morning
go to george st diner for breakfast if you’re in the east end , the people are the best there & i’ve never had a bad meal , they also turn tables at a truly impressive rate while never making you feel rushed .. real professionals at work 🫡 [irish breakfast is fantastic in all 3 sizes it’s offered in] -> {afterwards go across the street to window shop at haven if you’re into beautiful but expensive clothing}
in the west end go to the federal it’s quick & reliable & cute , small menu but nothings bad [cubano & eggs federal are standouts for me]
if you want a coffee i think hamers is the best in the city , they really care about what they’re doing & the prices are surprisingly reasonable in a world where a coffee can easily scrape $10 if you’re not careful ... rooms coffee also has a couple locations across the city & the spaces are thoughtful & beautiful & filled w/ the city's creative directoriest types
afternoon
ossington is a ridiculous street but there’s a couple great stores there if you like shopping , lost & found is great for high end basics & i miss you is one of the best designer consignment stores in the city . sonic boom probably has the biggest vinyl selection in the city but it’s also home to toronto‘a only genuine film photobooth , it’s so cute & fun to squeeze into the booth & get a little strip of photos to take home
while around there you can walk around bellwoods & watch the dogs or get some great fruit & oysters from the farmers market if you’re there on a tuesday & head down the street to get a glass of wine at grape witches gorgeous back patio [they’re open from noon]
you could also head west to high park which is huge & a great place for a picnic or a stroll
museum wise the textile museum is small but always has something that takes my breath away , truly special exhibitions if you’re into textile arts
for a snack stop by le’s sandwich [cash only] for a stunningly cheap & surprisingly good banh mi from the owner’s living room or make the trip up to st clair to go to futura granita + gelato exceptional vibrant flavours & unmatched textures .. best in the city & so worth the trek
evening
if you’re west you can go roncesvalles & catch a movie at the revue [the citys best theatre] , just go see whatever is playing the editorial team there is fantastic & the crowd is always fun ! pre movie you can browse vinegar syndrome if you’re into under seen/under distributed movies of all varieties , lots of beautiful re editions here by the house label as well as others
for a nice dinner go to stop or mhel my two favourite restaurants in the city , seasonal & chef driven , both have small but passionate & kind teams who really care about the food & experience , definitely worth the admittedly high price to portion ratio , beautifully considered dishes & drinks but no fussy pretension behind them .
more mid priced options are le swan or bar vendetta [both from jen agg the city’s most publicly opinionated restauranteur who is also one of the best] , dotty’s or cafeteria [one of the new dinner/dance club hybrid spots that are mysteriously becoming a thing here now] cafeteria in particular is headed by eric mcdonald who has been my favourite chef since she blew my mind with what she was doing at sakai bar a few years ago
for drinks go to archive or little jerry for beautiful & interesting wine [little jerry in particular has fantastic warm sound & atmosphere & great vinyl dj’s setting the tone] or black dice for a fun japanese rockabilly cash bar
this is so long sorry … but i love my city & i especially love the food & drink scene/community here i think it’s really something special 🥲
Related Recs
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Art galleries
* Art Gallery of Ontario / Museum of Contemporary Art / Stephen Bulger Gallery / Hart House Art Museum / everything at 401 Richmond
Bookshops
* Secondhand: BMV / Doug Miller Books / Balfour Books / She Said Boom (also sells vinyl) / The Monkey’s Paw / A Good Read
* Independent: Flying Books / Type Books
Cinemas
* Art films: TIFF / Revue Cinema / Fox Theatre
* Documentaries: Bloor Hot Docs
Cafés
* Rooms Coffee (both locations) / Sonndr / Tsuchi / Cafe23 / Pamenar / FIKA / there are so many everywhere I can’t list them all
Bars
* Brews: Bellwoods Brewery (absolute MUST. A Toronto classic. Great fries too.) / Blood Brothers / Saulter Street
* Vinyl Bar: The Little Jerry
* Wine: Midfield / Grape Witches / Archive
Neighbourhoods
* Chinatown / Koreatown for food
* Kensington Market for shopping
* Little Italy / Little Portugal for food & bars
* Trinity Bellwoods / Ossington for cafés & bars
I’d skip the CN Tower and ROM - they’re overrated. The UofT campus is cute for a walk-around.
Feb 23, 2024
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the Toronto reference library is a really cool building to spend some time in! There is also a cool magazine store called issues.
really like eating at Sunny’s Chinese, bbs, and rhum corner. Famiglia baldassare is a great pasta place but they are only open for lunch and there is usually a line. My fav little pizza place is called bitondo
I like to do grocery shopping in Kensington market, there is a great spice store, Latin grocer and cheese store
Civil liberties is a great bar, bireria volo is a good beer bar
if you are into music / dancing I have additional recs!
Feb 23, 2024
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- AGO for arttt
- Toronto Reference library & BMV for books
- Type Books if you want more ~ curated ~ vibes
- Paradise theatre for movies
- get coffee and a cookie & ppl watch at the ace hotel
- union on ossington/foxley/midfield/bernhardt's/bar raval/little jerry for dinner/drinks
- badiali or mac's for pizza
- peaches or sweaty betty's for dives
- walk along queen st, ossington, or college st for vibes (most of the places i mentioned are on these streets)
Feb 23, 2024
Top Recs from @seiji
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there’s that little jolt of joy when you discover that you’re having the same experience as another person
4d ago
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it’s the perfect length for me to watch after work , i can start a movie at 11 or even 12 & get to bed at the (mostly) reasonable hour of 1:30 at the latest . sometimes i will extend this to 100 or 110 min if i‘m feeling indulgent or ambitious .
i could watch an hour of tv but this gives me a whole story in only a little bit more time .
Sep 11, 2024
Jul 6, 2024