The Telegraph’s Stephanie Plentl came to Toronto recently and fell in love with the city’s healthy stock of vintage boutiques—not the musty ones in Kensington Market (well, aside from Roger D’Souza’s King of Kensington, Flashback and Flashback 2), but the shops that glisten and look as though they could have been curated by Patricia Field (costume designer for Sex and the City). She met V and 69 Vintage’s Kealan Sullivan, House of Vintage’s Dennis Adamidis and Gadabout’s Victoria Dinnick, and found out a few things we didn’t know: Sullivan works with Topshop, Adamidis sends his more fashion-forward pieces to his Shoreditch, London, location and D’Souza supplies Levi’s with vintage denim (even Joe Mimran is a long-time client). Plentl is absolutely gushing throughout her piece and claims that for “true vintage aficionados,” Toronto is the it destination. We think that is pretty terrific, and it probably has a lot to do with, as Adamidis puts it, “Toronto vintage [being] half the price.” Um, we figure the prices are likely to skyrocket after this bit of international press, so stock up on silk bodysuits while you still can. Read the entire story [Telegraph] »
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Introducing: Chosen, a brand new vintage boutique with a cosmic changing room (and a great selection)
Chosen owner Melissa Ball and her cosmic change room (Image: Erin Simkin)
The place: Chosen, the latest shop in what seems like a mass opening of new vintage stores, has opened up above menswear boutique Ruins. Melissa Ball has finally found a home for her wares in this long, loft-like space overlooking Queen Street West—she once hosted a popular group vintage sale called The Chosen Ones at the 107 Shaw Gallery before spending a year sharing space with Silver Falls and Lab Consignment. Now her retro neon sign is alight and she’s ready to clothe Toronto’s ever-growing ranks of discerning vintage shoppers.
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The Weekender: Liza Minnelli, Día de los Muertos and six other events on our to-do list
La Liza, Día de los Muertos candy skulls and Sahr Ngaujah as Fela Kuti
1. LIZA MINNELLI
La Liza, one of the world’s few EGOT winners (that’s Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony), takes the stage this weekend for a one-night-only roundup of the biggest hits from her decades-long career—and, with any luck, a reprise of her cover of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” from Sex and the City 2. Oct. 28. $59.50–$199.50. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., 416-872-4255, roythomson.com.
2. DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS AT EVERGREEN BRICK WORKS (FREE!) Read the rest of this entry »
While this is the season for spooky, it’s not all haunted houses and black cats. Take, for example, the Day of the Dead. Closely tied to the Catholic holidays All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, this Mexican holiday is a time for honouring loved ones who have passed away. The Brick Works incorporates traditional elements of el Día de los Muertos, like decorated altars, candy skull making, Mexican folk music and a craft workshop. Oh, and for $5 you can judge a churro competition featuring Cava’s Chris McDonald, Frida’s José Haddad and five other chefs. Oct. 29. Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Ave., ebw.evergreen.ca.
Office Space: $750 per month for a sunny vintage spot near Dufferin Grove
ADDRESS: 1 Macklem Avenue
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Little Portugal
AGENT: Lease from owner (Mariana Grezova)
PRICE: $750 per month
OFFICE SPACE: A small studio on a quiet side street near Dufferin Grove, the office is shared with Collectivity, a communications firm. The open-concept space on the main floor of a three-storey building features exposed brick walls, polished concrete floors and plenty of natural light (all four walls are lined with windows). The current owners plan to inject a little more green in the property by putting in a yard at the side of the building this fall.
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Inside Out pop-up shop brings Montreal flavour to Toronto
Vintage fur and hats (Image: Inside Out)
In a shocking twist, pop-up shop season has already kicked off, long before the holidays: first Philip Sparks launched his first trunk shop in the Junction earlier this week, and now Torontonians craving some unique vintage can head over to Inside Out, a pop-up from Montreal that opens on October 4 at 1040 Queen St. W. (formerly A2Zane, which we’re told has packed up and moved east) next week. Members of PETA should steer clear, since Inside Out specializes in vintage furs, but what we’re most drawn to is the assortment of vintage coats and women’s hats that may—we’re hoping—give our fall wardrobe a certain je ne sais quoi. In addition to selling one-off vintage finds from La Belle Province, the store will act as an informal gallery space to exhibit work by young Toronto artists. But like most pop-up shops, Inside Out is a limited-time offer: all pieces were hand-picked in Montreal and are one-of-a-kind, which means once they’re gone, vintage seekers are out of luck.
Office Space: $3,300 per month to lease two floors of vintage Queen West real estate
Address: 880A Queen Street West
Neighbourhood: Trinity-Bellwoods
Agent: Djanka and Edward Gajdel (for lease by owners)
Price: $3,300 per month (plus HST, taxes and utilities)
THE PLACE: Fittingly, this space—situated on the second and third floors of a historic building just west of Trinity Bellwoods Park on trendy Queen Street West—is nothing if not cool vintage chic. The retro furniture, much of it sourced from France, comes with the office, and the glassed-in boardroom includes shelving and an armoire that once belonged to the French Foreign Legion army. Despite the sleek digs, however, in summer months previous tenants have been known to ditch their desks for the outdoor patio. Dubbed “the cottage on Queen,” the office’s deck is rigged with Wi-Fi to enable employees to “work” with a view of the park.
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Why Greek wines are about to become the next big thing
Greek wines are as intriguing as their popular French and Italian counterparts, and they’re half the price
(Illustration: Jack Dylan)
Pine-scented retsina has left a bitter taste with many wine drinkers, but Greek wine has moved on, and it’s poised to become the next big thing, with more Greek labels making their way into trendy restaurants beyond the Danforth. More than 300 indigenous grapes are grown in the country’s 28 wine-growing appellations, which are home to more than 650 wineries. And the quality and value has only been getting better over the last 10 years. The new Greek wines combine the firm acid and mineral structure of many European wines with the ripe, bright fruitiness often found in hotter New World regions. The country’s core strength is aromatic yet steely whites, like moschofilero and assyrtiko, that will appeal to riesling and gewürztraminer fans. Lighter-weight, complex reds like xinomavro and agiorgitiko are similar to pinot noir and Italian nebbiolo. The LCBO’s selection is still meagre, but Vintages carries some excellent-value bottles, while Kolonaki Group, an Ontario-based Greek wine specialist, offers great buys by the case. Here, nine bottles worth trying, even if you’re not serving souvlaki.
A look at some of the city’s hottest rides—and some of the most enthused enthusiasts
When the warm weather hits, the car-obsessed and their vintage toys come out to play, top down, engines gurgling, exhaust pipes fuming. But who are they and where do they come from?
Austin’s Powers
Mark Doust
Purchasing Manager, Etobicoke
To behold Mark Doust’s 1953 Austin-Healey 100/4 is a revelation: the car is gorgeous, curvy and lithe, pinched around the waist like a wasp, and streamlined for speed, right down to the collapsible windscreen that slides forward at its base to reduce resistance. “You can never drive like that, of course—it just directs the bugs to your teeth,” Doust says, laughing heartily. Read the rest of this entry »
David Lawrason offers nine reasons why garnacha makes for great barbecue wine
(Illustration: Jack Dylan)
Backyard sommeliers bored with the usual summer reds (merlot, shiraz, zinfandel) should try fruity garnacha. It is more commonly known by its French name, grenache, but it originated in Spain and thrives in the hot, arid Mediterranean. Despite once being the world’s most widely planted red grape, it was usually considered unfit for fine wine on its own. Its tannin and acidity are low and its alcohol quite high, so it’s most often blended with syrah, mourvèdre and carignan, or torn out of the ground altogether to make way for merlot and cabernet vines. In recent years, however, such leading winemakers as Alvaro Palacios, Hugh Ryman and Norrel Robertson are reviving derelict garnacha vineyards in Spain. The old, gnarled, low-yielding vines make richly fruity, even creamy reds that are dense enough to match red meat textures, smooth enough to drink without aging, and ripe and peppery enough to handle any barbecue sauce yet invented. If you crave something light, garnacha is the base for dry Spanish and French rosés, and there is even a handful of whites made with garnacha blanca. It’s also affordable, so you can mix a case of different styles to keep your deck and dock guests happy all summer long.
Nine West Coast wines that are flying off the shelves
(Image: Jack Dylan)
California wine has always had a certain easygoing appeal, and the region’s big-ticket bottles have been a staple in collectors’ cellars for the last three decades. In my opinion, however, they’ve also suffered from excess—they’re too expensive, too candy-coated, too oaky and too hot on the finish. I get angry when I taste a $300 Napa Valley icon wine and discover it barely deserves 90 points—the quality doesn’t match the price. But a new generation of California winemakers is breaking away from tradition and working with new blends and grape varieties. Regions like Mendocino County, the Sonoma Coast and Paso Robles, which typically live in the shadow of Napa and Sonoma, are producing wine that’s more refined, better balanced and much more affordable (in the $20 to $40 range). This improvement, combined with a strong Canadian dollar, has boosted sales at the LCBO’s Vintages stores, where, for the first time ever, California wines are outselling those from Italy and France. In 2010, they brought in $70.8 million, which is a 21.5 per cent increase from 2009 and accounts for a fifth of all Vintages sales. I recently tasted several dozen of these top sellers and picked the best of the bunch.
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Ryan Gosling to star in his own directorial debut: a remake of 1980s musical The Idolmaker
Ryan Gosling is even cooler now that he's a director (Image: friskytuna)
What can we say? We love us some Ryan Gosling. So when we heard that the London, Ontario, native has signed on to direct and star in The Idolmaker, a remake of the 1980 movie loosely based on the life of rock promoter Bob Marcucci, we got a little excited. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the multi-talented actor-producer-musician made the jump to the director’s chair, adding yet another line to his growing resume.
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Introducing: BYOB, a Queen West shop for everything booze-related (except alcohol)
BYOB: Queen West’s new “cocktail emporium” (Image: Signe Langford)
Boozehounds, start your livers. Queen West is now home to BYOB, a new shop that specializes in cocktail-related accoutrement of every imaginable variety. Owner Kristen Voisey told us, “I went to L.A. last year and came across a shop called Barkeeper. It was in a neighbourhood, Silver Lake, that is very similar to Queen West (Beck lives there). And I thought, I could do this in Toronto.”
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Just Desserts: sophisticated sweet wines worth the splurge
(Illustration: Jack Dylan)
Sweet wines generally get a bad rap. Even avid wine lovers tend to dismiss them as overly expensive, cloying or lacking in refinement. Yet the only wine I ever awarded a perfect 100-point score was a sweet Château d’Yquem 2001 Sauternes from Bordeaux. It was profound, powerful and exquisite. At a tasting of sweet wines—from Mediterranean muscats to Canadian icewines to Australian “stickies”—the quality of almost everything I tried was astounding. Most types are made from grapes that have lingered on the vine until they’re slightly raisiny, resulting in high sugar content, concentrated flavours and low juice volume (the same goes for frozen grapes pressed for icewines). In some cases, the wines are then aged in barrels for anywhere from three months to 40 years. The labour-intensive process accounts for the famously high price of sweet wine. But they aren’t always expensive, and the value is generally excellent, with each bottle presenting a range of flavours as complex as any pastry chef can conjure up. They make a terrific dinner party gift, paired with rich cheeses (port and blue is a no‑brainer), or sipped solo instead of dessert. Here, 10 great sweeties at the LCBO. Read the rest of this entry »
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