If you’re looking to find Dinner on Ossington on Christmas Day you’re going to be pretty much out of luck. There are a couple places to get food on Christmas day including the Pho place Tien Thanh and Lakeview Restaurant, and you’ll be able to stop by Sweaty Betty’s and Opera Bob’s for drinks.
We’ve collected the hours from many of the local restaurants, cafes and bars for the Christmas weekend so you don’t end up heading out to a closed restaurant or bar.
2010 was a big year for Ossington Village, the blog and the neighborhood. As the year ends, we look back in a series of remembrances of the big events, openings and news draws of our little part of the world. Today we focus on the openings in 2010.
This year brought a lot of new businesses and faces to Ossington, all of which we welcomed, and many of which we covered. We look forward to frequenting many new shops, galleries, restaurants and more to the strip in the year ahead.
Let’s start with February 2010 – Angell Gallery moved from Queen Street West onto Dundas. Angell took over the space of Lennox Contemporary in February 2010, and has hosted a plethora of exhibits ever since.
There was a bustle of activity and then Bohmer launched in March 2010. The beautiful space and delicious food has led more people to Toronto’s new “Restaurant Row.” March also saw the opening of “Oz Boutique,” an art and design hub which has housed Evan Biddell’s clothing line, but focuses on photographer Joe Fuda’s work and curated exhibits.
We started April with City Store Grocery opening on Dundas, and Crepes and More on Ossington. 8 months later, both are still open and catering to the daytime crowd in our area. That month’s other opening was the weekend-only bar, OurHouse.
We don’t want to forget all the new openings on Dundas (part of that “Ossington triangle” mentioned earlier) that we covered a couple of months ago about Dundas’ evolution: Bunda Lounge, Churchill, Brockton General, Academy of Lions, Port, and Enoteca Sociale.
Finally, let’s look forward to the continuing growth with new places set to open soon: Pasta and More, Fish Bar, Lakeview Convenience and The Saint are the ones we know about, but we’re sure there’ll be more. Here’s to a happy and healthy Ossington Village in 2011.
Dundas is changing quickly, and recently a Portuguese Sports bar called Ports turned the management over to a couple of locals, Sean and Christopher, to help the owners take advantage of the evolution in the neighbourhood. With a quick name change to “The Port”, this local spot has suddenly changed from a dingy bar to a retro-styled hangout with pool tables, pinball machines, a wall of video screens playing old 60s and 70s movies, and a DJ area. The Port is on Dundas West, just west of Ossington, on the same strip that houses Camp 4, The Garrison and The Red Light.
Sean and Christopher have changed much about this place, but there was one menu item that they simply loved and kept, and one we highly recommend – the beef shishkabab.
We ordered it on the recommendation of local Michael Louis Johnson, and as we were waiting noticed a whole preparation going on where a three foot metal stand was attached to our table and plates laid out nearby. Then a huge skewer arrived laden with large pieces of medium rare beef and hung right at the table in front of us. It was really impressive, and we had never seen anything like this in Toronto. We tugged hunks of meat off the dangling sword and ate them with a side dish of tasty poutine with crispy fries – a true hipster favourite.
Behind the bar Christopher worked his magic as the DJ with collection of 80s tunes – and he has dance moves too! Just keep in mind the song “Footloose”, and you’ll get the idea.
We heard of plans to expand the menu and host special DJ nights and live performances. Check it out now – but when you go, don’t miss the beef shishkabob!
It seems that the Ossington moratorium has benefited Dundas Street West, turning it into the new, new thing. The proliferation of galleries, bars, restaurants and more continues this fall with the opening of several spots between Crawford and Beaconsfield alone.
What was once a mixture of Portuguese sports bars, hair salons and video stores is now a booming strip of fine dining restaurants, hipster bars, and a new gym. Let’s explore Dundas just east and west of Ossington.
While some of the better known spaces have been around for years, such as The Communist’s Daughter and The Lakeview, many of the go-to places opened less than 2 years ago: The Red Light, Show and Tell Gallery and Opera Bob’s come to mind. Continuing that trend, The Garrison took over a huge sports bar and turned it into one of the better live music venues in the city, with on-the-verge acts playing most every night. Enoteca Sociale is an expansion of Ossington’s Pizzeria Libretto family, and the rustic Italian wine bar is packing them in after approximately 6 months in business. Loop Gallery opened a year ago just west of Dovercourt, adding to Dundas West’s cachet in the arts’ community.
One of the more recent newcomers is Brockton General, which is getting ravereviews for it’s small menu of daily specials on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Academy of Lions, a cross-fit gym, just opened in a former auto service station on Dundas a block east of Dovercourt. Churchill, a lounge-bar, opened last month at Dundas and Lakeview, and Bunda Lounge is opening soon just east of Ossington.
Since Dundas doesn’t have a moratorium, it is much easier to open a restaurant or bar there than on Ossington. We’re not going to get into the fact that maybe they should be revising some bylaws so there are different licenses for bars as opposed to restaurants, and that we don’t need to force bars to serve food because we are all adults and smart enough to know when we need to eat. Ok, maybe I did go into that. Seriously, it’s 2010, can our government treat us like grownups? Anyway, the point is, we assume the tough restrictions on Ossington have caused some of the spill-over onto Dundas, and we see so many “for lease” and “for sale” signs that this will probably continue for some time. We’ll be here to cover it.
We have spotted two new businesses that are either open or opening soon.
Churchill looks to be open already or is very close to opening.
Located on Dundas and Lakeview (1212 Dundas), which previously housed If Lounge, Churchill looks like a bar. I didn’t see a menu posted, so don’t know much else. This is a spot with a very cute outside patio, but as they are verging on a residential street, they have to be sure to keep the peace with the neighbors.
This evening I spotted a sign for a new place where Viva Hair used to be at 121 Ossington, called “More Than Pasta.” Their website suggests it may be a retail location for gourmet foods, featuring healthier pastas. I can’t say for sure, but will keep you posted.
#59 Ossington used to be a Vietnamese place. Now, it is soon to turn into Beau Lieu Bistro, which looks to be a French bistro. We have photos:
The location is on the east side of Ossington, between The Ossington and Pho Tien Thanh. We took a shot inside, and the art on the walls definitely evokes a Gallic bistro feel.
Our question is, how? With the crazy long moratorium on licenses on Ossington, Salt Wine Bar had to open illegally, and may not stay open. How is Beau Lieu going to swing it? And, with the newlycrazycrackdown on patios, when is this going to end? Will Council only be happy when everyone stays home to eat their meals?
As you are enjoying the last long weekend of this beautiful 2010 summer, you may feel compelled to check out the Ossington strip. If so, we’d like to fill you in on what is closed this weekend due to the holiday.
Crepes and More remains closed for their extended vacation, with the sign in the window saying they’ll return September 8.
The Dakota Tavern’s weekly Sunday bluegrass brunch will not happen this Sunday, September 5.
Goed Eten, which opened in July with a soft opening of coffee, sandwiches and snacks, is now ready to expand their menu and hours.
Based on their Twitter feed and the sign in front tonight, they are open very late Thursday-Saturday, until 3am. The new additions to the menu that they are serving for late-night diners includes burgers and fries and poutine. We knew they were planning to do this, and really feel they are filling a void on the busy strip. They also do waffles and ice cream for dessert.
So when you stop in and try the food at Goed Eten, let us know what you think!
Ossington has been mentioned in several news articles of late, so it’s time for our semi-regular press round-up.
The mentions are coming as far off as Ireland, where an article in the Irish Times cites our neighborhood as the “rising area” thanks to our bars and restaurants.
Another recent mention thatgarnered attention is from the Huffington Post, which calls Toronto “the capital of cool” and mentions Ossington as one of the “once dodgy, but now trendy…neighborhoods” for it’s galleries, shops and restaurants.
This sort of news must come in threes, because Daily Candy, a popular U.S. fashion and lifestyle blog, also visits Toronto and recommends Ossington for its restaurants and shops. Notably highlighted by Daily Candy are Jonathan + Olivia, Delux, Pizzeria Libretto and Camp 4.
So maybe we can expect to hear more Irish and American accents when we shop and eat on Ossington.
Finally, closer to home, new coffee shop Crafted by Te Aro is receiving positive press. We can attest to the quality of their coffees (both hot and cold) and the professionalism and dedication of their staff. If you follow them on Twitter, you would have read about their very high rating from The Coffee Review. Kudos and welcome to the neighborhood!
There was another awaited opening on Ossington yesterday. Goed Eten takes over the location where Semolina left a few months ago. We stopped by this morning for our morning coffee and met Johan who was still working putting things together. Going through the opening process can be a challenge.
While the decor hasn’t changed much since Semolina left, Johan explained that he will be growing into the location. Right now the menu is still quite limited, although there is a range of coffees, from very short espressos, to longer Belgian style. The sign on the front explains that it’s a two step process, with them starting out serving some easier to prepare foods such as fresh made Belgian waffles, house made ice cream, and locally baked breads and pastries.
In a few months he plans to expand his offerings to prepared and packaged meals, as well as selling organic produce from local farmers.
Yum!
