This
week’s image: the farmers are back
in Riverdale Park with their fresh food
CABBAGETOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD REVIEW
OPEN HOUSES
There’s a large condo near Allan Gardens and a designer home on
Ontario Street. Click here to see
the details.
LOCAL NEWS
A
successful start
The
revived farmer’s market in Riverdale Park (Winchester and Sumach) got off to a
good start last Tuesday. Over a
dozen tents lined the park path and offered up farm-fresh produce, baked goods,
vegetarian specialties and prepared foods. The weather wasn’t the best – a light rain fell at the
beginning and grey skies continued throughout. Despite this, a satisfying crowd arrived and supported the
vendors. As the season progresses,
future vendors will have a wider selection and there’ll be a winery and other
specialty food vendors on hand. Thanks to the organizers and their volunteers
for a promising launch.
Visit
Riverdale Park every Tuesday from 3 to 7 pm to stock up on your share of fresh
fruit, veggies and local goodies.
The
Bloor Street viaduct closure
Photo: Metro
This
sounds like a fun event. The
bridge is closed to traffic from 8 pm Friday July 3 to 6 am Sunday July 5. From 5 to 10:30 pm on Saturday July 4,
there’s a three-pronged event happening.
At 10 pm, the viaduct bridge will be lit
up to launch the Luminous Veil that’s been installed along its suicide barrier
(see the Metro News article listed below.)
To
add to the celebration, there’ll be a Juno-award winning band and the Pan Am
Torch will arrive here.
From
6:30 pm, the Thrill of the Grill takes over the east end of the bridge with
barbeques from Danforth restaurants, drinks from specialty suppliers and visits
by celebrity chefs. This is a
ticketed event – proceeds support kidney cancer research at the Odette Cancer
Centre. For more info, click
here.
Doctors
accepting new patients
Sumac
Creek Health Centre (73 Regent Park Blvd, 3rd floor) is now
accepting new patients. It’s part
of St Michael’s Hospital’s Family Health Team. Check out the clinic’s website to find its hours, doctors
and contact info.
Catherine,
a friend, visited the Open House that the clinic held last weekend and found
the experience very breezy. She
says, “I was mentally prepared to wait patiently in a line-up (take
a number) with the latest copy of Walrus to read, but WRONG. The place was
jumping with some kind of loud music and what looked like free ice cream. Lots of volunteers wearing the
identifying tee shirt so I was directed to a desk where I said that I wanted to
register with a woman doctor. They
– whoever they are – will call me after July 15 with an appointment. It sounds like the transfer of my records
between doctors is easy and no charge.
Easy as that!”
Sign
up for summer dance classes
The
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre (509 Parliament) is welcoming students for
its summer sessions. Sun Dance is
aimed at students ages 8 to 20 and it happens from June 29 to July 17. Ignite, a program for 15 to 22 year-old
students, takes place from July 20 to 25.
Little dancers ages 4 to 8 will enjoy a mixed program of music, dance
and visual arts from July 27 to 31.
Find out more about each program and get registration details online
here.
Soulpepper’s
Cabaret Series
The
cabarets happen every Saturday night at 8:30 pm and they showcase established
artists, new talents and innovative groupings. On Saturday July 4, enjoy an evening with Denzal Sinclaire,
Look What they’ve Done to My Song, Vol 5.
Tickets are $25 general and $20 students – click here.
Soulpepper at the Young Centre (50 Tank House Lane, Distillery)
Now
or never sale at Kendall
Kendall
& Co (514 Parliament) is clearing out discontinued rugs at 40% off until
Saturday. 15% off on many other
select styles and markdowns on floor models. Promos may not be combined. Quantities are limited. Shop early to get the best – open Monday to Friday from 10
am to 6 pm and Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. Check out the styles at Kendall’s website.
SHEreHE
2015
COBA
presents its annual showcase of children’s dance and drumming. Students ignite the stage with their
talent in various dance forms – West African, Caribbean folk, modern
contemporary, hip hop, and ballet.
Sunday July 5, 3 pm, Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas E). Tickets are $15 and $20.
Little
Trinity’s summer concerts
On
Thursday July 9 at 7 pm, The Young Novelists will open Little Trinity’s annual
summer music outdoor concerts (425 King E at Trinity). It’s a free event – bring a lawn chair
or a blanket and enjoy the music on a warm summer night in the park. Future concerts include Changui Havana
(July 16), Jack Connolly (July 23), Common Beer on August 6 and the Conor Hall
Trio (August 20).
Toronto
Dance Theatre at the Pan Am ceremonies
Toronto
Dance Theatre is one of four major national groups to participate in the
opening ceremonies at the Pan Am Games on Friday July 10. Its segment is choreographed by
Christopher House.
Regent
Park International Bazaar
The
fourth bazaar takes place on Friday July 10 from 11 am to 6 pm on Regent Park
Blvd beside the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas E). One-of-a-kind cultural fashion items, henna and spa
stations, sewing, art activities and food from 15 different countries.
Twenty
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
A
Toronto 2015 Panamania event.
Craig Francis and Rick Miller’s modern adaptation of the Jules Verne
classic. It’s a dazzling
theatrical multimedia production that connects the Victorian era to today’s
modern scientific issues. Saturday
July 11 to Tuesday July 14 at 8 pm and Wednesday July 15 at 2 pm. Ada Slaight Hall, Daniels Spectrum (585
Dundas E). Tickets from $35,
available here.
Outdoor
movies in Regent Park
Every
Wednesday at 7:30 pm, the Regent Park Film Festival screens movies outdoors in
Regent Park (620 Dundas E). Rain
venues in the Artscape Lounge at the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas E). Bring a blanket and a chair. Popcorn and refreshments are
available. Come early and enjoy
the market, the activities and the goodies at “Taste of Regent Park”.
Wednesday
July 15, the feature is Dear White
People
Author
talks
Eric
Murphy is featured at the library’s lecture on Tuesday July 14 from 2 to 4
pm. His talk is aimed at teen
writers and will focus on how he approaches his writing - differences between plot and story, the
three act structure, character development and more. Parliament Street Library (269 Gerrard E).
Brenda’s
classes
Brenda’s
Step and Zumba classes have finished for the season. She’s had wonderful response to both throughout the
year. As usual, she’s taken some
pictures for the year-end finale.
Here’s her Zumba class, all looking happily fit.
Lynn
and Toulouse
Lynn’s
been getting around. Her latest
travels took her to France where she met up with celebrity friends. Toulouse approved of her Cabbagetown
tee. If you’re taking a trip this
summer, follow her example, take a photo of your Tee and send it in. You’ll be famous before you know it.
Advance
info for the Cabbagetown Festival
There’s
early information now available about dates, the program and vendor sites for
this year’s Cabbagetown Festival.
Save the dates –
The
Short Film & Video Festival has switched to Wednesday night, September 9 and it’s moving to the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas E).
Art
& Crafts in the Park will happen in Riverdale Park west from Friday
September 11 to Sunday September 13.
The
Cabbagetown Festival on Parliament Street has new hours – Saturday September 12 from 11 am to 11 pm and Sunday September 13 from 11 am to 7 pm.
Blair’s
Run is back again on Sunday morning September 13 from 8 to 10 am.
PAN AM/PARAPAN AM GAMES
The event is very big and all of its details are important.
Rather than using a list to show everything, I’ve used various online links as
guides instead.
Schedules
and locations
The
sport schedules are listed online here.
Find
the events’ locations online here. Pick your sport and click on its image
– locations, times and descriptions are all included.
The
Pan Am portion of the games starts on Tuesday July 7 with water polo in Markham
and then synchronized swimming on Thursday in Scarborough. The official Opening
Ceremony takes place at the Rogers Centre – officially renamed as the Pan Am
Ceremonies Venue – on Friday July 10.
The majority of the competitions will then take place at scattered
venues across the region.
The
downtown Toronto sports include open water swimming, archery, the marathon,
race walking, basketball, cycling road race, field hockey, gymnastics,
handball, racquet ball, roller sports, rugby, sailing, squash, the triathalon,
beach and indoor volleyball, waterskiing and wakeboarding.
The
Athlete’s Village
Check
out the remarkable online photography of the Village here.
Joanna
Lavoie’s story in Inside Toronto describes the facilities that the athletes
will enjoy.
The
West Donlands (located south of King, east of the Distillery and north of the
Gardiner) area is serving as the home for the visiting athletes and it includes
an amazing array of legacy projects.
Its facilities serving the athletes include a future YMCA, future
student residences for George Brown College and almost 800 units for future
market and affordable housing. A
whole new complex of roads has been constructed around it. Corktown Common, on its eastern edge,
is a remarkable new 18-acre park.
Panamania
The
Panamania schedule is online here.
Three
downtown locations will offer major entertainment and cultural events
throughout the Games – CIBC Pan Am Park (the Exhibition Grounds), Nathan
Phillips Square and The Distillery District. Throughout the Games, there’ll be more than 250 performances
running from July 10 to August 15 in these main hubs plus twenty other
locations.
The
Distillery and the Young Centre for the Performing Arts will offer both free
and ticketed performances daily except Mondays. These events are easily found on the website.
IN THE MEDIA
Noah
Richler at Luminato
Photo: TVO
On
June 23 in the National Post, Emily Keeler reported on her interview with Noah
Richler. Noah has now served for two years as the literary curator for Luminato
and he’s firming up his strategy to make the authors’ contributions connect
meaningfully with their audience.
Click here to read the article.
Cabbagetown’s
two graveyards
Photo: Cabbagetown Uncovered
Gilles
Huot has written an interesting article in Inside Toronto about St James
Cemetery and The Necropolis. He
tells how people buried in each place were instrumental in shaping Canada’s
early history and eventual Confederation.
RESTAURANT NEWS
Summerlicious
Our
annual summer restaurant festival starts next week on July 3 and continues
until July 26. Each participating
restaurant offers a prix fixe menu. Lunch prices are $18, $23 or $28 and dinner
prices are $25, $35 or $45. There
are 210 restaurants city-wide and three in our immediate area, all in the
Distillery – Archeo (31 Trinity, Distillery), Cluny (36 Tank
House Ln, Distillery) and Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill (17 Tank House Ln,
Distillery).
For the full list and lots of details, go to the Summerlicious
website.
Tuesday
July 7 at 6 pm at Merryberry (559 Parliament). Cyril’s latest cooking class has expanded. As promised, he’ll be demonstrating
techniques for making quiche Lorraine (from his ancestral homeland). And since you’ll be working with the
same techniques for the dough, he’ll add on his recipe for a traditional French
apple tart. These are small,
informal classes with lots of hands-on opportunities, spontaneous questions and
a tasting afterward. $45. To reserve your spot, visit Merryberry
(559 Parliament) or call (647) 348-0411 or email Cyril at
info@merryberry.ca.
Odin’s
game night
Odin’s
(514 King E) next board game night happens on Tuesday July 7 from 6 to 10
pm. No experience needed – use a
game from Odin’s library or bring your own.
Congrats
to The Local GEST
Sean
and Tiffany were very busy on Tuesday at their booth in the new Cabbagetown
Farmers Market. They’ve been
enthusiastic supporters of the project from the start. Tuesday’s launch was a success despite
threatening weather.
Congrats
El Catrin
El
Catrin (18 Tank House Ln, Distillery) is celebrating its second anniversary on
Monday July 13. It’s the
successful and very beautiful Mexican restaurant in The Distillery. There’s a fun YouTube video about its first
anniversary party – check it out.
This year’s party will be just as exciting.
The burgers
keep getting better
Oh
Boy Burger Market is coming soon to the corner of Parliament and Gerrard,
opposite Anniversary Park. It’s a
welcome addition to our local foodie scene – no definite date yet for the
opening. When Amy Pataki wrote a
Toronto Star review of six leading burger restaurants, Oh Boy Burger Market on
Queen West came out on top.
CLUBS & PUBS – DAILY LISTINGS
THURSDAY JULY 2 TO SUNDAY JULY 12
Contact
info
Alice’s
Place, 554 Parliament St, (647) 931-9088,
https://www.facebook.com/alicesplacetoronto
Cranberries,
601 Parliament St, (416) 925-6330
El
Catrin, 18 Tank House Lane, Distillery, (416) 203-2121, www.elcatrin.ca/home
The
Flying Beaver, 488 Parliament St, (647) 347-6567, www.pubaret.com
House
on Parliament, 454 Parliament St, (416) 925-4074,
www.facebook.com/pages/House-on-Parliament
The
Irv, 195 Carlton Street, (647) 350-4787, http://www.theirvpub.ca/
Little
Trinity Summer Concerts, Little Trinity Park, 425 King at Trinity
The
Local GEST, 424 Parliament St, (416) 961-9425, http://www.thelocalgest.com/
Merryberry,
559 Parliament, www.merryberry.ca
Mill
Street Beer Hall, 21 Tank House Ln, Distillery, (416) 681-0338,
http://toronto.millstreetbrewpub.ca/
Murgatroid,
568 Parliament, (416) 323-9381, https://www.facebook.com/MurgatroidTO
Odin,
514 King W, (647) 350-6346, https://www.facebook.com/odinhus
Paintbox
Bistro, 555 Dundas St E, (647) 748-0555, www.paintboxbistro.ca
Soulpepper,
Young Centre, 50 Tank House Lane, Distillery, (416) 866-8666,
http://soulpepper.ca/performances/music_at_soulpepper.aspx
Stirling
Room, 16 Trinity, Distillery District, www.stirlingroom.com
Stout
Irish Pub, 221 Carlton St, (647) 344-7676, www.stoutirishpub.ca
Tappo
Wine Bar & Restaurant, 2 Trinity Street, Distillery, (647) 430-1111,
www.tappo.ca
Under
the Table, 568 Parliament St, (647) 351-1533,
https://www.facebook.com/underthetabletoronto
White
Elephant, 366 Queen E. (416) 364-9999, www.whiteelephant366.com
If there's a cover charge or tickets are sold, the prices
are listed. Otherwise, the event is free.
THURSDAY JULY 2
The
Irv
7pm,
Geoff Willingham
The
Local GEST
8
pm, Jeff Barnes & Noah Zacharin
Mill
St Brew Pub
7
pm, Tap That Cask with live acoustic music by Mel Monaco
White
Elephant
8
pm, Open mic night
FRIDAY JULY 3
Mill
Street Beer Hall
8
pm, Vinyl nights with DJ Humble Mike of the Record Collective
Mill
Street Brew Pub
6:30
pm, Beer School
Stirling
Room
Theatrical
Friday with resident DJ Rod Bravo, reserve on the guest list. $20
White
Elephant
6
pm, Arthur Renwick
SATURDAY JULY 4
Mill
Street Beer Hall
8
pm, Vinyl Nights with DJ Humble Mike of the Record Collective
Soulpepper
Cabaret
8:30
pm, Denzal Sinclaire presents Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Vol 5, $20 and
$25.
Stirling
Room
Resident
DJ Rod Bravo, reserve on the guest list
SUNDAY JULY 5
Alice’s
Place
9
pm, Karaoke with Vee
Local
GEST
4:30
pm, Sunday afternoon jazz with Diane Roblins & Reconnect
Mill
Street Beer Hall
1
pm, Jazz brunch with Tyler Yarema
MONDAY JULY 6
Stout
Irish Pub
7:30
pm, Headscratchers trivia
TUESDAY JULY 7
Stout
Irish Pub
7:30
pm, Headscratchers trivia
Odin
6
to 10 pm, Games night with Paul T
WEDNESDAY JULY 8
Alice’s
Place
9
pm, Karaoke
Distillery
– Trinity Square
6
to 8 pm, Red Moon Road
Paintbox
Bistro
7:30
pm, Corktown Ukelele Jam.
THURSDAY JULY 9
The
Irv
7pm,
Geoff Willingham
Little
Trinity Concert Series
7
pm, The Young Novelists
The
Local GEST
9
pm, Open Mic with Porter
Mill
St Brew Pub
7
pm, Tap That Cask with live acoustic music by Don Campbell
Under
The Table
9
pm, Karaoke
White
Elephant
Open
mic
FRIDAY JULY 10
Mill
Street Beer Hall
8
pm, Vinyl Nights with DJ Humble Mike of the Record Collective
Mill
Street Brew Pub
6:30
pm, Beer school
Stirling
Room
Theatrical
Friday with resident DJ Rod Bravo, reserve on the guest list. $20
White
Elephant
7
to 10 pm, Matthew Kane
SATURDAY JULY 11
Mill
Street Beer Hall
8
pm, Vinyl Nights with DJ Humble Mike of the Record Collective
Stirling
Room
Stirling
Saturday. Reserve on the guest
list. $20
White
Elephant
7
to 9:30 pm, Linda Carone with Kevin Garrett
SUNDAY JULY 12
Alice’s
Place
4
pm, Karaoke with Vee
Local
GEST
4:30
pm, Sunday afternoon jazz with Sophia Perlman
Mill
Street Beer Hall
1
pm, Jazz brunch with Tyler Yarema
