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 back patio at Union Restaurant.

Teo was out serving the best hamburgers and sausages I think I have tasted in a while, with some great condiments. Mike Layton, our Ward 19 counselor,  stopped by and chatted with Teo, explaining that these are the kind of local places that we need in the neighbourhood.

Right now, but current bylaws, Union cannot open their patio to the public, so they will need to go to the Committee of Adjustment. During these hearings, letters of support from locals can be helpful.

Teo’s goal for Union is to be a refuge for both farmers and patrons, and he has wanted a patio since he began his journey to ownership. The idea for the patio is that it would serve a maximum of 24 people, and also house his composting area as well as a charcoal barbeque. Produce from local farmers will also be showcased along the wall. It will close at 11pm, so as not to disturb local neighbours.

He is asking for letters of support so if you can email him at chefteo@gmail.com a letter noting your support, he can then use that at the committee meeting.

Check out this one of Ossington and Argyle:

This is the corner where Venezia Bakery is today:

This one is at Ossington and Bruce, which is where I Miss You Vintage Clothing store is:

And this is my favourite at the corner of Ossington and Foxley. You can see the old CAMH (999 Queen St) building in the distance.

Take some time and look around the Lost Toronto blog. It’s a lot of great pictures, with their recent comparisons. Have you got any other old pictures of the neighbourhood? Send along the links or the pictures in the comments.

One of the oldest back-patios on Ossington belongs to Sweaty Betty’s which recently upgraded their furniture and decor. Here there’s always a young and interesting crowd, and sometimes you might even run into a celebrity enjoying a pint. (or, if you’re lucky: owner, Pol, without his shirt). You won’t get table service at Sweaty Betty’s so pick up your drinks before you wind your way through the back room out to the oasis outside. The back patio can get crowded, but usually people will make room on the benches or move chairs around to accommodate you. It’s a friendly crowd.

Another spot which you might not notice from the street is Reposado’s back patio. Here you’ll find a nice retreat where you can imagine you’re tucked away in Mexico City while you drink a blood orange margarita or flight of nice quality tequilas. This patio has less seating, but the servers will come to you, so once you’ve finished your drink, you don’t have to get up to replace it.

There are even more hidden patios on Ossington. Keep your eyes on the blog for more of the street’s outdoor gems.

Bunda Lounge, for one, is hosting a special night on Saturday, February 12, with DJs, bottle service and appetizers.

On the dining side, Delux Restaurant is hosting a prix fixe menu on Monday, February 14. Salt Restaurant is also offering a prix fixe menu – you can check it out online. We also called Beau Lieu Bistro, and this lovely French boite is also doing a set menu, so call now for reservations!

Paramour is also doing a special Monday opening for Valentine’s Day and will offer their regular menu and some specials, including a special cocktail menu. They are offering an early and a late seating.

Union Restaurant tweeted that they will be open for Valentine’s Day and we are waiting to see what the menu will be.

Bohmer is still working on their set menu, but rest assured, will be open. Reposado is planning some special Valentine’s “oysters, Cava and crooning,” according to their website.

If you don’t want a fancy dinner but want to throw down and have some fun with your S.O. or some friends, there are some good choices for you too! Head on over to The Painted Lady for Big Rude Jake hosting the weekly Open Mic Night. The Rattlesnake Choir will be playing at The Dakota.

And, if your Valentine’s night doesn’t turn out like you plan, check out the fun and original night planned at XPace Cultural Centre on Feb 18! Called “Heartbeats,” it’s a new, live interactive dating show. They are even looking for contestants!

The first performance is tonight at Lower Ossington Theatre with Susanna Hood’s “Shudder” at 8PM. Tickets are $20 per show and $75 for a 5-show pass.

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.

May brought pop-ups to Ossington with the short-lived but fun launch of 1st Run Art Gallery, which featured the work of it’s creators. In June, LAB Consignment opened with a splash, sharing space with Silver Falls Vintage on Ossington near Queen. In other just as popular fashion news, TOPSHOP came to Toronto by way of London, and opened within Jonathan + Olivia’s space.

The lazy days of summer were anything but for entrepreneurs on Ossington when several businesses opened their doors, starting with Crafted by Te Aro, a coffee shop from Leslieville branching out. Another import from within Toronto was Goed Eten, which started serving coffee, waffles, poutine and more this July.

For a very short time this summer, Salt opened, then closed. Now it is finally open again for good, serving Portuguese wines and tapas.

This fall we supported the opening of Beau Lieu Bistro at 59 Ossington and also Telegramme Prints and Framing at 194 Ossington. O’born Contemporary is also a new gallery to the strip.

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.

In addition to the restaurant reviews, there’s coverage of new crossfit gym Academy of Lions and their program with homeless youths. The Globe and Mail must be sending all their reporters to our neighborhood, because they also have a write-up on Jonathan + Olivia‘s Top Shop.

Last but not least, the city of Toronto ranks neighborhoods by the number of trees living in them, and Dundas and Ossington’s Portugal Village ranked dead last. Better start planting!

While they had hoped to be open by now, there are always things that come up and cause delays, so it looks more like they’ll be open in early January 2011. They have brought in the executive chef who helped develop their signature pasta, and he will be the “head” pasta maker on Ossington, and also develop a take-home/prepared food menu.

The biggest news is that they are hiring, and are looking for staff from the neighborhood. Here is all the information:

New Specialty Pasta Shop opening at 121 Ossington St is looking for a long term FT retail support as well as manufacturing support staff (includes assisting Executive Chef in all aspects of pasta production and prepared
foods.)

This is an opportunity to learn from one of Canada’s Executive Chefs and to develop skills in the area of artisan pasta. We will accept applications from all interested parties. Please respond with a letter expressing your interest in this position and any relevant experience. PLEASE VISIT WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS

Please send letters to: gabriella AT hollywood-foods DOT com by Friday, Dec 10th. Interviews will occur the following week. (Dec 13th week)

Bunda Lounge

Ivan is the owner of Bunda Lounge. Ivan has a lot of experience in planning parties and events as a DJ throughout the city, and makes the place lively and fun.  He is friendly and warm: every time we’ve been to Bunda Lounge he’s welcomed us as if we are old friends visiting him at home. This warmth and friendliness extends to the customers: It’s a diverse mix of people from all over, communing over the cool music and vibe.

Speaking of music, Bunda Lounge introduces the Ossington neighborhood to different types of music, and people are excited. Each night has a different theme: Wed- Jazz and Blues, Thurs- Brazilian Night (Bossa Nova and Samba) , Fri- Classic and Deep house and Sat-Kizomba, Zouk, a popular Angolan dance and music genre,  and Top 40. On Saturday, they offered some dance lessons early in the evening, so check it out and learn Kizomba – if you haven’t seen it before, here’s some video.

They are open for business Wed/Thurs 7pm-1am; Fri/Sat 7pm-2am and Sun 7pm-12am, and they have a daily rotating menu, that is Afro-Latin style tapas. Last Saturday night, Ivan served us some good treats, including his own creation: a chicken muffin.