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.
It’s only a few weeks away, and you still don’t have plans for New Year’s? No matter how cold it is, at least on Ossington you know you’ll find a cab home! Here are some great ways to celebrate the start of 2012.
Bohmer Restaurant is holding a Speakeasy New Year’s Eve, with a 5 course tasting menu with a glass of bubbly, for $75 pp.
At this year’s Dakota Tavern New Year’s party, CATL will have everyone dancing with a show starting at 10PM.
The Painted Lady sticks to what it does best, with music by Salazar and burlesque from Anastasia Burlesque.
The Ossington is planning an 80s boogie funk New Year with “Love Handle NYE Edition” with DJs starting at 10PM.
Opera Bob’s is hosting their 3rd Annual New Year’s Eve-Stravaganza, with live music from The Unknown Culprits and guests. Admission is $20 but go buy tickets in advance as they sold out well before the big night last year.
The Garrison‘s Annual New Year’s Eve party features Chronologic and Shit la Merde and tickets are available at Soundscapes and Rotate This for $20.
Lower Ossington Theatre‘s new event space, LOT, is hosting a New Year’s party for $10 with dancing all night. Tickets on sale now and the party starts at 10p.
UPDATE: Fishbar has announced their dinner menu for New Year’s (scroll down) and for $55 pp they are offering a 4 course meal, drinks not included.
People will be dancing at Levack Block. Featuring DJ Dougie Boom in the backroom with special guests in the front. Entry is $20 in advance, $30 at the door, plus there’s a $40 VIP wristband = entry to second floor & champagne toast at midnite. Doors open @ 10pm, serving till 3AM.
Tickets available at the bar from Thursday to Saturday from 5pm or through PayPal via levackblock@yahoo.com
We’ll keep updating this post as we learn of more happenings in the neighborhood.
Ossington always celebrates Halloween in style, and this year is no exception. We already know about a few Halloween events and parties, so get your costume ready!
The Toronto Zombie Walk kicks Halloween off early when it returns to Trinity Bellwoods Park on Saturday, October 22. The 2011 9th Annual Zombie Walk is open to everybody who wants to dress up and participate, and if you have been there or read about it, you know people dress up! The walk begins at 3pm, but go early to see the crowd and enjoy the Zombie Wedding!
Reposado is planning a Halloween bash on Saturday, October 29 with prizes for best costume, live music and Duggan’s Beer.
Last year’s show must have been a success, because Lower Ossington Theatre is encoring the Rocky Horror Picture Show this October. The show runs Thursday, October 20 – Monday, October 31, with a sing-along edition on the 27th. Tickets here.
The Garrison is holding a Halloween House of Horrors on Saturday, October 29, with a $5 cover with costume, or $8 without. DJs Shit la Merde, Scott Cudmore and Jilly Botting will be entertaining party-goers starting at 9:30PM.
Also in the Halloween spirit, Crafted is running a “Best Costume Idea” contest and offering a pound of coffee free to the winner. Check into the shop for more information and/or to enter.
Additional parties announced: Levack Block is hosting a Halloween party weekend with DJs and costumes Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9PM. On Friday night, head over to Watusi for a Halloween Dance Party with DJs and a prize at midnight for the best costume. Opera Bob’s is having a party on Saturday night after 9:30PM and giving out some good prizes for costumes: $60 Opera Bob’s gift certificate for best group costume, $30 for best individual costume.
Please check our calendar for these and other upcoming events.
This Thursday, Opera Bob‘s, our local sports bar, is hosting a unique charity event. Gregg Zaun, former Blue Jay pitcher and Rogers SportsNet analyst, is putting on a charity casino night in support of the Sick Kids Hospital and Horizons for Youth. Opera Bob’s got quite a reputation this summer for their Jays Days events, where for a bunch of out-of-town games this season, they recreated the spirit of the game right in the bar, right down to the seventh inning stretch and servers walking around selling canned beer and hot-dogs.
Thursday night’s event is for a good cause, and also includes the opportunity to:
Play Blackjack, Roulette, Crown and Anchor with professional casino dealers,
Celebrity bar tending, including 2010 Miss Universe, Elena Semikina
Opera Bob’s is no stranger to charity events. They regularly provide a venue for many local charities to raise funds for all sorts of great causes. Head over on Thursday to Opera Bob’s and enjoy the tail end of the baseball season while helping others!
Free Show / Beer Week Festival Opener Party! Foxfire-OPOPO-Mamabolo-Pants & Tie-Shit la Merde This Friday-The Garrison
Other local participants are listed on the Beer Week website. Some are offering beer specials, food and beer pairings, or something else. Keep your eye out for the beer week specials on Ossington, and enjoy the craft brews!
It’s mid-summer and we are still working our way around the local patios. The Red Light at 1185 Dundas St West is open most weekend afternoons, and at night. The two room bar also offers a cozy, South-facing patio with a lot of built in benches for seating. Order a drink from the bar before you head to the back, and lounge in the sun making new friends of your neighbors. It’s a young, friendly crowd, and sometimes they have special BBQ meals and other one-time-only events. You never know what you’ll get, but it’s probably fun at The Red Light.
Down on southern Ossington lies Baby Huey, a mostly late night spot at 70 Ossington. We stopped in on a recent Saturday after 11pm, and the crowd still hadn’t arrived, which allowed us the back patio almost entirely to ourselves. It’s a large back patio with some pretty interesting wall murals, and the drinks are cheap, so come early for a seat, or later to mingle with the cool kids. See you on the patio!
The celebration of Cuban food, art, music and drinks is returning to Ossington Avenue this August. Havana Cultura runs August 18-21 and is sponsored by Havana Club Rum. Events will be held at many of the busiest venues around the neighborhood, including Reposado, Sweaty Bettys, Watusi, Delux, Crooked Star, Lower Ossington Theatre, Painted Lady, and, of course, Julie’s Cuban.
The sneak preview happened today at Reposado where they showcased some of the talent – from musicians to cigar rollers. They also allowed us to taste some authentic Cuban food and drink, including a new rum they are launching this year during the festival, Havana Club Selección de Maestros.
Some of the highlights of this year’s event include a Rumba party at The Ossington on Friday August 19th with IYÁ IRÉ Dance Company, and the Latinada Band from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Also on Friday, local Latin artists Son Aché will be performing upbeat Latin dance music at Watusi.
On Saturday afternoon, you can take a master class in rum drinks and the origins of Cuban rum, the secrets of rum production and learn how to mix a few classic Cuban cocktails at a special Havana Club Master Class at LeVack Block from 2 to 3pm. Even the Lower Ossington Theatre is involved with some Cuban films including “Eso Que Anda”and “Lisanka”.
And once again the wall of Levack Block will be painted during the festival by local grafitti artist Angel Carrillo.
The festival is a great fit for Ossington, taking great advantage of the diversity of businesses and individuals in the neighbourhood. Keep an eye on our calendar for a full line-up of events as the date approaches.
Don’t say the people in the Ossington area don’t have a good time and make the best of a bad thing. And who said Thursday and Friday nights are just full of douchy 905ers? We know how to have fun.
The corner of Ossington and Dundas has been closed for a few days while they repave the entire intersection. So the section of Ossington north of Rolyat to Dundas has been barren at night. So what are local businesses and regulars to do? A soccer match, of course.
For the last couple nights impromptu soccer matches have broken out in the street near the intersection with the staff from some of the local bars, including the Painted Lady, involved. While we’ve missed both matches, tweeters @tattsjane, @beatricebastado, and @HiMySyed sent some understandably dark pictures out via Twitter. @HiMySyed even live-tweeted the first game at 10:30 at night on Thursday. Thanks folks!
The Painted Lady has quietly launched The First Annual Jazz on Oz Fringe Festival, running at the same time as the Toronto Jazz Festival and the Toronto Fringe Festival. In reaction to the corporate sponsored, expensive and staid concerts provided by the city jazz festival, they are hoping to attract some of the best and brightest from the festival to extend their nights in a more free-form style. During this time, The Painted Lady will be open, serving, and offering live jazz until 4am. As most of the venues at the official event end around 10pm, it will be just enough time for the musicians to grab dinner, and head out to do what jazz musicians do best: improvise and interact in a comfortable late-night venue. The sets will include (or start with) musicians like Great Bob Scott, Chris Gartner, and Shuffle DemonRichard Underhill, but who knows where it will go from there?
The great jazz musicians – Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie among many others- honed their chops and gave audiences wild and random shows late nights in the clubs in New York, so the Painted Lady is hoping to get musician musicians down to Ossington to keep our neighbourhood in the forefront of the arts in Toronto.
We think there’s room for at least a few more venues to join in on this fun. How about Reposado, The Port on Dundas, Dakota Tavern or Bunda Lounge? Let’s get a few more venues going and be the place in the city where the real fun and creativity happens.
It’s time for a recap of press coverage of Ossington area businesses.
Ossington always 
