Aesop Travel Guide: Toronto
A rambling landscape of ravines carves Toronto into neighbourhood pockets, each boasting distinct and historically rich identities. Sample Little Italy, Portugal and Tibet before even setting foot in the city’s East side, where boroughs bear names such as Cabbagetown and aptly brim with lashings of character. In the Distillery District – home to North America’s best-preserved examples Victorian Industrial architecture – brick-paved streets lined with galleries and artists’ studios feed an afternoon itinerary of cultural bingeing. Reserve time for Case Goods Warehouse, home to more than fifty artists, craftspeople and stores retailing the tenants’ varied creations, from handmade furniture to custom jewellery and metalworks. A head-clearing walk through High Park is best enjoyed in the morning. Collect coffee at Ella’s Uncle en route to Robarts Library, an imposing concrete monument to Brutalism and preferred study spot for 18,000 students daily. If cloud-free skies reign, climb the CN Tower for jaw-dropping views – Niagara Falls can be spotted from the summit. Down the road, the Fairmont Royal York’s Library Bar serves a mean martini to preface after-hours activities.
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ARTiculations
In a city dense with artists and creatives, a well-stocked art supplier is as essential as a grocery store. Visit here for exceptional quality ballpoint pens, paints, pigments, sketchbooks, custom panels and printmaking materials or to explore the adjoining gallery’s current exhibition. Complementing a programme of framing, sketching and watercolour workshops and wide-ranging art classes for children and adults, the store hosts regular ‘Wes Anderson Painting Parties’ well worth experiencing.
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Boralia
Presented with pigeon pie, the wise will tuck in, to be rewarded with rich and tender chunks of flavourful squab encased in buttery, perfectly flaky pastry. The 400-year-old dish (Head Chef Wayne Morris deduced its age via extensive research of Canada’s culinary records, intending a menu inspired by the nation’s first people) is Boralia’s star item on a list of close seconds, such as pan-roasted elk and onions stuffed with melt-in-the-mouth creamed carrots and spices.
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Cheese Cave TOCA
tocarestaurant.com
Complementing a menu of sustainably sourced Canadian fare, TOCA’s cheese cave houses 200-odd cheeses, of which around half are sourced locally. For flavours personifying the country, sample the five-year aged cheddar infused with maple syrup and whisky. Tasting sessions led by TOCA’s Head Cheesemonger are held regularly; simply phone to enquire, or wander in while exploring the surrounding theatre district.
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The Drake Hotel
When booking at the Drake, opt for the cosy ‘Nook’ or compact yet comfortable ‘Crash Pad’; or if sprawling is your style, take the XL Suite. Colourful complementary offerings (available for non-guests’ enjoyment, too) include Sky Yard rooftop, Corner Cafe, Underground live music space and occasional nightclub, and Drake General Store, which sells everything from fresh coffee to clothing. The hotel’s event calendar typifies its quirks and philosophies: there’s every chance you’ll encounter a good old-fashioned (and well attended) neighbourhood clean-up scheduled for your stay.
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Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre
Should travels feel deficient in drama, Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre can compensate ably, with a dose of architectural appreciation on the side: the 102-year-old venue was painstakingly restored in the 1980s following fifty years’ neglect (and in the Winter Garden’s case, total disuse in the wake of vaudeville’s demise), and its extensive facelift alone is worth the visit. The process involved delicate washing of walls using raw bread dough, extensive regilding, and exacting restoration of opera boxes, plaster detailing and the grand marble staircase. Tours are held daily Tuesday to Friday for a cheerful $5.
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First Thursdays at AGO
Renowned for their adventurous spirit, Art Gallery of Ontario’s First Thursdays vary in focus, content and form from one month to the next: Grandmaster Flash paired with the works of Jean-Michael Basquiat might be followed by a video-link exchange between AGO’s Director and artist Ai Weiwei, or the transformation of the Gallery’s Walker Court into a Marrakech-style bazaar complete with its own currency for purchasing exhibited art. Whether or not First Thursdays sync with your calendar, a visit to Torontonian Frank Gehry’s fabulous structure is surely essential.
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Good Egg
Notebooks, crockery, cutlery and books with a food-loving lean form the organised clutter of Good Egg, curated by owner Mika Bareket. In addition to its trove of wooden spoons, Finnish textiles and children’s story books, the store hosts cooking classes, and wine appreciation and knife skills courses led by local experts.
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Humber Arboretum
Just outside the city centre, this 250-acre space hosts Canada’s most diverse ecosystem, tended with the utmost care by horticulture students of Humber College. A day-long visit is best, with a packed lunch on board; for picnicking, consider Tranquility Garden or the Urban Wildlife Garden dense with butterfly-magnet wildflowers, or opt for a plot by the ponds with turtles and frogs, or perhaps in the woods where deer are known to wander and owl sightings (perhaps Great Horned or the tiny Northern saw-whet) are not uncommon.
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theismaili.org/ismailicentres/toronto
Adjacent to Fumihiko Maki’s gleaming granite Aga Khan Museum, the Ismaili Centre Toronto invites all for quiet contemplation. Designed by Charles Correa, it blends traditional Islamic features with contemporary forms and materials, and is distinguished by a crystalline faceted dome set amid a seven-hectare park by Lebanese landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic. This is one of six such institutions across the globe, all established to symbolise Islamic culture, advance appreciation of its values and teachings, and extol the importance of pluralism.
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Jazz at Poetry
A beacon for the faithful, Miles Davis’s face looms large on Poetry’s facade, beckoning mischievously in the bustle of Kensington Market. Leave your run here until around 10:30pm, when the resident trio takes the stage. Find a good vantage point, order a Bitches Brew (a signature spice-laden drink named for Davis’s seminal 1970 album), and then take in the music, which is steered regularly by emerging artists in line with the owner’s ambition to nurture a love of jazz in younger generations.
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Kitka by Mjölk
A blog by owners of Mjölk, a Junction design store and gallery specialising in Japanese and Scandinavian pieces. It catalogues a selection of items and objects, offering detailed commentary on the source, function, and maker of each, and why it was chosen to sit among Mjölk’s ‘everyday ritual’ wares. Through Kitka, discover the impeccable craftsmanship of Studioilse’s ‘Companions Bed’ for De La Espada; for items more readily transportable – such as a handmade hinoki cedar bath bowl with copper detailing – visit the store.
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L’Ouvrier
Although L’Ouvrier is noted for evening fare, with an emphasis on contemporary Canadian dishes, the daytime menu holds similarly strong appeal; when paired with a pot of freshly brewed French press coffee, brunch provides the perfect preamble to a day of urban exploration. Friendly and sharp-eyed waitstaff ferry an eclectic array of dishes from the kitchen to the peckish: French toast might follow tuna tartare, and oat-nut crumble with yogurt and honey can be sent hot on the heels of a half-dozen oysters.
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Mercer Union
Over 36 years, this artist-run gallery’s focus on site-specific work has bred outside-the-box exhibits by established and emerging artists across all forms of media. Steadfast in its mission to advance contemporary art both locally and internationally, and to challenge local audiences, Mercer Union hasn’t missed a beat in its long life, delivering diverse programmes and events – lectures, film screenings and performances – year after year.
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Neubacher Shor Contemporary
neubachershor.com
In addition to excellent exhibitions, this cavernous back-alley gallery offers art styling services to aid collectors and new buyers in selecting pieces that best complement personal style. Once aesthetically sated, explore adjacent Little Tibet (Parkdale is home to North America’s largest Tibetan Canadian community) and refuel on plump meat or vegetable momos and butter tea at Loga’s Corner or Lhasa Kitchen.
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Ontario College of Art and Design
ocadu.ca/about/sharp-centre-for-design
Architect Will Alsop’s Sharp Centre for the Ontario College of Art and Design hovers eight storeys above street level, a striking rival to Frank Gehry’s neighbouring Art Gallery of Toronto. It hosts two levels of teaching, studio and gallery space 26 metres above ground, and stands sentinel over a public outdoor area for students and local residents, on brightly hued stilts. In mid-2015, local design practice Bortolotto unveiled its design for the College’s new Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, set to feature an interactive facade animated through use of an app created by the College’s Digital Media Research Lab.
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Post and Beam Reclamation
Pre-loved pieces are added daily to Post and Beam’s collection, resulting in an unrivalled assemblage of architectural odds and ends. Offering everything from small decorative finds – such as a weathered window shutter, a pair of Art Deco wall sconces – to larger gems – a heavy decorative-panelled Oak door or Grecian-like support columns, this trove of fixer-upper treasures is one of several stores laying the foundation for Junction’s reputation as a destination for covetable furniture.
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Queens West Antique Centre
Pre-loved furniture retailers abound in Toronto and every enthusiast has a favourite; for Modernist pieces rubbing teak elbows with Victorian antiques, and similar juxtapositions, venture to Queens West Antique Centre. The store’s blog catalogues its items for those wishing to browse ahead; however, an extensive wander through the enormous space is recommended to encounter the precious, weird and rare face-to-face.
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Regent Park Aquatic Centre
architizer.com/projects/regent-park-aquatic-centre
Poor planning symptomatic of many post-war social housing efforts stymied Regent Park’s chances of becoming anything other than socially and economically marginalised. However, in 2005, a twelve-year revitalisation of Canada’s largest and oldest housing project began, with Regent Park Aquatic Centre the most noteworthy of its myriad success stories. Designed by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects, the Centre bucks stale tradition in favour of innovation and inclusivity, typified by designated pools for private swimming and non-gender specific change rooms.
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Scarborough Bluffs Trail
ontariotrails.on.ca/trails/view/scarborough-bluffs-trail
Stretching fourteen kilometres and climbing to heights of 65 metres, the cliff’s edge along this popular trail offers spectacular views of Lake Ontario and its beaches. Pick up a feast of fish and chips from Duckworth’s on nearby Kingston Road, select a spot and absorb the surrounds. In addition to water, snacks and comfortable walking shoes, a keen sense of caution is advised when venturing anywhere near the precipice.
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TIFF Bell Lightbox
Cutting a striking figure on Toronto’s skyline, the Bell Lightbox and 42-storey Festival Tower house the world’s largest film festival, and its everyday screen culture affairs. More than one million visitors file through the doors annually – many for the September festival, the rest to enjoy its year-round programme of classic, old and new screenings, workshops, exhibitions, lectures, or to explore the Canadian-focused catalogue of the Film Reference Library and sample the edible offerings of Canteen and Luma.
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Umbra
Umbra is the company behind the world’s most widely admired rubbish receptacle, the Garbino Trash Can by Karim Rashid - a perfect example of its no-nonsense design. The Toronto-based brand’s unmissable flagship on Queens Street West teems with everyday objects simplified, often conceived and crafted in partnership with local designers and students of Humber College and the Ontario College of Art and Design. Sharing the space with these internationally recognisable products is a team of in-house designers, with whom visitors are encouraged to engage.
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Vinny’s Panini
vinnyspanini.foodpages.ca
Believing his mother to be the world panini master, owner Vinny sought to share her star sandwich with hungry Torontonians; they have demonstrated gratitude daily by queueing patiently for his no-frills yet immeasurably satisfying sandwiches. Opt for the tender veal panini, a deliciously messy and saucy affair, and a hands-down crowd favourite. Do note that with meats cooked to order, waits are common; however, they are also well worthwhile.
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Ward’s Island
http://torontoisland.com/wards.php
Removed from the flurry of the city and the hubbub of Centre Island, this is where locals come to laze. Hop off the ferry at Ward’s Island Dock and wander through the car-free, cottage-lined streets towards the beach. Seek a cooling beer and meal at The Island Cafe before exploring walking trails wrapped with lush, unruly greenery, native plants and wildflowers. A fifteen-minute amble east, Algonquin Island offers the ideal note on which to end the day: take in the panorama of Toronto’s skyline, which flickers to life as the sun goes down.
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Xpace Cultural Centre
Youth in all its freshness, vigour and vibrancy is the life-force behind artist-run Xpace Cultural Centre. Students and emerging artists and designers dictate exhibits and events across the Centre’s four spaces, resulting in a programme that prizes imagination and sass in spades. We suggest an hour or two of cassette and Walkman appreciation in Boogie Woogie Mix-Tape Library.
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Yam Chops
yamchops.com
Beet burgers, tofu topped with mango salsa and quinoa for days – Yam Chops services the city’s hungry herbivores as its sole vegetarian ‘butcher’. Steered by principles of clean eating and a contemporary take on nutrition, the menu teems with vegan and gluten-free options for meat-averse eaters and those with food sensitivities and allergies. (An aside to vegetarians’ travel companions not quite comfortable with ‘coconut bacon’: consider Hey Meatball next door.)
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Zig Zag Mid-Century
zigzagmidcentury.blogspot.ca
A design aficionado’s dream, Zig Zag Mid-Century sells Louis Poulsen pendants, Arne Jacobsen stools, innumerable Scandinavian sideboards, Modernist tables, and mirrors among its artefacts from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. New pieces are worked into the collection regularly; from one day to the next visitors might stumble over an Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman or a Hans Olsen dining set.