Material Archive

Dinner at Chantecler

When I told people I was moving to Parkdale two years ago, I got a lot of sideways glances that irked me. Happy to say, as I predicted when I moved to Queen West 10 years before, the hood is awesome. Every week, some fabulous new place opens that reaffirms it.

This past Friday, @itbitme and I had dinner at newly opened Chantecler and are excited to report that it was really great.

We tried 6 different items from the menu and not only were they all good, but refreshingly different from anything else we had seen recently.

The potato gnocchi made with a creamy potato sauce accented with cured cod roe and dusted with seaweed powder was delicious and very comforting.

The pork neck, lightly dusted with white tumeric and served with braised lettuce and poached oysters and topped off with a house-made xo sauce, was very tasty and @itbitme's fav. He also really liked a torched mackerel dish served with slaw and toasts.

I loved the melt-in-your-mouth braised beef cheek served on a bed of parsley root and marrow mash, with sweet beet sauce.

The cocktails were also something quite special. We sat at the bar and watched them being made and they were as delicious as they were complex! An old-fashioned was finished with lavender smoke and the ice-cubes were like long sticks of butter.

I already know we're going to be fixtures here. And yes, thankfully they will be taking reservations!

On my Fall shopping list: Jeremy Laing dress

 

See more here.

Mercy's GASPARD Opens

The store's fitting rooms are lined in Liberty prints

_

While walking home from work yesterday, I came across a lovely new boutique called Gaspard. The moment I entered, I realized it belonged to my former Portrait clients, Richard and Jennifer from Mercy. Their signature use of Liberty prints tipped me off instantly and then I recalled bumping into Richard and chatting about their upcoming venture a few months ago.

After over 15 years as Mercy, the duo have finally expanded to offer their amazing line in their own store – complete with several other clothing, shoe and jewelry lines to compliment theirs. The result is a very tightly curated vision. So happy for them.

The CNE: A yearly tradition of pigging out

We ate: corn dogs, crisps, deep fried Twinkie, funnel cake with ice-cream, deep fried butter, lemonade, poutine and spaghetti. I am not kidding when I say I actually had a food hangover the next day – was slated to leave for an early morning roadtrip to Picton and I couldn't negotiate being vertical for several hours! Sugar is a killer!

ACME DeLuxe Ice-Cream Bricks

This is a real store sign! Unfortunately, it's sits on what is now an antique store on Queen West, next to Local Kitchen where I had dinner tonight.

Honestly, the concept of an "ice cream brick" store named "ACME DeLuxe" seems too good to be true – it's right out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon...  :-)

J.Crew opens in Toronto: leaves all the interesting merch in the US

The recent pricing controversy didn't keep my curiosity at bay and so I went shopping with list in hand (after doing a pre-shop online) and ventured out to the burbs to see the new outpost of American retailer J.Crew at Yorkdale mall.

Someone must have sent Jenna a memo outlining Canadians' supposed predilection for boring basics because I wasn't able to find one thing on my list in stock. The most interesting shoes, blazers and dresses were left south of the border for their more "fashion forward" customers. Deep sigh.

Canadians love J.Crew because of it's sunny and distinctly American outlook. Having Canadian buyers curate the collection (the sales staff confirmed this) removes what makes the brand interesting to us to begin with. So thanks for your efforts Mr. Drexler but I'll stick to my online / catalog shopping for now.

Photo from the Grid

High Tea at the Windsor Arms

Last weekend, a group of friends and I enjoyed High Tea at the Windsor Arms.

The Red Room we started out in was charming as all hell but very hot, so we had to move to a cooler area. Once re-seated, our tea arrived quickly and we were grateful! The rose tea we had was wonderful, as were the scones and Devon clotted cream. The sushi style rolled sandwiches were not remarkable though – a bit dry and flavourless. The petit fours were also not terribly inspired either, although pretty to look at. I would advise skipping those courses and simply focus your attention on what they do best – scones & tea!

Overall, a nice experience, with attentive service.

Next up for High Tea – MoRoCo & The Four Seasons!


P.S. There was a wealth of great art all around too – many great Charlie Pachters throughout the space.

 

Today I bought: Ports 1961 Perf Suede Booties

Saw these in the window at Ports 1961 on Bloor Street and decided I had to give them a good home...

My Custom Wildhagen Hat

I was out shopping one day 2 weeks ago when I saw a girl wearing the most charming hat. Usually, when I approach another woman about an article of clothing she's wearing, she'll tell me she bought it in Paris two seasons ago or at an antique market – leaving me with no chance of finding one for myself. Luckily, this particular girl, named Jade, proudly told me that she had made the hat herself and directed me to Wildhagen.

Already familiar with the brand after buying several hats from the Canadian company over the years, I beelined over and ordered a custom "Miniçoise" from Cheri Wildhagen herself. I chose the hat material and grosgrain ribbon and presto, a week and a half later, I picked up a made-to-measure (for my larger than average melon) lovely chapeau! A fun experience that I would recommend to all.

Bobbette & Belle: Go for the Whoppie Pie, Stay for Everything Else.

As mentioned in a previous post, Jules and I, (that's her in the first photo), popped into Bobbette & Belle last weekend to sample their macaroons, whoppie pies and raspberry lemonade – all of which were delicious! Toronto Life actually named their whoppie pies the best in the city – so I would recommend skipping the Starbucks versions and try a red velvet pie like the one I had above.

The shop's size and space is quite impressive and the decor is really beautiful – perfectly suited to hosting private parties, or having a gab fest with a friend.

Cool Hand Luc: A Welcome Addition

When summer heat hits, I literally crave ice-cream daily. Thankfully a fun new ice-cream shop has opened on my route home from work on King West and I am pleased as ever about it. Cool Hand Luc is open nightly until 11pm to snare the after dinner crowd on the strip and I predict they will do well. The ice-cream is all from Kawartha Dairy and although not as distinctive in flavour concoctions as Greg's, still very satisfying! The best part of all though is that they intend to stay open all year round. Finally, someone that understands that ice-cream, although particularly enjoyable on a hot summer's day, is an all-year-round treat.

Visit to the Cheese Boutique

On Saturday, @itbitme and I were on a mission to buy the ingredients to make Spaghetti Amatriciana after having it at Campagnolo recently. Our very knowledgeable foodie friend @bloggerton suggested The Cheese Boutique as the place to buy guanciale – a not so easy-to-find Italian pork jowl bacon.

As a first time visitor to CB, I can say I liked it instantly. Not at all pretentious like Pusateri's, the staff were warm and friendly and the selection of fine foods was great and vast.

The most amazing part hands-down was the cheese vault that you can enter and explore. I stood in there for a few long minutes inhaling deeply... :)

 

Leanne Shapton's Wednesday Patterns

 

A month of patterns by Leanne Shapton in the New York Times.

Click here to see a previous post about Leanne.

Dinner at Campagnolo

WHERE: Campagolo 832 Dundas Street West (just west of Bathurst)

MOOD: Rustic & charming. It's not a hugely inspiring or beautiful space but it's comfortable. There was enough space around our table that we didn't have to listen to neighbors conversations – which was appreciated.

PRICE: $$ / $$$

WHEN WE WENT: Sunday evening

WHAT: The menu changes daily

TRY: If they have it, get the spaghetti amatriciana, the smokey grilled asparagus with fennel, the grilled nectrarine salad with escarole, the Hendrick's Tipple cocktail

SKIP: We didn't order as many dishes as we usually do, but, what we had, we really enjoyed!

SERVICE: Attentive

REPEAT?: Absolutely!

MOST NOTABLE: The spaghetti amatriciana was amazing. I could have easily eaten another helping and am salivating right now thinking about it. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was salted by crisp pork jowl bacon. I savoured every bite!

 

Wvrst: A Sausage Hall

My friend LadyB took me to her friend's restaurant Wvrst tonight. Described as a "sausage hall", the space and food were simple, comfortable and charming. I ordered a traditional Sicilian pork sausage with fennel which was served on a bun. MissB got a Kranjska sausage with sweet peppers which is what we were raised on as kids and so I was immediately reminded of home the second I bit in to it. In addition, they have a pretty varied game sausage selection – like guinea fowl, pheasant, venison, rabbit, bison, wild boar and even kangaroo.

We both also got the duck fat fries – which had great flavour, but were a bit too thick and not crispy enough for my liking. They did have a very robust selection of flavoured mayos as dipping sauces though – which helped. We shared a bottle of Plowman's to wash it down and felt perfectly content after.

We'll definitely be back. I can already tell this is a place that is going to get very loud quickly.

Courage My Love

After going for dim sum at Rol San this aft, we strolled through Kensington Market to pick up some fresh fruit. Naturally I jumped at the chance to pop into Courage My Love – a store I have literally been going to for all manner of vintage baubles and beads since I was 11 years old. Above is today's loot – charming vintage brooches that I'll convert to pendants.

Back to Ruby Watch Co.

When I like something, I can go back to it again and again with no delay.

Last night, a group of friends and myself enjoyed another super cozy and delicious dinner at Ruby Watch Co.

Everything was great but the steak and mushrooms were especially good, as was the sweet and sour cherry tomatoes with the cheese course. The portions are very generous, so leaving with To-go containers at the end of the night are a guarantee.


We gobbled up:

RUBY’S SHRIMP COCKTAIL SALAD

Romaine Hearts, Avocado, Garden Radishes, A.F.G’s Cucumbers,

Marie Rose Dressing

 

MUSTARD MARINATED TRI TIP STEAK WITH TOMATO & RED ONION RELISH

Charred Ontario Ramp & 10 yr Old Cheddar Pasta Salad,

Grilled Norfolk Asparagus with Black Pepper Lemon Crumb,

Balsamic Roasted Button Mushrooms

 

LE CENDRE DES PRES BY FROMAGERIE DOMAINE FEODAL

Sweet & Sour Cherry Tomatoes, Grilled Country Bread

 

VANILLA PANNA COTTA

Honey & Ginger Rhubarb Sauce

 

The cocktails were also quite fun –

416 Snack Bar

 

 

WHERE: 416 Snack Bar: 181 Bathurst just north of Queen on the East side

MOOD: Hip, Casual

PRICE: Cheap & Cheerful  $ / $$$

WHEN: A Wednesday night after work

WHAT: Highlighted items on the menu above

TRY: Everything. It's a small, inexpensive menu of tapas sized servings – get one of each.

SKIP: I live for corn dogs but the meat sort of just fell apart.

SERVICE: Decent, pleasant, relatively attentive

REPEAT?: Yes. Super cute place and the gimmicky comfort food is really fun.

MOST NOTABLE: The Ribwich. I ordered two (see above). YUM.

 

 

A sweet video about Nadège Patisserie

Suzie Smith's Celeb Dolls

 

 

Several years ago, at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, I bought a Courtney Love doll that sits on the ledge of my bed. She has a tag that reads: "Don't date the captain of the football team, be the captain of the football team." --- Courtney Love

Needless to say, that quote makes me smile everytime –

Last week, I was super excited when I came across Tina Turner in similar form at The Drake General Store – another "Action Figure" from Suzie Smith. Below is a exerpt from her site on the series:

"Action Figures is a series of screen-printed dolls of famous people who I find iconic and inspirational. In the series I created dolls of Yoko Ono, Tina Turner, Courtney Love, Frida Kahlo, Johnny Cash, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Nina Simone, the Guerilla Girls, John Waters, David Bowie, Missy Elliott, John Lennon, and Stompin’ Tom Connors. The installation was from an exhibition entitled Supernovas held at the Winnipeg art gallery in 2007. The exhibition was curated by Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan."



 

Made in Toronto: Hoi Bo on Vimeo

 

Today I bought: Hoi Bo

I've been eyeing the larger grey version of this same waxed cotton bag for over a year now and today when I saw the khaki colour with gold hardware at Delphic, I didn't hesitate. Handmade in Toronto, in the Distillery District, Hoi Bo is fast becoming a personal favourite.

 

Commute Home

 




 

Some of my favourite pieces at home are from Commute and so I must confess that I'm a little sad that they've moved away from my hood in Queen West – they are now at a bigger space at Bathurst & Dupont. They've also updated their website to showcase some really beautiful custom installation work – have a look.

Caribou: "Odessa"

 

Listen to the album "Swim" here.

Celebrating 25 years of Fashion Television tonight!

If you had asked the average person on the street 25 years ago about fashion, they may have been able to ramble off a few classic names like Coco, Valentino, Yves. But it wasn't until Jeanne brought the likes of Armani, Marc and Karl into our livingrooms every Sunday at 6:30pm on CityTV, that the public embraced these figures as artists and celebrities in their own right and ultimately, runway presentations, as a form of entertainment. By taking us backstage and into the ateliers of designers, she celebrated and demystified an industry and culture that previously was only accessible to the people working within it and the wealthy elite buying it. All of a sudden, in 1985, people like yours truly, at the tender age of 10, were discussing the merits of Calvin's minimalism and Lacroix's opulence at the dinner table with the whole family – – and I haven't stopped since! ;)

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the show's 25th anniversary party.

 

 

Scott Pilgrim xo

 

Thought it was adorable.

In my head on a loop

 

Arcade Fire's Ready to Start

Thieves: 5 in 1 Dress

I love buying Canadian – nothing makes me happier than supporting amazing local designers and businesses. And it's so easy when the product is great and sold at an accessible price point. Last week I bought the Thieves 5 in 1 Dress and I've already worn it twice – which is a lot for me ;). The cut is so flattering and the versatility is undeniable. I was at dinner last night, sitting on a patio, and the minute I felt a chill, I converted my short dress to a long one right at the table. Obviously, this would be brilliant for travel as well. Buy it here at Thieves.

CALLA

 

Loving Canadian born – Paris based designer Calla Haynes.

The Perfect Canadiana Gift: Virginia Johnson Elk Shawl

Virginia Johnson, one of my favourite Canadian designers, teamed up with HBC recently to create a special edition shawl to coincide with the Olympics. The elk print shawls can be found at the Bay flagship stores in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Gary Taxali at Narwhal

Marty, AliB and I dropped by the Narwhal gallery yesterday to see Gary Taxali's show "Taxali 300" where he had, actually, over 300+ works on display. As wonderful as they are when you see them digitally, as shown above, they really do come to life in person when you can see the paper and ink textures up close and personal. Needless to say, I'm an even bigger fan now than before.

Currently listening to...

Rita Liefhebber Spring 2010

 


Love the gold skirt. See more from this Toronto designer here.

Loyal Loot Log Bowls

Saw these great Loyal Loot bowls for sale at the AGO. So Canadian...

Did I mention I live across the street from Charlie Pachter?

PROMENADE, 1986


MARGARET ATWOOD, acrylic & pencil on canvas 1980
What I especially like about this is how unfinished it looks.


TITANICAR, serigraph 1971
Love this!


PROCESSION THROUGH LANDSCAPE, acrylic on canvas board panels, 1972
This painting used to hang in The Spoke Club's dining room when I was a member. Not sure if it's there any longer though.



PIERRE BLANC, 1990


VAN GOGH'S BED
I remember thinking, when I first saw this, how clever it was that he had painted himself in to a place he wanted to be.



Every day, when I leave or come home, I get to admire Charlie Pachter's beautiful house dubbed the "Moose Factory" – which serves as the artist's iconic live/work space.. The building is such a tourist attraction that I often have to navigate around enthusiasts taking photos. For my part, it's just very neat to live near someone whose work I've admired since I was in high school.

I think there are few painters that have branded themselves as well as Charlie has – cornering the market on Canadiana subject matter – from mouse, streetcars, famous authors and politicians, to the Queen herself. In some ways, I think of him as our own Andy Warhol.

Above are a selection of my favourite works of his.

Gary Taxali can do no wrong

Three guesses why I love this one...   ;-)

Great watercolours of Toronto Neighbourhoods

These wonderful watercolours are from artist Ruby Zhang

Bubble gum machine rings

Designer Jaime Sin took the time to collect the perfect cheapy rings – like the kinds one would find at the dollar store and cast silver versions from them! The result is a very cute micro collection you can buy from Delphic on Queen West.

Smythe Fall 09

You have to respect designers that decide to focus on one item of clothing, in this case the coat, and perfect it. The Canadian duo behind the label Smythe have been a success since their launch in 2004 and are consistently a celeb fav. Above are my selects from Fall 09. Love the big buffalo check with the hunting jacket tail. Cute!

All of a sudden I'm nostalgic for K-Way

                            
 

I'm currently working on rebranding Cougar Boots, an iconic Canadian brand, which reminded me of another beloved Canadian company from my youth, K-Way! So I emailed them and asked where they sell their products in Toronto and they said, to my utter surprise, that I should go to Corbo Studio of all places! I'll have to pop by and see what they carry – should be interesting.

The styles shown above are all mens but the nice thing is that the current updated looks are all fitted and tapered to have a sleeker silhouette for men and women.