Choose Your Own Adventure: Yonge & St. Clair/Forest Hill

These midtown neighborhoods have a special place in Jon's heart, having spent many years attending middle and high school in this area. That's right, Upper Canada College, the oldest secondary school in Canada has Jonathan Faria as one of its alumni. If you're in the area on a nice day, check out the lush grounds and stunning architecture at UCC.

UCC is located in Forest Hill, one of Toronto's poshest neighborhoods.  A bit west of Yonge Street, Forest Hill is home to some of Toronto's most famous families - including the founders of Second Cup.  Forest Hill used to be its own incorporated village before being annexed by Toronto (see some parallels between FH and Beverly Hills?) and still has a cute village strip.  You can visit boutique shops and classy restaurants along Eglinton Avenue near Bathurst Street.

East of Forest Hill (and close to the wedding venue) is the Yonge & St. Clair neighborhood.  This is one of the business hubs of midtown Toronto.  There are plenty of bars and restaurants dotting Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue, and you can hop aboard the St. Clair Streetcar - which recently received its own dedicated lane.  

Bar: Scallywags (11 St. Clair Avenue West).  A popular haunt among the UCC crowd, try to get a spot on the upper level.

Restaurant (Casual): Sprout (15 St. Clair Avenue West).  Try fresh and tasty Vietnamese fare at this lunch-only joint.  

Restaurant (Fancy): Sette Mezzo (936 Eglinton Avenue West).  Upscale Italian cuisine in the tony Forest Hill Village.

Shopping: Bead Cafe (970 Eglinton Avenue West).  Crafty folks can enjoy making their own jewelry or selecting from an assortment of beads and notions at this Forest Hill Village shop.

Yonge & St. Clair

UCC

Choose Your Own Adventure: Financial District/Harbourfront

There's plenty to do in downtown Toronto near the Financial District and Harbourfront.  For example, you can visit the CN Tower, which until recently was the tallest free-standing structure in the world.  Or check out a Blue Jays game at the Skydome.  If you're there at night, you can get your laughs at Second City.  Whatever you fancy, you can probably find it in the area.

The Harbourfront, as we mentioned in our previous post, is definitely up and coming.  In addition to the Spadina WaveDeck, WATERFRONToronto has also completed the Simcoe and Rees WaveDecks too, allowing for additional public spaces along the waterfront.  

Bar: Harbour Sports Grill (10 Yonge Street).  Come here for the beer, sports, and ribs.

Restaurant (Casual):  Il Fornello (207 Queens Quay West).  Enjoy the pizzas that Barbara Streisand called "best in Toronto" at this classy yet casual Italian joint.

Restaurant (Fancy): Canoe (66 Wellington Street West).  Considered one of the top restaurants in Canada, you can enjoy French food at this upscale location.

Entertainment:  Second City (51 Mercer Street).  Your sides will be aching after checking out this sketch-comedy troupe.

Spadina WaveDeck

Like many other cities that we've lived in, Toronto's waterfront was perhaps more practical than scenic.  New York City's west coast was once that way too, but over the past decade or so, the City has been turning dilapidated piers into the beautiful Hudson River Park with interesting public spaces.  And Toronto's starting to catch the drift too.  Enter Spadina WaveDeck.

In our years of living in Toronto and the GTA (Tamar: 2, Jon: 19) we rarely ventured to the waterfront.  The waterfront is blocked off in parts by the Gardiner Expressway, and just never seemed like a "place to go."  We would rather walk through Kensington Market or into the Annex.  But now we have a hankering for the waterfront.

An effort by WATERFRONToronto, here's the architect's statement:

"Spadina WaveDeck is the first in a series of timber structures that explore variations of a simple articulation in the change in level between Queen Quay Boulevard and Lake Ontario along the Toronto Central Waterfront.  Responding to the current pinch-points where the streetscape meets the water's edge, a new public space gateway is created where the city kisses the lake, inspired by the sinuous contours of the shoreline of the Canadian lakefront."

Sounds romantic, eh?

Well check out these pictures.  

Can you imagine just strolling around at night?

Or enjoying the sun (and maybe a picnic) during the day?

To get here from one of the hotels, you have two options - both of which involve a subway and a streetcar.

You can head westbound on Bloor (from the Bloor-Yonge, Bay Street or St. George stations) to Spadina station, or just walk there, which will take 10-20 minutes.  From Spadina, hop on the 510 Spadina Streetcar southbound to Queens Quay and you're there.  

Alternatively, head southbound (from either Museum or Bloor-Yonge station) to Union Station and take the 509 Harbourfront Streetcar westbound to Spadina.  Remember - transfers are free on the TTC!

Meet Our Ring Bearers!

This weekend was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  We spent the weekend in San Diego with the family of our Ring Bearers and had a great time.

Our ring bearers are the children of two of Tamar's dad's former medical students.  The couple met at Stony Brook Medical School.  Since the husband (Ran) is Israeli, Tamar's dad invited him and his (then) girlfriend to Tamar's house for all of the Jewish holidays.  In particular, they were a mainstay at Passover Seders during their medical school years and residencies.  This was mostly because Ran could read through the story section of the Hagaddah (the book that you go through at the Passover Seder) very quickly, which meant eating sooner.

After finishing their residencies, Ran and his wife, Sunny, moved to Tucson.  A year later, they relocated to San Diego.  When we moved to Southern California, a big perk was being able to visit their family.  The roles have changed, and now Ran & Sunny's family have had us over for the holidays.  

It's great getting to play with the kids too - they're now into dinosaurs, Star Wars, and Transformers.  Over the past year they've grown so quickly, with Nava recently starting 1st grade and Ben in pre-school.  Here's some pictures from our brunch on Saturday (we had a little too much fun with the fruit on our plates)!

Nava pretending to be a dinosaur.  Ben had previously said: "Want to hear something sad?  All the dinoaurs were killed."

Ben making an orange smiley.

Deciphering the Save the Dates

You've likely received your save the date cards by now, and may wonder what all of the "stickers" on our record player are about.  So here's the breakdown:

1. Dave Matthews Band performed a free concert at the Great Lawn in New York's Central Park, which was one of the first concerts that we attended together.

2. We love documentaries, and got to see a screening of Once in a Lifetime (a doc about the New York Cosmos professional soccer team) and actually won a door prize - a free shirt that wound up in Zach's (Tamar's little bro) wardrobe.

3. Whenever we go back to Toronto, we make it a point to see the Maple Leafs play.

4. We love to ride the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus... even though, as the saying goes, "I ride the bus.  Which in LA is the equivalent of eating out of a dumpster."

5.  In both New York's Webster Hall and Toronto's Kool Haus, we got to dance like fools at The Shins concerts. 

6.  Another free concert we saw in New York was the July 4, 2006 concert of Belle & Sebastian.  We arrived there after (1) locking ourselves out of our summer sublet and (2) weathering a lightning storm outside - near a metal stage.

7. Now that we live in LA, we are bound to patronizing Wahoo's Fish Tacos.  But we usually just go there to get free stickers.

8. Our favorite show is Big Bang Theory.  We challenge you to a game of Rocks, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.

9. We met as freshmen living on John Jay 8 at Columbia.  Roar, Lion, Roar.

10. Whenever we're visiting Jon's folks in Markham, a night is not complete without a trip to Second Cup.

11. During spring break of sophomore year, we went to Paris, France to visit Tamar's cousins.  We had a great time, while feasting primarily on panini and crepes.

12. Jon introduced Tamar to the brilliance that is Nirvana.  He spent his childhood emulating Kurt Cobain with his cousin Nicholas.

13. In sophomore year we headed to Astoria to attend a Czech street fair and wound up with postcards and other swag for Czech Airlines.

14. Jon relocated to Los Angeles to attend law school at UCLA.  We finally had an athletics program to support.

15. We had a blast attending the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, and were thisclose to Zach Braff at the world premier of The Last Kiss.

16. In senior year we took Art Humanities and became extremely intrigued by the work of Andy Warhol.  Even though Factory Girl vilified Jon's hero, Bob Dylan.

17. The fire dancer is one of the icons of Dave Matthews Band, our favorite musical group.  We attended 9 DMB concerts while we were living in New York.

18. A continuation of #12, Tamar realized that Unplugged in New York is, perhaps, the best Nirvana album ever.

19.  Jon likes The Germs, and snuck in this sticker when Tamar wasn't looking. 

20. We used to take the 9 subway line between Columbia and downtown.  Then they cancelled the 9, so the 1 runs on its own. 

We've Registered

We're happy staying simple, but with our ever-increasing culinary skills (thank you, Food Network) and ever-threadbare sheets and towels, we have gone ahead and created our registries.  It took a bit of work - we had to brave bridezillas with scanning tasers and pushy salespeople - but our online registries are up and running.  

We're registered at the following places: Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma.  All of them are web-based with shipping information on file, so this should make things easier than having to visit one of these stores.  Since we live in California and will be getting married in Canada, it would be wonderful if you could send any gifts via mail, as we won't be able to carry much on the plane.  If you need our shipping address, just shoot us an e-mail (jon@jonandtamar.com or tamar@jonandtamar.com).

Of course, your presence at our wedding is more important to us than anything else.  However, if you would like to purchase something from our registry, we're hoping that we've made the process as painless as possible.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Yonge & Dundas/Eaton Centre

The next neighborhood that we'll explore is the Yonge & Dundas/Eaton Centre area.  

We've realized that we haven't fully explained this whole "Choose Your Own Adventure" concept.  Basically, Toronto is considered a city of neighborhoods, and is an extremely diverse city, so by spending some free time going off exploring you can see all of the different architecture, cultures, cuisine, and landmarks.  

Well, this area is not exactly a prime example of Toronto's "neighborhoods" but we've been stuck in a bit of a hipster rut so we figured that it would be refreshing to add in a more conventional area.  We mentioned the Yonge-Dundas Square in our previous post.  This is a public square that was developed, in part, as an attempt to have Toronto's own version of Times Square or Piccadilly Circus.  While the scale of Times Square has not been achieved (thank goodness, since this area is far more palatable!), this is where you'll find neon and billboards, as evidenced in the previous entry's photo.  There are also cool fountains in the square (the water is drinkable - don't be shy) and plenty of music/festivals/events that take place during the summer.  The Canon Theatre is located just east of Yonge-Dundas Square, and features performances from national tours... this year's lineup includes Rent, Mama Mia, and Fiddler on the Roof.  And, if you're in town before August 8, you can check out Legally Blonde the musical - quite apropos since it will be running during the time Jon writes the Bar Exam. 

On the west side of Yonge Street is the Eaton Centre.  This is a giant mall, full of a wide variety of retailers and restaurants.  And on the southern extent of it (Queen Street) stands the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres, two other major live theatre houses.  If you prefer to listen to jazz or live music, you can check out Massey Hall, located on Victoria Street.

There's quite a lot of street traffic in this area, so you can enjoy the downtown bustle on the sidewalks - and a sweet pedestrian scramble at the intersection of Yonge Street & Dundas Street.  Check out some live entertainment, shop til you drop, and check out the plethora of restaurants (note: if you're looking for national chains, you'll find all of them here).  Just take the Yonge Street line to either Dundas Street or Queen Street and you're right in the center of all the action!

Bar: Jack Astors (10 Dundas Street East).  This is a chain of bars/restaurants.  They have plenty of beers and mixed drinks, and some decent food (Jon has a soft spot for their calzones).  Plus they give you crayons to draw on the tables with!

Restaurant (Casual): Eggspectation (Eaton Center, 220 Yonge Street).  This casual diner-type restaurant offers a wide variety of breakfast and lunch items.  

Restaurant (Fancy): Osteria Ciceri e Tria (106 Victoria Street).  If you're heading to the theatre or on a date night, check out this dressy Italian restaurant.  Instead of one large dish, you order several small ones (including their five daily antipasti), and pasta is handmade.  

Shopping: Eaton Centre (220 Yonge Street).  Huge shopping mall - you'll find pretty much every retailer that you can think of here.  Check out the windows at the Hudson's Bay Company.

Public Square at Bloor & Yonge?

Tamar here.  It's been a busy week (despite only 3 work days) and I'm happy to say that the Save-the-Dates are out.  As noted on the cards, if you would prefer to receive an eco-friendly e-mail invite (designed by Jon, of course), shoot us an e-mail at invites@jonandtamar.com.  Otherwise, feel free to explore our website.

When I was in my second year of grad school, I was living at Queen's Park (Avenue Road) & Charles Street, which is a couple of minutes walk to each of our host hotels.  I'd constantly frequent the intersection of Bloor Street & Yonge Street (right by the Marriott) because I could catch both transit lines there, it was near the Dollar Store (which is amazing when you're an RA on an annual budget of $6/resident), and it was near plenty of restaurants and pubs.  During this time, there was a planned project at 1 Bloor Street East - right at the southeast corner of the busiest intersection in Toronto.  They knocked down a bunch of smaller buildings and were planning to build an 80-something story building with a hotel, residences, and retail uses.  Toronto, in my opinion, is primarily a low-rise city, so this would definitely shake up the skyline a bit. People waited overnight during the winter for the opportunity to buy a condo in the first stage of construction.  

As a result of the recession, the project's developer thought about reducing the height of the building to save on construction costs, and ultimately the project died before fully going for review.  The Toronto Star recently published an article about how there's some interest in turning the space into a public square, similar to that at Yonge and Dundas.  And it looks like the Toronto Public Space Committee is backing this up.

So when you come to the wedding, you may be across the street from a public square, a blank slate, or maybe even a condo tower (though the latter is unlikely).  I guess you'll just have to wait and see. 

A rendering of the (now dead) One Bloor East project

Yonge-Dundas Square

Save the Dates Almost Out!

Jon designed our save-the-dates and we received our copies in the mail this weekend.  So now we're busy writing out addresses and getting them ready to mail.  Hopefully we'll have them all stamped and sent at the end of this week.  Though if you've found our blog, then you already know our date!

We still have a ways to go before sending out invites, but if you prefer to receive your invite as a PDF (by e-mail) to save (part of) a tree, just shoot us an e-mail at invites@jonandtamar.com.  

Our wedding planning has been progressing, and we're excited to send all of the details with you soon!  In the meantime, check out our website, also designed by the fabulous Jon.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Kensington Market

Kensington Market - south of the Annex - is another "hip" area in Toronto.  At one point a Jewish neighborhood, the area is now home to eclectic shops, boutiques, and plenty of places to eat.  The eastern border of Kensington Market is Chinatown (which runs primarily along Dundas Street heading eastbound).  Kensington Market also hosts Pedestrian Sundays on the last Sunday of each month between May & October, when the streets are closed to vehicular traffic.

Kensington Market & Chinatown are fun places to walk around, and the sidewalks are always bustling.  Check out the vintage clothing shops in Kensington before going for some bubble tea or dim sum in Chinatown.

To get there from Bloor Street, you can cut through the UofT campus, to the southwest corner (College & Spadina) and then head a bit further west to Augusta Avenue.  If transit is your thing, take the Bloor line westbound to Spadina, followed by the Spadina streetcar southbound to College Street or Dundas Street.  You will be transferring to the streetcar line within the station, so no need to get a transfer.

Here are some of our favorite places in Kensington Market:

Bar: Sneaky Dee's (431 College Street).  They serve food (brunch, lunch & dinner), so it's not a straight-up pub, but they do have a well-stocked bar and live music to boot.

Restaurant (Casual): Free Times Cafe (320 College Street).  Non-kosher, but plenty of Jewish-style food on the menu.  Their Sunday brunch includes staples like lox, latkes, and challah... in addition to live klezmer music.  They also have tasty Middle Eastern food.  

Restaurant (Fancy): La Palette (256 Augusta Avenue).  Fresh, seasonal French food with a great wine selection.  And unlike most French restaurants, you can find veggie-friendly food here.

Shopping: Bungalow (273 Augusta Avenue).  Great vintage wares and sometimes at even better prices.  While in college, we found extra-long hand-knit scarves here for $5 apiece.  

Pedestrian Sundays

Kensington Market

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Annex

The Annex is on the western side of the UofT campus.  It is known for having lots of local shops and restaurants, and a bit of an "artsy" feel.  Because of its proximity to the university and its heavy student population, you can get really good deals here.  Plus, the Annex used to be home to Jane Jacobs, urbanist extraordinaire!

The Annex is about a 10 minute walk westbound on Bloor Street from the Intercontinental, and 15-20 minutes from the Marriott.  If you prefer to take transit, take the Bloor line westbound at either St. George, Bay, or Bloor-Yonge to Spadina or Bathurst Stations.

Along Bloor Street you'll find many small storefronts.  There are bicycle shops, organic/eco-friendly stores, and plenty of specialty food stores.  Get a falafel at Ghazale (504 Bloor Street West) before catching an off-beat flick next door at Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West) and treat yourself to locally-made ice cream at Greg's (750 Spadina Avenue) or a giant slice of cake at Future Bakery (483 Bloor Street West).

Though there aren't any major attractions in the Annex, it's a really fun place to just walk around and explore city life.

Here are some of our favorite spots in the Annex:

Bar: The Green Room (296 Brunswick Avenue).  This low-key dive-y bar is dimly lit with strings of christmas lights, and furnished with old sofas.  Drinks are decently priced and food is very cheap with plenty of veggie options.  Little known fact: scenes of the movie "Jumper" were filmed here.

Restaurant (Casual): Flip, Toss & Thai (141 Harbord Street).  This Thai takeout place is a hole-in-the-wall.  You can sit on the few picnic tables/chairs, but you'll likely want to take your food to go.  Still, this place is worth a visit for awesome pad thai and other specialties.  And when they ask you how spicy you want your food and you say "very" - stick to 2 peppers or fewer.

Restaurant (Fancy): Southern Accent (595 Markham Street).  Not too fancy, but on the higher end of the Annex.  New Orleans themed "southern, cajun, soul" restaurant, they brought some decent flavors up north.  And they occasionally have a tarot card reader available at the entrance.

Shopping: Honest Ed's (581 Bloor Street West).  Ed Mirvish - who was well known in Toronto for his theatres - opened and ran this landmark discount store until his death in 2007.  This store spans a full avenue block and the exterior is covered in corny sayings and garish decor.  While you may not find anything that you need, it's still a "must visit."  As their sign proclaims "only the floors are crooked."

The Annex

Honest Ed's