Mayor Rob Ford nixed Transit City on his first day of office. Now, the city could end up paying $65-million for the cancellation. [Globe and Mail]
Post-secondary schools across Canada are snapping up .xxx domains to keep them out of the hands of the porn industry. [Toronto Sun]
The Port Lands plan has been opened up to the public as over 600 people showed up at the Toronto Reference Library for the city’s first public consultation on the future of our waterfront. [The Grid]
Hundreds of municipal employees may be losing their jobs as the city looks to contract out five shelters that cater to women and children. [Toronto Star]
A Brampton teen found a snake in his toilet. Wasn’t that in fashion like two months ago? [CTV]
Hippies rejoice! The groovy rock musical (that won the 2009 Tony for Best Musical Revival) comes to Toronto this month. The play about peace, love and understanding will get you singing and dancing in your seat, and maybe even holding hands with your neighbour. Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King Street West, 416-872-1212. Dec. 13-31.
The perennial holiday favourite returns. Even if you missed Rob Ford’s big debut as a Cannon Doll this weekend, don’t let that deter you from seeing this beautiful ballet. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, 416-345-9595. Dec. 10-Jan.3.
You know the story — the one with Mary! Joseph! Baby Jesus! — but this one has a bit of a twist: first, it’s an outdoor walk-about-show. Second, there’s hot chocolate on sale, and third, there are heated washrooms (a treat those wise men would’ve probably appreciated after their long journey). Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Avenue, 416-504-7526. Dec. 13-30.
It’s the song that can make a rainy day actually feel, well, almost downright sunny. The 1952 MGM classic comes to the stage from Broadway legends Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who wrote the original award-winning screenplay, and is the perfect show for those of us who miss the golden age of Hollywood. Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue, 416-504-7529. Dec. 15-18.
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph appears again in this musical, the first Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice collabo to be performed publicly. The almost completely sung-through musical is based on the “coat of many colours” story from the Book of Genesis. No Donny Osmond in this production, but I’m sure this revival will more than do. Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington Avenue, 416-915-6747. Dec. 13-30.
For anyone who’s wondering when Toronto’s Neapolitan pizza craze is coming to an end, the answer is this: not any time soon. Less than a year after opening, popular St. Clair West pizzeria Pizza e Pazzi is set to open another location just down the street, co-owner Sandrelle Scimo tells us.
The new location — at 672 St. Clair West, in the former site of burger joint Chuck and Co. — will be a bit smaller than the original, but similar. That means, of course, another wood-burning oven from Naples. Putting it in should be a bit easier this time, Scimo says, since there’s no basement and the floor won’t have to be reinforced. (Here’s to hoping that the massive oven won’t get lost during shipping, which actually happened the first time around.)
Scimo and her husband, Danilo, have teamed up with some silent partners for the expansion. She didn’t disclose who they are just yet, but did hint that they are the owners of a popular café business.
The goal is to seat 48 guests in the new spot (the original location seats 52) and to open by Valentine’s Day. The menu will be more lunch-centric, so no lasagna or other pastas that take a long time to cook. The variety and quality of pizzas, though, will remain the same.
As for competing with herself, Scimo isn’t worried. Having a place nearby makes it easier to maintain quality control, and besides, business is booming.
Forget the mile high club: it seems that one couple is all about the Red Rocket. An apparently intoxicated couple was caught having sex on a moving subway car and then on a platform at Spadina station on Sunday afternoon. [Toronto Sun]
It seems even the strongest of bromances can be broken up by the ladies. Buddy and Pedro, the darling African penguins at the Toronto Zoo, have begun displaying breeding behaviors with female penguins. The two were also recently caught fighting. Say it ain’t so! [Toronto Star]
Au revoir Kyoto! Canada is the first nation to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. [Toronto Star]
The Toronto Wildlife Centre, a charity headquartered at Downsview Park, will not be targeted for eviction. [Globe and Mail]
Like Ontario, Twitter is now “yours to discover.” The popular slogan that has been Ontario’s tagline for over a decade is the same one being used by the social media giant to promote its redesign. [CBC]
When Flashpoint’s Olunike Adeliyi took to the stage during Toronto’s first monologue slam last Sunday night at Trane Studio, she was covered in fake blood, had a cigarette drooping from her mouth and wore a tight cocoon-fitting dress: she was a hardened working girl.
The character that appeared on stage before her three-minute dialogue recited scenes from Julius Caesar as a self-proclaimed white supremacist; then there was the belligerent alcoholic director before that.
Monologue slams have surfaced in the underground theatre districts of New York and London and now Toronto. So, what exactly is a monologue slam?
Basically, you have 12 contestants, four judges.
Each contestant has three minutes to perform a monologue of their choice — it could be a scene from a notable play or film, or it could be something they’ve written. So once everyone has performed their bit, the judges pick the best six. After a small intermission break the judges re-group and then tell each contestant to perform the same set, but with a different twist. That’s when improv comes into play. Then the best one is picked from that.
Adeliyi and Andre Newell (co-founders of ToSlam!) spent years using a kids drama program as their testing ground after witnessing how important slams are becoming for actors in places like New York.
“For struggling actors, it can be a long time between gigs, and there really isn’t much out there that can improve confidence before their next audition,” Adeliyi said. “It’s also good to develop characters and fine tune personalities — it’s a place to network and showcase skills.”
Up on the dimly-lit stage, which resembled the backdrop from the standup bit on Seinfeld, it looked daunting for the actors, who were hand picked by Newell and Adeliyi. With all eyes on stage, three minutes can feel like 30 minutes. During the performance, you can hear a pin drop if the actor isn’t speaking.
Adeliyi is busy preparing for the second monologue slam, set to kick off in January next year, but no specific date has been set yet.
“Next time, we’ll be hosting auditions for actors as opposed to selecting them,” she said. “But, we were really happy with how things went last week and are looking to make this a regular spot to showcase up-and-coming Toronto actors.”
A walk along the Ossington and Queen West strips means two things for vintage shoppers: more room in the wallet and less room in the closet. Of course, it’s hard to avoid purchases when it comes to the many unique pieces that are found in the vintage shops around Toronto. With over 50 stores alone in the city centre, Torontonians have long known that the vintage scene here is one of the best in the world.
In her quest for an elusive cream silk blouse, Stephanie Plentl from The Telegraph has stumbled onto our little secret and is spreading the word. Citing popular vintage destinations like 69 Vintage,Gadabout,I Miss You,House of Vintage, and V, it’s no surprise to hear Plentl describing Toronto as “a vintage heaven.” Toronto, she states, has become as important to fashion insiders as elite European fashion hubs such as London, Paris and Milan.
Toronto’s number of sorting warehouses and its location as a shipping access point have contributed to its status as a major player on the used clothing circuit. Apparently, many major international retailers and designers (Topshop, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Levi’s, Club Monaco and Joseph Mimran, to name a few) are scouting designs sold in Toronto’s vintage shops as sources of inspiration for their new collections.
According to Plentl, it’s the boutique atmosphere of Toronto vintage shops that sets them apart from the rest. For our part, we’re not surprised that Toronto’s vintage scene is starting to get noticed.
The struggle began the moment Adam Granduciel and his psych-rock group The War on Drugs attempted their sound check at the Horseshoe Tavern. With its low ceilings and cramped stage, the band spent what felt like the better part of half an hour just trying to get levels right. The frustration felt on stage was evident as complaints rang microphones. The feeling was mutual as the sold out crowd stood cramped, rubbing elbows with friends and strangers alike.
When The War on Drugs finally conceded, they opted to play with everything turned way up (mics, instruments, amps), and ran through a string of songs so loud and poorly mixed it was difficult to discern Granduciel’s lead guitar lines from waves of keyboard. A local alto-saxophone player was all but lost in the mix, though he did appear to be having a great time on stage. Funny enough, despite the early sound problems, fans nodded their heads in continuous approval and the band actually seemed to be in good spirits.
By the time The War on Drugs eased into “Brothers” off their critically acclaimed Slave Ambient, things were beginning to sound better. Granduciel’s Dylan-like lyrical phrasings were coming through clearly, but the subtle nuances that The War On Drugs work so hard to achieve were still all but lost in the wash of sounds. An expectedly psychedelic cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Touch Of Grey” was jammed out nicely. Jerry himself would have approved.
When the band reached back to its first release, Wagonwheel Blues, to play “Buenos Aires Beach” — a song with simple guitar strumming and subtle keyboard flourishes — every lyric and note came through crystal clear, but the tune wasn’t nearly as well-received as the Slave Ambient standout “Baby Missiles.” Granduciel’s love for Dylan and Petty was most evident on this rollicking tune, and the crowd took to it with quick head-bobbing appreciation.
The War on Drugs clearly know how to put on a solid and dynamic show, but that can be a battle. Sometimes all you can do is get on stage and throw your entire arsenal of sounds and songs at a venue, hoping whoever is running the mix can adapt to your music. The Horseshoe Tavern’s sound issues may have put up a fight, but Granduciel and his band won the war.
The Toronto Zoo is getting flack for its stalling tactics in sending three elephants to a sanctuary in California. Some city councillors say that the elephants should be moved as soon as possible, but keepers have expressed concern over moving the elephants at all in light of their age. [Toronto Star]
With over 18,000 fans attending the second UFC event to hit Toronto, UFC 140 went down as the second most attended UFC event in 2011. [Toronto Sun]
While Ontario students are proficient at reading, those skills may have come at a cost as many reveal a dislike for the activity. [Globe and Mail]
A new study shows that Canadians are masters at concocting excuses to avoid sex. [Toronto Star]
Effective today, if you want to become a Canadian citizen, you’ll have to show your face. Those participating in citizenship ceremonies will be given two warnings to unveil themselves prior to taking the oath to become a Canadian. [Toronto Sun]
Skip The Sheepdogs’ appearance at Lee’s Palace tonight and head down Queen Street East to check out New York City-based outfit Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at TheOpera House. This band was the hottest thing in the blogosphere a few short years ago when their 2005 debut album drew comparisons to the Talking Heads.
They had a hard time living up to the hype on their follow-up, and many predicted the band would go the way of the dodo, but they stuck around and released a new album, Hysterical, last September. Easily the most introspective of the band’s releases, Hysterical is filled with personal songs about love and loss. It’s a nice change of pace for the band, but their upbeat vibe is still there, and it’s even better live.
Little City dreams big
Toronto band Little City made some noise in 2010 when it released the EP The Going and the Gone to some acclaim. Now, the 12-piece group, featuring members of Ohbijou and The Wooden Sky, is releasing a new 7-inch and digital single, “Sperry,” in addition to announcing a local release show scheduled for Jan. 21. at 918 Bathurst. The band will also be part of Canadian Music Week in Toronto this March. A free download of “Sperry” is available here.
Collett back with basement revue
Toronto singer-songwriter Jason Collett is returning to TheDakota Tavern this month for his fifth-annual Basement Revue Series. Basically, Collett brings together some cool new musicians, writers, artists and friends for something of a hootenanny each Tuesday for the month of December. Past artists include Buck 65, K-OS, Charles Spearin, Dave Bidini, Julie Doiron and many more. Seventy-five tickets priced at $25 go on sale in advance of each night, 25 each at Rotate This, Soundscapes and galleryac.com, plus more at the door.
Canadian Music Week announcement 1.0
Canadian Music Week and its feature event, Slacker Canadian Music Fest, have announced a slew of artists and bands that will take part in the five-day event in more than 60 venues in downtown Toronto. Headlining acts that should garner serious attention include Childish Gambino, The Saw Doctors, Fanfario and TheCat Empire. In addition, the names of a hundred or so lesser-known artists were announced, providing the perfect opportunity to comment on one of the more important decisions a young band can make as their careers begin to grow: choosing a totally awesome band name.
Here are five CMW bands with names that work, and five that need a serious rethink:
Awesome
• Ben Caplan & The Casual Smokers: Timeless in sentiment but with a raw edginess that comes with the possibility of inhaling dangerous substances. B+
• Ralf Wiggum: Choosing a character from The Simpsons is a bit bone-headed, unless you choose this character. Totally rock ‘n’ roll! A
• PKEW PKEW PKEW (gunshots): Evokes a childhood innocence that says we are the party band that will transport you to another time. The addition of (gunshots) means they take their wit seriously, so bring your most ironic dance moves. A+
• Brasstronaut: Says it all: we bring the noise, we bring the funk and we explore uncharted territory baby. B
• Great Big Pile of Leaves: There is nothing more fun than piling up some leaves and diving right in. A
The opposite of awesome
• Racoon Bandit: First, the whole misspelling of the word raccoon. Sure, they say it’s on purpose. Whatever. Second, it isn’t memorable, it doesn’t draw in potential listeners. It just sounds like a bad kids TV show, or one of Burt Reynolds’ sidekicks in his Smokey and the Bandit period.
• Recovery Child: Really? So I’m going to go watch you work out your issues on stage? No thanks.
• Tiny Danza: Okay, I get it, right, it’s like Tony Danza tapping his inner Elton John. And that’s just a disturbing image. But do you spend as much time rocking out as you do being too clever for your own good? I don’t think so.
• Winter People: I thought this might be a cool name until I read the band is from Australia. Australia! What do they know about being winter people? It’s a total sham! Come tour here in January, I’ll show you winter people.
• Body Doubles: Sounds like a bad ’80s movie starring Kathleen Turner as the actress who loses her husband to her own body double, then seeks revenge.
Holiday stuff
There are plenty of one-off Christmas and holiday songs floating around the ether as of late, including a cool Bahamas mixed tape, and a compilation from the folks at the music blog Sound Vat. Here’s a snapshot of a few making the rounds:
• Bahamas featuring the likes of Anne Murray and Feist.
• Sound Vat’s holiday compilation, “If Jesus had been Canadian, he would have needed more than swaddling clothes,” features Canadian indie bands such as Toronto’s The Fires Of and is available here.
• Skydiggers have released another song in anticipation of their annual holiday shows at the Horseshoe Tavern. You can listen to their version of the classic Xmas tune “Good King Wenceslas” on Soundcloud here.
• You can listen to Sloan’s “12 Days of Christmas” here, but purchasing requires a tiny donation.
Album of the week: El Camino by The Black Keys
Yes, everybody is going on and on about the new The Black Keys album El Camino, with reviews ranging from the mildly critical to the swooning. Well, buckle up. Here we go again. On El Camino, they’ve sped things up a bit and taken a bit of the messy, blues-fuelled mayhem out of the mix. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have lost some of the swampy groove that’s worked out so brilliantly in the past. It is like that deep, dark, chugging engine at the bottom end has disappeared.
The band seemed, to me, to be at their best on those slow grooves that make you close your eyes a bit and sway from side to side. You know what I’m talking about here. But, what do I know? They are one of the biggest rock bands in the world right now. It is a great album, and I will certainly listen to it for a long time to come.
Standout tracks like “Lonely Boy” and “Little Black Submarine” are killer, with the latter reminiscent of classic Zeppelin. For better or worse, El Camino is more mainstream, more “approachable” and will likely garner the duo even more fans and awards and riches beyond belief. So there is no going back now. But I’ll always have Rubber Factory and Brothers. So I guess that makes it about even.
The Good Lovelies have a thing for the holidays. Like the story of a certain someone, the band came into being during a big whiz-bang show at Christmas. OK, there was no manger, but there was a hotel, and, given their angelic harmonies, some divine intervention may have been involved. Ahem.
The Juno Award–winning trio — who play an uptempo brand of roots music with intricate three-part harmonies and an old-timey feel — have toured the globe relentlessly since their latest album, Let the Rain Fall, came out earlier this year. And, this month the band returns to Toronto for a holiday hootenanny featuring selections from their Christmas album Under the Mistletoe as well as the new album.
Things have changed since we last had the chance to catch the group live — at least according to one of the Lovelies.
Kerri Ough had a sort-of musical epiphany while the band was down under in Australia.
“Something very calming came over me, something changed,” she says over the phone during a four-day break from touring. “We went from playing music in a band, to it feeling very much like a career. It started to feel like something really pro, like we are settling into the role.”
Like the story of that certain someone from earlier, from now on, at least for Ough, her life will be divided up into pre- and post-Australia periods.
In the beginning, as the story goes, Kerri along with Caroline Brooks and Sue Passmore (all solo artists at the time) got together for a Christmas show at the Gladstone Hotel with the idea of playing each other’s tunes and having a good time.
“Something happened onstage that night, it all kind of clicked,” Ough explains. “With Sue [whom Ough had known since childhood in Cobourg] it was easy, and Caroline had been a pro harmony singer her whole life. It just sort of took off.”
That night they were approached about doing another show together. And since the concert that night was called The Good Lovelies, the name stuck.
An EP followed in 2007, dubbed Oh My!, basically playing each other’s songs. Then came the holiday album and their self-titled full-length debut in 2009.
Their unique brand of folk music was an instant hit, and the group won New Emerging Artist at the Canadian Folk Music Awards and a Juno Award for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year for their efforts.
The Good Lovelies play at the Great Hall in Toronto on Dec. 17. For information go to www.goodlovelies.com.
Indie scenesters cover indie scenesters circa 1985 In 2001, a trio of Ontario music writers put together Have Not Been the Same, a massive volume chronicling the “golden years” of Canada’s indie music scene between 1985 and 1995, including the birth of bands such as The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies and Blue Rodeo, along with less obvious, but perhaps more influential bands, such as Change of Heart and 13 Engines.
Over the past summer, the book had its 10th anniversary and a new, updated volume was released. But, the cool news is that a new album of current bands covering songs from that era is available at www.zunior.com — all proceeds to benefit the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
Standouts include Forest City Lovers’ cover of Sloan’s “The Lines You Amend” and Corb Lund’s killer version of Jr. Gone Wild’s “In Contempt of Me.”
Walking around College Street with Joe Pantalone and a half-eaten loaf of Italian bread, I’m trying to take the temperature of the Italian-Canadian response to Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian financial breakdown. A hot dog restaurant feels like a good place to begin.
“Berlusconi’s a sexual, sensual man,” says Sam Santino, owner of the Big Chill and the Little Dog, a newly opened, Montreal-influenced hot dog shop that specializes in wieners and makes its owner an astute judge of powerful Italian men. Santino, like Pantalone, the former deputy mayor and one-time rival of our current mayor, his petulance Rob Ford, was raised in the Little Italy neighbourhood (the streets off College between Shaw and Bathurst) and is a first-generation Canadian, with much of his extended family still calling Italy home.
“What’s happening in Italy is horrible, but it’s happening all over Europe,” says Santino, who hopes his children, aged 18 and 20, manage their money better than the country his parents called home. “I watch the news and I worry, but I’m Canadian-Italian not Italian-Canadian, and there’s a big difference between the two things.”
In Pantalone’s estimation — and he represented the Little Italy neighbourhood at City Hall for almost 30 years — the former Italian stomping ground is less than 10 per cent Italian today. Many of the business owners are still Italian — and landmark destinations like Bar Italia and Café Diplomatico still have Italians running the show — but rising rents and the lure of the suburbs are shaking out the area’s Italian roots.
From left: Kaplan hams it up in Little Italy, samples some local goods, and ensures he and “guide” Joe Pantalone don’t leave with an empty stomach
I meet Pantalone at his house on Beatrice Street, and he says that, when he and his six brothers and sisters first moved into the area, his mother used to send him to whichever local bakery had that day’s steepest discounts on bread.
“Housing used to be affordable; it no longer is,” says Pantalone, wearing a ball cap and leather jacket as we begin our stroll along the Garrison Creek Ravine. “Unfortunately, for shop owners in this area, it’s make it big or lose big, and if you don’t have high turnover, you don’t stand a chance.”
I live in the Little Italy area, which is bad news for long-time residents. In New York, when I moved into my trendy neighbourhood in Little Italy on Mulberry Street, it marked the apex of gentrification. I paid $1,150 for a hovel inside a crumbling building where tenants under their rent-controlled agreement were dropping $350 a month. My dad used to joke that he worked so hard to move away from the neighbourhood just so I could afford to move back in.
Walking the College Street area with Pantalone, there’s a feeling that Little Italy is still a small town. We can’t make it past two red-sauced Italian restaurants without someone calling out, “Hi, Mr. Joe!”
“Berlusconi is all about Berlusconi. I think it’s time for him to go,” says Rocco Reale, the owner of Riviera Bakery at College and Manning, who takes us into his kitchen where we snack on a bowl of grapes from his village in Calabria. Reale is the real deal, just what you want from a College Street owner: a guy who picks up a piece of prosciutto from his meat slicer and places it into your mouth. Of course, the meat, like the grapes, are delicious. After all, Riviera is what’s known as a “scratch bakery,” meaning everything in the store is made from scratch. Fill up on bread at many of the College Street restaurants and, odds are, the bread you ate too much of is Rocco Reale’s. (Also: how many people do you meet named Rocco these days?) Pantalone and I have espresso and he tries to be diplomatic about his feelings for big Rob Ford.
“Any government has to be for all of the people and try and reach a broad consensus, but the mayor has a tendency not to do that,” he says and points out that Mayor Ford’s greatest gift to the city may be in his unifying the disparate strands of the left. “You can’t have simplistic solutions to complicated problems,” Pantalone says. “It means you do harm.”
We talk about the Occupy movement and his girlfriend; the area's best restaurants (he recommends Giancarlo Trattoria) and the differences between fathers and mothers when it comes to raising kids. (My daughter Esme is three months old now, and my wife, Julie, is twice or maybe 12 times the parent that I am.)
Afterward, Rocco gives me a loaf of bread still hot from his oven — Riviera is one of the places Pantalone used to come as a kid — and I’m nibbling on it along College Street when we run into Lenny Lombardi, son of Johnny Lombardi, the original founder of CHIN Radio.
It's amazing the things you see when you walk College Street with someone from the area. A place I’d pretty much dedicated to drinking at the Mod Club and Revival and eating at the meatball-riffic new restaurant Hey Meatball is suddenly like this little hamlet where everyone knows one another. And, what’s more, they know where the metaphorical bodies are buried. It’s so cool to get something deeper out of Little Italy than a buzz. Pantalone and I start talking with Lombardi about the Italian saga and the Berlusconi bunga bunga parties, and Lombardi says that the end of Berlusconi means brighter days for Italians all over the world.
“Sometimes change in itself is good,” says Lombardi, a dead ringer for his famous dad, who sits immortalized in a statue at the corner of College and Grace. Lombardi was raised in the area, still lives there today and says the future of Italy, like the future of Little Italy in Toronto, is an ability to adapt to the times while keeping your identity.
“Berlusconi stepping down ushers in a new era,” says Lombardi. “I think about Italy and feel for the people back home who’ve suffered, but these streets are my place in the world.”
I walk Pantalone home, then hop on my bike in time to read Esme a story before bed.
Top chef and Food Network star Anna Olson is an expert in all things baked. In the spirit of the holidays, we invited her to help us nibble our way through dozens (upon dozens) of cookies — tough job, but someone had to do it! Read on for Olson’s sweetest selections.
Grand Prize Winner
Dufflet, 2638 Yonge St.
From cute-as-a-button frosted sugar cookies to zingy ginger ones, Olson only has praise for Dufflet’s festive biscuits. “Whoa! This one is awesome,” says Olson, crowning Dufflet’s orange–chocolate chip cookie the overall “winner” of the day. Price: from $1.35 ea.
Top Xmas Pick
Wanda’s Pie In The Sky, 287 Augusta Ave.
“I’m getting some nice heat from this ginger cookie,” says Olson, before picking up one of Wanda’s chocolatey offerings. “This chocolate crinkle cookie is awesome! They’re really using some good ingredients.” Price: from $1.50 ea.
Finest French Confection
La Bamboche, 4 Manor Rd. E.
Financiers, madeleines and macaroons round out our selection from this superb French bakery. Olson gravitates toward the “excellent brown butter financier” and gives the madeleines and macaroons a “thumbs-up” for both form and taste. Price: from $2.89 ea.
Vegan Vinner
Urban Herbivore, 64 Oxford St.
“Now this looks really decadent, says Olson, taking a bite of Urban Herbivore’s gooey-chewy vegan mocha cookie. “They’ve done a really good job with this — they’ve achieved a great texture and mouth-feel. A seriously good cookie.” Price: $2.50 ea.
Sugar High
Phipps Bakery, 420 Eglinton Ave. W.
“This chocolate chip cookie has a nice chewiness to it,” says Olson. “But I think the average customer would want more chocolate.” Moving on to the shortbread, Olson says: “Now here’s a shortbread! This one’s a winner.” Price: from $0.99 ea.
Unreal Oatmeal
Sweet Flour Bake Shop, 2352 Bloor St. W.
“These are nice, big, chunky cookies,” says Olson. “This peanut butter–chocolate chip cookie is just as you’d expect — maybe a little dry, though. But this one with blueberries is great, still hearty, with a bit of a sweeter composition.” Price: from $2.26 ea.
Almond Almighty
Nino D’aversa, 7287 Yonge St., Thornhill
“These must be from an Italian bakery,” says Olson, sampling some of Nino D’Aversa’s cookies. Although our chef finds the bakery’s liberal use of almond extract a tad “overpowering,” she thoroughly enjoys the chocolate panforte. Price: $32.50/kilo.
Butter Me Up
Patisserie La Cigogne, 1626 Bayview Ave.
“These look like they’re either from Rahier [nope!] or Cigogne [correct!],” says Olson, sampling these petit cookies. “These ‘cats’ tongues’ are tasty. They’re all really nice and buttery, actually! Price: $9 per bag.
Called On Icing
Grodzinski Bakery, 3437 Bathurst St.
“These are a little messy,” says Olson, picking up one of Grodzinski’s treats. “But the flavours in these big sandwich cookies are really nice. I like the vanilla and apricot jam combination.” Price: from $7.50/box
With Sugar On Top
Patachou Patisserie, 1120 Yonge St.
“These ones taste like they’re homemade,” says Olson, suggesting that one could even “put them on a plate and pass them off as [one’s] own!” Don’t mind if we do. Price: from $0.75 ea.
Leaf Me Alone With These
Future, 483 Bloor St. W.
“These are some nice-looking drop shortbreads,” says Olson, explaining that well-baked shortbread cookies should “snap and melt on the tongue.” After a bite? “Pretty good!” Price: from $2.29 ea.
Sweetest Sammy
Rahier Patisserie, 1586 Bayview Ave.
“I really like the size of these,” says Olson, eyeing Rahier’s dainty cookies. Perhaps not the “freshest” of the bunch, they’re still sweet and satisfying. Price: from $5.05/100 g.
Grand Prize Winner
Top Xmas Pick
Finest French Confection
Vegan Vinner
Sugar High
Unreal Oatmeal
Almond Almighty
Butter Me Up
Called On Icing
With Sugar On Top
Leaf Me Alone With These
Sweetest Sammy