This
week’s image: changes are coming
to this part of Parliament Street
CABBAGETOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD REVIEW
LOCAL NEWS
Thanks
everybody!
This
week, my readership passed the 200,000 mark – many thanks to everyone who’s
dropped by, read my blog and passed along comments. Each week, about 1500 to 2000 people take a look.
It’s
been three years since my first edition went out in June 2012. Writing this story has been a very satisfying experience for me and it promises to get even better. Please – keep sending me your news.
CNH
wants your kids
Central
Neighbourhood House is running a summer camp at Winchester Public School (15
Prospect), Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 6 pm. There are still spaces available for 5 year old
children. The program is play
based in arts and crafts, science, sensory exploration, drama, outdoor play and
community trips and it’s all under the supervision of a Registered Early
Childhood Educator. $47.50/day. Contact Karen Anthony at (416)
925-4363, ext 110 or kanthony@cnh.on.ca
Panamania
Panamania
is the cultural festival that happens alongside the Pan Am and Para Pan Am
Games in July and August. Every
day from July 11 to 25 (excluding Mondays), there’s a lineup of entertainment
and cultural activities in the Distillery. Free events in Trinity Square include Basia Bulat on July
11, the Afro-Cuban All Stars on July 16, Eva Avila on July 17 and Ron Davis
Symphronica with the Lombard Twins on July 19. Each day’s program includes music, cooking demonstrations,
dance and lots more. Click here to
see the details, day-by-day.
In
the Young Centre for the Performing Arts (50 Tank House Lane, Distillery),
ticketed events happen every day – Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, La
Imaginacion del Futuro, Gimme Shelter, Yaima Saez y su grupo, and Limitless are
on stage to July 19. Click on the
link here to see times, tickets and details.
Online
info about Pan Am 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.
Congrats
to Toronto Dance Theatre
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.
Now
or never sale at Kendall
Kendall
& Co (514 Parliament) is clearing out discontinued rugs at 40% off until
Saturday. Plus 15% off in-stock styles
and markdowns on floor models.
Promos may not be combined.
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. http://kendallandco.ca/fyi/2015/07/01/rugsale/
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).
Cabbagetown
walks
The
Cabbagetown Preservation Association and Heritage Toronto are conducting two
thematic tours during the summer.
On
Saturday July 18 at 1:30 pm, visit the Cabbagetown places where significant
medical history was made in Toronto – the first sites for Toronto General
Hospital and Women’s College Hospital, the homes of outstanding medical
professionals who lived here and the graves in the Necropolis where Toronto’s
health services pioneers are buried.
Meet at Parliament and Spruce, beside No Frills.
On
Saturday August 16 at 1:30 pm, tour historic St James Cemetery. Visit the graves of people who built
Toronto and made great contributions to Canada – the Austin family, the Jarvis
family, a World War I veteran, the artist Paul Kane and many more. The cemetery chapel is a national
historic site. Meet inside the
cemetery gates, Parliament north of Wellesley.
Under
the Stars outdoor movies
Every
Wednesday from 7:30 pm starting July 15.
Free screenings of important movies in Regent Park (620 Dundas E),
following “Taste of Regent Park”.
On Wednesday July 15, the movie is Dear White People. A drum circle will
provide the pre-show. Popcorn and refreshments will be available during the
movies. If it rains, everything
moves inside the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas E) in the Artscape Lounge.
Summer
concerts at Little Trinity
The
Young Novelists start the summer concert series on Thursday July 9 at 7 pm in
Little Trinity Park (King and Trinity).
Next week on Thursday July 16, Changui Havana will perform. Local musicians will appear on Jlu 23,
August 6 and August 13. The
concerts are free. Bring a lawn
chair or a blanket and enjoy a charming musical experience.
Murals
in Underpass Park
The
park is located under the Gardiner Expressway, south of King Street at Lower
River Street. The pillars have
been decorated with very colourful murals. The official launch party for the murals happens on Monday
July 11 from 4 to 6 pm. There’ll
be a ribbon cutting and a chance to meet the artists who created these works.
Cabbagetown
Farmers Market
Every
Tuesday, Riverdale Park (Sumach and Winchester), 3 to 7 pm. The new market has
opened and is attracting a satisfying group of vendors. Despite rainy weather on its first two
days, the Market has also started to draw lots of customers. There’s a good article by Justin Skinner
in Inside Toronto about the market and the four people whose energy and ideas
revived it.
The Market has a very good website and a chatty Facebook page – check them out to see which
vendors will be coming to the Market each week.
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.
Summer
time in Riverdale Farm
Kids
learning about horses at the Farm (Sumach and Winchester).
BUSINESS CHANGES
More
renovations at St Jamestown Steak & Chops
After
doing a successful redesign inside his popular butcher shop and deli (516
Parliament), Mark is now adding a new black finish and new signage to his
building façade. He’s got plans
for exterior trim and for improvements around his patio area as well. He’s getting good design advice from
his neighbours at Kendall & Co (514 Parliament). Thanks Mark - these changes will make the corner livelier
and more pleasant.
Welcome
back, Ginger
Ginger
was the popular restaurant located right at the corner of Carlton and
Parliament. A while ago, it simply
disappeared. Now it’s back. Hu, Ginger’s owner, has purchased the
block of buildings running from the lane beside Johnny G’s up to Aberdeen. Several storefronts are a mess right
now but we can be assured that condition won’t last. No specific information yet about future plans but, as noted
below, two former tenants are leaving.
Changes
at the Dominion on Queen
BlogTO
reports that the Duranovich family has sold the building and the business at
the landmark Dominion on Queen (500 Queen E) to the Pegasus Group who will
operate its upstairs rooming house.
They’ve leased the pub to FAB Concepts. FAB operates a chain of popular pubs including the Mill
Street Brew Pub in the Distillery.
FAB plans to continue the DoQ’s emphasis on craft beer, good food and
live music and to work closely with the local Corktown community. The pub will reopen in the Fall after
the renovations are completed. The blogTO story is here
The
Pubaret
After
the fire last winter that destroyed the interior at The Flying Beaver (488 Parliament),
Maggie and Heather undertook renovations to rescue the club. After a couple of months, the work
stopped, negotiations with the landlord got tougher and now the location has a “For
Lease” sign in its window. The
Pubaret was a great success from its opening to its last days. The food was good. The entertainers were always
happy. The audiences enjoyed
themselves. Maggie and Heather
brought people into our neighbourhood and operated a good business to
everyone’s benefit. Thanks guys –
and best wishes wherever you land.
Goodbye
Sundara
Around
the corner on Aberdeen, Sundara Yoga (488 Parliament, side door) has
closed. The studio will be missed
and we wish Angela and the teachers well in their future efforts. If you have equipment stored at the
studio, please make arrangements to get it on Wednesday July 29 from 10 am to 2
pm or from 6 to 8 pm. Angela and
eight teachers are still teaching.
Angela has several other services available as well, including teacher
training, mentorship, retreats, satsang and private lessons. You can stay in touch through the
Sundara website and you can reach Angela at
angela@sundarayoga.net
Me
to We Store
This
lovely store (223 Carlton) has closed.
It’s been a stylish addition to our business community and a great way
for local people to get a glimpse into the work done by Free The Children and
Me To We. No word yet about future
uses for this location. Another
storefront beside it, the former site for Kendall and Co is also empty. These empty locations raise the concern
that a vital part of Carlton Street will be deadened by the expansion of office
space and the loss of lively retailers.
Ultra
Pharmacy
Ultra
Pharmacy has closed its store at 411 Parliament and moved a few doors south to
403 Parliament. The owners of the
pharmacy are also the property owners at 403 and they’ve been busy adding a
third floor and making renovations at 403. This seems to be part of the ongoing improvements in the
retail scene at Gerrard and Parliament.
Oh
Boy Burgers
As
mentioned here last week, the empty restaurant at Gerrard and Parliament will
soon be home for Oh Boy Burgers.
There’s new paint around the door and of course, there’ll be new signage
as well.
RESTAURANT NEWS
Another
successful cooking class at Merryberry
At
last Tuesday’s cooking class at Merryberry (559 Parliament) Cyril prepared
quiche Lorraine, French apple pie and other assorted delights. It was a
sold-out success. Cyril reports that all the people were amazed that they could
make pie crust so easily. Everyone
went home happy. He’s planning his
next class on souffles for later this summer.
Lots
of fresh food at The Local GEST
Tiffany,
Sean, Erique and Gary have been offering their farm produce from their tent at
the Cabbagetown Farmers Market in Riverdale Park. Their food comes directly from their farm plot near Sutton
Ontario. The farm also supplies
the seasonal vegetables used in The Local GEST (424 Parliament). Cleo Brown created a short video about
the Cabbagetown Farmers Market and the GEST’s farm.
Odin
Photo: Designstor, Ryan Fung
Odin
(514 King E) hosts Petrichord with Greg Nazar, Nick Benko and Vincent
Reel. Friday July 10 from 8:30
pm. There’s an interesting article
complete with striking photography in Arch Daily by Phaedrus Studios, the
architects who designed Odin’s dramatic interior.
Pickles
from Murgatroid
Murgatroid
(588 Parliament) is releasing another batch of Caleb’s homemade pickles. Drop by and pick up a jar. And this weekend will be your last
chance to get this year’s version of radish greens Chicken Caesar Salad – with
handmade crispy bacon and strips of aged Ontario goat gouda.
Beer
School at Mill Street
Find
out all the important details about beer!
What better way to start your Friday evening? Mill Street offers a Beer School right in the brewery on
Friday nights at 6:30 pm. Topics
include English ales, German and Belgian beers, flavoured beers and hops. The
sessions take about an hour and include four samplings of the beers on topic, a
sampling from Mill Street’s Ottawa brewery and food pairings, usually cheese
and pretzel dishes. Contact the
Mill Street Retail Store to reserve your spot – (416) 681-0338, ext 4. 21 Tank House Lane, Distillery. $25.
El
Catrin’s birthday
Photo: blogTO
El
Catrin (18 Tank House Lane,Distillery) is celebrating its second anniversary on
Monday July 13. It’s a lively
Mexican restaurant with a big, fabulous patio. On Monday, you’ll also be able to see the start of lots of
Pan Am Games activity in the Distillery District.
Stirling
Room
Saturday
July 18 marks the five year anniversary for The Stirling Room (16 Trinity St,
Distillery). To celebrate, you can join a
boat cruise on the Empress of Canada. There’ll be music by Teiga & YT//Habibi and DJ Ted
Kasprow. From 12:30 pm, Saturday
July 18. Tickets are $50/advance –
click here to buy yours.
Summerlicious
Our
annual summer restaurant festival 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.
CLUBS & PUBS – DAILY LISTINGS
THURSDAY JULY 9 TO SUNDAY JULY 19
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
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 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 – For the love of hops, $25
Odin
8
pm, Petrichord
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
MONDAY JULY 13
Stout
Irish Pub
7:30
pm, Headscratchers trivia
TUESDAY JULY 14
Stout
Irish Pub
7:30
pm, Headscratchers trivia
WEDNESDAY JULY 15
Alice’s
Place
9
pm, Karaoke
Paintbox
Bistro
7:30
pm, Corktown Ukelele Jam
THURSDAY JULY 16
The
Irv
7pm,
Geoff Willingham
Little
Trinity Concert Series
7
pm, Changui Havana
The
Local GEST
8
pm, Open mic with Porter
Mill
St Brew Pub
7
pm, Tap That Cask with live acoustic music
White
Elephant
8
pm, Open mic night
FRIDAY JULY 17
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 – English Ales, $25
Stirling
Room
Theatrical
Friday reserve on the guest list.
$20
White
Elephant
7
pm, Scott B Sympathy
SATURDAY JULY 18
Mill
Street Beer Hall
8
pm, Vinyl Nights with DJ Humble Mike of the Record Collective
Stirling
Room
12:30
pm, Fifth anniversary boat cruise on the Empress of Canada, $50
Stirling
Saturdays, reserve on the guest list
SUNDAY JULY 19
Alice’s
Place
9
pm, Karaoke with Vee
Local
GEST
4:30
pm, Sunday afternoon jazz with the Brick House Trio
Mill
Street Beer Hall
1
pm, Jazz brunch with Tyler Yarema
