The Alo group is opening a private event space in Yorkville

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3:14 pm

Patrick Kriss event space — Chef Patrick Kriss

Soon, event hosts with a penchant for impeccably executed tasting menus will get a chance to have some of the best chefs in the country in the kitchen for their wedding reception, cocktails reception and other private events. Alo Salon is the restaurant group’s first space dedicated to private dining.

Located in a space next to Alobar in Yorkville, Salon will exclusively host private parties. Like Alo, the menu at Salon will be directed by chef Patrick Kriss and Alo’s chef de cuisine Nick Bentley. One of Alo’s sous chefs, Tim Yun, will also join the Salon team as chef de cuisine.

The dinner structure itself will a five or more-course meal designed based on what’s available in season as well as the clients’ tastes. When it opens, the space will be able to accommodate 44 people for a sit-down dinner and 60 people for a cocktail and canapés reception – and more, when they open up the patio.

According to a representative from Alo, the team are eyeing a Fall 2019 open.

Diamond and Diamond shows no signs of slowing down

By

Jarrod Daley

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10:00 am

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See all posts by Diamond and Diamond Lawyers

Toronto’s Diamond and Diamond Lawyers has continued to grow and prosper since it was founded

It’s been just five years since a family-run business became Canada’s fastest-growing Personal Injury firm.Just one office in 2013, Diamond and Diamond now boasts 13 more offices across Canada (including Vancouver). A 2015 Leger survey showed that only 3% of responders could name one of their competitors.

Diamond’s brand of tough advocacy is contagious. Large insurance companies are known to enlist the services of high-powered counsel in order to limit the amount of money a plaintiff can ask for.

Canada’s Tort claims are historically also much smaller than the United States. The Supreme Court caps pain and suffering at less than $400,000, meaning such an amount is typically reserved for those with the greatest pain and suffering.

Most injury lawyers operate on a contingency basis, meaning they don’t earn their fees until they settle. As such, they must bankroll all costs of the claim before it settles years from now. In addition to being a cash flow nightmare for accountants, Personal Injury Law comes with a great deal of risk for a firm. Many have simply closed up shop citing low capital and high competition.

Over 30 years ago, David Diamond founded Diamond and Diamond. It was at a time when personal injury advertising was next to non-existent.

5 years ago, his nephew Jeremy Diamond, wife Sandra Zisckind and brother-in-law Isaac Zisckind became part owners in Diamond and Diamond and took it in an entirely different direction. They sought to expand and service most claims in-house as opposed to relying on outside counsels to handle the overflow.

Their timing was impeccable. At the time personal Injury advertising was starting to become ubiquitous and big firms enlisted the services of media buyers and consultants to communicate their value proposition.

Diamond and his wife sought advice from the kingpin, travelling across the border to meet with arguably the country’s most well-known Personal Injury Firm, Celino and Barnes.

Within a few months, they were off and running.

The firm started with one radio station in Toronto, z1035. It was a relatively small buy, compared to their advertising spend today, but it was high frequency.

Their message of tough advocacy rained across all of their ads. Jeremy Diamond spoke personally to connect with the audiences, which was unusual in a space that lacked the public’s trust.

Their slogan “Nothing is tougher than a Diamond” also spoke to the general public’s exhaustion with the squeeze from insurance companies.

Several firms jumped into the ring to try and earn their slice of the pie but efforts were mixed. Many lacked a central message or effective creative. As many lost their footing a few major players emerged in front, one being Diamond.

“We learned early on that people want a firm who speaks to them and not above them,” said Jeremy Diamond, the firm’s managing partner. “We give out our personal cell phone. We’re a family-owned firm and it’s important that every client feels that we are a part of theirs.”

Once the radio ads stuck, they sought to expand their marketing mix.

The firm hired a firm specializing specifically in pay per click advertising. Personal Injury holds some of the most expensive keywords on Google’s platform, with some clicks fetching upwards of $130.

“It was vicious in the beginning,” said Isaac Zisckind. “We found out that competitors had been clicking our ads to drain our budget. We vowed to stay above the fray and focus on running our own race.”

Once the firm found their footing on pay per click advertising, they branched out to dominate Google’s organic search results through SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Their high search visibility allowed them to harness a large percentage of the thousands of searches that take place per month in the space of Personal Injury Law. It was in essence, the perfect complement to a sound Adwords strategy.

Since its inception, the firm has worked with Signature Gold, a video production and graphic design firm based in Toronto.

“We looked at a lot of the players who were competing with us and it was obvious that they were doing their creative in house,” said Diamond. “Anyone can buy ads, but few can make them stick in the mind of the consumer.”

Marketing theory shows that only a couple of companies can earn that coveted top of mind spot in the mind of consumers. In an industry in which dozens of players battle for the top of mind, meticulous attention to messaging is essential.

“We kept it simple,” said Greg Dean, Signature Gold’s Owner. “We kept it personal. The person in the ad should be the person you see when you enter the firm.”

Major TV Ads for the firm even ran prime-time during sporting events and shows like The Bachelor.

“We kept ads clean and A/B tested with unique URLs and/or phone numbers,” said Zisckind. “Eventually you learn what works and can stick with that but it only comes from rigorous testing.”

As the work piled up, the public accolades followed. The firm pocketed nearly a dozen readers’ choice awards and three consumer choice awards. Major media outlets such as CTV and City News called on Sandra Zisckind to comment on legal matters and the media hits were a boon for the firm.

In April of 2014, the firm made headlines when they sued a Toronto-based university for $20.5 million after a shooting took place in their food court.

“We are alleging a pattern of negligence, we’re alleging that security has been overlooked and our allegation is that steps could have been taken and measures could have been taken,” Sandra Zisckind of Diamond and Diamond said at a televised press conference.

In the years that followed several other high profile cases by the firm made headlines.

After a teen died from Skateboarding without a helmet, the firm called on the province to expand helmet requirement laws.

When an UberX driver in Toronto got into a motor vehicle accident and was denied coverage by his insurer, Isaac Zisckind took legal action against the company. The case, one of the first to showcase’s Uber’s questionable insurance policies, made international headlines. It also prompted insurers to create new products for drivers.

The ad buy of the firm has expanded to the sponsorship of major sporting franchises such as The Toronto Raptors, The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators. The alignment has provided immeasurable value for the firm, whose demo includes sports enthusiasts across the nation.

“They were my first client when I started my agency,” said Jordan Whelan, who handles the firm’s media buying. “In many ways, they are an ideal client in that they are confident enough to speak up when they have an aversion to something, but smart enough to know when to listen and defer to experts.”

With everything clicking, the firm sought to shake its old reputation as a referral-based agency.

“Every firm refers out cases,” says Sandra Zisckind, a lawyer at Diamond and Diamond. “We try to keep as much as we can in the house but sometimes we are not the best-suited party for a claim.”

As Zisckind sought to keep more cases she went on a hiring tear, growing their team of lawyers by 15 in just a couple years. The team also enlisted the help of dozens of administrative and paralegal staff to handle the heavy flow of leads into the firm.

But a peculiar thing was happening in the face of the thousands of personal injury cases the firm had carriage over. Their current client base began inquiring about additional legal services, like wills and estates, real estate or even family law.

So in 2017, after careful consideration, the firm took a leap, expanding to a full-service law firm in a 30,000 square foot facility in North Toronto.

“It’s a natural progression,” said Diamond. “We learned through focus group testing that consumers were intimidated by big bay street firms with large upfront retainers.”

Their name was changed to Diamond and Diamond Lawyers and the slogan “The People’s Law Firm” was trademarked.

Services were listed at a flat fee including real estate closing or uncontested divorces.

“The old business model of firms was not working, “ said Zisckind. “Consumers want transparency and approachability.”

In 2018, the firm has plans to open three new offices across the country and expand its service offering. They recently signed a deal with the NHL team, The Calgary Flames.

While the firm experiences growing pains, Diamond says he hopes they never lose sight of why they got into this business in the first place.

“Our bread and butter will always be personal injury,” says Diamond. “We want injured Plaintiffs to know they’re taken care of, that we will never stop fighting for them.”

“That’s the legacy we fight for.”

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This Toronto noodle house is offering a pay-what-you-can menu to benefit SickKids

By

Samantha Peksa

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2:09 pm

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On July 7, Yunshang Rice Noodle, the popular noodle house with locations in Willowdale and in Baldwin Village, is offering a special pay-what-you-can menu with all proceeds going to support SickKids Hospital.

The rice noodle chain specializes in “Crossing the Bridge” noodles, a noodle soup dish popular in southwestern China comprised of fresh rice noodles in boiling hot broth, served alongside an array of toppings, including various proteins, bean curd sheets, scallions and other aromatics.

Coinciding with the day of their third anniversary, the restaurant will give diners an opportunity to try these noodles and a range of other menu items, for as much or as little as they wish to pay, all while supporting SicKids’ Foundation’s campaign to build a new hospital.

The dishes, available on a first-come-first-served basis, include their original rice noodle soup, a spicy version, rice noodle soup in a coconut curry brother, and others. Diners will also have the opportunity to try a variety of cold dishes and appetizers, from sliced beef and ox tongue in chili sauce to popcorn chicken.

This campaign not only donates 100 per cent of its proceeds to SickKids, it also offers people who would otherwise not be able to afford this meal the opportunity to do so, at a cost they feel comfortable setting.

Yunshang Rice Noodle’s “Support SickKids” menu will be available on July 7, from noon to 9 p.m.

Immersive theatre production opens in former Toronto video store

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Ron Johnson

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10:56 am

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The immersive theatre aficionados from Outside the March (OTM) are at it again this summer with The Tape Escape, opening July 4 and running throughout the month, possibly longer. The production combines immersive theatre with elements of an escape room as it takes over the old Queen Video space in the Annex on Bloor Street West.

“The Tape Escape will honour the history of the space, continuing the storefront’s identity as a community gathering space for film lovers citywide,” says Mitchell Cushman, artistic director of OTM and one of the show’s co-creators along with Vanessa Smythe and Nick Bottomley.

Cushman, who actually worked at a Blockbuster video store in the Toronto neighbourhood of Leaside back in 2003, says the team has been working on the production for about three years. When the Queen Video space came up, they seized the opportunity.

The Tape Escape will feature three stories or experiences that each unfolds a little differently, along with a fourth overarching storyline involving the comings and goings of the shop and the clerks themselves. OTM gathered hundreds of old videotapes to line the walls from an assortment of sources, including a loan from charity Red Propeller, which actually diverts recyclable VHS components from the landfill.

OTM points to the bygone social experience of heading out to the local video store and choosing the movie rental as a family, couple etc., another in a long line of experiences that have been digitized and swept off to the dustbin of human interactions. And it is that type of experience they pay homage to and hope to encourage through the production. Unlike an Escape Room, Cushman hopes patrons hang out and linger in the space, have some popcorn, observe the comings and goings and have a good time.

It’s all part of the OTM mandate to “make theatre for people who don’t go to the theatre,” says Cushman. The group is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and there are five productions in the works for this year and 2020, starting with The Tape Escape.

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A post shared by The Tape Escape (@outside_the_march) on May 30, 2019 at 7:41am PDT

Hot new restaurants opening in Toronto this July

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lindsaylow

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10:40 am

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Faim de loup dish — Faim de Loup's asaparagus with brown butter aïoli

The teams behind chef Jonathan Poon’s wildly popular Ossington hot spots, Superpoint Pizza and Paris Paris wine bar, and Khao San Road are collaborating on an exciting new project. FAVORITES THAI BBQ (141 Ossington Ave.), This new addition will focus on charcoal-fired Thai dishes, courtesy of chef Haan Palcu-Chang (previously of Soso Food Club), and a stellar wine program curated by one half of Toronto wine aficionados the Grape Witches, Krysta Oben.

PIQUETTE (1084 Queen St.) is the latest wine bar to be announced by Grant van Gameren and Bar Isabel alumni. Count on fine wines, accessible food and that van Gameren brand of visual whimsy in July, when it opens.

Eglinton area residents have a new special occasion spot in their ’hood. An iconic Eglinton Way corner that has been home to such businesses as Eunice Denby Flowers and Beatties Menswear now houses NOMAD STEAKHOUSE (453 Eglinton Ave. W., 416-486-6623). This beautiful new restaurant deals in classic steaks, including a wagyu strip loin, several standout pastas and a few delicious Transylvanian additions.

The city’s newest modern French restaurant FAIM DE LOUP (940 College St., 416-901-3246) is also one of its most intimate. The two-person operation will serve to a total of 16 tables a night, with tasting menus between five and seven courses. Chef Jeffrey Yap brings six years of experience at Scaramouche and one year at superstar chef Mark Best’s Marque in Sydney.

Curious about the jackfruit-as-fake-meat phenomenon? New plant-based Thai spot MUGI (793 Bathurst St., 416-535-3886) has guilt-free khao soi and Thai curries and pilafs ready to convince you.

The yuzu eggs benedict at Scenic Coffee + Brunch

The newly opened SCENIC COFFEE + BRUNCH (8241 Woodbine Ave., Unit 7, 647-699-9632) offers classic breakfast fare but with a twist of Japanese comfort, like yuzu eggs Benedict, black sesame latte, and mochi brownies.

Bar opens

The team behind BarChef is bringing its mad scientist brand of mixology to the new MOTHER (874 Queen St. W., 416-537-1928), which features expertly mixed drinks, heavy on the fermentation, and bar bites inspired by the foraged offerings of mother nature.

Get ready to party like it’s 1929. The Fairmount Royal York’s new restaurant and bar, REIGN, and accompanying lounge, CLOCKWORK, (100 Front St. W.) is serving up regal glamour and plenty of champagne and cocktails to mark the hotel’s 90th anniversary.

Omakase opens

KAITO SUSHI (1211 St. Clair Ave. W.) is bringing omakase to Corso Italia, one hour-long seating at a time. Each tasting, which accommodates only six people, comprises 11 courses of nigiri sushi and appetizers, a hand roll, plus an optional wagyu add-on.

On the topic of omakase, Richmond Hill and 905 residents have a new place for upscale, highly curated sushi at RIN SUSHI (360 Hwy. 7, Unit 15, 289-597-2333).

Foodie finds

THE BRICK BAR (6 Rosehill Ave.) is coming to Toronto for a three-night run. The Instagrammable, Lego-themed boozy pop-up will feature one million blocks, pre-assembled into wacky structures.

Pay no mind to the haters: Aperol spritzes are still delicious, and the best time to imbibe yours is at the BAR APEROL pop-up bar (1030 Queen St. W.), an aperitivo bar and patio running July 4 to 28.

Alfresco season continues with THE GAARDEN (314 Queen St. W.), a collab between Charles Khabouth’s Ink Entertainment and Hoegaarden. The rooftop patio will be stationed atop Cube Nightclub until summer’s end.

Coming soon

Yorkville’s hottest little resto bar, BROTHERS FOOD AND WINE, has confirmed that it is working on a new restaurant, opening in the distant future.

Word on the street is Claudio Aprile and Liberty Entertainment’s new King West project, XANGO, is almost ready to open its doors.

Our breaths are baited for Jen Agg’s new BAR VENDETTA (923 Dundas St. W.) taking over the former Black Hoof space. Expect pasta, wine and nachos after midnight.

The Annex is getting a new pocket bar on Dupont Avenue, BAR ELAYNA. This very cute spot is opening in the space formerly occupied by Atlas restaurant, adjacent to Hacienda on Dupont. The full menu has not yet been disclosed, but the bar will have multiple beers on tap, wings and assorted nibbles.

Bringing Filipina experiences to the Fringe Festival

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lindsaylow

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10:02 am

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GRAD-Ann-Paula — Bautista is a co-creator of the Tita Collective

Ann Paula Bautista, actor, singer and one of the creators behind Tita Jokes, which will be part of the Toronto Fringe Festival this month, always knew she was going to be a performer.

“I’ve always known that this was the path. Like when people ask me what my backup plan is, I really don’t have one,” Bautista says.

Tita Jokes came from the Tita Collective, which Bautista co-created with four other Filipina women with a goal of sharing their experiences and the experiences of their mothers and grandmothers.

“Even though they’re very much our stories and our experiences, they’re universal to anyone,” she says.

Tita Jokes is a musical sketch comedy that will run from July 3 to 14 at the Tarragon Theatre as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival, which is organized by a grassroots, charitable organization that benefits the theatre community.

Bautista’s drive to pursue a career in singing and acting is partly due to the fact that her parents put her into music and singing lessons when she was very young.

“So I’ve always had my eye on being an actor and sharing music and storytelling,” she says.

While in high school at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School, Bautista discovered her love for musical theatre. The school put on the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Bautista played the role of Charlie Brown’s sister, Sally Brown.

“I didn’t realize [musical theatre] was something I wanted to pursue until we did our production, and I realized that I can not only share my music and my gift with others through music, but I can also tell a story and make people laugh and feel things,” she says.

Bautista credits her high school with helping her find resources, programs and eventually a post-secondary school for her to continue to pursue performing.

“Our school was very diverse in the sense that there were many avenues to figure out what you wanted to do,” she says. “We had a really awesome faculty of artists that taught the arts there, and so I felt really supported.”

Even with the support from her family and school, she knew it wasn’t going to be easy. She graduated from Randolph College for the Performing Arts and started auditioning anywhere she could. However, she says it was especially difficult being a woman of colour.

“I feel like I’m constantly having to vouch for myself and fight for myself and be my own advocate,” she says. “And one of the huge things is finding the confidence to say that you are able to tell the story.”

Bautista is working on this through the Tita Collective. While the collective will be performing Tita Jokes at the Fringe Festival, Bautista will be missing the performance because she’ll be performing Aqsarniit (the Inuktitut word for the Northern Lights) in Halifax and Charlottetown.

Aqsarniit explores the struggles of various marginalized groups in Canada.

“We’re gathered from all parts of Canada to tell the story of our experiences and what defines us as Canadians,” she says. “We talk about really heavy topics, like social injustice and racism, but at the end of the day, all of that work is going to produce such a wonderful product.”

Through all of this, Bautista says she’s always looking to the future.

“If [my struggles] mean the next generation of young, Filipina people, women of colour, people of colour get to get their hands on material and not struggle as much as I did, then my work is done.”

Suzanne Barr is Toronto’s next rock star chef

By

lindsaylow

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12:58 pm

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Suzanne Barr in Avling — The Avling's head chef Suzanne Barr

From the outside, 1042 Queen St. E. is still mostly a mystery: large squares of cardboard are taped to the windows; brown paper covers the doors. It’s been like this for years.

But sometime around last year, small signs of life appeared in the old green industrial building at Pape and Queen: If you peek past the cardboard window coverings, you can see sleek new light fixtures. The faded paint was refreshed in a varsity-esque blue and white. The news was out: Suzanne Barr, chef of the beloved but now shuttered Saturday Dinette, was tapped to be head chef of what will become the Avling Kitchen and Brewery.

“I remember [Max Meighen, the owner of Avling] brought me in, and it was very early stages,” says Barr. “It was just walls — a totally gutted spot.”

Now, inside, it’s a pastel dream of light wood and concrete tabletops and cotton candy pink walls juxtaposed with dark cyan accents. The 90-seat dining hall is anchored by a huge 30-seat bar, serviced by 12 taps. But what stuns visitors isn’t the colour palette. It’s the glass wall at the other end of the bar, offering a full, unobstructed view of the actual brewery operation and its enormous tanks, stretching from the basement floor upwards.

The effect of these two large, connected, bi-level spaces is awe-inspiring, mixing Wonka-like industrialism and boutiquey sunlit minimalism.

Ambitions for the space are community-oriented. On top of the building is a rooftop garden, where beds of soil sit high above the bustle of Queen Street. The idea is to grow fresh herbs and vegetables for the restaurant and the brewery, while also holding public workshops on rooftop gardening.

“We’re putting out food that we know, 100 per cent, what it’s come through in order to get it to that plate,” Barr says.

Suzanne Barr — A colourful spread at the Avling restaurant

Her career in food has always been based in health-supportive cooking, paired with a love of globally inspired comfort food. A stint in France turned her on to French country cooking. Influences from her upbringing in Florida routinely find their way onto her plates. Her Caribbean ancestry remains a driving force behind many of her projects.

“We’re a modern brew pub, but we’re a real scope of what the city looks like,” she says.

Barr has not been in the industry as long as many of her peers. She has only lived here for five years. Her first calling was in film and television. It was 15 years into her career, as an executive producer for MTV in New York, that she started looking for a new career direction.

“I needed something more, spiritually,” she says. “I think I had always envisioned that I was going to find a path to something that would see me leave this world of film and do something else.”

After volunteering in the kitchen at an ashram in upstate New York, she decided to take the leap. She completed a course at the Natural Gourmet Institute and quit her job at MTV. One gig led to another. For a couple of years, she worked as a private chef for a family that split their time between France, the Hamptons, New York City and Miami. Craving stability, she quit private chef work and went back to Florida and then France, where she met her future husband. They moved to Toronto, her birth city. Leslieville was the first neighbourhood they settled in.

“We kept passing this little corner space,” she recalls. “We thought, ‘What is this place? It’s so cute, but no one’s ever here!’ ”

A sneak peek inside the new Avling Brewery

That cute little corner location at Gerrard Street and Logan Avenue became the future home of Saturday Dinette, a small but impossibly charming brunch spot, doling out comfort food without borders, from shakshuka with tomato date ragu to vegetarian mushroom banh mi.

After three and a half years and a lengthy falling-out with their landlords, they closed their doors.

“We weren’t speaking [anymore],” she says of that time. “It was our attorneys speaking.”

Plans to open a lunch counter called Kid Chocolate five doors down on Gerrard St. were scrapped due to building issues”

“I was burnt-out as a chef. I was burnt-out as a business owner, as a partner, and I needed to take a break,” she says. She continued to balance her culinary projects and advocacy work with raising a son. And then she went to Mad Symposium in Copenhagen, to speak about parenting in the restaurant industry.

“I said, ‘If there’s anybody out there looking for a chef to bring onto their team who is as ambitious and as driven as I am, I would take any opportunity to do that,’ ” she says.

The words fell upon the right ears. Max Meighen, whose career was forged in the kitchens of fine dining restaurants in London, had already purchased the Queen and Pape property and was looking to expand his team.

“I knew she and I would have a lot in common in terms of the way we thought about food and how we’d like to see restaurants change,” says Meighen. “That was really exciting from the get-go.”

After the challenges of Saturday Dinette and her other projects, Barr is happy to have found a home. This time, she’s not worrying about clashes with landlords and building issues. Now, her only job is to push the boundaries of how diners perceive brew pub food and to further her mandate of inclusion and sustainability in the industry.

She’s assembled a team of specialists. Her butcher’s whole animal approach and love of charcuterie will ensure that diners will get to try unusual cuts on the plate, manipulated sublimely. Her sous chef is heading up a full fermentation program. And then there’s her comfort food, the backbone of her cooking style. The buttermilk-brined wood-fired chicken is a hit with the staff. A masala-spiked fish and chips is sure to please. And yes, there will be brunch.

“I’m in it for as long as life takes me,” she says. “Right now, I’m exactly where I know I need to be.”

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As our Front of House training continues, Head Chef @suzanne_barr_food took our staff through our menu offerings. Later in the day, staff members were given a tour of the rooftop garden and were taught how the kitchen team will be making use of everything that is produced on the rooftop.

A post shared by Avling Kitchen & Brewery (@avlingto) on Jun 4, 2019 at 12:41pm PDT

Modern Israeli cuisine comes downtown with Shook Kitchen

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Samantha Peksa

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11:51 am

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How this Shakespeare in High Park star foiled her proposal twice

By

Nikki Gill

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11:27 am

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Summer in the city means Shakespeare in High Park is here. This year will feature Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure and will run from July 4 to Sept. 1 at the High Park Amphitheatre. We caught up with actor Helen Taylor who will star in both plays to learn about her real life love story with her husband Gerry.

How they met

In April of 2009, I was asked by my friend Peter to attend his comedy event. I’d been solidly single for almost three years at this point and had no expectations whatsoever of meeting anyone. My now-husband, Gerry, was playing sax and accordion in Peter’s band. Gerry wore a pair of sunglasses with huge fake sideburns attached and I thought he might be a goofball, but he turned out to be a sweet, shy guy. We starting chatting and he invited me for a nightcap. I thought, ‘Hmm, he seems really nice but I need a buffer.’ So I grabbed Peter and asked him to come along. The three of us went to the Only Cafe on the Danforth where Peter promptly abandoned us, so Gerry and I talked and realized we had a lot of interests in common. We ended up having a lovely time.

The first date

Our first real date was breakfast at the Only Cafe, a week or so later. I went to see him play with a cover band the night before and in the wee hours of the morning we shared a cab. He asked me if I’d like to meet him the next morning for breakfast, and I realized it was an actual date he was asking me on. I was a little nervous so I asked if I could bring my dog, Lulu. Gerry, without hesitation, said ‘Of course.’ That was a good sign. After breakfast, we didn’t seem to want to say goodbye, so the date just kept going. We strolled the Danforth chatting, stopping for coffee and window shopping. I think I got home around 6 p.m. that evening. It was a fun, easy time and Lulu was the perfect date companion.

The courtship

Two months after we started dating I got a three-month contract in Nova Scotia, so I packed my bags and my dog and headed out east. We both think this brought us closer than if we’d been in the same city. We really got to know each other through emails and phone calls. I had five days off two-thirds of the way through the gig and Gerry came out for a romantic visit. We drove around gorgeous Cape Breton, which took our breath away, and finished the mini vacation in Halifax whooping it up at karaoke.

The proposal

Gerry and I dated for two years, then lived together for another two years before we tied the knot. Despite my conviction for most of my life that marriage was not for me, I slowly realized I wanted to marry Gerry. So around late November of 2012, after a night out, I asked him if he’d ever through about getting married. When he said yes, I asked if he’d ever thought about marrying me. Again he said yes. Little did I know that he’d already decided to buy and engagement ring. Then at Christmas, I went to visit my dad in Ottawa while Gerry spent it with his family in Toronto. On Boxing Day, he drove to Ottawa to join me. The weather was snowy and I was a little stressed about his safety. When he arrived in one piece, the first thing he wanted to do was head back out to the LCBO to pick up some booze. I got a little cranky and insisted that he was being silly to go back out in the snow. He took it in stride and let it go. Had I but known, I could have been proposed to that night, with champagne. The next night, Gerry suggested a walk with Lulu. I invited my nephew along, without realizing I was foiling the proposal plan yet again! It was a beautiful night with a lovely moon and when we got back to my dad’s house, Gerry suggested that he and I go out again. That’s when something twigged. I had my suspicions but kept my cool and we went again into the beautiful snowy moonlit park. Gerry fumbled in his coat pocket, got down on his knee in the snow and stammered out the question while I kept saying, ‘Oh my God’ over and over. Then I said ‘Yes.’ Jubilantly we phone his family and then went back to supper at my dad’s house where we broke the great news.

The wedding

We got married on June 29, 2013 at the Granite Brewery on Eglinton Avenue. The pub is very us, a perfect blend of casual but nice. The ceremony was in the back courtyard. Peter, who was the reason we met in the first place, was our MC. Gerry’s dad, Fred, who was an incredible professional jazz musician, played his sax with Gerry’s gypsy swing band. Fred has since passed away and Gerry and I are so grateful that he could play at our wedding. After the ceremony, Gerry and I played a medley on our ukuleles, we had a lovely buffet dinner, then danced until the wee hours. I loved our wedding.

We honeymooned with Lulu at a cottage on a lake near Kinmount, Ont. The deer flies were murder! We barbecued, swam and went to the Highlands drive-in movie theatre, which has an amazing museum full of old movie projectors.

Shared interests

We both love movies, great television on Netflix, delicious restaurant meals (a little too much), travelling to cute towns in Ontario and karaoke.

Secret to success

Although we can both be stubborn, we seem to be able to check in with each other and talk through our problems. I’m more emotionally hyper and Gerry tends to be calmer so we balance each other out.

The swankiest restaurants taking part in Summerlicious 2019

By

Samantha Peksa

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12:46 pm

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Summerlicious 2019 — Atlantic salmon tartare at Canoe (Cindy La)

The doldrums of a cruel winter and an unusually wet spring have finally evaporated into full sunshine, an NBA championship and a city that is genuinely buzzing with excitement for these precious summer months. From July 5th to the 21st, Summerlicious is back! So we rounded up a handful of the best offerings in Toronto, so you can tuck into a well-curated three-course meal from one of the city’s finest eateries. Here are our top picks!

MIDTOWN

Bar Buca is known for its elevated Italian fare and relaxed trendy atmosphere. For $23 at lunch and $33 at dinner, guests receive not one, but two starters, a main and a dessert. With options like their pomodoro; a lusciously ripe tomato salad with barrel-aged balsamic; and the scamorza pizza; handmade with wild Ontario leeks, smoked mozzarella and salumi; this relatively recent addition to midtown will leave every customer feeling as if they just had a meal on the Italian Riviera. 101 Eglinton Ave E.

NORTH YORK

For great Lebanese eats, North York locals know to look no further than Tabule. This year the Summerlicious menu at this well-loved spot is sure to impress with its very reasonable price point of $23 at lunch and $33 at dinner. Enjoy some delicious Mediterranean treats, such as the seared Hallum cheese salad on a bed of arugula with pomegranate dressing, or the tawuk, marinated chicken skewers with seasoned rice and grilled veg. 2901 Bayview Ave.

Auberge du Pommier has been a North York institution since 1987, serving the finest French cuisine in two beautiful refurbished woodcutter’s cottages from the 1860s. This year’s Summerlicious offerings feature a $33 prix fixe lunch and a $53 option for dinner. Highlights from the menu selection include anise cured salmon with crème fraîche and fried leeks, gnocchi with sweet peas, parm and lemon thyme cream, and of course a decadent tarte au chocolat or clafoutis for dessert. 4150 Yonge St.

HARBORD VILLAGE

Summerlicious is the perfect time of year to get into the goodness that Piano Piano delivers on the daily. For mains, try “the pretty woman” with your $28 lunch, and dive into mounds of melted fior di latte, black olives, capers and anchovies. Or if you’re in for the $43 dinner, we’d opt for the grilled octopus featuring kale, pancetta and chermoula. 88 Harbord St.

WEST END

This Queen West hotspot features modern French fare, well-paired wine and intriguing cocktails. Bacchanal‘s $53 dinner option features delectable classics with a twist, like the foie gras crêpes suzette to start, a standard but well-executed steak frites and a tangy lemon tart to finish. 60 Sudbury St.

YORKVILLE

Nestled in Yorkville’s posh Four Seasons hotel, Café Boulud has been serving up the city’s most sought after French fare for years. Their seasonally changing menu offers the best of France’s illustrious cooking tradition, with modern and worldly influence. And while a three-course dinner here would usually set you back a pretty penny, during Summerlicious, you can get a taste of the goods without breaking the bank. At $33 for lunch and $53 for dinner, you simply can’t go wrong. We recommend the halibut en persillade with apple purée and green beans. 60 Yorkville Ave.

DOWNTOWN

Torontonians often look to Queen Street to keep on top of the city’s ever-changing trends in food and drink. Carbon Bar brings those evolutions to the table with ease and a southern twist season after season. And this year, why not head over to experience the movement yourself. Dinner is an affordable $43, so you don’t have to skip on the critically acclaimed cocktails. Indulge in a seafood boil complete with spring salt mussels, littleneck clams, charred corn, purple potatoes and flavour-packed andouille sausage, all simmered in a beer blanc and seafood broth. The whole melody of flavours is as delicious as it is fun to eat. 99 Queen St E.

Leña brings Argentinian cooking with hints of Spanish and Italian influence to downtown Toronto. Their stunning interior is the perfect home to a Summerlicious splurge, and the menu is sure to tickle your tastebuds with its spicy palette and hearty dishes. At $28 for lunch and $43 for dinner, you can enjoy delicacies like the gaucho mushroom empanadas or the grilled veal loin milanesa with white anchovy and chimichurri. 176 Yonge St.

Summerlicious — Grilled veal loin milanesa at Leña (Pauline Yu)

We all know that sushi is plentiful in this city, but exceptional sushi is a rare boon. Miku has proven itself to be a cut above the rest. For lunch ($33) go for the sushi plate. The chef’s selection will not disappoint. For dinner at $55 you can elevate your experience with some Japanese-inspired entrees. We like the tamari soy glazed cauliflower steak. It’s always exciting when veggie options are as interesting and flavourful as their meat counterparts. 10 Bay St.

FINANCIAL DISTRICT

Canoe has always been synonymous with impeccable fine dining, by any foodie’s standards. With dishes inspired by Canada’s many amazing regional textures and flavours, a trip to Canoe will be one you remember for years. Try the braised beef cheeks for your $33 lunch with roasted baby gem lettuce, caramelized onion jus, crispy shallot and a wild rice crumble. At dinner, for $53 you can get a sumptuous local Tamworth Farm pork jowl with roasted chicken consommé, new potatoes, baby carrots and charred spring cabbage. 66 Wellington St W.

Mark McEwan’s financial district mainstay Bymark is a must for any of the “liciouses,” and this year’s summer edition is no exception. Located just a few floors below Canoe in the TD Building, this culinary titan offers style and substance at just $53 for a three-course dinner. The duck confit accented with a blueberry compote is not to be missed! Or if a quick $33 lunch is your MO, try the grilled sea bream served with Israeli couscous, cauliflower, lemon za’atar yogurt and olive tapenade. 66 Wellington St. W.

Toronto resident’s clothing line for kids is gender-neutral

By

Erin Neilly

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11:26 am

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The inspiration for Alyssa Kerbel’s gender-neutral children’s clothing line came not from the desire to start her own company, but from the necessity to fill a gap in the market.

“After I had my daughter, I wanted to dress her in a similar way to how I dress, which is very much sort of casual basics. And that didn’t really exist at the time for her,” Kerbel says. “I wanted something in muted colours; something that was gender-neutral; something that I could justify paying a little more for knowing that, if I had another baby, I could pass it down again and again.”

So Kerbel, at the time running a fashion sales agency, decided to create a small collection of infant basics and send out the packages to a variety of potential retail partners. The response, she says, was positive, and so Kerbel kept working on it as a side hustle for seven years. In 2014, she sold the fashion sales agency and decided to focus solely on mini mioche.

When Kerbel looks back on her time at Leaside High School, she says she wasn’t entrepreneurial, though she was always hardworking.

“I can say that I always had a strong work ethic,” she says.

When Kerbel started mini mioche, she hired a production manager to source fabrics and factories for producing the clothing, and Kerbel focused on the marketing, branding and sales. Part of that was thinking of ways to market the company so that it stood apart from others. Although “organic,” “sustainable” and “ethical” may be buzzwords now, 10 years ago, they were new to the market — especially for children’s clothing.

“The fact that [the company] was sustainable and that we were using organic cotton and those types of fabrics that were kind of new to the market just made it that much easier to sell,” Kerbel explains. “Aside from wanting to do things in a way that has as little a carbon footprint as possible, it also made it a point of difference for the brand.”

The other major point of difference is the brand’s gender-neutrality, although Kerbel says it wasn’t something she really thought about in creating the clothing.

“I just thought of it being great basics for baby. It didn’t really matter their gender when they’re wearing a basic onesie in a good colour or a basic tee or pants,” she says.

Kerbel says that now the brand is definitely marketed with that in mind: in their stores and online, clothes are separated by category (tops, bottoms, sleepwear, etc.) rather than gender.

The company has taken that one step further. In mid-May of this year, mini mioche released a limited edition Pride collection with 10 per cent of sales going to The Trevor Project in the U.S. and the LGBT+ YouthLine in Canada. Both organizations support LGBTQ+ youth.

“I wanted to create messaging for kids around the idea of inclusion and respect and kindness and understanding.”

Shining a spotlight on Yonge Street shops

By

Jo-Anne Craine

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11:17 am

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Toronto’s most famous street is lined with local stores and shopkeepers, both old and new. We popped in to find out a little more about these Yonge Street staples and how they’ve found their own secret to success.

ROBYN’S COOKIES

Robyn Coffey started baking her fabulous chocolate chip cookies many years ago, and they were so popular she opened her little shop, nestled on Ranleigh Avenue behind Melonhead on Yonge, where they’ve been ever since! Sue Corbett bought the business in 2016, and ensures the same high quality that customers expect, while expanding the cookie offerings. They also bake custom order cookies for special events like weddings, birthdays, graduations and baby showers! One of the best hidden secrets in Toronto, all treats are handmade in the shop. Best sellers include Chocolate Chip, Junk-in-the-Trunk, Salted Chocolate Chunk and Chewy Fraktals. They mix it up with a Cookie of the Week, and always have something new coming out of the oven! In warmer weather, try refreshing hand made ice creams in amazing flavours like Butter crunch, Lemon, Strawberry Basil, and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, which always pair perfectly with their cookies! Their famous Chocolate Chip put the shop on the map, and it keeps customers coming back! The Cookie shop only uses the finest, purest ingredients; no additives — you can taste the difference! The cookies, squares, and loaves are always fresh and delicious. Sue says they like to treat every customer as a friend, so pop in for a cookie and a chat!

3215 Yonge Street • 416 489 8497

THE ABBOT PUB & FARE

Chris and Carrie came up with the idea for a high end pub back in the nineties, before “gastropub” was even in our vocabulary. They enjoyed the fun comfortable atmosphere of a pub, but craved creative house made dishes of high quality ingredients… and good wines! The Abbot opened in May of 2000 to a packed house. The Yonge-Lawrence area was obviously the right fit for this concept. The restaurant business is notoriously difficult but it comes naturally to Chris and Carrie, both have been in the business since they were teenagers. They claim their success is due to great staff and wonderful customers. The Abbot team knows about quality service. The kitchen crew is extremely talented, elevating traditional dishes into great meals, and the floor staff is professional, while excellent at making you feel like part of the family. A neighbourhood restaurant is measured by its regular clientele. “Many of our customers have been coming in since day one. Some couples even met here and now they bring their children,” says owner Chris Davis. The Abbot has been proudly serving fresh homemade comfort food to Lawrence Park for 19 years and is still going strong!

3367 Yonge Street • 416 544 9074

PAOLA DI

After graduating from fashion design school, Paola opened Paola Di in 1985, with her mother, Elsa. In a small space in Woodbridge, they began selling their own designs, as well as couture wedding and evening dresses. By 1989, the business grew and moved to the Yonge Street location. There they began selling ready-to-wear from Europe, as well as Canadian and U.S. designers. Over 20 years later, they are still here, because their keen sense of style, appeals to a large array of clients. Hand-picking interesting pieces from a vast selection of lines keeps the store unique, and filled with many hidden treasures. Paola Di carries everything from jeans and tee-shirts, to long evening gowns. Accessories and shoes also play an important role in finishing the outfit of a Paola Di customer. They attribute their success to the personal customer service they give to each of their clients, putting together outfits that are appropriate and on the cutting edge of fashion. Canada’s Fashion Guru, Jeanne Beker has included Paola Di in her list of favourite fashion boutiques and Rita Zekas of the Toronto Star wrote, “Intermix meets tres chic boutique in the south of France.”

3357 Yonge Street • 416 322 0430

PHO KING FABULOUS!

Pho King Fabulous has not only become a staple of the Yonge and Eglinton area, but also now known as one of the very best places in the city to enjoy a hot bowl of pho. Awarded as one of the Top 100 Best Restaurants in the city as well as the top 10 vegan, non-vegan restaurants is a testament to their ultimate commitment to flavour. “Our delicious broth is created by slowly simmering beef and chicken bones for many hours before adding a special selection of spices to bring it all together,” explains owner Kevin Hoang. “This process yields an extremely rich broth that separates our soups from others.” Never resting on his laurels, Hoang states his willingness to adapt to his clientele’s needs, as well as his employees’ suggestions, has been a contributing factor to its success. “Our secret is not really a secret. We keep our customers happy by maintaining a high quality product and providing fast and friendly service. We do make mistakes from time to time, but ultimately strive to not make the same mistakes again.” And it shows as they recently just celebrated their 4th year in the area with no signs of stopping.

2411 Yonge St. • 647 352 5288

BEESTUNG LINGERIE

Beestung Lingerie owner Aimée Finlay first opened the doors to her store in the uptown Yonge Street community back in 2006. This year she is thrilled to be celebrating her 13th successful year in business. Her continued success, she says, is in large part due to hard work, and the continued support of her patrons of her women-owned and women-run business. Since she first opened her doors, the local community has become much more aware of the importance of shopping locally and supporting local independent retailers, which, she stresses, is so important in keeping the neighbourhood vibrant. Beestung Lingerie recently moved to a new location just a few blocks north but is happy to still be part of the community. Her new location is a gorgeous new space that features three large fitting rooms to better serve her growing clientele. When asked what we can look forward to this summer, Aimée says, “Floral prints are still going strong for Spring 2019. We are seeing the continued bohemian influence in swim and cover-ups. And in lingerie, pretty wearable pinky-nudes dominate and wire-free bralettes are still in high-demand. We are excited to now be offering swim from Canadian luxury line SHAN and Eberjey.”

2624 Yonge Street • 416 481 2849

C’EST BON

C’est Bon under went substantial renovations late last summer and although they’ve been enjoying the new interior all winter, soon their customers can begin enjoying the renovated patio again. Everyone is looking forward to enjoying the outside space. Steve Chen and his mother Wonder have been in the restaurant business since 2000. The restaurant’s evolved over the years with the support of their loyal clientele and now specialize in authentic Szechuan cuisine with select popular Thai dishes. Customer favourites are plentiful: General Tsao’s Chicken, Crispy Ginger Beef, Seafood Cantonese Chow Mein and Sweet & Sour Chicken. The restaurant is known for its Basil Chicken which is prepared in a homemade sweet soy sauce with garlic, ginger and garden-fresh basil. Vegetarian customers are in luck as they have a variety of options on the menu to choose from – one of the favourites being a braised tofu dish with shiitake mushroooms. One of the most unique things about the restaurant is the name, C’est Bon, it means “it’s good” in French. It’s quite an unconventional name for a Chinese restaurant but it relates to the greatness of the cuisine and Steve Chen’s Taiwanese-French background.

2685 Yonge Street, north of Eglinton • 416 932 2811