With the sprawl of vintage boutiques taking over Toronto, standing out in a sea of flannel and ’60s cocktail frocks can be a daunting task. Not so for Monique Nanton, owner of Boutique Monique, the newest retail offering on St. Clair West, where there’s nary a grungy plaid in sight.
It’s no secret that Toronto is completely inundated with espresso bars, but at least two downtown areas have managed to avoid indie oversaturation: the Financial District and the Entertainment District. Sam James plans to tap into the former with an upcoming shop on the PATH, and Dark Horse Espresso Bar has ventured into the latter with a fourth location, which officially opened on John Street this morning.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night centres on the Tyrone family, and is a thinly disguised study of American playwright Eugene O’Neill’s own parents and sibling in the early decades of the 20th century. The Tyrones are a family of Irish heritage that is filled with hurt, rage, anger and deep love. Sadly, they’re also filled with endless liquor and, in the case of the mother Mary, with morphine.
These days, it’s difficult to tell whether Toronto is more obsessed with tacos, hamburgers, Neapolitan pizza or espresso. A case could be made for any of them, but those who need proof that tacos are hip need only pay a visit to Grand Electric. In the time it takes to get a seat there, one could just as easily migrate all the way to the east end, where a new taco joint has opened up in the former digs of Le Rossignol.
A flamingo dressed as Yasser Arafat, a tiny naked lady sitting on a shelf and an anteater that’s sucked up some ballet shoes are among the works you’ll encounter if you venture to The Artist Project this weekend. But at the preview party last night, some of the biggest crowds could be found milling around the booths of artists who’d brought their creative process to bear on Toronto’s cityscape.
Every week we gather our favourite tweets from in and around Toronto’s fashion scene. This week, everyone has gone contest crazy! We’ve got the 411 on who’s got what from Greta Constantine, Amanda Lew Kee, Roots and more.
Roncesvalles’ new East Coast-inspired Hopgood’s Foodliner may have a sparse dessert menu of only two items, but its crispy toffee bar ($8), which comes in a brown paper package tied up with string, is a sweet and salty delight that stands on its own. We caught up with executive chef Geoff Hopgood, who told us the secrets behind his chocolate bar (turns out, it has a lot to do with blended Rice Krispies, a paint sprayer and a delectable chocolate sauce).
Part of Soulpepper’s mandate is to produce works from the classical canon of theatre, so, as a regular patron, I’m used to seeing its company members dressed in restrictive Victorian garb and elegantly performing in fake British accents. Imagine my surprise then, when attending performance of its latest offering, High Life, the pre-curtain anti-mobile device announcement tells us to “shut off your f*cking cell phones.”
This is a pleasant blend of Carignan, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Ruby colour with a spicy floral nose of blackberries; medium-bodied, elegant, fine mouth feel, dry and spicy. Food match: beef casserole, old cheddar.
Justin Bieber turned 18 today, sparking a full on national debate. And it wasn’t just the teenage girls who were working themselves into a frenzy. Even CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge got in on the act, mulling whether the Biebs and his 40 million Facebook fans could now become a force in Canadian politics. But in the Twittersphere, the talk wasn’t quite so lofty.
Hailing from Montrea (via the U.S.), The Barr Brothers released their long-awaited debut album late last year and have been touring and gaining notoriety as of late, including an appearance on Late Show With David Letterman in January. Best known for their energetic and improvisational live shows, the band — Brad and Andrew Barr along with Sarah Page and Andres Vial — checks into Queen West’s The Great Hall tonight in support of their self-titled debut album out now on Secret City Records.
Leslieville Cheese Market & Fine Foods, the popular gourmet food shop that first appeared on Queen East around six years ago, will be opening a fourth location later this month on Donlands Avenue.
