One of the great things about Jane’s Walks, besides being free, interesting, and fun, is that everybody has a story to share, and yesterday, we learned some new things about Ossington Village.

We shared stories about the recent development of the food, art and real estate scenes of Ossington, and even delved into some history. We pointed out some of the street art along Ossington, places where famous people have visited, and places we like to hang out.

We were also told a few stories.

For example, the CAMH rehab facility at the bottom west side of Ossington near Queen used to be a firehouse, not surprisingly when you look at the tower. The tower itself was built expressly for a firehouse, as the place to hang their nylon firehose to dry after use.

Another interesting story was about the condos at Halton and Ossington. The Ossington development was built on the site of a former auto repair shop and car wash, and the condos on Halton took over from an old church that was sold and demolished. Just east of there, where another set of newer townhouses now exists, the developer bought an old church for only $650,000 and converted them to the houses today.

We finished the weekend at a neighborhood favorite, which is also an unknown spot to many in the city, The Communist’s Daughter. We even got Michael Johnson to come outside and play some of his gypsy jazz for the crowd. A perfect ending to a tour of Ossington.

Jane’s Walks occur for a weekend each Spring. We had a great time leading one, and we’ll likely do it again next year. Let us know if you went on any Jane’s Walks or if you have any interesting info on the history of our neighborhood.

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.

Enjoy the holidays everyone!

Restaurant	24th	25th	26th	Notes
Beau Lieu Bistro	Closed	Closed	Closed
Bohmer	Closed	Closed	Closed
BQM	Open until 5pm	Closed	Closed
Communist’s Daughter	Open	Closed	Open	We miss Michael J’s Christmas Carols. Bring it back!
Crafted by Te Aro	Open until 1pm	Closed	Closed
Crooked Star	Open until bartenders discresion	Closed	Closed
Delux	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed until the 4th of January
Foxley Bistro	Closed	Closed	Closed
Goed Eton	Open until 1pm	Closed	Open!
I Deal Coffee	Open until 5pm	Closed	Open!
Lakeview	Open	Open	Open	Always Open as usual!Yum!
Levack Block	Closed	Closed	Closed
Opera Bobs	Open	Open	Open	To escape your family, head to Opera Bob’s for a drink
The Ossington	Closed	Closed	Open!
Paramour	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed all the way until the 3rd of Jan
Painted Lady	Closed	Closed	Open!
Pizzeria Libretto	Closed	Closed	Open!
Pho Tien Thanh	Open	Open	Open	Get your Pho here to warm up!
Rua Vang (The Golden Turtle)	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed all the way until the 30th
Reposado	Closed	Closed	Open
Salt Wine Bar	Closed	Closed	Closed	Open on the 27th
Sweaty Bettys	Open	Open	Open	Bartender may close early on 24th and 25th.
Union Restaurant	Closed	Closed	Open for Dinner
Watusi	Closed	Closed	Closed

Not surprisingly, the Ossington Village nabe scores best in the dining and drinking categories, despite our council’s efforts!

Pizzeria Libretto was voted the #1 pizza in Toronto, and the runner-up for specialty pizza, and restaurant for a date. We know the lines are long, but can only recommend going for lunch, or arriving early for dinner, giving them your phone number, and hitting one of the many nearby bars for a pre-dinner drink. That’s what we do.

Naturally, Ossington also topped the list for best bar, and runner-up for best bar or pub. Take that, city council! The best bar as voted by Now’s readers is The Dakota Tavern, and the runner-up is Sweaty Betty’s, both sort of bookending the Ossington strip, and each by now a local institution. Plus, in the category of best bartender, Michael Louis Johnson of Communist’s Daughter was runner-up. We don’t know what the other guy does that’s so special, but Michael serves food and drinks at the same time that he plays with a jazz group. Check it out for yourself!

One of our two pho joints was featured as the runner-up for Best Vietnamese - Rua Vang Golden Turtle on 125 Ossington. Not surprising, considering how popular (and cheap!) it is. The Lakeview won as best diner/greasy spoon. Gotta appreciate that it’s open 24 hours, and has nightly drink specials that really are special.

We think all the spots on Ossington are worth visiting, but it is nice when great establishments and people that we love get recognized. Post your faves that deserve recognition in the comments.

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 rave reviews 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.

Michael Johnson & The Red Rhythm

One of the real gems of the Ossington Village is the Saturday afternoon Gypsy Jazz show between 4 and 7pm at the Communist’s Daughter, on Dundas just off Ossington. Michael Lewis Johnson holds one of the most unique regular live music shows in in the city. The small 25 seat bar is transformed back in time; Michael sings and plays cornet in songs from the 20s, 30s and 40s while simultaneously bartending and playing gracious host to an always-packed house. It’s an experience that no Torontonian should miss.

But now, if you’re not the type of person who can make it out on a Saturday afternoon (and, I’ll be honest, I’m usually busy during these times), the audio experience has been captured in a new CD put out by Michael and the group, recorded live from a series of Saturday shows. The tracks do a good job of capturing the experience – including Michael’s always entertaining mid-song banter as well as passing the hat around the room. I did find a little YouTube video capturing one of the songs on the CD – a little video hardly does justice to the atmosphere, but it’ll give you an idea of the vibe.

Right now, as far as I understand, the only way you’ll be able to get this is by stopping by the Communist’s Daughter anytime and asking the bartender.

Check it out this afternoon, and every Saturday, between 4 and 7pm and don’t forget to pick up a CD. I’m listening to it now and it’s absolutely worth it.

The Painted Lady is hosting a SuperBowl party with large screen TVs and a special menu including varieties of hot dogs. They are even conducting a football pool so you can really have something to root for.

Reposado celebrates “Superbowl Stupor” at 5PM with free munchies and $5 tall boys.

The Dakota Tavern continues with their usual live music lineup starting with Lickin Good Fried at 7 and house band the Beauties at 10p.

Communist’s Daughter hosts their regular Sunday afternoon jazz starting 4:30ish.

The Garrison’s Wavelength series continues tonight with bands playing from 9p- late.

You can check out some art at AWOL open til 5 with a new exhibition this weekend.

There are likely more events happening, but this is a start. Have a great Superbowl Sunday!

This should be a great night. There should be no lights, no mics, no amps, some good acoustic music.

There should be a lot of venues involved. While walking the street tonight I saw signs on Reposado, Painted Lady, Foxley Bistro and BQM.

They have a facebook page here.

And don’t forget about the Yelp Ossington Pub Crawl next week.