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Introducing: Ardor Bistro, a new Peruvian restaurant on Ossington from the owners of Celestin

(Image: TJ Tindale)

Name: Ardor Bistro
Neighbourhood: Ossington
Contact Info: 59 Ossington St., 647-351-5100
Owners: Brothers Ivan Tarazona and James Bailey (Celestin)
Chef: Ivan Tarazona

The Food: A modern take on traditional Latin American food. Dishes include fish ceviche, grilled octopus salad and Peruvian riffs on classic bistro mains, like steak frites with chimichurri, duck confit with quinoa and sous-vide chicken with yellow pepper sauce. There’s also a six-course tasting menu for $45.

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The Dish

Restaurants

April 30, 2013 | 4:40 pm

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Rock Lobster is opening a second location in Shanghai Cowgirl’s Queen West space

Rock Lobster Food Co. graduated from a wildly popular pop-up shop into a wildly popular brick-and-mortar restaurant when it opened on Ossington Street in December. Less than six months later, it’s already launching a second location only a few blocks away in the space currently home to Shanghai Cowgirl (owner Darryl Fine is also one of three partners at Rock Lobster). Rock Lobster 2.0 is going to be bigger, open longer and have a larger menu—plus a new 80-seat patio and a retail counter for prepared sauces, soups, and sustainable seafood. Shanghai Cowgirl closes next week and the new Rock Lobster is scheduled to open June 1. [The Grid]

The Goods

Stores

April 24, 2013 | 12:45 pm

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Store Guide: Annie Aime, a new Eurocentric boutique on Ossington from the owner of French Accents

Store Guide: Annie Aime, a Euro-centric new Ossington boutique from a Yorkville retail veteran

Name: Annie Aime
Sells: Clothing, shoes, accessories and skincare for men and women
Contact info: 42 Ossington Ave., 416-840-5227, annieaime.com
Hours: M–Sa 11–7, Su 12–5
See it on a map »

The latest arrival to the Ossington strip’s burgeoning south end is a colourful, quirky departure from the owner of Yorkville personal shopping institution French Accents. At Annie Aime, Parisienne expat Annie Mesenge emphasizes clever, avant-garde clothing and accessories that cater to the artsy set: favourites include zippered shoes from Italy’s Veeshoo and collapsable leather bags from Dutch label Frrry.

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The Goods

Stores

April 1, 2013 | 3:23 pm

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Shop Talk: new stores and shopping websites from March 2013

Gerhard Supply, a menswear shop in the Junction, was one of several stores to launch last month (Image: Erin Seaman)

Opened

(Image: Kayla Rocca)

Target
After two years and more than a little controversy, the trendy mass-market giant finally arrived in Canada. Now open: locations in East York Town Centre, Centrepoint Mall, Shoppers World Danforth, Cloverdale Mall and Square One Shopping Centre.

For store addresses and hours, see target.ca

(Image: Erin Seaman)

Tiger of Sweden
The popular European maker of slim-cut suits and minimalist separates opened a spacious flagship on Ossington Avenue catering to young professionals of both sexes. Learn more »

56 Ossington Ave., 416-588-4437, tigerofsweden.com

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Openings

March 28, 2013 | 12:44 pm

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Introducing: Côte de Boeuf, a new butcher and food shop from the owners of Union

Introducing: Côte de Boeuf, the new butchery and food shop from the owners of Union

Name: Côte de Boeuf
Neighbourhood: Ossington
Contact info: 130 Ossington Ave., 416-532-2333, @CDBOssington
Owners: brothers Chasen Gillies and Teo Paul (Union)
Butcher: Mike Greenberg

The food: Naturally raised meats, prepared foods and other provisions.

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New Reviews

March 25, 2013 | 4:30 pm

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Review: Oddseoul, the Korean hipster dive from the brothers behind Swish

Oddseoul’s Korean cheesesteak (Image: Megan Leahy)

Oddseoul 1 star

½
90 Ossington Ave.

From Leeto and Leemo Han, the brothers behind Swish by Han in the Financial District, comes this new Ossington dive. It follows a winning formula: deliciously junky Asian-American bar snacks, cheap tall cans, bourbon cocktails and a ragged dining room.

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Restaurants

March 15, 2013 | 12:42 pm

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Jeff Claudio is leaving Yours Truly at the end of March

(Image: Yours Truly)

Yours Truly’s 29-year-old head chef, who came to Toronto by way of some of the world’s most celebrated kitchens, is exiting the Ossington strip restaurant and the city. Replacing Claudio is Lachlan Culjak, who has worked in the kitchens of Toronto institutions Splendido, Nota Bene and Scarpetta and trained at Noma, a world-renowned Danish restaurant that receives close to 100,000 reservation requests a month. The new chef says he’ll continue Claudio’s lauded 20-course tasting menus, which propelled Yours Truly to the top of our list of the city’s best new restaurants last year. Claudio plans to travel around the United States indefinitely before moving to London, England, where he hopes to start his own restaurant.

The Goods

Stores

March 13, 2013 | 3:00 pm

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Store Guide: Tiger of Sweden’s new Ossington outpost for hip professionals

Store Guide: Toronto’s first Tiger of Sweden store on Ossington

Name: Tiger of Sweden
Sells: Clothing, shoes and accessories for men and women
Contact info: 56 Ossington Ave., 416-588-4437, TigerOfSweden.com
Hours: M–W and Sa 11–7, Th and F 11–8, Su 12–5
See it on a map »

Though Ossington remains a mecca for vintage hunters, the neighbourhood now has its share of more upscale boutiques. The latest to land: Tiger of Sweden, whose slim-cut suits and minimalist separates have made it extremely popular in Europe. The label’s hip Scandinavian spirit fits in on the Ossington strip, although with garments targeted to the office and high-mid-range prices (men’s suits run $700–$1,000 and women’s, $450–$650), it caters to the area’s professionals over its hipster faction.

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Must-Try

February 25, 2013 | 8:30 am

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Monday Must-Try: Bellwoods Brewery’s bitter and boozy Witchshark IIPA

Putting back a bottle of Bellwoods Brewery’s Witchshark Imperial India Pale Ale is a heady experience. Since the buzzing Ossington brewpub launched last year, the city’s growing class of beer geeks have flocked there for the changing raft of inventive craft brews, and the powerful, hoppy Witchshark is one of the most fervently sought-after creations. With nine per cent alcohol and 80-plus international bitterness units (Molson Canadian has closer to 20), the first sip is a shock to the palate. The second sip settles on the tongue to reveal citrus and pine flavours, and by the third, the beer’s malty caramel and peppery notes take over. Soon a pleasant, boozy haze descends, interrupted only by a mounting desire to hasten back to the brewery’s new bottle shop to pick up another round. $8.

Bellwoods Brewery, 124 Ossington Ave., 416-535-4586, bellwoodsbrewery.com, @bellwoodsbeer

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Openings

February 11, 2013 | 4:05 pm

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Introducing: Bazara, Ossington’s new spot for sushi

Introducing: Bazara

Name: Bazara Asian Cuisine
Neighbourhood: Ossington strip
Contact info: 188 Ossington Ave., 647-748-0288, bazara.ca
Owners: Sammy and Suzanne Yang
Chef: Sammy Yang (Riz North, Sushi Palace)

The food: Pan-Asian, particularly Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine.

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Restaurants

January 11, 2013 | 3:37 pm

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Union is launching spin-off food shop Côte de Boeuf later this month

In late December, Côte de Boeuf popped up briefly at 130 Ossington Avenue to sell a variety of holiday provisions and then promptly popped back down. Now the food shop, a project from Union chef Teo Paul (his restaurant is just down the street) and his brother Chasen Gillies, is set to return permanently.

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Restaurants

January 8, 2013 | 2:28 pm

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Delux celebrates five years on Ossington with a special discounted menu

Delux’s signature Cubano sandwich (Image: Glen MacLarty)

Corinna Mozo’s Delux was one of the pioneers of the Ossington strip’s restaurant explosion when it first opened in 2008. Today, the French restaurant (with the cult Cuban brunch) celebrates five years in business by offering a special menu of their classic dishes until the end of the month. Apps are $10, mains are $20 and desserts are $5, making a $35 three-course meal a mighty tempting alternative to trying to secure a Winterlicious reservation.

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The Month That Was

January 3, 2013 | 4:17 pm

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The Month that Was: the Toronto restaurants and bars that opened and closed in December

Sang Kim’s new Yakitori Bar (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Opening

Yakitori Bar and Seoul Food Co.—Restauranteur Sang Kim (Ki, Blowfish) set an ambitious goal for himself: one restaurant, thirty days. It must’ve been too easy, because he ended up opening two, an izakaya and a Korean takeout joint. Read our Introducing post »
Hawthorne Food and Drink—Chef Eric Wood (Fabarnak) finds inspiration for Hawthorne’s menu in Toronto’s wide array of ethnic cuisines. Bonus: he also runs a paid training program for newly graduated cooks. Read our Introducing post »

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Openings

December 11, 2012 | 1:28 pm

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Introducing: OddSeoul, the new Ossington Korean restaurant from the brothers behind Swish by Han

(Image: Megan Leahy)

Hot on the heels of Rock Lobster’s opening, brothers Leemo and Leeto Han have launched Ossington’s newest restaurant, OddSeoul. Those acquainted with their popular Wellington Street American-Korean restaurant Swish by Han will find the hip-hop and reclaimed wood aesthetic familiar, but instead of serving downtown lunchers, OddSeoul is pegged as a place for a night out, complete with mood lighting and bar-height communal tables. Most of the decor was sourced from a friend’s dad’s junkyard, including a host of ’90s boom boxes, a glowing red “Prescriptions” sign and an old Olympic diving board cut down to a bar shelf. The food is of similarly mongrel origins: the Hans are not about pretty plates, but instead try to elevate Korean staples with global flavours.

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The Goods

Stores

November 29, 2012 | 10:30 am

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Introducing: Gravity Pope, a massive Toronto location from the popular Western Canadian shoe boutique

Gravity Pope, a trend-focused shoe store much beloved in Western Canada, opened its first Toronto location on Friday at Queen and Ossington. Although the soaring two-level space has good-sized clothing sections for men and women, the main draw is the rows upon rows of shoes dominating the main floor. With a wide-ranging portfolio of brands—including a reasonably priced house label as well as Converse, Repetto, Camper, Cacharel and Marni—the footwear selection caters to everyone from the hipster set to fashion-conscious moms and dads and glamour girls looking for night-out heels.

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