Signs posted at 164 Ossington signal the impending opening of Hawker Bar. The space, which used to house Crepes and More, and before that, le Bar a Soupe, is adjacent to Ideal Coffee and, with good management, should do well in the location.
According to a posted sign written to the neighbours, Hawker Bar will be a full-service restaurant serving lunch and dinner. The menu will be an “exciting mix of Malaysian, Chinese and Indian flavours… inspired by the local street food… of… Singapore”. Opening date TBD.
Soon-to-open new restaurant The Grove, next to Churchill on Dundas at Lakeview, is already getting preview attention for its English menu.
The local art scene is also getting some coverage, starting with a story about art which mentions some street art on Queen near Ossington. It’s a cool picture – definitely want to check it out!
About this time of year, we like to look back and see what people have been reading on the site and highlight the most popular posts of the year by traffic.
The list is interesting, reflecting not only what’s been popular, but also highlighting places and events we have covered first, been the only ones to cover, or which do not have their own web presence.
1) The Port – updated local spot keeps traditional Beef Shishkabob The first on the list is actually a post written in 2010 about The Port on Dundas. They did an overhaul at the end of last year but decided to keep the one menu item the new managers thought would sell, a delicious beef shishkabob which comes to the table on a sword.
2) Fishbar Opens their Doors – In second place was our post about the long awaited Fishbar, which opened in May and has been going strong ever since. We especially like their Oyster matinee on weekend afternoons.
3) Havana Cultura Starts Today! – This post, written in 2010 for the first edition of the festival, is still more popular than the post we wrote about this year’s festival in July. We’re looking forward to many more years of this Cuban cultural festival remaining in the neighbourhood.
4) Beau Lieu Bistro is Now Open – We wrote this post in September 2010 and it’s still popular. It’s probably because this quiet French bistro hasn’t had much publicity in other media and audiences online are looking to know more.
5) The evolution of Dundas off Ossington – Another post from October 2010 remained popular through 2011. As the moratorium came to a close in 2010, we noticed the quick transition of Dundas to a more food-centric strip. At that time, many new places were opening, including Churchill, Enoteca Sociale, Brockton General, The Red Light, The Port, Camp 4, and more, all taking the local food and drink culture which had started on Ossington to a new place around the corner on Dundas.
6) Opening Soon: Amaya Express – There’s no doubt it takes a long time to get a restaurant open. We wrote about this Indian restaurant chain soon-to-be opening in March. Here it is December and we’re still waiting.
7) Cosmopolis shoot brings stars to Ossington and Dundas – It seems vampires are popular. When we wrote in May about how Robert Pattinson was filming in the neighbourhood, his fans immediately retweeted and shared our post. The day we posted this was one of the busiest days this year for traffic on the site.
Psst – There’s an Ossington Village Alleyway Party – In early August, local musician and bartender at Communist’s Daughter and organizer Michael Louis Johnson organized a party in the alleyway between Argyle and Foxley. This post was shared widely, letting people know of this no-so-secret event.
9) Yours Truly Now Open – Despite only being on the site for about 14 days, this post, written on December 16th about the new restaurant Yours Truly, is still in our top 10. We ended up stopping by later in the week and the food was outstanding. We’ll be back there a lot.
Over the past year, we welcomed a number of new businesses to the neighborhood, not as many as in 2010, but quite a few! We hope they’ll grow and succeed, so to help, we’ll remind you of these restaurants, stores and art galleries. If you haven’t visited them, you can add them to your “check out” list for 2012.
More than Pasta opened it’s doors officially at 121 Ossington in March 2011, but we got an advance look at the delicious pastas, sauces and prepared foods they make in-house.
Fishbaropened in May, serving happy hour and dinner at 217 Ossington Ave, and since then they’ve added a lunch menu for all the fish lovers around. Also in May, the Lakeview Storehouse opened, selling produce and groceries, along with poutine, adjacent to the Lakeview Restaurant on Dundas.
Just in time for summer, Eagle’s Nest Espresso and Ice Cream opened at 1199 Dundas Street West.
November was a busy month for openings: we noted the return of Lennox Contemporary, now at 44 Ossington, and the opening of The Dog Bowl at 984 Dundas West. Also new is G Gallery in the back at 134 Ossington.
In December we welcomedtwo of the newest businesses on the street: Yours Truly is now open 6 nights a week (closed Tuesday) for dinner at 229 Ossington, and Don’t Tell Mama is a gallery and art space.
There are also a lot of places we’ve been talking about opening but are still waiting for - like Amaya, The Saint and Bellwoods Brewery. More to look forward to in the new year!
About 10 days ago another new gallery and art space called Don’t Tell Mama opened on Ossington, just south of Watusi and beside the soon-to-open Amaya restaurant at 108 Ossington. They had their first event on December 19th featuring work from Laura Scholey, Soux Ellis, and D’Andrea Bowie, all various multi-media visual artists.
We like their new sign and storefront on the street, although we haven’t yet found their website or other social media to keep us in the loop on what’s coming up. Let us know if you come across them.
Ossington is a destination for people from across Toronto and beyond, partly for the mix of eclectic festivals that draws us and others to the strip. 2011 was no exception, so we’re looking back at the festivals this year on Ossington.
The year in festivals kicked off in January with a dance festival called Connect TO at Lower Ossington Theatre, which is a prime festival location.
The music came back with the return of NXNE in June, and we saw some amazing shows right here in Ossington Village. This July, the Painted Lady created a new festival to coincide with the Toronto Jazz and Fringe Festivals. Maybe next year, we’ll see more venues join the fun.
The Contact Photography Festival covered art galleries for the entire month of May, and didn’t miss Ossington, with exhibits at The Painted Lady, Angell Gallery, Brockton General and Levack Block.
Jane’s Walks, which take place all over the globe on a May weekend, were also led in our neighborhood. Maybe next year you’ll see an Ossington Village Jane’s Walk instead of “the Hipster’s Guide to Ossington!”
Summerworks returned in August, bringing music and theatre to Lower Ossington Theatre and other local venues. The hugely popular Havana Culturareturned for it’s second year in August, with Cuban music, art and food on offer at almost every spot on the street. Who can forget the cigar roller surrounded by scantily clad women? Another returning event was Queen West Music Fest, which celebrated it’s third year this summer in Trinity Bellwoods Park.
Some was sipped, and some was likely chugged, but either way, Toronto Beer Weekalso returned to Ossington in 2011, with tastings and pairings at local restaurants and bars. Ossington also saw the return of TO Sketch Fest, with lots of comedic troupes taking to the stage at LOT this past November.
We continue our series of “buy local” gift ideas in Ossington Village with another easy and plentiful option: a gift certificate for dinner.
With the plethora of restaurants in our neighborhood, you can buy a gift card to suit anyone’s tastes. All you have to do is stop by one of these establishments one night this week and buy a gift certificate, put it in a card, and you’re done. Maybe if you’re lucky, the recipient will take you for a meal! Bon appetit!
The gift: Restaurant gift certificate
Where to get it: Fishbar for seafood lovers, Boehmer for the traditional, Union for the meat eater, Delux for Cuban, Foxley for Asian tapas, Salt for Portuguese tapas, Pizza Libretto and Enoteca Sociale for Italian. If you want to introduce them to somewhere they haven’t tried, Yours Trulyjust opened, and don’t forget Beau Lieu Bistro for the Francophile. The list goes on and on.
Price range: Up to you
Who would like it: People who like to eat out. The range of choices in our neighborhood make it easy to please the people on your list.
We continue our holiday gift guide with an easy to buy at the last minute gift.
The gift: Theatre tickets. With a focus on delivering the arts to the community, LOT offers entertainment throughout the year. Seats are on sale in 2012 for Avenue Qfor the adults, or, for the little ones, Pinkalicious.
Who would like it: People who like the theatre, or just a nice night out. Young kids who would be enchanted by a Sunday matinee (and their parents, who would love it if you’d take them off their hands for an afternoon)!
We sadly convey the news of the loss of Gabriella Carmena Micallef, known to our community as the friendly and approachable owner of More than Pasta, at 121 Ossington Avenue.
Gabriella passed away on Tuesday, December 13. She was diagnosed with advanced, non-small cell lung cancer in 2006, but continued to run marathons and set up businesses while fighting the disease.
Since opening More than Pasta last March, Gabriella embraced our community, throwing open houses and donating to local schools and charities. She quickly became a respected presence, and we will notice her loss.
A memorial service will be held at St. Alphonsus Church, 540 St Claire Avenue West, on Saturday, December 17th at 11:30am.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you generously support Lung Cancer Canada
1896-A, Avenue Road, Toronto ON, Canada M5M 3Z8
New restaurant Yours Truly opened quietly this week at 229 Ossington, just south of Dundas. The menu is posted in the window, and it starts with a prix fixe card offering seasonal meat and veggie options. There is also a section of small plates. When we dropped by and spoke to a hostess, she told us they will soon show their menu online as it will change often.
We took some photos of the menu for your reference. You can also stop in and taste for yourselves! Let us know if you do go: we have some holiday parties this weekend, so won’t be able to try right away.
The space, which used to house Crepes and More, and before that, le Bar a Soupe, is adjacent to Ideal Coffee and, with good management, should do well in the location.
New restaurant 
