First Nations fare love affair

3:01 pm

KŪ-KŬM
When placing the words “tasting menu” in a scratchy thought bubble, French cuisine tends to fill the void. But at uptown’s brand new indigenous restaurant, French-trained chef Joseph Shawana is making it far more personal. Chef Shawana, who was raised on the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve No. 26 on Manitoulin Island, presents items inspired by what he grew up eating. An Arctic trio starter includes wild Newfoundland seal tartare, which has a slightly metallic taste: blend with the quail egg yolk and roe and scoop onto bannock crostini. Mains include the juniper and spruce tip-crusted elk, sourced from southern Ontario, with a buttery magenta centre. Lacking any gamy flavour and served in a jus, this could be mistaken for French. But rest assured, it isn’t.
581 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-519-2638

POW WOW CAFÉ
Kensington Market’s very packed indigenous eatery has a low-key party vibe, and you just know that the staff is having a time. But that doesn’t mean that Ojibwa chef-owner Shawn Adler is all about fun and games. Having made Indian tacos — powwow fare that he would tuck into every summer — since 2003, Adler’s goal is to educate Torontonians on contemporary indigenous food. Patrons — half of whom are indigenous — sit on the patio and order up heaping plates of Ojibwa tacos that have been jazzed up slightly from what you’d find at a powwow. A family recipe for bannock (or fry bread) is chopped up and loaded with beef chili, corn shoots, cumin sour cream plus Mexican toppings. It’s a feast.
213 Augusta Ave., 416-551-7717

NISHDISH
When this casual eatery opened shop in the Annex, Torontonians flocked to get their hands on Anishinabe fare. With his catering background, Anishinabe chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette has experienced crowds before, but this is his first brick-and-mortar space. He’s on a mission (or “Nishion”) to bring traditional cuisine back to the indigenous community. Sourcing ingredients from First Nations producers as much as possible, chef Ringuette’s midday eats range from veg-based (hominy soup) to fish (Arctic char) to game meats (bison). Venison stew comes with roasted root veg flavoured with sage and juniper. For dessert? A huge mound of apple berry crumble.
690 Bloor St. W., 416-855-4085

TEA-N-BANNOCK
With its sign crafted out of birch branches, Leslieville’s First Nations café has been doing its thing since 2012. Manager Tina Ottereyes oversees a menu that highlights staff members’ favourite dishes, serving both traditional food and fare that came about as necessity due to colonizers’ rations. Three Sisters soup boasts a trio of beans, corn and squash — known as the Three Sisters — a combo oft grown and eaten by North American indigenous tribes. The bison burger features farmed meat and is hugged by a duo of fried bannock patties. The eatery also serves up stews featuring smoked elk, bison or deer and a medley of carrots, potatoes and First Nations–grown wild rice.
1294 Gerrard St. E., 416-220-2915

Cover Story: Game of Cones

Andrew Mannsbach

12:03 pm

THIS SUMMER’S SIX HOTTEST CONES

1) At Markham’s WOOFFLES & CREAM patrons come for the Hong Kong–style egg waffles in flavours like lap cheong and seaweed with green tea soft serve.
8360 Kennedy Rd., #81, $8

2) RED BEAN WAFFLE HOUSE has just the cutest cone. A fish-shaped red bean waffle (bungeoppang) fresh from the griddle acts as the vessel for your choice of two scoops of ice cream. Choices include strawberry, matcha (both pictured) and black sesame. The hot-cold medley makes for a mighty mess.
100 Steeles Ave. W., from $4.44

3) L.A. foodies are losing it over goth ice cream, and now we can too at IHALO KRUNCH. You can thank the addition of activated charcoal for that rich black colour. Coconut-charcoal swirls of soft serve sit atop a fresh black cone, made daily on a commercial waffle press. Stay tuned for the arrival of other fancy cones — beet, ube and matcha — in the future.
915 Queen St. W., $6.50

4) This taco–ice cream mash up looks like it belongs at the Ex, not at a sleek ice cream joint. BOOYAH’s waffle cone is shaped like a taco shell, dipped in choc and loaded with three scoops of ice cream (try toasted ’mallow!) and toppers like fudge brownie and cookie dough.
16 Vaughan Rd., A, $7.50

5) At EVA’S ORIGINAL CHIMNEYS a trad cone gets swapped out for a cinnamon-sugar Hungarian kürtöskalács (or chimney), a conical Hungarian pastry made on a rotisserie grill, and is filled with apple- and toffee- layered vanilla soft serve. Salted pretzel crumble and caramel syrup seal the deal.
454 Bloor St. W., $11

6) Done up in lavender and white, this sweet destination MOROCO CHOCOLAT recently moved and now serves over-the-top milkshakes and ice cream sundaes. Their Macaron Madness sundae includes scoops of vanilla ice cream, pieces of confetti cake and macaron shells, and is flagged by two upside down cones.
215 Madison Ave., $7.95

STICKS WITH SHTICK

1) FROSTY FRUIT
On a hot day, nothing is more refreshing than a paleta, a Mexican ice pop made with fresh fruit. At SEVEN LIVES PALETERIA beat the heat into submission with flavours like watermelon-kiwi or cheerful but tart hibiscus. These easy-eating paletas are the perfect accessory for strolling through Kensington.
72 Kensington Ave., $4

2) RAISING THE BAR
BAR APE started as a three-wheeled Piaggio Ape that drove around town selling gelato bars. Now head to Humewood for flavours that range from familiar (pistachio) to unique daily specials (think chocolate black olive or strawberry balsamic).
283 Rushton Rd., $5

3) CRAZY FOR KULFI
India’s icy kulfi treat is super simple to make but luxurious to eat: denser and creamier than typical ice cream. At JI they stick to classic prep: milk, sugar and pistachios are boiled down into a condensed, syrupy mess and frozen.
760 St. Clair Ave. W., $5

4) SEEING SPOTS
At Queen West’s SWEET OLENKA’S ice cream bars get properly gussied up. Rotating flavours include red velvet (decorated with kisses) or the surprisingly vegan salted caramel bar (coconut milk provides the base) which looks like a Yayoi Kusama work of art.
1056 Queen St. W., $5

5) GOING GREEN
Baldwin village’s KEKOU GELATO is known for its Asian gelato flavours (like black sesame or pungent, eau-de-gym-sock durian), but they’ve branched out into making ice pops, too. This matcha–red bean option is tops.
13 Baldwin St., $3.50

THE UN-SANDWICHES

1) KEEPIN’ IT AIRY
BANG BANG — the takeout-only Ossington shop — specializes in ice cream sammies. Chewy cookies are the go-to vessels for most sammies, but why not branch out? Pair kid-friendly flavours like Frooty Loops with two slabs of airy chiffon cake.
93A Ossington Ave., $5.60

2) PERSIAN PERSUASION
The family-run TATI CAFE dishes out Persian sweets like the saffron-pistachio ice cream sandwich bookended by wafers. Yum.
10087 Yonge St., $5.99

3) BIG BUN THEORY
Food writer Amy Rosen’s Little Italy bakeshop ROSEN’S CINNAMON BUNS pairs gooey cinnamon buns made from brioche dough. She’s bringing her buns to their ultimate conclusion and using them as, well, a bun! A slab of Chapman’s vanilla is the perfect centre, rich without distracting from the real focus: the buns.
825 College St., $5

4) A PEANUTTY PICK
THE DIRTY BIRD is where Ed’s Real Scoop sweet cream ice cream meets two fluffy waffles and a slathering of grape jelly and peanut butter. This is the marriage we never knew we needed.
79 Kensington Ave., $6

5) INDULGE THYSELF
THE BURGER’S PRIEST’s Vatican on Ice marries grilled cheese sandwich buns with a vanilla ice cream centre. Some might say it’s sacrilegious, we say bon appétit.
3397 Yonge St., $5

CUPS RUNNETH OVER

6) “Halo halo” is Filipino for “mix mix,” an appropriate name for a hodgepodge of delicious indigents. CASA MANILA’s version mixes up pandan-infused shaved ice with a bevy of ingredients. The list goes from coconut jelly to hunks of jackfruit, includes leche flan and saba banana, some ube pudding as well as ube-taro ice cream and lots more. Phew!
879 York Mills Rd., $12

7) SUGAR MARMALADE offers a taste of Taiwan’s dessert culture: the green tea parfait layers green tea ice cream with strawberries, cornflakes and plenty of whipped cream. A crowd pleaser.
5322 Yonge St., $5.99

8) At ARCTIC BITES watch with hypnotic glee as taro-coconut cream freezes when poured atop a sub-zero metal plate and is turned into rolls. The frozen cream is then manipulated until it becomes a smooth, creamy dream. Our favourite cup is Taro with a Twist, which tops rolls of taro-coconut ice cream with lychee jelly and condensed milk.
21 Baldwin St., $7

9) SHORT & SWEET’s monster shakes may not be short (they’re 20 whopping ounces), but they’re certainly sweet — and sometimes a little salty! The cheekily named Netflix & Chill combines buttered popcorn with decadent vanilla ice cream, while the Coachella Chill incorporates Froot Loops, buttercream and Nerds.
2025 Yonge St., $10.85

The Queen’s Plate’s Midtown milliner

12:01 pm

When it comes to the Queen’s Plate, Canada’s oldest thoroughbred horse race, a hat is your most important accessory. So we spoke to the event’s official milliner, David Dunkley, to find out how to step up our hat game before the festivities kick off on July 1 at Woodbine Racetrack. “The colour blue in all shades is trending and of course red and white for Canada Day weekend,” he says. Dunkley is also working on custom hats for Melissa Grelo, Lainey Lui and the rest of the women of CTV’s The Social, to sport at the event. After the races head to the Hats and Horseshoes arena, where Dunkley will have a pop-up shop, to strut your stuff on the red carpet at the Hats and Horseshoes Party on July 2. The top prize for most fashionable is a $1,000 Vaughan Mills gift card.

Post Interview: Toward a new Canada

11:27 am

What does Canada Day mean to you?
Well, Canada 150 in particular is the worst 150 years that indigenous people on Turtle Island [the indigenous name for North America] have ever had to experience. It’s been 150 years of genocide; of sexual abuse and exploitation of indigenous women; the rape, murder and torture of indigenous peoples in residential schools; the forced sterilizations of our women; the theft of our children during the ’60s scoop; over-incarceration of our people; the murdered and missing indigenous women; poverty; homelessness.

What do you make of the indigenous flag-raising at city hall and other similar gestures of inclusion?
I think all of these things are important. Acknowledging the flags, changing street names and talking more about indigenous peoples and including them in all spaces in Toronto — that’s important. But in terms of substantive change, is it making a difference in the lives of indigenous peoples? I would have to argue no.

When you helped found Idle No More, you started a conversation. What’s changed since that time?
In terms of anything substantive, no we don’t have our land back, no there is no resource sharing, no neither federal nor provincial or municipal governments are dealing with any of the crises in cities like Toronto, but also nearby First Nations communities what has changed is the conversation in the media. It’s not perfect, but I have seen significant improvement in the number of stories and the quality of stories and the informed questions being asked and the way that different media outlets are reaching out to say, ‘How best should I describe you?’ or, ‘What are the issues I don’t know about this story that aren’t being reported?’ And I think that’s a big improvement instead of just being treated like, ‘Oh look here comes the troublemakers again.’ There is far more work and collaboration and education going on.

And what about with people, in general, not governments?
The other thing that I consider to be an improvement relates to the people themselves. Torontonians and Canadians, non-government organizations, social justice groups, environmental groups, anti-poverty groups have all reached out and said, ‘We want to work with you as partners. What can we do to help?’ So, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of allies we have and the ways in which they are offering to support us.… To me those two things have made all the difference in terms of advancing indigenous issues.

Prime Minister Trudeau made many promises to indigenous people, especially during his election campaign. Has he followed through?
No, no he hasn’t. He’s failed on all accounts, and that’s part of the problem. If we rely solely on Trudeau and his promises and not also appeal to and work with and develop alliances with Torontonians and other Canadians, then we are going to be in trouble. On every count — all of his general promises about having a nation-to-nation relationship, that no relationship will be more important than with indigenous people, and we would address violence against indigenous women, more money for post-secondary education to address the many thousands on waiting lists, unsafe drinking water, you name it.… On every single one of them, they’ve fallen down.

The North American Indigenous Games is in Toronto this month. How do these types of events help indigenous youth as well as non-indigenous people?
It helps indigenous people because sport, activity and exercise are part of our traditional ways of keeping healthy. And it goes without saying that it is amazing for indigenous youth, especially how it teaches leadership and all those core skills for nation building. And for non-indigenous people it is really a unique opportunity to get out and support sports of all kinds but especially for indigenous people and all of the indigenous cultural events that will be happening at the same time, where they really can learn more about indigenous people in a non-confrontational way where everybody gets to enjoy and learn. And maybe Torontonians will have their interest piqued in terms of supporting indigenous sports and those kinds of programs locally. And maybe they can pressure their city councillors to say, hey, maybe we should have that here in Toronto for the thousands of indigenous people who live in this city.

It’s a way for many to see First Nations in a different light, isn’t it?
Yes. Most people only ever hear bad news about indigenous peoples, but we have a lot of warriors and heroes and superstars and athletes that we are super proud of, and this is an opportunity to show that. There is more to us than what you see in the media.

Taste Test: T.O.’s top lobster rolls

Andrew Mannsbach

9:35 am

905 TAKES THE TOP SPOT
Good Catch Boil House, M109-179 Enterprise Blvd., $22.95
“As far as flavour goes, this has the best taste. I like the fact that there’s pickle in it. It adds a nice brightness to it. The lobster is cooked well. The bun is the right size. They’ve done a really good job on the
seasoning and the cooking. It’s the most pleasant.”

EAST COAST CRUSTACEAN
Smoked & Cracked, 516 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Market Price
“The lobster is well cooked,” says McEwan of the cold roll made with fresh Canadian east coast lobster brought in live daily. “There is a bit too much bread for me, but the lobster is good, and the sauce is neutral.”

BUTTER-RIFIC
Lbs., 100 Yonge St., #100, $35
“On a hot bread with the drawn butter, this one sounds good. It’s very clean tasting. I like the concept of this one. The bread is good, it’s split at the top with the butter, the seasoning and the contrast of the celery and the parsley. It’s a very good sandwich.”

BRIOCHE BEAUTY
Buster’s Sea Cove, 876 Yonge St., $14.95
“They use the coral [unfertilized eggs] in this as well,” says McEwan. “They chopped it all up, which is nice. The celery is nice too because it offers a little bit of contrast to the sandwich.”

NEW ENGLAND STYLE
Little Fin, 4 Temperance St., $16
“This one looks like it’s on a pretzel bun,” says McEwan of the sesame seed bun holding the lobster salad along with iceberg lettuce. “They’ve also really minced up their lobster. I just find the bread a bit dry,” he says.

A FRENCH TWIST
Lobster Monster, 3249 Yonge St., $22
“This is interesting. This is a different choice of bun. Croissant is not really a traditional bread for a lobster roll, but it actually works. People out east would consider a croissant to be wrong, but it can be great. And there’s a lot of lobster on this one.”

BACON, LETTUCE, LOBSTER
Rodney’s Oyster House, 469 King St. W., $29
“I like the bun and the idea of the bacon is nice. They’ve used bibb lettuce too. Overall, I like the bun, I like the bacon, and the lobster is cooked well. It could just use a little more seasoning.”

BUN-DERFUL
Museum Tavern, 208 Bloor St. W., $25
“I like this bun. It’s a little more manageable in size, though some people like the bun to be bigger. The mayo tastes good as well, but the lobster chunks could be a bit bigger.”

A ROLL TURNED PO BOY
Fresco’s Fish & Chips, 816 St. Clair Ave. W., $12.95
“This is the least conventional with the ciabatta bun. The slaw is really tasty, but I don’t think I like the cheddar cheese on it too much,” says McEwan. “But I can tell they’ve spent quite a bit of time on it, and the sandwich is tasty.”

Bloor initiative a winner

12:48 pm

Nine months after Toronto launched its Bloor bike lane, is the project a success?

A survey released by the city earlier this year shows 64 per cent of resident and business respondents believe the lane provides safety for cyclists while allowing acceptable traffic flow and parking. Nearly two-thirds of motorists say they feel “comfortable” driving next to cyclists now — compared to 14 per cent in 2015, before the lane was installed. The research also found the number of cyclists increased 36 per cent while the number of cars dropped 22 per cent.

Ron Koperdraad, manager of the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, describes himself as a commuting cyclist and says he appreciates the new bike lane. “I do feel safer now on Bloor,” he says.

He also likes how the lane links with other bike routes to form a downtown network. On days when he’s driving, he doesn’t find the new infrastructure onerous.

“I don’t find traffic grinds to a halt when the bike lane begins,” he says.

He also sees advantages for his theatre. The lane “benefits those who choose to bike to the cinema,” he says. “Before the bike lane went in, lots of cyclists were avoiding Bloor. But with the lane in place more cyclists are now in front of our business.”

Tammy Thorne is publisher of dandyhorse, an artfully designed cycling advocacy magazine that began in 2008. She’s also an expert on urban biking and a resident of Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, which the new bike lane borders.

She says Bloor is an excellent location for cycle tracks: “It’s a cultural street with lots of shopping and walking.”

Thorne is excited by the roadway’s transformation. “You never would’ve seen kids cycling on Bloor without the bike lane,” she observes. “I recently saw a seven-year-old there.”

She also believes the lane is a boon to elderly motorists. “I’ve driven Bloor with my dad, a retired farmer from Peterborough,” she says. “The bike lane has made a huge difference for drivers like him. He knows really clearly where the bicycles are and where the cars are. It’s a lot safer.”

Matt Languay, owner of the Basecamp Climbing gym, which is located near the bike lane’s western extremity, feels the bike lane is helping area retailers. Basecamp hosts 200 to 300 climbers a day, and its pool of customers is expanding steadily.

Languay believes some of that growth is due to the new lane. “[It’s] been a huge, huge help getting our members [to the facility],” he says.

This fall, city council will debate whether to dismantle the new infrastructure, which is only a pilot, or make it permanent.

Miriam Baker's rise in the T.O. fashion industry

9:20 am

For Miriam Baker, the idea of pursuing a career in fashion was one initially curbed by pragmatism.

“I always had an interest but never considered it a viable career option because I was thinking more along the lines of traditional professions,” she says.

While in high school at Freemont Academy, Baker struggled to find her footing and her niche. “I think I was just feeling really lost,” she says.

After graduating, Baker worked in retail. It was during this time that she decided to think about what she wanted to do. She eventually landed on fashion.

Finally pursuing her dream, Baker enrolled in George Brown’s fashion techniques and design program. Once finished, she continued her education, attending Ryerson School of Fashion. After graduating in 2013, Baker began her career.

She learned of the Toronto Fashion Incubator’s New Labels competition, where each year emerging talent across the industry compete for TFI’s prestigious Suzanne Rogers Award for Most Promising New Label. Baker decided to take a chance and enter the competition, presenting a collection she had developed during her studies at Ryerson. The collection’s designs were inspired by a wedding she had attended in the English countryside.

“It was on a Victorian estate,” she says. “I think it was nostalgia, the colours and the romance of the countryside that inspired me.”

“If you have your niche and have your vision, you can make it.”

Baker also sought to create clothes to fit and flatter women with larger busts, a group that traditional sizing often doesn’t adequately accommodate.

The judges were inspired by her vision, and after surviving the initial selection process, Baker was selected to present her collection.

“It was like [reality TV show] Project Runway,” she says. “They ended up with four designers who showed at the TFI New Labels competition.” Baker was not only one of those four, but won the entire competition.

With her winnings, she was able to join the TFI as a fashion resident with her own studio space. Since then, she has successfully launched her own line but concedes that breaking in to the industry is a difficult task.

“It’s really hard to get meetings with buyers, unless someone makes the introduction for you. It’s a struggle, but if you have your niche and have your vision, you can make it worthwhile.”

Currently Baker operates an online business and launches two collections each year that are available at boutiques such as Tucci Armadio and House of Angelis.

“It’s different every season,” she says. “Often what inspires me is travel. I’m also very inspired by the fabrics themselves, but it’s always different. Sometimes it’s just a historical period.”

Most recently it was an art nouveau fashion plate painted by Gerda Wegener that she purchased on a trip to Paris.

Women are a growing part of cannabis market

11:08 am

After a long day of carefully prepared lunches, attentive homework nagging and the sometimes frantic running to and from soccer practice or dance class, many moms choose to unwind with a nice glass of wine.

By July 1, 2018, this staple mommy routine has the potential to transform into a sleekly designed vaporizer, a thoughtfully infused edible or a sexy lubricant to treat yourself right.

Pot-smoking moms may become a more culturally available image, and that should not come as a surprise. Women, the new face of the industry, are quickly becoming one of the fastest growing demographics of cannabis consumers and key disruptors in a typically male-dominated marketplace.

Stephanie Karasick is a cannabis enthusiast, mom and pot entrepreneur. She is the co-founder of local company Strainprint, an app that helps patients track their cannabis use. Karasick has been using cannabis to help with post-traumatic stress disorder–related anxiety and depression for the past three years. Her cannabis use, which helps her function better, no doubt “benefits [her] kids” as a result.

“I’ve been completely open with them, throughout my journey of discovering cannabis. They know that it’s medicine, and they see how it helps me.”

However, outside of the intimacy of their private lives, the family has experienced stigma on a regular basis that relates to general cannabis use, as well as cannabis use as a mom.

In a space that is rapidly evolving and presenting new challenges, the Karasick family takes these opportunities to educate and engage in meaningful dialogue with their community.

Another mom and cannabis user, let’s call her Athena, has also mixed the worlds of mom-preneur and pot-preneur. Athena and her partner own a Toronto-based edibles company that currently operates in the illegal space, and she is a mom to three kids ages two, eight and ten.

“This business has provided us with a lot of opportunity to educate our kids,” she says in reference to a time when a nurse had visited her kids’ school to talk about marijuana use and how it was bad. She used this as an opportunity to provide her kids with accurate, honest and useful information.

For moms out there looking to explore alternative recreational options, the issue of access to cannabis by children and minors is at the forefront.

Will open and legal consumption of cannabis by parents lead to cannabis being consumed by children and minors? After all, who doesn’t recall sneaking a sip from their parent’s liquor cabinet as a curious teenager?

This concern is also echoed by the cannabis legislation tabled in April of this year, which emphasizes the need to ensure that cannabis is kept out of the hands of children and minors.

One of the main reasons cited by Prime Minister Trudeau for legalizing cannabis is to restrict its access by children and minors as a legal recreational market provides us with greater opportunity to regulate and restrict access.

Part of this regulation and restriction of access by children and minors is driven by an understanding of cannabis and what it means to engage in a new recreational adult culture.

“Understanding the importance of safe and responsible use is vital, as we move forward” says Irie Selkirk, a mother of two, aged four and 10. Selkirk grew up in a cannabis-positive environment.

She uses her experience and cannabis advocacy work to help mothers in Toronto with cannabis uses, as it relates to motherhood. Selkirk is the founder of the Cannamama Collective of East Toronto, a Facebook group that facilitates moms who use cannabis to connect, ask questions, share experiences without judgment or stigma. The group also meets socially once per month and provides a safe space for moms to build a community.

If you’re a mom and thinking about using cannabis, here are some things to keep in mind:

Educate yourself as there are many cannabis varieties and products available and you should know the differences.

Then educate your children. Cannabis will soon be legal, which does not mean that it’s safe for use by children and minors. It’s important to openly speak of the dangers of cannabis on the developing brain.

Be responsible. Whatever your experience with cannabis in the past, start low and go slow. Be sure not to drive while impaired, and be the example of safe and responsible use for your children.

Finally, safety is paramount. Take all necessary precautions to ensure your cannabis is out of reach of your children. Use a locked storage jar or Stashlogix bag. Lock your stash and make sure your children are not able to abuse your new legally obtained cannabis product in your absence.

Richmond Hill man saves three from house fire

10:31 am

Domenic Ferrantone was walking to his car at 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, when he noticed flames across the street creeping up the side of his neighbours’ house on Canyon Hill Road by Elgin Mills Road West and Bathurst Street. At the sight of the fire, he directed his wife to warn the neighbours at the houses adjacent to the fire, and he immediately called 911. And then he ran toward the fire, which was quickly engulfing the front of the house, to wake up his neighbours.

“They were in bed. As I was knocking, the fire alarm went off,” recalled Ferrantone, who was up early to head in to work at the Eagles Nest Golf Club.

“The poor lady was half asleep. She thought it was a car alarm. I was just about to kick in the door and she opened the door.”

He was able to get the three people in the house — a woman and her child and a nanny — out safely. The fire, caused by an electrical spark in the walls, died down at around 9:30 a.m. “We pass that house every day,” said Ferrantone.

“Even though we don’t really know them, we always wave because we’ve been there for 13 years. They’re my neighbours. You’d want neighbours to help. At the moment, you’d hope everybody would do the same.”

Eat This Minute: T.O.’s newest New York City import has tongues wagging

11:23 am

A MISSING PUZZLE PIECE
When three dudes from Egypt arrived in the U. S. A. back in 1990, they noticed something was up. Mohamed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka and Abdelbaset Elsayed opened a hot dog cart at West 53rd Street and 6th Avenue, and found that Muslim cabbies, who made up much of their customer base, weren’t satisfied when it came to halal food options. A trio of great minds thought alike and Manhattan’s original halal food cart concept was born.

HALAL 101
From Arabic, the term “halal” literally translates into “permissible” and must stick to Islamic law as defined by the Qur’an. This means that when preparing halal meats, the animals must be both healthy and alive at the time of slaughter (although there’s debate surrounding stunning). A dedication — or tasmiya — is uttered before the animals are killed, utilizing specific cuts before the blood is finally drained from the carcass.

KEEP IT COMBO
But enough about that. Fast-forward a few years and the Halal Guys has morphed into a halal empire, with almost 50 outposts globally. The chain has recently expanded into Canada, pinpointing Toronto as a red-hot market. With the city’s flagship space, which seats 30, located at Yonge and Wellesley, the New York–style lineups already appear to be here to stay. Inside, bundles of Ryerson students order from the concise menu made up of sandwiches and platters.

The best bet is to get the chicken and beef gyro platter, which is piled high with the fresh-from-the-rotisserie-spit meats, resulting in protein that’s moist and crispy all at once.

A mound of orange-hued rice, pita triangles for scooping, rounds of jalapeno plus an admittedly lame salad (iceberg and tomato isn’t where it’s at) finish off the plate. Say, “Plenty!” to the inquiry regarding the amount of garlicky mayo-based white sauce desired and show caution when it comes to the red (it’s real fiery, we promise). And don’t worry — if you’ve accidentally undersold yourself on the white sauce, catch the server walking around, as she tops folks up.

The Halal Guys, 563 Yonge St., 416-901-1011

Work Out with Monika: A kick-butt workout in an uptown park

10:41 am

Fit Chicks is a series of boot camps and fitness retreats that began in 2008 when founders Amanda Quinn and Laura Jackson saw a gap in the market for women who wanted to be part of a fitness community.
Today I’m trying one of their outdoor bootcamp sessions in Willowdale Park with instructor Veronica Morgia.

WARMING UP
We started with a dynamic warm-up of five minutes using dynamic movements to get the blood flowing and body warm.

THE WORKOUT
The exercises are broken into sections, and you do each one for a full minute before moving on. We started with plyometrics, strength and isometric exercises like windmill jumps, squats and static pliés. Then moved into the kick boxing section with squats with front kicks alternating sides, plié hold with speed bag arms, squat side kick right and then left. Then we put our feet together and did uppercuts, jumping jacks with uppercuts and finally jab cross on the right side and then left. Next up was two sections of high intensiy interval training with lunges, push ups and squats. The final drill was a sprint, followed by a jog, and then we did five minutes of abs exercises like the plank, lower leg lifts and side plank with hip taps.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
This was really challenging. Each exercise is repeated for one minute and your legs will be screaming at you to move on to the next.

DURING THE WORKOUT
I loved the fact that we were working out in the open. The monotony of the gym has always bored me. This bootcamp is perfect for the anti-gym person who needs external motivation. And when you’re part of the program, the workout changes each night, so you keep it fresh and your body guessing. It was a killer sweat session.

THE NEXT DAY
The workouts are all designed with a total body workout in mind, and that’s exactly what I got. I felt it the most in my lower body the next day. The lower body was utilized during the cardio movements and the strength exercises.

FAVOURITE PART
Fit Chicks gives you the feeling of having a personal trainer with the camaraderie of a group class. Veronica Morgia pushed me to do more than I normally would do on my own, which is key to seeing changes in your body.

ROUND TWO
This is something I could definitely get into and would try again. It’s challenging and affordable because they use outdoor parks for their workouts or rent spaces in community centres, school gyms and churches in the colder months.

Temple vs. townhouses

1:45 pm

A new development proposal for 52 townhouses on the eastern border of the Hindu Temple Society of Richmond Hill has the local community on edge. Built in 1983, this place of worship has become a destination for thousands of visitors annually, with ceremonial events and celebrations. The development is currently in the planning process with the Town of Richmond Hill.

Among the Temple community’s requests are a buffer zone between the houses and the temple, a tree line and a road to divide their properties. “We want to be in peaceful coexistence with whoever our neighbour is,” said R. K. Moorthy, president of the Hindu Temple Society. “But we want our neighbours to respect our way of worship.”

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