This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Intimidating, expensive and stressed, Toronto? True, true and true. However, the Queen City has more sought-after treasures than the CN Tower, giant posters bearing the image of major banks and addresses of fast fashion. Better still: you can even sympathize with Anglo-Canadians, who will be very happy and eager to improve their conversational skills in the language of Molière with you.
Frog legs and Bordeaux at La Distillerie
The Distillery is worth its weight in gold, if only for an admiring, window-shopping trip to its shops dedicated to everything that can be tasted or enhances and beautifies existence. From sumptuous boutiques for brides-to-be (Grace Loves Lace), to luxury donut counters (Flipside Donuts Cafe & Bar), through craft stores and art galleries… Made up of 47 Victorian buildings that were once the home of the Gooderham & Worts distillery, this pedestrian micro-district is also home to the Soul Pepper Theatre, a flagship venue on Toronto’s performing arts circuit.
The day of our visit, it was bitterly cold. Store employee Laura Slack takes it upon herself to help us forget about Toronto’s dreary mood with a sample of rich and creamy hot chocolate aptly named “Drink of the Gods Ultimate Drinking Chocolate.” It’s difficult to break our resolutions to frugality, surrounded by delights. There are mini-skeleton skulls in the dulce de lecheorange peels coated in chocolate, bars with flavors like rose water or violet…
Since being ecstatic over such tempting foods whets the appetite, we push open the door of Chez Cluny and ask for a seat at the bar. Bakery on one side, elegant bistro on the other, the establishment offers all the classics of French gastronomy in a decor that rivals the most typical Lyonnais corks. It’s actually a bartender from Macron’s country who suggests (in French) a good glass of Syrah Mourvèdre, at half price this Thursday. Which comes at just the right time: wine costs a small fortune in the city of the Maple Leafs!
Just reading the vast menu is worth this beautiful stolen moment of an early spring rainstorm evening: frog legs, onion soup, oyster bar, foie gras, caviar, steak fries… All that’s missing is the ghost by Julia Child to complete the picture.
Add your voice
Finding yourself a stranger in a large metropolis can be an intimidating experience. Even more so if you are traveling solo. On the other hand, the Queen City, just like New York, is a megacity where, even if life moves very quickly, kindness, politeness, humor and open-mindedness are never hidden very far away.
“Trivia” evenings (devoted to quizzes or board games) are excellent opportunities to mingle with the crowd in a friendly and participatory way. During our visit, several of these events occupied the cultural calendar: quiz evenings Harry PotterTaylor Swift, Mean Girls, Bollywood… Diversity is there. According to our sources, Wednesdays at the Drake Hotel, Thursdays at the Junction Craft Brewery and Mondays at Bellwoods Brewery are at the top of the favorite game nights for Torontonians who love such joyous social occasions.
With any luck, your stay in Toronto will coincide with the local agenda of Choir! Choir! Choir! An initiative by musicians Nobu Adilman and Daveed Goldman, this choral project occasionally invites the general public to events where everyone is invited to sing well-known tunes.
Toronto Arts
Toronto’s part of the TransAmériques Festival, Luminato (which takes place from June 5 to 16), offers a multicultural program made up of immersive and/or interactive experiences, productions by artists from the LGBTQ+ community as well as theater and dance. Audiences of diverse languages and cultures are therefore spoiled for choice.
For an activity more in tune with Canadian-English culture, treating yourself to an evening at the concert, the ballet or the Massey Hall theater or the Elgin Theater in the Garden District is a sure bet. During our visit, the Quebecers of Ex Machina and Côté Danse thrilled Toronto lovers of the performing arts, with the world premiere of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark at the Elgin Theatre. The red carpet for the media evening was very chic!
A concert hall renowned for its acoustics, Massey Hall has hosted big names like Charles Mingus, Billy Joel, Justin Bieber, Ravi Shankar… The Dalai Lama and Jerry Seinfeld have also graced its stages! This spring, this institution, which has undergone significant renovations since 2013, welcomes, among others, Nana Mouskouri and Bruce Cockburn.
To get some fresh air and immerse yourself in Toronto’s visual art, going mural hunting is a very worthy project! The StreetARToronto (StART) collective has also devoted vast efforts to highlighting this public art, which is displayed through works mainly concentrated along Rush Lane, south of Queen Street West and between Spadina and Portland ( recognized as Graffiti Alley.)
Grab a bite to eat and relax in a park
Going on a quest for the perfect sandwich is a completely legitimate quest. And Toronto is more than well placed to meet our expectations in this area. Since an incursion into the Queen City is discovered step by step, taking it neighborhood by neighborhood, we can also apply this system one sandwich at a time!
The multicultural Kensington Market district, an agglomeration of around ten street corners, has several options for eating and doing a little shopping to find retro treasures. The culinary offer being vast, you can simply let yourself be guided by your curiosity. Some tips: the Seven Lives bouiboui, which offers $5 tacos that don’t suck, the cinnamon buns from Blackbird Baking Co, and the hygge atmosphere of Café Fika.
In addition to the delights of Little Italy and the Portuguese Quarter, the numerous Japanese “gastro-pubs”, the French treasures, cheeses, baguettes and pâtés of the St. Lawrence Market, make it a taste destination to include on your Toronto itinerary.
Once your stomach is full, you can head towards Trillium Park and the William G. Davis Trail to breathe the fresh air and make friends with the runners, picnickers and walkers!
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