Mr. Toronto

The end of September may mark the end of summer on the calendar, but somebody forget to tell Mother Nature that, in sunny Toronto.  We have just come through the longest stretch of dry weather we have experienced in 30 years (we keep track of things like that here), and temperatures have remained high.  Guess it’s payback time for the rainy and cool July and August we experienced this year…so people are still roaming the streets in shorts, sitting on patios, and – visiting farmers’ markets!

Yes, that was my way of introducing a burgeoning trend in T.O. – buying locally sourced foodstuffs at markets all over the City…
Farmers’ markets in Toronto have been going strong selling yummy Ontario fruits and veggies all summer long. They don’t shut down until well into October.  Most have very limited days and hours, so here’s a daily guide to some of the best:

Mondays – Sorauren park (at Wabash) : 3-7pm, till Oct.26

Tuesdays – East York Civic centre (at Coxwell) : 8am-2pm, till Nov.4
Riverdale Farm: 3-7pm, till Oct.27

Wednesdays – Toronto City Hall (Nathan Phillip’s Square): 8am-2:30pm, till Oct.14

Thursdays – Dufferin Grove Park (at Bloor): 3-7pm , year round!
Metro Hall (John/Wellington): 8am-2pm, till Oct.14

Fridays – Birchcliff Village (1512 Kingston Rd.): 3-7pm, till Oct.23

Saturdays – Brick Works (Bayview/Pottery Rd.): 8am-1pm, till Oct.31
St. Lawrence Market (North Building): 5am-5pm, year round

Sundays – Distillery District: 10am-6pm, till Oct.16
Liberty Village (Liberty/Atlantic): 9am-2pm, till Oct.27

A bunch of these places – Riverdale Farm, St. Lawrence Market, Distillery District, Liberty Village – make for great places to just walk around and soak up the scene, weather you’re interested in eating all your vegetables or not.

And plenty of restaurants in town to enjoy the end result of using these home-grown goodies, if you don’t feel like doing it yourself.  But that’s the topic for a future blog!

Mr. Toronto

Ah, my favourite time of the year in Toronto…the weather is still beautiful (actually, I should say finally beautiful – what a lousy summer!!), the hordes of tourists have moved out, and the stars have moved in!  Must be the Toronto International Film Festival!

If you’ve never visited TIFF before, you have to check it out.  Besides great movies day and night – many of which you can now actually see since tickets have become more accessible – it really is almost impossible to hang out – at the right places, anyway – and not bump into a movie star somewhere.

So what are those right places, you might ask?  Well, despite many of the movies/galas being shown further downtown, Yorkville is still the centre of activity.  Hotelwise, stand outside of the Four Seasons Hotel and you’re guaranteed a sighting.  The Park Hyatt is right up there, too, with a close 3^rd being the Intercontinental – all spitting distance from each other. And the Hazelton is a very ritzy boutique hotel – with it’s own private screening room – where you can also see beautiful people hanging out in its beautiful bar/restaurant, One….as for other restaurants, Sassafraz still draws them in, as does Bistro 990, which claims to be the “Official Restaurant” of TIFF…Sotto Sotto is an Italian fave of the stars…but you can pick any of the local restaurants, grab a table, and hope for the best (George Clooney ate at a non-descript Yorkville sushi joint last night…)

And then there’s the shopping.  The stars are always visiting their favourite stores in Yorkville, and on Bloor Street. The Roots flagship store is a sure bet, as is Holt Renfrew.

But the great thing about TIFF is you never know where you’ll bump into someone.  I almost ran Dennis Miller over as he was jaywalking on University Avenue a couple years ago, and rode up in an elevator with Sean Penn at the Delta Chelsea last year! (where I also spotted Geoffrey Rush having a drink in the bar).

So put on a comfy pair of shoes, grab your binoculars and autograph book, and come on down!

See you at the movies!

Mr. Toronto