Cabbagetown’s Fall Season
We need to catch-up on a lot of new activity after being so distracted by last
week’s hectic Festival schedule.
Tour of Homes
Cabbagetown’s Tour of Homes takes place this Sunday
afternoon. You can visit eight elegant
homes from noon to 4 pm.
Tickets are $30 each. Income from ticket sales supports
the Cabbagetown Preservation Association’s program.
Kendall & Co (227 Carlton), Mi Casa (238 Carlton), Epicure Shop (473
Parliament) and Fairway Market (520 Parliament) all sell tickets locally. On Sunday, you can buy last-minute tickets at
the BIA Office (237 Carlton). If you buy your ticket online with Paypal, be sure to bring your voucher to
the BIA Office on Sunday on your way to the homes.
It’s a self-guided tour.
Addresses and a map are shown on your ticket. Be sure, as well, to check your ticket for
the names and locations of restaurants and stores offering nice discounts to
Tour patrons.
Last week, The National Post did an article about one of
the homes on the Tour. For a sample of what you’ll see, click here. (The photo above is from The National Post.) You can also watch a video clip from Global
TV News here.
ROM Walks through Cabbagetown
Once again, the Royal Ontario Museum is conducting guided
walks through Cabbagetown. You can find
out the details here. Sunday from 2 pm.
The walk takes approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours. No fee. Rain or shine. The meeting spot is on the corner of Spruce
and Parliament – watch for the blue umbrella.
Party time in Cabbagetown South
Sunday is the day for Cabbagetown South’s street
party. The bbq features hot dogs,
burgers and sausages. Buddy Holly
arrives at 1 pm and Elvis is in the house at 2 pm. There’ll be face painting, balloons, games
and exhibits by local artists. Everyone
welcome. Seaton Street, south of Gerrard from noon to 6 pm.
Neighbourhood updates
Cat adoptions on Saturday
Cat Busters are back at Pet Valu (240 Carlton) on
Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm. It’s your
chance to adopt a homeless cat and turn a stray into a beloved family
member. The agency makes every effort to
ensure that you get a healthy cat and all adults have been spayed. There’s a $150 fee to cover their costs.
CNH Childcare Program
Central Neighbourhood House (349 Ontario) still has
spaces available in two childcare programs – toddlers (18 months to 2.5 years)
and pre-school (2.5 to 4 years). These
twelve-month programs operate during school holidays, school PA days and March
break, from 7:30 am to 6 pm daily.
Healthy meals and snacks are made on-site and include vegetarian and
allergy considerations. The program includes fun outings and quality play-based
activities. The staff are caring and
qualified professionals. The program is
licenced by the Ministry of Child and Youth Services. Subsidy based spaces are available. For more info and a tour of CNH, contact
Karen Anthony at kanthony@cnh.on.ca or (416) 925-4363, ext 110. Find out more about CNH at their website.
Kids at Sundara Yoga
Angela has started two special programs for kids at
Sundara Yoga (492 Parliament, side door.)
Yoga Blossoms for girls ages 10 to 13 starts on Saturday (4 to 5 pm) and
goes to November 17 – ten weeks for $160.
A shorter course will run six weeks from October 11 to November 15
(Thursday, 4 to 5 pm) - $96. Then for
really little guys ages 3 to 6, there’s Yoga Seedlings running Wednesdays October 10 to
November 14 (1:30 to 2:15 pm) and Fridays October 12 to November 16 (4:15 to 5
pm) – both are six weeks at $96.
For adults, there’s Group Yoga Therapy on Saturday for
four weeks (6 to 8 pm) - $120. On Saturday
September 23 (4:15 to 5:45 pm), there’s a one-class session Yoga for Runners at
$30.
Kibo Sushi House
Kibo (533 Parliament) opened officially on September 1
after spending about a month testing our reactions to several menu
options. They’ll be open from Tuesday to
Sunday (11:30 am to 11 pm). They’re
offering lunch specials and they have smaller kids’ portions as well. The interior features a beautiful model ship
as well as a remodelled bar and shelving that generate a warm, dark-wood atmosphere. The menu is listed daily on the blackboard in
front of the restaurant.
Qi Sushi
Jenny Park at Qi Sushi (358 Gerrard west of Sackville)
has attracted a lot of attention and praise for her fine Japanese restaurant since
she opened in mid-winter. She has a
small restaurant and lots of take-out offerings. As well as sushi dishes, her menu lists Daily
Bento (from $8 to $12), various rolls, Qi Combos (from $10 to $15), teriyaki
and tempura.
Church Street Winery
Gunnar and Monika at Church Street Winery (420
Parliament) want to remind you that it’s time now to make and store wines for
your Christmas festivities. They have a
full range of kits available for reds, whites and specialty wines at prices
ranging from $185 to $233.
Face Furniture
Tewfik Sherif’s fine new store Face Furniture (464 Parliament)
has opened successfully. He’s created an
eyewear boutique that’s focused on quality and craftsmanship. You can see his website here.
Mobilicity
Mobilicity (586 Parliament) has moved. Their new location is beside Del Ray Cleaners
at the corner of Parliament and Wellesley.
When you’re there, be sure to ask the store’s manager, Ahmed, how you
can earn a $50 credit by referring a friend.
Congrat’s as well to Steve and Phyllis at Del Ray for their fine
renovation of their façade which they expanded to include Mobilicity.
2-4-1 Video
They’ve closed. It’s
too bad but no doubt a sign of the changing times. They faced fierce competition with new cable
and online services. Nancy, the friendly
familiar face behind the counter, is trying to attract a new owner, Queen
Street Video. She posted a sign in the window with contact info. If this sounds like a good idea to you, email
queenvideo@gmail.com to encourage them.
Construction and renovations
Rebuilding the site of the fire
This site at 456 Parliament suffered a fire two years ago
and now its reconstruction continues apace.
The building has recently been covered in tarps so progress is hard to
judge. The current building permit
allows for upper level apartments and mid-level and lower level retail. Future plans call for townhouse residential
to be built on the rear of the building but building permits have not been issued
for this stage of the work as yet.
Pharma Plus
The new Pharma Plus (Winchester and Parliament) is now
being built in the site of the former Blockbuster, Coffee Time and Kendall
stores. It will be a sizeable new
store. Work is underway inside and
Randy, the site manager, thinks it should be completed in late October. No
information yet about an opening date.
TBS
TBS (429 Parliament) will close in a week and the
interior will be extensively remodelled. The store will re-open in late
October. Future inventory will include
more clothing. (Signs in front of the
store are misleading – it’s not closing permanently.)
Kingyo Toronto
Kingyo is a very popular Izakaya style Vancouver restaurant
and this is their first Toronto location
(51B Winchester). The old
Stonegrill has closed. The interior is
now being remodelled to accommodate their new requirements and when finished,
it will seat about 120 people. Koji
Zenimaru is the manager. More details will be available as we get
closer to the official opening.
Great weekend at the Festival
Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to put
together last weekend’s Festival. It’s
an enormous job and it was well done.
The Film Festival had another full house.
In Blair’s Run, the Wellesley team won the
honours for their large contingent.
Bigger
crowds gathered around Spruce and Gerrard on Saturday – a good sign for future
growth. The new stage arrangements and
the entertainers all earned kudos and so did the drum bands marching up the
street.
The weather, of course, created extra excitement. That rain on Saturday was daunting.
Eric Morse caught a photo of runners in Blair’s
Run in the middle of it all. Like most
Festival participants, they simply went ahead with their Marathon. In the end, the Festival proved to be
waterproof and the crowds weren’t scared off.
Over in Riverdale Park, the Art & Crafts show was
another success.
There were even several fun and eccentric displays – like Roger Hupman’s skulls.
