Make room for the latest munchies to hit downtown’s affordable food hub, because vegan takeout joint Hot Beans is opening in Kensington Market next week. The collective vision of chef Scott McCannell, Ross Corder and Madeleine Foote, the upcoming spot at 160 Baldwin will serve up a compact, approachable menu of Latin-inspired vegan delights.
New York Fashion Week is wrapping up soon, but if you weren’t lucky enough – or is it vogue enough? – to attend, don’t fret. Instead, covet. Torontonians Erin Kleinberg and Stephanie Mark have teamed up with Vogue to give budding fashionistas a peek at Fashion Week via their new website, thecoveteur.com. Last week, they compiled a list of essential Fashion Week survival items from key fashion players. Here are some must-have items that we loved.
Toronto may soon forget Gatorade as a post-workout elixir if a non-alcoholic beer from Germany catches on here. Erdinger Brewery, best known in Ontario for its wheat beer, is marketing its Erdinger Alkoholfrei as a healthy athlete’s brew. Impossible as it may seem, it turns out that beer may be even more useful than we thought.
Harbord Street’s popular pizza joint Pizza Gigi has been shut down after police found a plethora of drugs there, including $1-million worth of marijuana, the Star reports.
By early March, Dundas West will see the opening of a new café that has all of the necessary trappings of indie-ness. Cool name? Check: The Primal Grind. Top notch espresso machine? Check: a Nuova Simonelli. Great roaster? Check: Intelligentsia. But something to make it stand out? Also check: The Primal Grind’s coffee will be solely espresso-based, and there will be no signs of dairy, grains or processed sugar.
What a pleasure to report that Dancap Productions is bringing back South Pacific, which brought a seriousness and power to the American musical stage rarely seen before its 1949 debut.
When looking for a great wine that’s worth every penny, Chilean wine is a good way to go. Our wine columnist, Tony Aspler, selects five Chilean wines that offer great bang for the buck.
For anyone who’s ever wanted an excuse to wear a Mr. Rogers-inspired sweater, National Sweater Day is your day. WWF Canada, in partnership with Loblaws, is calling on Canadians to lower their thermostat by three degrees this Thursday and to wear a sweater—new, or old—to symbolize commitment to a greener planet.
These bottles offer bang for buck
Oleanna is a strange name for a challenging, savage, and, thanks to Soulpepper’s present production of it, brilliant two-character play by America’s David Mamet, one of the finest dramatists and screenwriters of the past quarter century. The name, based on an 1850s folk song about some kind of future utopia (as lovers of Pete Seeger’s 1960s hit may recall), is comically ironic: in the war between the sexes, there are no utopias.
Toronto just got shot down hard by BlackBook, an arts and culture rag from New York. In a new post today, BlackBook accuses Toronto chefs of “biting New York’s style.” To support its thesis, the magazine lists a whopping two examples: Porchetta & Co., which quite openly emulates NYC’s Porchetta, and The Burger’s Priest, because apparently making burgers out of fresh, never-frozen ground beef constitutes plagiarizing the Big Apple.
For an unforgettable Valentine’s Day, we recommend treating your lady to a feast of the senses. Whether it’s an evocative combo of chocolate and tea or the aural inspiration of a practical iPod dock, our suggestions are sensual and sensible. After all, Valentine’s Day is about indulgence, right? Below, our five alluring V-day gifts.
