The first round of news focuses on bars and restaurants, reflecting where Torontonians spend their time in the winter.

We may have been the first to note the opening of restaurant Yours Truly, but we are not the last. Many are lauding the food and the men behind it, and liking the bar scene – check it out yourself at 229 Ossington.

Singer Emily Haines listed The Dakota Tavern as her favorite go-to for live music in Toronto.

Blogto has been profiling bartenders, starting in our area with The Garrison and The Ossington.

We were there when they were, and now you can read and watch a behind-the-scenes look at new GlobalTV series Bomb Girls when they were on location at The Dakota Tavern last fall.

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!

Liss Platt’s exhibit at MKG127 just opened and received a nice write-up for her photography in constant.

Last week, Toronto Life recommended Pinkalicious, the children-targeted musical which has been running every Sunday at Lower Ossington Theatre.

 Did we miss any news about the neighborhood? Let us know in the comments.

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.

10) Queen West Music Fest Marks Year 3 in Trinity Bellwoods Park – Finishing off our list of the top 10 posts of the year was our story on the 3rd year of the Queen West Music Festival. This local charity and music event included some great musicians including Stephen Prickett, Miss Emily, Mike Evin, Lazybones and Adam’s Rib.

Looking forward to another exciting year ahead!

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.

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.

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
• Great give-aways and prizes including signed baseball bats by Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie, Adam Lind and J.P. Arencibia
• Question & Answer session with Gregg Zaun
• Jays season wrap up and MLB Playoff Preview

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!

Many of the local bars and restaurants are participating in some way in this year’s celebration of craft brewing.

To launch the week off right, The Garrison tweeted:

TheGarrisonTOSep 13, 2:07pm via Twitter for iPhone

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!

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 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.

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!

Here’s some pictures and tweets from the evening!

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.