Church & Wellesley - Yorkville - Annex : In The News

Dwell Magazine's Miyoko Ohtake spent a week in Toronto on the look out for the city's "most interesting and innovative spots". She raves about it all--from the TIFF Lightbox to the Willcocks Commons to Gladstone Hotel--in her "Touring Toronto" slideshow.

"[Toronto] continues to surprise me, with its creative forces always at work, interesting and innovative spots always presenting themselves, and endless construction being done" see slideshow here
original source Dwell

Toronto's music scene got major kudos this week from New York Times arts and culture critic James R. Oestreich. After a recent trip to Toronto, Oestrich praises TSO's New Creations Festival, the annual month-long event that showcases the work of contemporary composers. And, in a second article published the same day, Oestreich also raves about Tafelmusik, the Toronto-based period instrument ensemble that performs regularly at the Trinity-St. Paul's Center.

"Sometimes you get lucky. I came here to see how the Toronto Symphony was faring a decade after its troubled times, and that, it turns out, would have been satisfying enough."

"But the timing also allowed me to catch up with the acclaimed early-music ensemble Tafelmusik at the Trinity-St. Paul's Center, a converted church near Toronto University, on Thursday. And it was a superb evening: a revival of the group's magnum opus, "The Galileo Project," created in 2009 to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, tied to the 400th anniversary of Galileo's development of the astronomical telescope."

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original source New York Times

Blog TO reviews Fabarnak, the restaurant/cafe that recently opened inside Church street's revamped 519 Community Centre. In addition to serving great tasting sustainable and healthy foods, Fabarnak also functions as a social enterprise by offering employment opportunities to area residents.

"Since opening in October, word has slowly gotten out about the cafe/restaurant's unique menu of sustainable, homemade foods. Everything served at Fabarnak, right down to the ketchup served with the "Cosy" gluten-free elbow pasta with four local cheeses ($12), is made on site. Fabarnak smokes it own meats, makes its own soup stocks, even creates its own evergreen oil for its vegan "Comfy" soup, a tomato bisque with gouda and croustade ($4 or $9, depending on size)."

"My philosophy is that food is either about fantasy or nostalgia," says head chef and director of food services Eric Wood. "It takes us to somewhere we've never been, or reminds us of someplace we'd like to revisit." Wood encourages the staff to push boundaries and try to experiment with new tastes. "It's like you're writing a play," he says. "Constructive conflict is a good thing."

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original source Blog TO

The Toronto Star features local entrepreneur Dana Moore, co-owner of two bustling Toronto hot-yoga studios. Moore, who took over a struggling Queen East yoga studio four years ago, succeeded in doubling the studio's customer retention rate using a combination of clever promotions and personalized customer service. Moore has been so successful that she and new business partner Damien Smith, recently opened another location in Yorkville to keep up with demand.

"...Moore's studio on Queen St. E. has grown from just two to three classes of between five and 15 participants to today's busy schedule of five packed sessions each day with 30 to 40 people."

"We are averaging about 150 people a day, it's packed."

"At Moore's studio, the biggest business challenge is client turnover. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the high heat and novel physical positions the uninitiated must endure during each 90-minute session, the drop-out rate after that first class is extremely high. Most studios see just two out of 10 first-timers return for a second class, Moore says."

"Her big success has been a series of measures designed to double that retention rate."

"We follow up with an email and we call all of our new students the day after," explains Moore, who describes the immediate reaction of most first-timers as "they feel like they got hit by a yoga truck." Quick follow-up is the key to getting them back, she says."

"Usually, they are kind of light-hearted the next day. That's why we wait until the next day. Most often, people have had a really great night's sleep and are enthusiastic. Operating under the assumption that customers will be hooked if they can be convinced to suffer through those first few classes, Moore promotes discounted trial offers and gives regulars various ways to pay � from 10- and 20-class packages that never expire to unlimited year-long memberships. As a result, few customers pay the per-class rate of $18 for a single session."

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original source Toronto Star

Urban Toronto looks back at the most notable new buildings of 2010. One Bloor, the Queen Richmond Centre West, and the Bisha Hotel & Residences are among the buildings that transformed Toronto's architectural landscape over the past year.

read full list and descriptions here
original source Urban Toronto

The Globe & Mail lauds Harbord tattoo parlour Speakeasy for their innovative use of both online and traditional PR. Owner Lizzie Renaud uses almost every available social media tool -- Twitter, WordPress, Tumblr, Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr -- to showcase artwork, stories and even to fill last minute cancellations. But Renaud is also known for her use of more traditional communications, in the summer of 2010 she worked with a designer to create postcard-shaped handbills to advertise Speakeasy's "guest artists" program.

"When a colleague told me about Toronto-based Speakeasy Tattoo, I was intrigued. She said Lizzie Renaud, the shop's owner, was doing some really cool things online � Ms. Renaud and her team fill last-minute cancellations through Twitter and share their stories and artwork on WordPress, Tumblr, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and other tattooing websites. You name the social network, Speakeasy is there."

"But marketing is a particular challenge for Ms. Renaud: she runs a very small business in a specialized market, and it is important to her to always respect the tightly knit group of tattoo artists and shops in her community."

"You can't ever come out and say 'we are the best shop in Toronto' because you would be stepping on the toes of the people who made you who you are," Ms. Renaud explains. "The people who taught me to tattoo are in this city, so it is a huge challenge to stay modest and respect everyone."

"So Ms. Renaud and her team did something innovative to set Speakeasy apart: they reached out to five well-known tattoo artists and asked them to work as guests in the summer of 2010. Despite her commitment to blogging and social media, when it came time to promote the roster of guests, she deployed a completely integrated campaign that used a combination of online and offline tactics."

"We decided to go old school," says Ms. Renaud, speaking about her offline strategy. She worked with a designer to produce glossy, postcard-shaped handbills, which included art by the guest artists, the dates they were coming, and the shop contact information."

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original source Globe & Mail

As reported by Blog TO, St. George and Harbord has recently become the first Toronto intersection to host bike boxes. Bike boxes--lines painted on the road marking a spot for cyclists to pull out in front of stopped traffic--were added to the City of Toronto Bike Plan in order to make turning on bike safer and easier.

"For those unfamiliar with bike boxes, they basically enable cyclists to pull out in front of stopped traffic so as to make turns more safely. They're particularly effective when turning left, but by giving cyclists a head start (intersections with bike boxes also feature no-right-on-red signs), they also help to diminish the chance of a cyclist being swiped when turning right. Cyclists might be a bit nervous the first time they try out a left hand turn in traffic, but by getting oneself visible, the endeavour is far safer. Just make sure to avoid oncoming traffic. Obviously!"

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original source Blog TO

BlogTO features Passage Tattoo Parlour, the Church Street tattoo shop with a loyal following and a reputation for perfection.

"If you're not looking for it, you will miss it. Nestled in the thick of the Village, firmly planted on Church St., its only storefront is an insignia-plastered door that leads to a narrow hallway. Passing some awards on the wall, you ascend a staircase into the open wilds of Passage Tattoo. One of Toronto's highly-touted tattoo shops."

"�The vast majority of Passage's customer's aren't "first-timers" or walk-ins off the street. (Typically when a first-timer does enter through Passage's hard-to-find front door, it's because they're accompanied with a heavily tattooed friend.) Decator and co.--there are currently four tattoo artists total and an apprentice--are then able to concentrate their efforts on bigger, more complex pieces."

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original source BlogTO

As reported by Quill & Quire the Toronto Women's Bookstore has officially reopened. The former not-for-profit has been on a three-month hiatus after financial problems almost forced a permanent closure. The bookstore was rescued by new owner Victoria Moreno who has transformed the store into traditional for-profit operation.

"Currently, Moreno is installing a caf� with seating and WiFi access at the back of the first floor. The second floor, which used to house overstock, texts for course orders, and six employee workstations, is being redesigned to allow for more shelf space and tables for patrons. Moreno says she hopes to have both additions up and running by the fall."

"At the moment, the store is pretty bare, and Moreno is able to employ only one part-time staffer. But she says patrons have been enthusiastic, buying titles and even offering to help out. And despite the slow start and low stock, events are already booked through October. The kick-off event, slated for Aug. 12, is the launch of a new film studies title, Rape in Art Cinema, edited by Dominique Russell."

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original source Quill & Quire

Scarpetta, the main restaurant in Toronto's newest luxury hotel, The Thompson, celebrated its official opening last week. The Huffington Post has published an "Open Letter to Toronto", from the man behind the famous restaurant, celebrity chef Scott Conant. In it Conant explains that the city's abundance of local food and thriving culinary scene made the decision to bring his restaurant enterprise to Toronto a no-brainer.

"...So there I was, Toronto. Eating some of the best culatello and prosciutto I've ever had, amongst thoughtful and kind people, I decided -- I've got to come to this city. It just made sense. Your people love food -- and that's really all I need."

"I know, I know, I'm an outsider. It's stressful enough opening up a restaurant around the corner from my apartment, and here I am in another country. Of course I'm worried, but at the end of the day, I simply try to make honest, delicious food. My other basic principle is to simply make the customer happy."

real full story here
original source Huffington Post

The National Post writes on Toronto's Richmond Street Housing Co-operative, this year's winner of the Peoples Choice Awards for Architecture (PUG Awards) for Best Residential Building. A Toronto Community Housing Corporation development, the 11-storey, 85-unit building was designed by Teeple Architects Inc. and finished construction in 2009. Located just west of Church on Richmond the building is the first new housing co-operative to be built in the city in the last 20 years.

"Pug Awards winners were announced Wednesday night at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto residents voted for their most and least favourite buildings from a total of 41 nominees (34 residential and 7 commercial/institutional). Voting took place on the Pug Awards website during the Month of May. Voters could either "love it," "like it," or "hate it."

"For a design to be nominated the building had to be completed in 2009, in Toronto and be larger than 50,000 sq. feet."

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original source the National Post

University of Toronto professor Natalie Zemon Davis has won the Holberg International Memorial Prize, a prestigious international award for work in the humanities. Awarded by the Norwegian parliament and worth about $785,000 the prize brings international recognition to the University's "arts, social science and humanities faculties". This year mark the second year in a row the award has gone to an academic from the University of Toronto.

"Toronto historian Natalie Zemon Davis was named yesterday as the recipient of the Holberg International Memorial Prize � awarded by the Norwegian parliament and worth about $785,000."

"U of T president David Naylor said the international recognition is a "fantastic boost" to the school's arts, social science and humanities faculties, and validates a continued focus on areas of studies that have suffered a decline in public funding and support".

"How we understand each other on this troubled planet is way more important to our children's future than the latest digital gadget," he said in an e-mail. "We simply don't believe Canada � or our university � can thrive without academic strength and a sustained investment in the humanities and social sciences."

"Dr. Davis, who is also a professor emerita at Princeton University, is considered a pioneer of social history and has a long record of political activism in civil and women's rights."

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original source Globe & Mail

As reported by the New York Times, Toronto researchers are behind a new study that finds a correlation between 'green' consumerism products and selfish behaviour. The University of Toronto research suggests that people who purchase green products sometimes use their ethical shopping habits to justify transgressions such stealing and cheating in other aspects of their lives.

"The Guardian newspaper picked this up recently, and it also makes an appearance in the most recent issue of Conservation magazine: people who buy green products may be, on the whole, more likely to steal and cheat when given the chance."

"This claim comes by way of two researchers at the University of Toronto, who were probing a more widely known psychological phenomenon in which people who pat themselves on the back for a good deed often feel entitled to a bit of selfishness later on."

"Green products do not necessarily make for better people," the Toronto researchers told The Guardian. They also said that while much time and treasure has been spent trying to identify green consumers, relatively little research has gone into "how green consumption fits into people's global sense of responsibility and morality."

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original source the New York Times

As reported by CBC News, Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children recently received a $10-million grant from the federal government to develop the Kids Arm, an innovative new device that aims to make pediatric operations smother and safer. The device, a pair of robotic arms that will assist surgeons operating on children, will be developed "in partnership with surgeons, engineers and software developers from universities and businesses" and will contribute to the creation of over 80 new jobs in the GTA.

"This project is a prime example of how research and technology can be transformed into clinical applications, which lead to improved health outcomes for our children," Mary Jo Haddad, president and CEO of the Sick Kids, said in a release."

"Surgeons will be able to operate the tabletop tool by using a pair of hand controllers, allowing them to safely and efficiently perform less invasive procedures on pediatric patients."

"As the first technology of its kind in the world, this project will contribute to the innovation and diversification of Ontario's knowledge-based economy," Gary Goodyear, minister of state for science and technology, said at a news conference at the hospital."original source CBC News

As reported by the Financial Times, academics from the University of Toronto are behind a study which found a correlation between wearing dark sunglasses and morally dubious behaviour. In partnership with the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina researchers from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto discovered through a series of experiments that wearing sunglasses consistently linked individuals with selfish behaviour. The findings of the study were recently published in Psychological Science.

"In a series of experiments, academics from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto and Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discovered that wearing sunglasses - giving the illusion of darkness and a sense of anonymity led individuals to behave more selfishly. They also discovered that when faced with a series of tests linked to financial remuneration, those participants taking part in a darkened room tended to behave more dishonestly than those in a well-lit room."

"Across three studies we found that darkness, induced by room dimness or sunglasses, licensed self-interested and cheating behaviour. In addition, an illusory sense of anonymity seems to mediate this licensing effect of darkness." say the academics.""Darkness appears to induce a false sense of concealment, leading people to feel that their identities are hidden."

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original source Financial Times