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By Brians, July 27, 2009 9:57 pm

FoodTV has blogged about all the places. Just issued the second in a series which started June 1st.

Check it out.

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By Brians,

Amid almost no media attention, just few owner tweets, Pizza Libretto got certified with their VPN (Verace Pizza Napolitana). This certification is to verify the restaurant is keeping up to the standards of pizza in the tradition of Naples. According to their website ” The Verace Pizza Napoletana Associationis an international trade association, founded in 1984 in Naples, Italy by Antonio Pace. Its purpose is to promote the culinary tradition of the Neapolitan pizza.”

We wish them the best of luck and look forward to eating lots more pizza there.

Here’s a twitpic from the event posted by @pizzalibretto.

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By Brians, July 24, 2009 9:43 am

I’m a big fan of Yelp. It’s a review site for everything under the sun, but their big focus is restaurants and events in the city.

If you love Ossington and want to check out all the bars on the street (or a good lot of them) Kat, from Yelp, is organizing a Ossington Pub Crawl and Scavenger Hunt.

It should be a fun night to go an check out the whole neighbourhood. Go sign up on Yelp and come join us!

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By Brians, July 21, 2009 7:49 pm

I may be straying somewhat from the Ossington village – at least one block – but one of the benefits of the neighbourhood is being close to farmers markets. We often go down to Liberty Village farmers market on Sunday mornings, but during the summer we also have the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market weekly.

On this rainy Tuesday night, the first market of the season, I walked over to check out the vendors. The booths are somewhat scattered throughout the northwestern portion of the park near Dundas, but all looked full of fresh organic produce. Lots of lettuces, kale, and berries were on display. Somewhat hidden in a corner was a  trout dealer where I picked up a couple of fresh whole trouts plus a pint of wild blueberries, from the first harvest of the season.

Now off to make dinner!

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By Brians, July 19, 2009 10:34 pm

Last week, after going to see Neko Case at Massey Hall, we stopped by Union Restaurant, Teo Paul’s new restaurant mentioned earlier. I hadn’t eaten yet that night and it was late, just after 11pm.

The staff was friendly, and quite casual, and invited us to sit down at a table. They warned us that they might not be able to make all the menu items, which was fine. We ordered a salad and the charcouterie platter, as well as a couple glasses of wine. One of the glasses was a little sweeter than we preferred and they were quick to replace it with a another.

Both dishes were quick to arrive and were both interestingly presented as well as made with fresh ingredients. Neither were particularly complex dishes, but sometimes those are the hardest to perfect. Overall a great meal. We’ll need to head back for more!

Oh, and they have their website going at www.union72.ca

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By Brians, July 15, 2009 11:14 pm

When I was at the community meeting a few weeks ago talking about Joe Pantalone’s sudden and un-explained moratorium on new restaurants on Ossington, someone in the meeting asked why you could find lots of restaurants on the street, but you couldn’t buy a damn tomato on the strip.

As Toronto Life has pointed out, there’s been a big growth in gourmet food stores throughout Toronto. Salt Wine Bar, is also looking like they are going to be having a gourmet food shop attached to the restaurant. So maybe they’ll be selling fancy organic tomatoes, but probably not what the fellow was looking for, and probably for more than he’s willing to pay.

In other news, it looks like Chef Paul Boehmer is opening a place on Ossington. Did he get his application in before the deadline?

And Ossington hits the National Post yet again with a full summary of all the goodies on our fair street.

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By Brians, July 13, 2009 9:50 pm

Ossington is an artistic street for sure. With all the galleries and music venues art pervades the street. But it’s also everywhere, even hidden in plain view. You can walk down Ossington on any given day and not notice the large amount of graffiti, or, as it’s called “street art”.

Yesterday on a little neighbourhood walkabout I took a few pictures of the interesting art along the lower section of Ossington. Were there any good ones I missed?

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By Brians, July 12, 2009 4:51 pm

If you were feeling artsy this weekend in Toronto there was lots to do. We had Afrofest, the Fringe, and many other events. If you were into visual arts you’d probably want to hit up the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition.

But you didn’t have to go all the way downtown. Here on Ossington we got a mini version of the exhibition hosted by the folks at Lennox Contemporary called The Rejects – Salon des Refuses. This was a place where those who got turned down to show and sell at the big outdoor exhibition at Nathan Phillips Square got to show off their work in a smaller, more intimate setting.

We stopped by and visited them and checked out the work of a few up-and-coming artists.We talked to Venus Lukic who told us she had applied for the show, and was turned down, but brought her rejection letter to the people at Lennox and got a chance to show there.

We also saw work by Thomas Hendry, Bill Philipovic, and Ben Stansfield, among many others.

A nice way to spend an Sunday afternoon.

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By Brians, July 10, 2009 4:29 pm

We know this neighbourhood is fantastic! We love all the new restaurants going in. So we should let the world know. The folks at ZooCasa, Canada’s best search portal for Real Estate, are having a contest, and you can win ZipCar prizes, as well as iTunes certificates! Isn’t that great.

Make a great video about this fantastic part of Ossington and let the world know how good it is to live here. Then you just submit it here. How easy is that?

Let’s have at it Ossingtonites! (is that what we’re called?)

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By Brians, July 6, 2009 8:46 pm

Last week i wrote a post about the blocking of the opening of Ici Bistro, based on a Toronto Star article which discussed how Joe Pantalone was actively blocking the opening of a restaurant by one of the top chefs in the city, J. P. Challet.

At the same time I wrote him an email asking him why he had become such an active participant in blocking entrepreneurs growing new restaurants around the city. His response (and email response, unfortunately), posted below, is patently absurd and provides no explanation apart from vague mentions of ‘community concern’. These concerns, he points out, are not actual, but inferred.

In the interest of transparency, I thought it would be best to respond in-line and on-line.

Good morning Brian,

Thank you for getting in touch with me as the local City of Toronto Councillor about the liquor license application for 538 Manning Avenue, ICI Bistro.  Approximately two months ago, I responded to community concern about this liquor license application with a letter to the Alcohol & Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) as the elected representative of the neighbourhood.

I have, in the past, worked with Harbord Collegiate Institute and the community, especially the Palmerston Area Residents’ Association (PARA), to successfully oppose liquor licenses at both 538 and 536 Manning Avenue (on the southwest corner of Manning Avenue and Harbord Street) on numerous occasions.  In 1992, under the name of Mimmo’s, the owner of the business at 538 Manning Avenue applied for a liquor license.  Public opposition and a request from my office led to an evening hearing in the community and the applicant’s application was denied by the AGCO.

1992?! Is he kidding?! – That’s 17 years ago! How exactly is that relevant today?

That same year, at 536 Manning Avenue, an establishment named Twins applied and then withdrew in the face of public outcry.  Twins applied again in 1998.  At my request on behalf of the community, an AGCO evening hearing in the community was held on August 13, 1998.  The AGCO decided, once again, that it was not in the public interest to grant Twins a liquor license.

Again Mr. Pantalone refers to a neighbourhood 10 years ago.

On May 26, 2006, another AGCO hearing was held regarding 536 Manning Avenue, for a business named Aftermath Café.  Again, the AGCO concurred with us, that a liquor license in this area is not within the public interest.  In fact, the corner of Manning Avenue and Harbord Street is in the heart of a relatively quiet residential neighbourhood that includes the over 1000 teenaged students at Harbord Collegiate Institute.  As well, this neighbourhood is well-served by two vibrant commercial areas that host many liquor-licensed establishments along College Street (“Little Italy”) and Bloor Street West.

It seems that in this case Mr. Pantalone’s actions not only slowed the growth of a business, but actually bankrupted a small business owner. And the fact that is is in a quiet neighbourhood, it was clear that the space was already zoned commercial – so it’s not clear why forbid a businessman from operating a business on this street.

Next he points out that over 1000 teenaged students are at Harbord Collegiate Institute. Last time I checked it is illegal to serve to minors, no matter whether you run a little cafe, or a high end restaurant. So that point is absolutely moot.

With respect to this current liquor license application, it is my understanding from community leaders, including the Palmerston Area Residents’ Association and the administrative staff at Harbord Collegiate Institute, that the community does not support either of these locations obtaining a liquor license.  I have yet to receive any official communication from those same community leaders indicating that they are no longer concerned.

Let me get this straight. It’s your understanding even though you have yet to receive any official communication from them? Is that the response? I suggest you get in touch with them – perhaps here, and ask them what they think. It seems their last communication was about the noise on College St.

So, based on the advice given to me by the professionals at the AGCO and the serious concern voiced by the community leaders in the area, I maintain that it is not within the public interest to grant a liquor license to ICI Bistro at 538 Manning Avenue.  If there has been a change in the minds of leading community members, especially PARA, I would be pleased to be informed about it.

I understand that there is some concern from local residents about changes in the neighbourhood, it is not up to you, individually, to decide for the community, and outside the community – for entrepreneurs trying to grow businesses in these challenging times. It was done without notice on Ossington, and it seems you are, again deciding for the community without letting the community decide.

Thank you for again for contacting me and for your comment on this matter.  I will continue to keep you informed as this matter progresses.

Sincerely,
Joe Pantalone
Deputy Mayor
City of Toronto

As Mark Evans has rightly pointed out, it’s time to have this discussion online. And, more importantly we need a vibrant restaurant community in Toronto, serving the cuisine and educating the residents of the city on the many ethnicities and cultures of the city. Stifling growth based on complaints because current laws aren’t enforced is not the way to create a growing, vibrant Toronto.

I live in the Ossington area, a little far from the location although Ici Bistro would be a place I would go, if it had a license.