Tag Archives: Toronto neighbourhoods

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Leslieville, Toronto, Toronto business, Toronto neighbourhoods

63. Start a “Disloyalty Card” at Mercury Espresso Bar

March 4, 2011 Heikki Walden

March 4, 2011

Located in the heart of Toronto’s popular Leslieville neighbourhood, Mercury Espresso Bar prides itself in providing and celebrating some of the coffee industry’s best quality espresso, while featuring seasonal, exciting new coffee blends. Firmly established in Leslieville for almost five years (Mercury Espresso Bar’s “birthday weekend” is the 19th and 20th of this month), this cafe is anything but ordinary.

Participate in the “Disloyalty Card for the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy” and celebrate independent Toronto coffee shops by embarking on a city-wide espresso crawl that will take you to seven participating shops. Your starting point can be any one of the involved cafes, but today you can start the ball rolling with Mercury Espresso Bar. Make a purchase to get your Disloyalty Card, then make your way to the other six cafes to collect your remaining six stamps. When you’ve filled your card, return to Mercury Espresso Bar (or wherever you started), and collect your free coffee!

To learn more about the Disloyalty Card and Mercury Espresso Bar, check out their website! Check out Heikki’s interview with one of the shop’s owners, Matthew, to hear more about the Leslieville neighbourhood!

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Rosedale, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto food, Toronto neighbourhoods, Toronto restaurants

38. Visit The Rosedale Diner for Winterlicious!

February 7, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 7, 2011

A family-owned restaurant in operation since 1978, Rosedale Diner is well-known for serving “real food to real people” – Winterlicious is your opportunity to sample some of this “real” (and delicious!) food!

The eclectic wares of this establishment are reflected in the prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner: as an appetizer, why not try a sweet pea soup with crispy leeks and chili oil drizzle? Or how about Israeli hummus with za’atar and warm chickpeas with extra virgin olive oil? Entree choices include everything from a brie and apple omelet with onion frits, curried chicken mango salad, Moroccan lamb shank tagine, a vegetarian moussaka, and “poutine au canard:” off-the bone duck confit and Québécois cheese curds with frites and demi-glace gravy! Assorted desserts will leave you completely satisfied with this Bohemian-style restaurant with an unmistakable Israeli flair.

Check out the Rosedale Diner’s website for more details, and don’t miss our interview with Dubi Filar, owner of the Rosedale Diner!

365 Things to Do in Toronto, St. Lawrence Market, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto farmers' markets, Toronto festivals, Toronto food, Toronto neighbourhoods, Toronto restaurants

35. Visit The Wine Bar for Winterlicious!

February 4, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 4, 2011

Serving local artisanal food, featuring produce purchased directly from farmers at St. Lawrence Market, Winterlicious at The Wine Bar is nothing short of delicious! A $15 lunch or a $25 dinner are both fantastic opportunities to sample locally-sourced wares.

Whether you choose the wild mushroom soup with white truffle oil and thyme, the pulled pork poutine with Monforte goat cheese, BBQ sauce and green onions, or the organic shrimp bisque as your appetizer, you’re sure to enjoy unmistakably local flavours. Lunch mains include an inventive purple beet risotto, mushrooms and smoked chicken on toast, and an open faced beef cheek sandwich, while dinner entrees include a delicious wild mushroom polenta, seared wild fish, or grilled Miami ribs. Dig into dessert – whether you select the rum raisin bread pudding with crème anglaise, the Lindt chocolate mousse with maple chantilly cream, or the house preserved fruit crème brule with almond cookie, you’ll find the experience unforgettable.

To learn more about The Wine Bar, check out their website at http://9church.com/, and be sure to learn more about the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood by watching our video interview with The Wine Bar’s chef, Bryan Burke!

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto food, Toronto neighbourhoods, Toronto restaurants

34. Chinese New Year – Fourth Annual Chinese New Year’s Day 11-Course Banquet

February 3, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 3, 2011

What better way to ring in the Chinese New Year with an 11-course feast? Hosted by Culinary Historian, Shirley Lum of A Taste of the World – Toronto Walking Tours, you’ll have an opportunity to learn old and new customs and superstitions, receive tips on pouring tea and chopsticks etiquette, and most importantly, you’ll learn how to pace yourself as you enjoy an 11 course banquet!

Meet at 6pm at Taste of Chinatown Seafood Restaurant (at Spadina and Dundas) and savor authentic Chinese dishes such as shark fin and seafood soup; braised abalone with vegetables and mushrooms; double lobsters with garlic, green onions and ginger; Youngzho fried rice; and of course, fortune cookies! Start off the Year of the Rabbit on the right foot; book your place at this feast today at www.torontowalksbikes.com.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Lawrence Park, Toronto, Toronto business, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto food, Toronto neighbourhoods, Toronto restaurants

32. Visit Coppi Ristorante for Winterlicious!

February 1, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 1, 2011

Looking for some delicious Italian fare to brighten your Winterlicious experience? Look no further than Coppi Ristorante in Lawrence Park!

Serving natural and simple Italian cuisine since 1991, Coppi Ristorante’s dishes are “never adventurous but simple, never complicated but easy to comprehend, never too many spices, but one or two per dish.” This simple approach to food has commanded a popularity with Torontonians and tourists alike.

Enjoy a $20 prix fixe lunch menu, or a $35 dinner at Coppi Ristorante; choose an appetizer from selections such as the speck e pera (thinly sliced smoked prosciutto, served with sliced pear and goat cheese crostini) or insalata di finocchio e rucola (fennel and rucola salad with red pepper, pine nuts and pecorino cheese) and delight your senses with a delicious main such as salmone in padella (pan seared norwegian salmon filet with sauteed rucola and tomato and black olive salad) or tagliatelle al pesto di erbette (fresh tagliatelle tossed in a sundried tomato and herb pesto). Don’t forget about dessert! You can choose from the panna cotta agrume (citrus cream custard with toasted hazelnuts and mint pesto), tiramisu, or sorbetto al limone (lemon flavoured sorbet).

To learn more about Coppi Ristorante, check out their website, and be sure to take a look at our interview with restaurant owner Alessandro Scotto.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto food, Toronto music, Toronto neighbourhoods, Toronto restaurants

31. A Passion for Dance, Opera and Dining

January 31, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 31, 2011

As part of the Winterlicious series of culinary events, Embrujo Flamenco Tapas Restaurant will host A Passion for Dance, Opera and Dining, “a brilliant combination of old music and traditional cuisine” from Madrid.

You’ll enjoy a gourmet, four-course meal featuring Spanish cuisine crafted from natural ingredients, while savoring the performances and sounds of the opera Carmen.

Dinner starts tonight at 7:30pm, and the performance continues until 9:30pm. Tickets are $69 plus HST and gratuity, and can be purchased by phone: call 416-778-0007.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto galleries, Toronto neighbourhoods, West Queen West

30. Come Up to My Room Alternative Design Event

January 30, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 30, 2011

As the Gladstone Hotel’s annual alternative design event, Come Up to My Room showcases the collaborative efforts of designers and artists as they transform 11 rooms and create 14 public space installations.

This year’s show is curated by Jeremy Vandermeij and Deborah Wang and features design talk events and curatorial tours. Curators select designers and artists based on their past work and experience, then turn over the exhibition space with little knowledge about what the finished piece will look like. By giving the artists and designers complete freedom, the final results are challenging, thought-provoking, and extraordinary.

Today is the last day of Come Up to My Room; exhibition hours are from noon until 5pm. Tickets are $10 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased on the Come Up To My Room website.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto food

29. Fort York Food Fight! Chef Competition

January 29, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 29, 2011

As part of this year’s Winterlicious, several “culinary events” can be enjoyed across the city, including “Eat Pray Lovealicious” (an Italian cooking class at the Bonnie Stern School of Cooking), Taste n’ Tour Casa Loma Marketplace (an opportunity to tour Toronto’s Medieval Castle while dining on rustic fare), and today’s Fort York Food Fight! Chef Competition.

Getting started at 1pm, the afternoon gets under way with an “intimate interpretive food tour of Fort York,” which will help participants to understand the diet of Toronto’s early days. After, join in one of two workshops: Eat Green Through the Seasons, in which you’ll explore the ecological benefits of seasonal eating, or Growing Food Indoors, a foray into the world of alternative gardening. Following the workshops, you’ll witness a “food fight” between two of Toronto’s top chefs, Ted Corrado and Scott Vivian. Their challenge will be to create and prepare meals incorporating a secret, 1812-era ingredient available in the old days of the Town of York. The winner will be heralded as the Fort York Food Fight Champion and will receive $2500.

Join in the fun and learn more about the culinary history of Toronto! Tickets are $30 including HST and gratuity; tickets are available by phone at 416-392-690 ext. 221. Visit the Fort York Food Fight! Chef Competition website for more information.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto food, Toronto restaurants

28. Winterlicious

January 28, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 28, 2011

2011 marks the ninth annual Winterlicious, Toronto’s culinary prix fixe event.

This is your opportunity to try a selection of appetizers, mains, and desserts from some of the city’s top restaurants, from $15 to $25 for lunch menus, and from $25 to $45 for dinner menus. Whether you’re sampling butter chicken from Amaya’s Bread Bar; Wood Grilled Cumin Chipotle BBQ Lamb Ribs, Black Bean Sweet Corn Salsa and Duck Fat Frites at Fred’s Not Here or a Lemon Lavender Tart with Milk Chocolate Cream, Toasted Meringue and Amaretto Custard at Sassafraz, your taste buds will thank you for participating in one of Toronto’s most popular winter events.

Reservations started on January 13th and menus are up for viewing on the Winterlicious websites so plan your culinary triumphs – after all, there are only fourteen days to partake in this event – with 150 restaurants to choose from, you have your work cut out for you!

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto neighbourhoods

27. Family Literacy Day

January 27, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 27, 2011

Here’s an event you can celebrate without leaving the comfort of your own home: today is Family Literacy Day!

Whether you have little ones at home and can encourage their literacy skills by reading to/with them, or whether you curl up on your own with a cup of tea and an engaging novel, take the time to participate in Family Literacy Day!

If you want to join with others to celebrate literacy, check out the Toronto Public Library’s event schedule, or take a look at ABC Life Literacy’s website for more information on special events and inventive ideas to get involved with Family Literacy Day.