirping, members of the city’s creative class emerge from their duplexes and head to their natural stomping grounds, Trinity Bellwoods Park. We’ve already spotted a couple of latte-sippers taking their first tentative strolls through the park, chatting about bikes, moustaches and David Miller. And, now that the snow is mostly gone, there’s another sign of spring in TBP: the legendary white squirrel can be seen with the naked eye.

The Dish

Pantry Raid

March 24, 2011 | 12:19 pm

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Vendors at Toronto’s farmers’ markets may get special parking permits

The farmers’ market at Trinity-Bellwoods Park (Image: Matthew Burpee)

City councillor Mike Layton is sticking up for Toronto’s farmers’ markets. The rookie representative from Trinity-Spadina feels markets should be exempt from a daily charge by transportation authorities in cases where vendors need street-side parking to set up shop. For the past five years, vendors that need parking have been paying an annual “street event fee” of $81.33. Recently, however, city officials notified market organizers that the fee would soon start to be applied each day. At least five park-based markets would be affected by the changes: Trinity-Bellwoods, Riverdale Farm, East Lynn, Withrow Park and Sorauren Park.

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The Dish

Opening

February 28, 2011 | 11:51 am

5 Comments

Introducing Parkette: Italian comfort food, Trinity Bellwoods style

(Image: Davida Aronovitch)

Aptly named for its proximity to Trinity Bellwoods, Parkette is yet another new, rustic Italian outpost, this time only a couple blocks away from Terroni, which, arguably, launched the trend in Toronto. Cheery and warm, the 30-seat space features sandy blond woods, exposed brick, a playful park bench banquette in classic picnic green and a kitschy vintage Coca-Cola sign.

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The Informer

From the Print Edition

February 23, 2011 | 8:58 am

25 Comments

Rent to own: chasing the perfect Little Italy home for two 24-year-olds

Making the leap from basement apartment to home—with a little help from Mom and Dad By Hayley Mick

The Buyers: Hélène Furlotte-Bois and her boyfriend, Rory Hayes.

The Story: Hélène (at far right) and Rory, who are both 24 and work at a student travel agency, wanted an upgrade from their basement rental. Hélène’s mom, Lise Bois (at right), came up with the home ownership scheme. “I didn’t want to see them throw away $1,500 in rent every month,” Lise says. She and her husband, Darrel Furlotte, who run a home daycare, offered to loan the couple $150,000 for a down payment on a house with rental space—the extra income would pay off the loan and mortgage. Lise searched, mostly near the family home at Clinton and College, and made a short list for Hélène. Then Rory checked out Hélène’s top pick. The search took less than two weeks. “My mom gets pretty determined when she wants to do something,” Hélène says.

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The Dish

Opening

December 24, 2010 | 10:45 am

4 Comments

Introducing: Campagnolo, the new meat-loving spot on Dundas West’s carnivore row

The interior of Campagnolo (Image: Fraser Abe)

After 2010, it’s hard to remember what a sad little patch of real estate once existed along Dundas West, between Bathurst and Trinity-Bellwoods. Thanks to the Black Hoof and Hoof Café, the short strip has become something of a destination for enviro-conscientious meat lovers. New restaurants are capitalizing on it, too: Porchetta and Co. opened its doors this week, serving organic pork sandwiches, and before that, there was chef Craig Harding’s first solo venture, Campagnolo—a rustic restaurant with a farm-to-table ethos at Dundas and Euclid.

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The Dish

De-licious

December 21, 2010 | 1:51 pm

23 Comments

12 best bets for Winterlicious 2011: our chief critic goes through the menus so you don’t have to

A steak dinner at Noce (Image: Renée Suen)

Big-spending downtown Torontonians have taken in the past few years to whining about Winterlicious, but the two-week dining festival, running from January 28 through February 10, remains popular for a reason: it offers great value, particularly if you choose your reservations well. Here are a dozen of Toronto Life’s best bets. They’re older, more established places, generally, with kitchens that clearly care. And though we haven’t yet tasted the restaurants’ 2011 Winterlicious menus, they’re full of interesting, delicious-sounding picks.

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The Informer

Urban Diplomat

October 15, 2010 | 10:15 am

6 Comments

Dear Urban Diplomat: How do I get rid of hipsters who just take up space on the Trinity Bellwoods tennis courts?

"I miss you" spelled out in the fence around the Trinity Bellwoods tennis court (Image: Sean Hill)

Dear Urban Diplomat,
I play tennis at Trinity Bellwoods Park, near my house, and I’m sick of hipsters ironically doinking the ball around with no regard for serious players waiting hours for a court. Shouldn’t there be a rule about that? What’s your best suggestion for getting them off the courts without dragging them by their vintage headbands?
—Not feeling the love,
BEACONSFIELD

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The Hype

To-Do List

August 18, 2010 | 12:45 pm

2 Comments

The Weekender: Justin Bieber’s concert, the Ex and six other events on our to-do list

Two ways to make tweens dizzy: the Ex and Bieber

1. JUSTIN BIEBER
Where the Biebs goes, hordes of screaming preteens are sure to follow. If escorting a few of those girls is on the agenda, Godspeed. If it counts for anything, Bieber did get Kanye West’s seal of approval over Twitter last weekend; West apparently loves Bieber’s latest single, “Runaway Love.” Aug. 21. $66.35. Air Canada Centre, 50 Bay St., 416-870-8000, ticketmaster.ca.

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The Dish

From the Print Edition

August 4, 2010 | 12:08 pm

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Best of the City 2010: 14 picks for the top food in Toronto

Leaf fan: Matchbox Gardens grows rare and wonderful lettuces (Image: Jay Shuster)

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The Informer

From the Print Edition

July 6, 2010 | 9:05 am

21 Comments

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 By Bert Archer

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The Hype

To-Do List

June 16, 2010 | 10:17 am

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Eight must-sees: a procrastinator’s guide to Luminato’s last days

If you’ve noticed a buzzing noise hovering over the city this past week, don’t be alarmed—it’s just the sound of concentrated creative activity (and those vuvuzela horns). Luminato is in full swing, with a diverse roster that includes an opera by Rufus Wainwright and an installation involving a displaced, bizarrely outfitted ship. Missed the boat so far? Here, eight must-see events of the final weekend.

PRIMA DONNA
Rufus Wainwright’s debut opera may be kind of meta (it’s about opera), but don’t expect a modern artist’s self-conscious winks and nudges. This is the genre in all its unabashed, melodramatic glory—red roses, shabby grandeur and underdeveloped plot elements. The portrait of a suffering diva is also an undeniable homage to Wainwright’s mother, folk musician Kate McGarrigle, who died earlier this year. Though the story meanders, it comes together somewhat at one climactic moment when the whole cast sings in harmony. June 18 and 19. $50–$200. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge St.

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's Ship o' Fools (Image: Luminato)

SHIP O’ FOOLS (FREE!)
If the sight of a 30-foot Chinese junk perched in Trinity Bellwoods is disorienting, wait until you climb inside. Canadian experimentalists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller have imagined the allegorical vessel as a misty maze, with slapdash contraptions clanking and whirring on all sides; it’s like a nutty professor’s room of rejects. Flickering bulbs and looped sounds create the illusion that the boat is pitching aimlessly to and fro, but you’ll be too charmed to toss up lunch. June 18 to 20. Trinity Bellwoods Park, Queen St. W. and Strachan Ave.

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The Dish

Opening

June 2, 2010 | 10:22 am

2 Comments

Torito’s former chef sets up roast chicken restaurant in Igor Kenk’s old bike shack

927 Queen West: foul past, fowl future (Image: Google)

One has to wonder how Igor Kenk would feel knowing his old Queen West cycle clinic is about to be replaced by something even greasier than a bike chain. By late August or early September, the once-unmissable storefront across from Trinity Bellwoods will be converted to a takeout chicken joint owned and operated by Carlos Hernandez, the chef who recently left Kensington tapas joint Torito.

The new restaurant, with 10 or 15 seats, is being modelled on a Portuguese churrasqueira. Hernandez says he will offer such “wholesome food” as salads, brown rice, soups and stews alongside oven-roasted, free-range chicken. “I’m catering to the neighbourhood, the young couples around there.”

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The Hype

RIP

May 25, 2010 | 11:05 am

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Will Munro, 1975-2010

Will Munro, the Toronto-based artist who helped redefine what “queer” meant in Toronto, passed away on Friday morning of brain cancer. Munro founded Vaseline (re-dubbed Vazaleen to dodge unhappy lawyers for Unilever), a monthly dance night at the El Mocambo and Lee’s Palace that helped launch such Canadian artists as Peaches and the Hidden Cameras to stardom. After the legendary party series ended, Munro went on to become the proprietor of the Beaver Café at Queen West and Gladstone, giving queers a place to dance, drink and brunch as the neighbourhood grew more and more gentrified. The Beaver became Munro’s DJ headquarters, too, where he hosted such nights as No T.O. and Peroxide. At a memorial in Trinity Bellwoods Park on Friday, a large crowd gathered to celebrate Munro’s life (complete with fireworks) and the influence he had on Toronto. He will be missed.

• Read “Generation V,” R.M. Vaughan’s story on how Vazaleen changed Toronto »

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