Innehållsförteckning för March 2024 från Toronto Life

“I don’t keep alcohol at home—it’s too expensive” REGULAR EXPENSES RENT: $1,150 a month. “I’m lucky because my parents subsidize my rent and phone as long as I’m a student.” TRANSIT: $180 a month. “I live near the hospital where I work, so I walk a lot. I mostly spend on ride shares and the GO train I take to visit my parents in York Region.” GROCERIES: $250 a month. “My closest grocery store is Longo’s, but I make the trek to Lucky Moose in Chinatown for cheaper produce.” TAKEOUT: $200 a month. “I try to meal-prep for the week, but with 10-to-12-hour workdays, I often don’t have time.” ALCOHOL: $50 a month. “That’s mostly for bottles to bring to parties or friends’ places. I don’t keep alcohol in my…

I’ve been seeing my boyfriend for about a year, and it’s going well—maybe too well. I’m starting to worry we’re turning into that cliché: gay twins. He borrows my clothes, has grown a beard like mine and has adopted my love of casual blazers. But the sirens really went off when he suggested that we get matching “His and His” tattoos. Should I tell him that he’s becoming my reflection? More importantly, how do I stop it? —Attack of the Clone, Parkdale UD: It sounds like your boyfriend may be mimicking your style because he has yet to establish his own. If you confront him head on, you risk coming off as a paranoid control freak and making him feel like crap. Instead, mount a subtle campaign of well-chosen gifts, joint…

1. Itacate’s Volcan There’s an excess of great options here, but the Volcan—with its boldly seasoned strips of steak, sweet caramelized onions and stretchy layer of mozzarella—sits at the top of the menu for good reason. $8. @itacate_to 2. Tacos 101’s al pastor After his original downtown location was kicked out by a condo in 2018, chef Julio Campos took his trompo to Kensington Market. He swaddles his al pastor pork shavings in a double layer of corn tortillas along with a dollop of avocado sauce, onion, cilantro and a fat spear of fresh pineapple. $6.25. tacos101.ca 3. Puerto Bravo’s pulpo al carbón This taqueria in Little India—whose owners hail from the Mexican port city of Tampico—stuffs its tortillas not with carnitas or al pastor but with seafood, like smoky…

1. Banh Mi Huy-Ky’s lemongrass-garlic pork A butter-brushed baguette with a thin, flaky crust and a smooshy interior hugs lemongrass-and-garlic-laced pork, crunchy pickled carrot and white radish, and bright cucumber and cilantro. $5, cash or e-transfer only. No website. 2. Baguette and Co.’s French Dip This is what happens when a banh mi and a beef dip make sweet sandwich love: a crusty French bun loaded with slow-roasted sirloin, provolone, sautéed mushrooms and onions, dressed with a lemon-pepper aioli and served with jus for dunking. $8.85. baguetteco.ca 3. Banh Mi Nguyen Huong’s garlic-honey sausage The Chinatown storefront that gave birth (both literally and figuratively) to Toronto’s Banh Mi Boys (the boys’ parents opened it in the ’80s) still makes a mean sandwich. Our favourite dresses grilled honey-garlic pork sausage with…

MICHAEL HUNTER, known for his insistence on using locally sourced meat and produce, took up his trademark alias—the Hunter Chef—almost 20 years ago. He’d been working as a cook since he was 13, moving up from a greasy spoon at a gas station to the Cataract Inn, a now-closed Caledon fine-dining restaurant. That’s where Hunter first discovered foraging. “We’d go to the park on our lunch break to pick mushrooms, which we would then feature on the menu,” he says. Around the same time, a family friend took him turkey hunting, an experience Hunter describes as mind exploding. “When I tasted the difference between farmed and wild turkey, I was blown away,” he says. Hunter rarely buys meat. His home fridge is stocked with foraged goods and wild game he…

I STARTED MY COCKTAIL BAR, Northwood, on Bloor West in 2013, and it was a great success—we opened early and closed late, and the community loved us. But lockdown was tough: every week, the rules seemed to change. I’d often find myself dreaming it was 2019 again. I’d wake up and wish it was the before times. As a bar owner, how do you plan for the future during a pandemic when you have no idea what the variables are? How can you continue to build a business when you have no clue if it will survive the next few months? Still, I tried to keep Northwood alive. For a while, I thought about opening a resort in Muskoka. The name Northwood was a nod to that idea: a life…

1. Badiali’s vodka pie Almost three years after it opened, Badiali still attracts lineups for its NY-style pies. We totally get it. The vodka slice—dough fermented for two days, then topped with a kicky rosé sauce and creamy fior di latte—is worth the wait. $5.25. pizzeria badiali.com 2. Superpoint’s pepperoni Each floppy slice is super saucy and salty; each shiny curled-up cup of pepperoni cradles a smattering of parm, melting like teeny piles of cheesy snowflakes. $7. @superpoint184 3. Revolver’s ’nduja special The pies at this Mimico pizzeria are of the thin, blistery wood-fired style. We’re big fans of this umami bomb topped with fior di latte, punchy ’nduja, wild mushrooms and a liberal sprinkling of nutty sesame seeds. $4.50. revolverpizzaco.com 4. Fresca’s margherita with pesto This College Street pizzeria…

1. Extra Burger’s single cheeseburger If the burgers here are extra, it’s all in the details: three-ounces of perfectly seasoned beef, paper-thin shreds of crunchy iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato, tangy secret sauce and thick-cut kosher dill pickles. $9. extraburger.ca 2. Gold Standard’s Telway Burger Grilled in mustard and onions, topped with pickles and American cheese, wedged into a potato roll, and haphazardly wrapped in shiny gold foil, this burger isn’t going to win any beauty contests—but it’s what’s inside that counts. $8.50. goldstandardsandwich.square.site 3. JABS’s single cheeseburger Though the acronym stands for Just Another Burger Spot, Janrikk Millan’s patties are anything but ordinary, and it’s his signature condiments—like a divine onion jam—that make them stand out. $9. burgerjabs.com 4. The Real McCoy’s Home Burger While George Mihail’s bestselling…

“I’M NOT a chef-y chef,” says Lonie Murdock. “I don’t have any formal training. The base of what we cook at the restaurant is always the stuff I love to make at home.” Murdock concocts many of the dishes for Miss Likklemore’s menu in the recently renovated kitchen of her Queen West condo. “This is a safe place for me to try things I’ve never done before,” she says. Murdock admits, however, that her partner (in business and life), Darren Hinds, has been cooking most of the family’s meals over the past year to accommodate her schedule. “No one who works in the restaurant industry cooks at home,” she says, laughing. It’s no surprise that Murdock’s fridge is filled with items that she—in her words—“pillages” from Miss Likklemore’s, including tubs…

IT’S BEEN A whirlwind three years for chef David Schwartz. After launching Sunnys Chinese in November 2020 as a takeout popup, Schwartz opened and now runs two brick-and-mortar restaurants—Sunnys and Mimi Chinese—that have scooped up virtually every notable dining award there is, and he’s preparing to open a third (totally top-secret) one. When he’s cooking at home, Schwartz keeps it relatively simple, relying on his rice cooker for quick everyday meals. But he says that he and his artist fiancée, Lee-Tal Hatuka, go all-out when they’re hosting. “I’ll cook three or four different proteins at once,” he says. “It’s pretty chaotic, but it works.” Schwartz’s favourite pastime is grocery shopping, and he lives in Kensington Market, which makes it easy to shop locally. “I’ll get meat from Sanagan’s and pick…

Fear and Loathing Readers were united in their reaction to Rachel Browne’s January-issue investigative feature on Carolyn Krebs, the landlord at 500 Dawes Road. They loved the piece as much as they loathed the subject. “This woman gives all landlords a bad name. According to the article, she’s done this for decades, yet there seem to be no consequences. I remember her from my time as an adjudicator at the LTB. Sad it’s still going on.” —@harry_fine, X “I worked relentlessly to try to improve conditions for tenants at 500 Dawes Road. The city did some remedial action to fix boilers and other things. But it’s time for more serious consequences for this landlord and for decent living conditions for these tenants.” —@Janet_Davis, X “Fantastic. So detailed and 100 per…

JASON FISHER Owner, INDIE ALEHOUSE Dream job as a kid: “I wanted to be a hockey player. That or a detective, because I liked figuring things out.” Celebrity doppelgänger: “Brendan Fraser.” Favourite non-beer drink: “If it’s well made—red wine, scotch, bourbon—I’m good with all of it.” Lager or IPA: “IPA. It’s the foundation of the craft brew revolution.” Hangover cure: “Don’t drink too much. Have some water. Eat some bread.” Best beer pairing: “Good goes with good. Can you have barley wine with spicy chicken? Yes, you can.” Unsung Toronto brewing pioneer: “Ron Keefe, owner of Granite Brewery. He’s been around longer than anyone.” There’s something special in Lake Ontario water. Yea or nay? “Nay. The flavour of beer has nothing to do with our terroir.” Favourite Toronto bar that…

SATAY BEEF AND SCRAMBLED EGG IN A PINEAPPLE BUN GOOD LUCK HONG KONG CAFE | 5533 Yonge St. | goodluckcafe.ca THIS NORTH YORK chaa chan teng (“tea restaurant” in Cantonese) specializes in belly-filling comfort food, including bowls brimming with noodle soup, baked rice dishes and thick wedges of brick toast (think a half-loaf of bread, hollowed out and filled with things like cheese and alfredo sauce). For something just as satisfying that doesn’t induce a food coma, we recommend the Hong Kong–style satay beef and fluffy scrambled eggs on a pineapple bun—which, for those who don’t already know, neither tastes like nor is made with any of the actual fruit. CLASSIC CEVAPCICI SANDWICH SOMUN SUPERSTAR 998 Kingston Rd. somunsuperstar.com This popular Upper Beaches bakery and restaurant has been churning out cevapcici since…

1. Manpuku’s curry udon This Japanese hole-in-the-wall is arguably one of the best vendors in what is already one of the downtown core’s best food courts. Manpuku’s chewy udon noodles in a smoked bonito broth come topped with a mildly spicy Japanese curry and thinly shaved strips of beef. $8.30. manpuku.ca 2. Coffee In’s pancit molo Pho and ramen may get all the noodle-soup love, but Filipino pancit deserves a shout-out. This one brings a bowl of intensely savoury broth loaded with plump wontons and shredded chicken. $6 small, $9 large. No website. 3. Taste of Qin Yun’s traditional liangpi Experience noodle nirvana with a bowl of these slippery, chewy hand-pulled noodles sided with seitan, bean sprouts and shredded cukes. Regulars know to mix it all together with the two…

ON OCTOBER 4, 2004, Father Basil Orestes Cembalista was busy clearing brush in the terraced backyard garden of his monastery when he felt a piece of debris pierce his right eye. The property at 3100 Weston Road—16 acres of floodplain and woodland sloping toward a hairpin turn in the Humber River—had been owned by the Order of St. Basil the Great since 1959. That congregation, an international order of the Eastern Catholic Church that once flourished in Toronto, was in decline: at age 64, Cembalista was one of just three aging priests and a bishop still living at the monastery. He was an editor of Ukrainian religious material and spent nights poring over manuscripts. His vision was already deteriorating, and the thought of losing it entirely was overwhelming. At the…

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DANCE A blockbuster ballet with a new twist ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts | March 6 to 17 ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, which shattered box office records when it first premiered in 2011, may be the National Ballet of Canada’s most popular show. This production, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, has a few creative plot tweaks that make it extra magical: Lewis Carroll becomes a character, Alice gains a love interest in the Knave of Hearts and the infamous Queen is also Alice’s mother. With gloriously over-the-top set designs including a mini theatre for the Mad Hatter, a massive house of cards and a horse-size Cheshire Cat puppet, the show promises to be a spectacle worthy of Wonderland. Here, soloist Tirion Law, who is making…