Toronto’s BBQ game is getting even more tastier and a lot more convenient. The team behind east-end heavyweight The Carbon Bar has launched a new offshoot, this time at King and Spadina, with a fast-casual concept called Carbon Snack Bar.
This new all-day snack bar keeps the same DNA as the original with its smoked meats and a mix of Southern BBQ and comfort food, but repackages it into something much more grab-and-go. You’ll still get brisket and ribs, just now alongside coffee, Craig’s Cookies (yum!) and ready-to-drink cocktails.
The space itself sits inside a landmark building with a very interesting past. Once the Richardson House in 1873, later the Spadina Hotel and eventually home to the Cabana Room, where the likes of Leonard Cohen and The Rolling Stones reportedly spent time.
“It’s a dream to bring The Carbon Bar experience to the iconic 460 King Street West building – this location, like for many Torontonians, holds a special place in my heart,” says Yannick Bigourdan, the restaurateur behind Carbon Snack Bar, The Carbon Bar, and several other Toronto restaurants including Michelin-recommended Lucie.
The opening comes on the heels of a report from Betway, which placed Torontoamong the top 10 BBQ cities in North America, ranking ahead of places like San Antonio, San Diego and St. Louis. Toronto, apparently, has a thing for smoked meat: 121 BBQ vendors, 49 of them highly rated, three BBQ festivals a year and a surprising amount of Google searches for brisket and ribs. According to the same study, The Carbon Bar holds the title of highest-rated BBQ restaurant in the city.
Inside Carbon Snack Bar, you’ll find 35 seats, a full espresso bar, bright interiors and a walk-up counter offering bowls with brisket, pastrami or St. Louis ribs, salads, sandwiches and breakfast items. You can also pick up retail packs of smoked meats, sides like mac & cheese and pork & beans and the house sauces and rubs.
Bigourdan sees the new format as a way to meet people where they are. “We’re bringing our signature hospitality into a format that fits into people’s everyday lives. It’s approachable, delicious and driven by quality — exactly what people expect from us, just in a faster, more casual setting.”
The building also now includes Block by Allied, a new event space designed for everything from wine tastings to corporate launches to community movie nights.
Carbon Snack Bar is located in the historic 460 King Street West building.
Toronto is well-known for its sushi scene, but Torontonians are about to experience this delicacy on a whole other level. For one night only, on Sept 5, part of King Street W will transform into the city’s most exclusive sushi bar! It’s part of a celebration of the world premiere of Still Single, a new documentary premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) about the life of Chef Masaki Saito. The 36-year-old chef made history by becoming the first chef to earn two Michelin stars in Toronto, and the only chef to do so in both Toronto and New York!
The massive sushi bar will open at 5:00 pm right outside the TIFF Lightbox (350 King St W) following the film’s premiere screening, so festival-goers and passersby can experience complimentary Omakase prepared by chefs from MSSM (154 Cumberland).
The film gives an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at Saito, the visionary behind Sushi Masaki Saito (88 Avenue Rd), which is Toronto’s only two-star Michelin destination. It’s directed by first-time filmmakers Jamal Burger (Toronto) and Jukan Tateisi (Tokyo), and traces the chef’s journey from rural Hokkaido to redefining Toronto’s fine-dining scene.
“Only by going through the process of directing this film and getting to know Saito did we realize how challenging it is, especially in Japan, to break through a collectivist society as an individual,” co-directors Burger and Tateisi said in a statement. “This film explores what happens when tradition meets innovation, and the personal cost of pursuing perfection.”
The project reflects both filmmakers’ interest in how personal identity intersects with art. Burger, who founded The Kickback Foundation in Toronto in 2016 to empower youth with limited resources, is known for his community-driven storytelling, so audiences can expect a film filled with both artistry and precision.
“Beyond grateful for this opportunity and everyone involved in bringing this to life. There are so many special people involved and I’m overwhelmed by all the love that went into this first feature,” Burger said in a recent Insta post.
Still Single debuts at the TIFF Lightbox on Friday, Sept 5, 2025, at 3 pm (the outdoor sushi bar will open at 5 pm). Click here for showtimes and here for all the celebs you can expect to see at TIFF this year!
From eager university students drunk on the freedom of living on their own for the first time to nervous high schoolers seeking spontaneity on the weekend, it’s been pretty much a rite of passage for young Torontonians to head to Queen West’s Adrenaline for a piercing. Unfortunately, the tradition is coming to an end — the tattoo and piercing place has announced its upcoming closure.
The iconic black and yellow storefront sign has graced the busiest portion of Queen Street for two decades, and has been one of the most popular and frequented shops for both tattoos and piercings in the city. And yet the hot spot has now announced that its final day open will be Sept. 15.
“It is with deep regret that we announce the permanent closure of Adrenaline Toronto after decades of proudly serving our community,” they wrote on Instagram.
They encouraged any clients who are working on tattoo projects with artists to contact the team to ensure any unfinished or ongoing work is completed in time.
Adrenaline was established in 1998 by a small group of friends and family in New Jersey. Studios under the brand opened in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto over the years. However, it appears the Vancouver and Montreal studios will still remain operational.
It’s possible, then, that the Toronto studio of Adrenaline had a location problem. Nestled along a once-bustling part of the city, this strip of Queen West has seen many changes over the past few decades. Once home to amazing independent storefronts and dotted with exciting live music venues, the strip has been overtaken, mostly, by corporate everything — banks, Lululemon and Aritzia, a massive Shoppers.
And now, Adrenaline Ink is the latest in a line of casualties, following in the footsteps of local stores like Reigning Champ (who suggested that Queen West just “isn’t a shopping district” anymore) and some of those corporate chains that some argue contributed to the demise of the neighbourhood when they first arrived, like H&M, Zara and Adidas.
In a video posted to Instagram on Thursday, Adrenaline Toronto founding partner Joey Nixon gave a bit more context to the sudden closure.
“This is due to a variety of reasons, includingconstruction from Metrolinx and the financial situation in the city,” he said. He also noted that we’ll be hearing more from the team about the closure over the next month.
He also asked that people support the tattoo artists operating out of Adrenaline who will have to find new workplaces moving forward — and shared that anyone who gets a tattoo or piercing at the tattoo shop in the next month will receive an Adrenaline T-shirt.
You can stop by the shop at 239 Queen St. W. every day until Sept. 15 to buy body jewelry or merch, or get a last minute piercing or tattoo.
L–R: Alan Jones, Ethan Vestby, Peter Vack, courtesy Lucy Mahoney.
A pilot at The Pilot. Ignore the tweeness of this sentence; this is the origin of Bleeding Edge film collective. Co-founded by Ethan Vestby and Alan Jones, Bleeding Edge was born out of a need to fill a gap in Toronto’s film landscape.
During the summer of 2022, as people tentatively re-entered society, Vestby and Jones noticed that, “things seemed pretty dour for movie stuff at the time,” Jones says. “It became apparent The Royal was not going to come back as the theatre.” (The Royal now mostly hosts touring comedians and podcast live shows; only on rare occasions will there be a movie screening.)
To combat this cloistered environment, Vestby and Jones decided to host a one-off screening of shorts by local filmmakers. Thankfully, friend and fellow local filmmaker Rebeccah Love’s uncle owns The Pilot in Yorkville.
“I remember sitting on the 63 bus down Ossington to get to the subway, sitting there that July evening with my laptop on my lap and being like, ‘What if nobody comes to this?’” Vestby recalls.
Any fears they had before the event dissipated once it was over, with bar staff coming up to them with gratitude for the service their screening had produced. “When that was a success, it was like, ‘Heck, let’s do it again!’”
A Bleeding Edge screening, courtesy @truest.desires/Instagram.
This weekend, Bleeding Edge is hosting their second annual festival, coinciding with their third birthday. There’s an Opening Night party at the Houndstooth on the Aug. 21, followed by screenings on both the Aug. 22 and 23 at Paradise Theatre. Returning to Bleeding Edge programming is filmmaker Tucker Bennett with the world premiere of his new feature In the Glow of Darkness; a screening of Bennett’s film Planet Heaven was Bleeding Edge’s second-ever event. Vestby describes this year’s selection of films as “risky”, which is a funny word as Bleeding Edge is built on risky, or at least less universally palatable films.
“There’s a similar set of frustration that if you’re not making something that’s sort of polished, or within the sort of institutional framework of the university film programs or the Canadian Film Centre, that sending movies to film festivals often seems like they’re sending them into a black hole. You don’t know if anybody’s watching them; you’re paying money for submission fees,” Jones says about the types of filmmakers Bleeding Edge supports.
The risk Vestby mentions has less to do with the content of the films, but more so that they’re giving opportunities to those who don’t have cult followings on the Internet, like Peter Vack or Caveh Zahedi. Screenings earlier this year were an easier sell, not because the films are necessarily safer (Vack’s Rachel Ormont has unsimulated sex) but because “they have a built-in audience,” Vestby notes.
Alan Jones (left), Ethan Vestby (second from left) and Peter Vack (second from right) at a Bleeding Edge screening, courtesy Lucy Mahoney.
Vestby, though, argues that, “Audiences here are actually a lot more curious and adventurous than we give them credit for. I think most people are tired of seeing the same s**t over and over again.”
Distribution is increasingly more difficult to secure, regardless of whether you’re an independent filmmaker cutting your teeth or a tested auteur who can rake it in at the box office while still making art that has something to say. Look no further than the mishandling of Spike Lee’s latest film Highest 2 Lowest, which only has a two-week theatrical release before being dumped onto AppleTV. And this is a film starring Denzel Washington. Bleeding Edge provides variety, opportunity and community in the streaming era.
Looking past this weekend’s festival, Bleeding Edge (in partnership with Sleaze Factory, the series curated by programmer Weird Alice) is hosting the Toronto premiere of Louise Weard’s Castration Movie: Part I, an acclaimed film follows a trans sex worker living in Vancouver, on Aug. 29. (“It’s f**king amazing,” Vestby says.) Later, on Sept. 24, they’re screening Room Temperature, Dennis Cooper’s latest, co-directed with artist Zac Farley, centering on a family who turns their home into a haunted house, only for their own personal foibles to take over. With these types of screenings, carefully curated and original, Vestby and Jones have become trusted members of Toronto’s film community.
“Community is really important because I think people do want to support their friends and they do want to support new artists,” Vestby says. Here, though, support extends past just showing up for screenings for people you know in real life, or attending parties with other Letterboxd power users. Filmmakers use Bleeding Edge gatherings not to size up rivals, but instead to find collaborators. If you read the credits of the films made by local directors screened by the collective, you’ll notice a lot of overlap; the Venn diagram of names looks more like a circle than the Ontario Science Centre logo.
A common theme I find among artists in Toronto is the imbalance between affordability and creative pursuits.
“I remember being in the sauna room at the gym and hearing some middle-aged guy talk about how in the 80s, he lived in a Little Portugal apartment with 10 other struggling artists, and he’s like ‘We were able to live there for 20 years.’” Vestby doubts you could do the same thing in Toronto now. (I personally do not know a single creative person living in this city who isn’t working multiple jobs.) Before Vestby began freelancing in film, he was working in insurance (“I think I had quiet quit for two straight years, basically.”). Jones was a journalist before he learned to code six years ago; he works in web development while also filmmaking (one of Jones’s shorts was in the first Bleeding Edge screening back at The Pilot).
“It’s not fun trying to make a living while following your passions, which is why I ended up in software,” Jones says. “We don’t make a lot of money doing the Bleeding stuff.”
Near the end of our conversation, I ask Vestby and Jones what changes to the industry would be helpful to filmmakers and programmers like themselves. Some of these issues are too structural and pervasive to be isolated into a simple problem-solution dichotomy.
“Ethan and I are both old enough to remember when the media landscape in Toronto was a lot different. There were a whole bunch of websites that covered local arts and culture stuff.” Jones says. “All the alt-weeklies are gone. The Torontoist isn’t there anymore. That stuff has been replaced by Six Buzz and Narcity, which are not places that are going to cover Bleeding Edge. It is kind of tough to figure out where to go to sort of get the word out there.”
“The financial incentives when you have a website is just to make the product cheaper, make it more broad-ranging to appeal to more people, and it’s a race to the bottom.” Jones says. “It’s kind of hard to stand out unless you’re willing to just forego an expectation of growth or increased profitability, which is not how businesses usually work, unfortunately.”
Vestby, on the other hand, has a good recommendation. “We need to encourage more rich people to have good taste. Maybe it’s a lost cause for older rich people, but their kids. From five on, show them Goddard.”
“We need these private school kids.” Jones quips. “Instead of telling them just to come to the shows, also tell them to finance the movies.”
This summer, Toronto has given a warm welcome to the newest Turkish restaurant in the neighbourhood — where fusion cuisine, a sumptuous ambiance, banquet-size halal meals and live entertainment combine for something unforgettable.
At Ziyafet Kebab Modern Turkish Cuisine authentic and fusion cuisine is served through sizable platters in a space that’s designed to have you stick around a while. At 1027 Finch Avenue West, you’ll be welcomed into a plush, vintage-inspired dining room that looks like it was designed with royalty in mind — we’re talking marble tabletops, one-of-a-kind chandeliers and no shortage of golden touches that contrast the otherwise dark interior and show up in every last detail, right down to the serviette rings.
The name Ziyafet means “feast” or “banquet” so, paired with the lavish dining room, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the menu projects the same opulence with an expansive list of options that both show off tradition and bring something all new to the table.
Have you ever tried a Turkish taco? Filled with doner, hummus, and vegetable, it’s a not-to-be-missed starter at this destination. It’s not made with just any beef doner either, but rather made to a smokey finish by custom wood-fired doner spit where it’s slow-roasted and carved fresh to order.
The plating of the meal matches the high-end tastes and restaurant design, as best seen through the decadent mixed grilled platters. The loaded platters are presented with a layer of buttery naan on top to keep the meats warm for the table. Fresh mezes, sizzling kebabs and grilled steaks round out the menu, which offer vegetarian and halal-friendly bites.
@ziyafettoronto/Instagram
Living up to its name, Ziyafet offers a 30-item unlimited traditional breakfast priced at just $30 per person any day of the week. That means if you love your menemen, you can reorder it as much as you’d like.
On the drink menu you’ll find Turkish spirits you can’t find anywhere else as well as classic and all new cocktails. That includes a spicy signature drink that offers a fiery blend of vodka, spicy şalgam juice, lemon, hot sauce and a sumac-chili rim. The drink is sure to keep you awake well into the night — which is necessary since Ziyafet hosts live music every Friday and Saturday night until midnight!
Café Atelier is a new brunch destination in Thornhill with a clear mission: to serve thoughtful, comforting food that looks like a work of art. Hailey Lee, one of the founders, says the café is inspired by the brunch culture she’s experienced worldwide — but with a uniquely local and creative twist.
“We’re a small team driven by the desire to inspire people through food and space,” Lee explains. “After experiencing brunch culture around the world, we felt that Thornhill needed a brunch spot that felt both thoughtful and comforting.
The name “Atelier” means workshop or studio in French — a perfect fit for their approach to cooking. “It reflects our wish to treat each dish as a piece of art — carefully crafted with heart and creativity, like a beautiful painting on a plate,” she says.
That creativity shines in the menu, which features Korean fusion dishes done right. Lee, who developed many of the recipes while running a Korean meal kit brand and a Korean restaurant in Toronto for over eight years, says blending Korean flavours with classic brunch fare was a natural step.
“For example,” she says, “traditional kimchi fried rice is usually made with spicy kimchi stir-fried in oil and topped with a fried egg. In our version, we rinse the chili powder from the kimchi and sauté it in butter for a softer, more delicate flavour, then finish it with a poached egg and Parmesan cheese for extra richness.”
Café Atelier’s take on Korean fried chicken is also unique. “Traditional Korean fried chicken is typically served with a spicy sauce and pickled radish, but our K.F.C. bites feature a special butter-garlic-soy sauce and are paired with pickled onions instead. This way, we keep the essence of Korean flavours while creating a new style that fits perfectly into a brunch setting.”
Signature cocktails include a summer-only Frozen Makgeolli (a Korean alcoholic drink) — “smooth, light, and perfect for warm weather” — and the Espresso Maktini, blending espresso and creamy Makgeolli for a velvety finish. “And our Yuzu Soju Spritz is made with traditional Korean soju and bright yuzu marmalade, finished with sparkling water for a crisp, refreshing taste.
Lee hopes guests take away more than a meal. “If they leave thinking, ‘I didn’t know Korean food could be this refined and captivating,’ that would be our greatest joy,” she says.
Café Atelier is located at 1450 Clark Ave. W., Thornhill.
Toronto will become ground zero for Britpop fans this weekend. From Aug 24-25, Oasis will take the stage at the newly built Rogers Stadium (that “weird stadium in the middle of nowhere”) for two back-to-back sold-out shows to kick-off the North American leg of their reunion tour.
Oasis Live ’25 marks a huge comeback for Noel and Liam Gallagher, who reunited this July in Cardiff after their infamous 2009 split. The band has some history with the GTA, last rocking the Molson Amphitheatre (now Budweiser Stage) in 1995 and 2005, and even playing a gig at Molson Park in Barrie back in 1996. So, if you missed them then, this is your chance to recapture all that nostalgia and style.
Here’s a guide on everything you need to know to make the most of Oasis Live ’25, from event details to soaring resale ticket prices and even a pop-up fan store on Queen West.
Concert Details
Oasis Live ’25 takes place at the Rogers Stadium (105 Carl Hall Rd) on Sun, Aug 24 and Mon, Aug 25, 2025 @ 7:30 PM. Supporting Act: Cage the Elephant.
Tickets
Officially, tickets sold out, but thankfully (or not, depending on your budget), there are resales! Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange allows ticketholders to sell their tickets at face value to help curb scalping and inflated resale costs. Aug 24 tickets will set you back anywhere between $312 for a floor-standing spot to $1,128 for a spot in the second row of section W102.
According to SeatGeek, you can find cheap Oasis Toronto tickets for as low as $213, although premium seats and floor access are listed much higher (up to $2600+). Vivid Seats is selling tickets for anywhere between $300 and $2100+. Many of the secondary resale platforms also show active listings with buyer guarantees.
How to get to Rogers Stadium
The TTC is probably your best bet. Take the Line 1 subway to Downsview Park Station. Shuttle buses connect directly to Rogers Stadium (expect packed trains and longer-than-usual wait times); otherwise, it’s a 10-minute walk from the station. If you’re taking GO Transit, the Barrie GO line stops at Downsview Park.
You can also use Uber/Lyft, but expect surge pricing! The rideshare and pick-up/drop-off lot is located at 111 Beffort Rd. Once dropped off, follow signage to access the pedestrian walking path that will lead to all three gates (this is only for those getting dropped off. There isn’t access to the venue via Beffort Rd for those arriving by foot).
If driving, there’s limited parking on-site.
What to expect at Rogers Stadium
So, there’s been a bit of controversy surrounding the logistics of the stadium, with fans previously complaining about everything from the poor sound to stadium poles swaying and confusing exit strategies. Organizers have since apparently remedied these issues! When exiting, concert-goers might feel like they’re part of a herd of cattle, but staff will reportedly hold up red and green lights to help guide fans on whether they could proceed to transit areas (this apparently worked at the Coldplay concert; crowds flowing through Downsview Park Station were controlled).
The open-air stadium holds up to 50,000 people, and you can read more about its logistics here.
The Oasis Live ‘25 Fan Store is making its North American debut in Toronto! The pop-up opens this Thursday, Aug 21 @ 648 Queen St. W. (Open weekdays 11 am-7 pm; weekends 11 am-8 pm). Fans can expect exclusive merch and a limited-quantity adidas Originals x Oasis collaboration, making this a key fashion/style moment as well as an iconic music-lifestyle story.
Booking slots are already at capacity, but walk-ups are welcome and encouraged!
Sabrina Carpenter at her LA listening party. @sabrinacarpenter/Instagram
Pop star Sabrina Carpenter is gearing up for the release of her seventh studio album Man’s Best Friend — and to celebrate the release, she’s hosting listening parties across the globe, including in two very lucky Toronto record shops.
Carpenter released the full list of participating record stores on Tuesday, and Toronto favourites Kops Records on Queen and Pop Music were the chosen ones. The musician must understand that there’s nothing Torontonians hate more than trekking to the other end of the city that they don’t live in for anything — both east end and west end fans are taken care of with these two selections.
This isn’t the first time Carpenter has shown support for the city’s local record shops; last year, she stopped by that same Kops Records location while she was in Toronto for her Short n’ Sweet tour, surprising shoppers there and taking selfies with the staff.
Kops hasn’t forgotten it; in the post announcing the upcoming listening party, the team noted that “Sabrina might be Man’s Best Friend but she was our Best Friend First,” sharing a photo of the signed record she left there, upon which she wrote “I <3 Kops Records.”
@kopsrecords/Instagram
Both listening parties will be taking place on Aug. 29, which is Man’s Best Friend‘s release date. At Broadview’s Pop Music, the party starts at 6 p.m., but the team recommends arriving by 5:30 p.m. to claim your spot in the space. Right at 6 p.m., Sabrina Carpenter’s new album will hit the turntable, and attendees will enjoy some fun party swag as well as the chance to win the new record as a door prize.
At Kops Records on Queen, it’s more of an all-day affair — Man’s Best Friend will be spinning all day, along with all of Carpenter’s top hits, and there will be exclusive swag for attendees. If you plan on pre-ordering a copy of the new record from Kops and get there early enough, you also might be one of the select few to win free Sabrina merch along with the record!
If you miss the listening parties, don’t worry — you can snag a copy of Sabrina Carpenter’s new album at many of the city’s incredible local record shops anyway.
Toronto retail is in the middle of a shakeup, and the new Simons at Yorkdale Mall is both a symptom and a response. The Quebec-born fashion retailer, which has long been whispered about by Torontonians who’d trek to Montreal (or shop online) for a fix, finally opened its first urban flagship here last week. The scale is considerable: 118,000 square feet and nearly $100 million in investment, resulting in an estimated 400 new jobs. It’s the kind of commitment that signals not just expansion, but confidence — in the city, in shoppers, and in the idea that brick-and-mortar retail can still feel vital.
It’s no coincidence this is since the departure of Hudson’s Bay. After years of decline, the department store that was once a cornerstone of Canadian shopping culture shuttered its Yorkdale and downtown Toronto locations in June. For decades, The Bay was both a symbol and a utility: the place you bought your first winter coat, picked up sheets for your first apartment, or maybe even bought an important ring. Its absence leaves a hole in the city’s retail psyche.
Simons is not here to patch that hole, exactly — it’s not The Bay, and it doesn’t seem to want to be. The Yorkdale store is all angles, bright lights and easy on the eyes pastels under the amorphous theme “Perennial Ephemera,” which also sounds more like a gallery exhibit than a simple sales floor. It features a walkable gallery of 24 Canadian artists, a sprawling geometric mural and digital installations (including a solarium and diorama) that make the store as much an aesthetic playground as a place to buy socks. Even the racks feel heavily edited. The company is also emphasizing its history as the country’s oldest private family-owned business more than ever. After all, it adds to the story and makes it much more than plastic.
“What a pleasure it is to open our doors in Toronto and become part of such a vibrant, creative, and diverse community,” said Bernard Leblanc, President and CEO of Simons, at the grand opening, which saw over 500 people swing by. “This milestone represents many years in the making. Our Yorkdale store reflects our commitment to creativity, design, esteemed service, purpose, community and connection. Because, at Simons, we believe our spaces are more than just places to shop — they are places to discover, to be inspired, and to engage with fashion, Canadian art and design.”
In what might have been a slight dig to the Bay, he dubbed it, “the Canadian heritage brand.”
The product mix leans heavily on Simons’ house lines — Twik, Icône, Contemporaine, Le 31 — which have built a loyal following among shoppers looking for stylish but accessible fashion. Alongside them, the Édito departments hosts high-fashion labels like Balmain and Kenzo. In other words, this is not one-stop shopping, but a whole brand shoppers will be buying into.
Which is telling: in a retail environment where department stores are supposed to be dying, Simons is betting on experience, art and design to keep shoppers coming back. Where The Bay leaned on heritage, Simons appeals to a richer taste and a less disposable urge. That’s a shift not just in strategy but in how Toronto might be coming to view retail as a cultural experience. Going to Simons is meant to feel like an outing, not an errand. That’s a subtle but significant reframe, especially in a moment when Toronto is still defining what kind of global city it wants to be.
The store’s opening is also a reminder that Canadian retail isn’t just at the mercy of American giants. After Nordstrom’s high-profile exit and The Bay’s collapse, it would be easy to assume the country’s largest city is inhospitable to large-format retail. Simons is saying otherwise, and that couldn’t be better timing as U.S. and Canada tensions linger. With a second downtown store coming this fall to the Eaton Centre, the company is doubling down on Toronto, with Leblanc confidently chanting, “Long live Simon’s!”
Call it cult-like. What the city gains with Simons is not so much a replacement for The Bay’s utilitarian sprawl, but something closer to a cultural space. Kind of like how the mall used to feel in high school, like a place to spend real time, an anchor even, but with taste and style.
Reposado’s good vibes are well-known beyond Ossington Street. The Mexican influence takes centre stage, and there’s no shortage of tequila and mezcal inside the lively bar. But there’s now something equally as exciting — and equally as authentic — on its back patio: Cascabel BBQ.
The concept serves up authentic Mexican flavours, thanks to a charcoal and wood-fired grill and recipes imported from a small Mexican town. Tacos with both meats and proteins meet fresh guacamole, elote, shrimp and even sweet treats.
Cascabel quietly took over Reposado’s back patio in June, but the excitement has been palpable. The team behind the pop-up, Mariel Gonzalez and Matt Bod, serve up authentic flavours from Gonzalez’s hometown in Mexico, not far from Puerto Vallarta. The pair went through recipe testing and ensured that as many ingredients as possible were in season, and then they were on their way. One popular dish is the Camerones Zarandeado, a recipe specific to Gonzalez’s area that involves cooking the shrimp in a very specific way on the grill.
“Zarandeado means to flip, so you cook the shrimp right over the coal,” Gonzalez says. “And we have a special marinade with a hot sauce that I brought from my hometown, just to add to that flavour.”
Matt Bod and Mariel Gonzalez
Another standout is the beef cheeks taco, which involves Bod cooking the meat low and slow for eight hours. The tender, melt-in-your-mouth result is then stacked onto a corn tortilla and paired with sweet grilled onions, escabeche, and a salsa verde to create a full-bodied experience. Both favourites and many other dishes on the Cascabel menu include ingredients and components that Gonzalez makes herself, like sauces and spice blends.
“I’d never really seen this style of cooking here, with the flavours from my hometown,” Gonzalez says. “So I asked Matt if he thought he could pull it off, and he said yes. We’re both really passionate about the cuisine.”
Cascabel diners can enjoy drinks from Reposado on the back patio, ordering food and drinks at the bar at the same time to take out to enjoy underneath some sunshine.
Cascabel BBQ is located on the back patio at 136 Ossington Street.
Taking a stroll to clear your mind or relieve workday stress is always a good idea, but it’s an even better idea when walking through neighbourhoods with amazing scenery. Because we are always looking to take a walk on the scenic side, we’ve put together a list of the top five (in our opinion) most scenic neighbourhoods in Toronto for a long and leisurely walk.
Casa Loma
@lynne__1/Instagram
We couldn’t make this list without including the Casa Loma neighbourhood. With a setting that’s straight out of a fairy tale, it’s easy to get lost in this area filled with historic homes and leafy-lined streets. Casa Loma has a lot of history and you’ll find the historic mansion once owned by Sir Henry Pellatt is a great place to start. When things open up, this area has plenty of excellent restaurants to choose from, so why not end that walk with a nice meal or glass of something cool?
Cabbagetown
@dmcjeff/Instagram
Rows and rows of colourful Victorian homes line the streets of Cabbagetown. Snatching up some real estate in this area will cost you a pretty penny but walking through the neighbourhood is a treat. History notes that the name “Cabbagetown” came from the immigrant population during the 1800s — they planted cabbages in front yards as a source of nourishment.
Rosedale
@fabian.tobin/Instagram
Once upon a time, Rosedale was the estate of William Botsford Jarvis. Jarvis’s wife named the area ‘Rosedale’ because an abundance of wild roses grew in the area. Some of those roses are still around and blooming, but the area is best known now for being one of the wealthiest residential pockets in the city. If you have millions to spend, you can purchase some real estate in Rosedale, but even if you aren’t looking for a new home, Rosedale has some of the loveliest and quietest streets to admire in the city while out for a stroll.
Baby Point
@houseoftheday.to/Instagram
You might think that babies roam the streets of Baby Point, but this part of town was named for French settler James Baby (often pronounced B-aw-by). The neighbourhood is known for its stately gates, and it’s urrounded by ravines and parks with easy access to the Humber Trail, making it hard to find a prettier neighbourhood to walk through.
Chestnut Park
@boreal.homes/Instagram
Nestled in between Mount Pleasant Road and Yonge Street, Chestnut Park is a series of winding streets complete with brick sidewalks and classic lamp posts to make for a scenic stroll that will make you believe you are no longer in Toronto. If you need a break from the hot city streets, this is a great area to roam, get lost in, and admire the Victorian buildings that line the neighbourhood.
For some of the best hikes in Toronto with scenic views, click here.
Toronto is in for a super sweet fall this year as a rising pastry chef and winner of the Spring Baking Championship is realizing his “lifelong dream” of opening his very own brick-and-mortar pastry shop in September.
“It’s been a long journey to get to this point where I can finally say this is me and this is what I want to present to the public,” says chef Steven Tran. “I’m really excited about it because it’s going to be not just chocolate, but also a reflection of my experiences as a pastry chef whose been in the industry for 20 plus years now, honing my craft, and developing my skill.”
Tran after taking top prize in the Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship
Tran started his career in Vancouver at 16, but it wasn’t until moving to France at 18 that he discovered his passion for pastry.
“Because I wasn’t exposed as much to it here in Canada, I didn’t realize baking and pastry was actually a production,” he says, noting he returned to Vancouver to take a course on baking. “It became some of my most favourite school memories because it was so much fun that I never went back to cooking.”
Fueled by ambition, a love of pastry, and the guidance of acclaimed mentors, Tran built a career that’s taken him from Michelin-starred kitchens in the U.K. and Tokyo to the pastry capital of Paris and the chocolate capital of Belgium, before becoming sous chef under Daniel Boulud in New York. His jet-setting journey eventually brought him to Toronto, a city he grew up visiting, where he crafted confections at Café Boulud in the Four Seasons and, more recently, at the Shangri-La.
Prior to Shangri-La, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched Steven Tran Patisserie Chocolatier, in Vancouver. When he moved back to Toronto, his friends at Roselle Desserts encouraged him to host pop-ups to sell his chocolates, bonbons, macaroons and his myriad of other rich, sweet treats. All the while he knew that in checking off some bucket list items — working under top pastry chefs, working in Michelin-awarded kitchens, working in the pastry capitals — his next step was to open his own brick-and-mortar location.
“It’s been a long ride and it’s been five years since I started my business, but I’ve always continued doing pop-ups on the side (while planning to open a brick-and-mortar location),” he says. “I wanted to do it right, and I wanted to make sure that I found the right space.”
The right space was at 476 Roncesvalles Avenue. Even though he has lived across the world, Tran knows Toronto was the perfect place to open Steven Tran Patisserie Chocolatier.
“It’s very multicultural, and I love the city for what it is,” he says. “Toronto is where I feel most at home.”
With minimal seating and a Japandi design (Scandinavian Japanese aesthetic), the shop will be focused on grab ‘n’ go treats, designed as a modern French patisserie with chocolate, petit gâteau, French patisserie cakes, log cakes, bonbons and other sweet-tooth satisfiers, with plenty of gift-giving boxes available. There will also be a limited drink menu including coffee and tea.
“I always say it’s modern patisserie with a Canadian twist,” he says. “It’s a Canadian twist because there is no definition of what Canadian is. For me, Canadian is what I grew up with, as someone born and raised in Canada, it’s my influence — so whether it’s from France, whether it’s influence from Japan, or whether its influence from my own cultural background, it’s my vision of what I want to put out in the world.”
Though he admits launching his own venture is “nerve-wracking,” Tran isn’t fazed — it’s what he’s always wanted.
“I do stress the art of the craft and craftsmanship put into it because it’s a lifelong dedication and that’s important to me because this is the only thing I’ve ever done,” he says. “It’s built up this career I love because of the people that I’ve met, the people I’ve shared experiences with, the chefs I’ve worked for, and I think that’s why I really appreciate the career in itself — because it’s been such a journey and opening the shop is the next part of the journey.”
