Queen/King West : In The News

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 National Post showcases Toronto fashion entrepreneur Laura-Jean Bernhard's favourite looks of the season. Bernhard is best known as the founder of Fresh Collective, a curated Toronto boutique that promotes local designers and one-of-kind product.

"Bernhardson started making clothing and jewellery in high school and selling them to her friends, but that didn't seem like a career path from the viewpoint of Saskatoon in 1987. She studied photography at Concordia and moved to Toronto in 1992, where she became known as Laura-Jean the Knitting Queen. Now her Fresh Collective business, with two stores in Toronto and a third coming next spring, sells her own line and the works of more than 30 up-and-coming designers."

read full story here
original source National Post

Toronto's Cowbell restaurant has been awarded a Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF) certification by a new Alberta-based organization that help diners identify green restaurants. As reported by Toronto Life, the Queen West restaurant was lauded for its dedication to buying local, its efficient use of energy and water, and its commitment to recycling.

"When it comes to providing environmentally sustainable cuisine, locavore haven Cowbell walks the walk, according to Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF)."

"Mark Cutrara, Cowbell's co-owner, considers it an honour. LEAF offers a certification on three levels, with three representing the ultimate in culinary green-dom. Cowbell got a level two, but Cutrara says it's difficult for a non-vegetarian restaurant to get much higher�and if there's anything Cowbell is not, it's vegetarian. "Meat production in itself is less sustainable," he says. "And I'm not about to go and change the name of the restaurant to Veg-Bell."

read full story here
original source Toronto Life

The Toronto Star features Leigh & Harlow, a west Queen West clothing boutique begun by Torontonians Gus Papaioannou and Tony Vlachos. Open less than two years Leigh & Harlow has been so successful the owner's recently opened a second location, at the Shops at Don Mills.

"When Gus Papaioannou and Tony Vlachos decided to open up a clothing store in Toronto, the focus of their energies came down to one little truth � location is everything."

"Their shop, Leigh & Harlow, carries men's and ladies' fashion brands from Europe, the U.S. and Canada, which Papaioannou describes as young, contemporary fashion, not too edgy.

"Our demographic is young professional, single or married, anywhere between 23 to 45," he said. "This is the fashion-conscious individual who wants quality, and to look good without being generic."

"So what better location for a shop than Queen Street West, which they opened a year and a half ago."

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

Film reviewer Roger Ebert, recently in Toronto for TIFF, has taken to twitter to express his love of the city, declaring, among other things "King and Queen streets in Toronto all by themselves are reason enough for this city to exist". The Torontoist has complied some of the Chicago Sun-Times reviewer most glowing tweets.

read full story here
original source Torontoist

The Toronto Star writes on restaurant green roofs, the growing trend in Toronto's culinary scene. Featuring four celebrated Toronto restaurants -- Beast, Parts and Labour, Vertical and Weezie's -- the article looks at the challenges and the joys of growing your own food. An excerpt on Beast's green roof:

"Beast, 96 Tecumseth St."

"Growers: Rachelle and Scott Vivian, spouses and co-chefs, formerly of Church Street's Wine Bar."

"What they grow: Tomatoes, chili peppers, strawberries, edible calendula and nasturtium flowers, herbs and "corn by accident," said Rachelle. Planted on a whim, the cornstalks quickly shot up, and now the plants are flowering. The duo don't think they'll actually get cobs � but then again, they might."

"Challenges: Raccoons. One ate an entire plant of chili peppers. "I don't feel sorry for him," said Scott, "but I kind of do. Those things were spicy." Cucumbers and coriander just wouldn't grow, despite their best efforts."

"Joys: "Not having to go into the walk-in and open up a bag of herbs," said Scott. "That's definitely the most satisfying part."

"What they grow: Hard-to-find heirloom varieties of tomatoes, eggplant, hot peppers, peas, beans, and Swiss chard. Shehata is particularly proud of the more than 40 varieties of heirloom lettuce."

"How he grows it: McAuley trawls construction sites for leftover wood hoarding, which he builds into bins. The upcycled greenhouse is entirely made from found and salvaged windows and doors."

"Challenges: "This year we went full tilt and failed," said Shehata. "Which is fine." Blasting heat wilted many of the plants, a problem exacerbated by a spongy soil mixture that didn't allow fledgling plants to properly root."

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

Ravi Kanagarajah Toronto's "soup king" is expanding his successful soup franchise, Ravi Soups. As reported by Blog TO Kanagarajah, who already operates two busy soup counters--one on Adelaide Street and one on West Queen-- has plans for two new Ravi Soups locations, a cook book and a full service restaurant.

"Toronto soup king Kanagarajah has come a long way since he immigrated to Canada nearly 20 years ago. He grew up working in - and then running - his family's restaurant back in Sri Lanka, but arrived to Canada with very little. On the day he arrived he stopped by Mildred Pierce - where his uncle worked as a dishwasher - to pick up keys to his house where Ravi would be staying until he got settled."

"By the end of next year he plans to have a fourth location at Yonge and Sheppard as well, along with a different, full service restaurant featuring what he promises to be a unique menu of Indian cuisine.It's an ambitious plan for sure, but one he intends to do without the help of investors or franchising. Above all it's a family operation and Kanagarajah wants to keep it that way - lucky for him, he's got an enormous family."

"With 25 first cousins in Canada - all cooks, 21 of which are spread out across the GTA, Kanagarajah has a pretty broad talent pool to draw from. By the time he's done, he'd like to employ all of them. His plans include a location in London, England and New York City in the next few years as well as a total of ten locations across the GTA."

"It's going to be one big family operation," he says. "I want to grow big, bit without being too commercial. It will always keep the same attitude."

"He's already got four cousins operating the Adelaide location, his brother running the Queen West spot and now as his nephews are getting older they're becoming involved too. With the size of his growing family, perhaps his plans aren't ambitious enough."

read full story here
original source Blog TO

Toronto nightclub owner and entrepreneur Charles Khabouth, arguably "the most powerful man in Toronto's entertainment district" is embarking on his largest project yet. As reported by the Toronto Star, Khabouth is in the process of building a $150-million boutique hotel and condominium on Blues Jays Way in the heart of the King West district. Named Bisha, the complex will have a nightclub-y feel with two themed floors and 30,000 square feet devoted to amenities.

"Khabouth, 49, grew up in Lebanon. Even though he has couture tastes � he owned his own Hugo Boss boutique, drove a Ferrari and his wife is a former model � Khabouth wears a signature dark urban safari jacket and could easily be mistaken for a bike courier."

"He worked three jobs in high school; his first was at a McDonald's. When he was 22, he started his first nightclub with a $30,000 loan. He hit it big when he used the proceeds from his first venture to rent a decrepit space at Richmond and Duncan in 1986, creating what would become the city's entertainment district."

"The privately owned INK generates now more than $30 million in revenues annually, according to Khabouth. It owns and operates the massive Guvernment and Kool Haus nightclub complex on the city's waterfront, the largest such venue in Canada with more than 50,000 square feet on the main floor, and the This Is London nightclub in the entertainment district. It also owns the Dragonfly Nightclub in Casino Niagara and a string of restaurants, including Ultra Supper Club on Queen Street and Spice Route, an Asian-influenced bistro bar on King Street West."

"This year, Khabouth is finally being recognized by the mainstream business community. He is on the short list of nominees for an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award."

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

The Huffington Post has declared Toronto "the hot new destination for all things crazy, sexy, cool". The article points to Toronto's  mix of "trendy" and unique neighbourhoods--including West Queen, Ossington and Kensington Market--as the city's main draw. Toronto is also celebrated for embracing public art projects and for its diverse culinary scene.

"Although the Toronto skyline is dotted with a dizzying array of towering glass residential developments, it is the renewal of the once dodgy but now trendy West Queen, Ossington and King West neighborhoods that have visitors buzzing about the galleries, custom clothing boutiques, restaurants and specialty stores. As a reference consider these districts to be Toronto's Brooklyn."

"Moving further along you will discover the beating heart of the city lies in Kensington Market, Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Portugal, Greektown, and Little India. It is in these neighborhoods that you will see, feel and taste the vibrant mash-up of globalization and daily life coming together."

read full story here
original source Huffington Post

As reported by the Toronto Star a bike parking lot has replaced 2 on-street car spaces along Spandia Avenue. A space that formally served 2 vehicles now serves 16. The new racks, located directly out-front of the Centre for Social Innovation have been well-used by tenants and others since their installation early last week.

"As part of a city pilot project, two on-street car parking spots along Spadina have been converted into a small bike parking lot with two racks, each with eight spaces."

"It's exciting. It looks great. The racks were filled right away," said Tonya Surman, executive director of the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), one of the tenants inside the building where the racks were installed Tuesday."

"You would get to the front of the building and try to park your bike before work, but couldn't find any spots at all. Every indoor rack was full. About 75 to 80 per cent of the tenants bike in the summer. So we requested more racks from the city."

"The CSI and a couple other organizations sent a letter to local city Councillor Adam Vaughan a year and a half ago, suggesting the conversion. The racks, Surman says, will be removed before winter, when demand decreases."

"It's a real look into the future, not just the cycling revolution in this city, but around the world," Surman said. "I drive my car in the winter. This is about people realizing how space and infrastructure need to be used in the new urban future."

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

The New York Times Travel Section recently featured King Street West, likening the strip between Spadina and Bathurst to "one long fashion runway, with its see-and-be-seen restaurants, bars and clubs". The article is accompanied by a slide show of the area's hotspots; a list that includes Portland Street's Jimmy's Coffee, the Spice Root restaurant and the first Thompson Hotel built outside of the United States.

"King West feels like one of those glamorous, tourist-friendly neighborhoods that was once to be avoided, like the meatpacking district in New York. At the turn of the 20th century, King Street wasa textile-manufacturing hub, but by the 1980s, many of the sturdy but humble brick buildings sat empty, so the city rezoned the land for mixed development. In the shells of those old factories, a destination neighborhood was born."

read full story here
original source New York Times

The Miami Herald has named Toronto Canada's "hip capital of business, arts, nightlife and sports". The article cites Toronto's dynamic neighbourhoods (including Queen West, Leslieville, Kensington Market and the Junction), diverse industry, and abundance of unique galleries, eateries and boutiques as among the city's many assets.

"Is Toronto Canada's coolest city?"

"Only in recent times has it seen its sense of self-confidence grow along with its size. Best of all, it's still growing: dozens of skyscrapers under construction, a Frank Gehry-designed art gallery just opened, a new opera house, and a recently refurbished city square."

read full story here
original source Miami Herald

The London Times has named Queen West's Gladstone Hotel one of the world's "20 best hotels for art lovers".

"Walls decorated so that you feel you are sleeping in a forest, a room that makes you believe you are in the middle of a deep blue ocean, a "Parlour in Twilight" bedroom with odd neon fuchsia lighting, and a suite decorated almost entirely with glass boxes . . . the Gladstone is full of avant-garde art."

read full story here
original source London Times

The Toronto Star reports on the success of Ontario's independent beer breweries. Craft beers sales have "gone through the roof" across the province's Beer Stores and LCBOs. And Toronto is at the forefront of this local beer movement. Suds from Toronto's Mill Street brewery are consistently a top seller, while restaurants across the city (especially "traditionally non-beercentric" ones) are now waking up to the craft beer trend. Ossington avenue's B�hmer and Wellington's Le S�lect Bistro are two Toronto restaurants offering carefully selected local and international beers.

"Mill Street brewmaster Joel Manning, who's been part of the local brewing scene since 1986, believes part of the reason for craft beer's growing success is that it's simply being better made better."

"People doing the work have different skill-sets than they had back then when I started. Technically, the brewing is at a much higher standard, for the most part," says Manning, adding that drinkers are also becoming more savvy about different beer styles.

"Restaurants are also starting to realize there's good beer being made on their doorsteps. With the local food movement gaining strength, serving locally produced beers with locally grown food is a natural fit, says Brad Long, chef/owner at Veritas restaurant and My Place pub."

"Part of what's appealing about serving local food is being able to look the person in the eye who created it, and to see their passion. With these guys (local brewers), you can definitely see the passion,'' says Long during the recent Brewers Plate."

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

The Globe & Mail's Ivor Tossell (and Yonge Street contributor) writes on Toronto's transformation into the "Silicon Valley of the North" as successful tech start-ups continue to pop up across the city. Toronto's position as an emerging international hub of web development can be attributed in part to its proximity to strong computer-science universities (e.g. Waterloo, McMaster and University of Toronto), and to its "size and vibrancy" that make it an attractive destination for young workers.

"There's a new emergent scene going on in Toronto," says David Crow, a strategist for Microsoft, and a long-time organizer of the city's tech community. "We have great talent and great opportunity."

"After years of nurturing a tight-knit tech community, Toronto seems to be reaching a critical mass � not just of homegrown companies, conferences, and networks, but of ties to a global industry. Groups like Extreme Venture Partners "are building a pipeline between Toronto and the Valley," says Mr. Crow."

"Clustered in neighbourhoods like Queen and Spadina and Liberty Village, companies such as Polar Mobile (they make iPhone apps for big media firms), LearnHub (which connects international learners) and Five Mobile (who produce apps for The Score TV network) are part of the local tech resurgence."

read full story here
original source the Globe & Mail