With almost half of Toronto’s residents boasting birth certificates from other countries – making it the most multicultural city in the world – there’s always something new to do, eat, or see in this buzzing metropolis. New cultural hubs are forming all the time – such as Little Tibet in Parkdale – adding new voices and venues to the landscape. Toronto gets labelled a cultural mosaic, but I think it’s more akin to a kaleidoscope.
There’s no better way to acquaint yourself with Toronto’s many neighbourhoods than on foot. Begin on the quaint cobblestone streets of the Distillery District – the area’s historic buildings are just as fascinating as the art housed within the walls of the many neighbourhood galleries. Next door in neighbouring St Lawrence Market, home to the city’s best cheese shops and butchers, locals from all corners of the city shop for fresh produce when the Saturday farmers’ markets are in full swing. If you’re in town on a sunny Sunday, you could step back into the 60s at Kensington Market, the original home of Toronto’s counterculture and now one of the city’s hubs for eccentrics, artists and writers.
For serious shoppers and fashionistas the place to begin is West Queen West. Recently dubbed “the second hippest neighbourhood in the world” by Vogue, this achingly cool enclave is home to independently owned art galleries such as Analogue, Propeller, and Twist, as well as fashion-forward boutiques such as Parloque, Meg and The Store on Queen. Even Drake General Store, the gift shop belonging to the famous hotel of the same name, attracts just as many local shoppers as it does out-of-towners with its curatorial approach to Canadian souvenirs, from vintage-inspired tees and postcards to quirky-cool mason jar beer mugs and Mountie thermoses.
This is a fabulous neighbourhood to spend an afternoon in – pull up a pew at one of the many cafes’ streetside tables and indulge in a spot of people watching. You’ll soon see why this vibey hub made the pages of Vogue.
A visionary skyline
Architecture lovers will find Toronto and its ongoing evolution fascinating. Renowned architect Frank Gehry hails from the city – the $276m renovation to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) was his first major Canadian project and plans for more Gehry-helmed architectural feats here are underway.
Twentieth-century landmarks such as the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre – the home field of the Canada’s sole Major League Baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays – sit alongside early 21st-century additions such as the TIFF Lightbox (latest headquarters for the world-famous Toronto International Film Festival) and the Shangri-La Hotel, home to superstar US chef David Chang’s first Canadian incarnations of Momofuku.
The best way to appreciate Toronto’s scale – it now boasts a population fourth only in size to Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles in North America – is by heading up the CN Tower for a bird’s eye view of the city limits and the neighbourhoods that make it the cultural mosaic that it is. In warmer months, take the ferry or a water taxi to Central Island. Here picnickers, bikers, and beach enthusiasts mass to enjoy a beloved green space away from the city centre’s hustle and bustle and the best views of its skyline.
A city with art at its heart
Toronto’s art scene is thriving; its lively communities of artists and curators are constantly collaborating with the aim of upstaging their rivals over the border in New York, while Torontonians and visitors alike flock to both touring exhibitions at the major public museums and more select openings at hip independent galleries across the city.
Don’t miss the AGO for some big hitters – this year it’s hosted the first Canadian retrospective of Andy Warhol’s iconic protégé Jean-Michel Basquiat. If you happen to be here at the beginning of the month, make a night of it at the AGO’s regular “First Thursdays” event, a monthly soirée that brings cocktails, street food, musical performances, interactive pop-up installations, and revellers together to put the “art” into party. Warhol makes his debut over at the TIFF Lightbox in October after the film festival. And the iconic Royal Ontario Museum and the small scale Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art are co-hosting an enormous showcase of artist and writer Douglas Coupland’s artwork and installations.
City of food lovers
Making reservations is highly recommended since being a “foodie” is a way of life here, with locals making a point of being adventurous and edgy when it comes to new restaurant openings and emerging culinary trends. Chang’s Momofuku implant recently cemented Toronto’s status as one of the rising stars of world dining scene, inspiring the likes of Borealia, a newcomer to the famed Ossington strip, to take things a step further. It serves up all-Canadian cuisine inspired by both traditional First Nations dishes and adapted homeland classics from the city’s diverse ethnic influences – don’t miss the bison bresaola and sugar shack ham (maple cider glazed pork cheek).
Nearby Bellwoods Brewery, a beloved independent craft brew pub, is the perfect place to begin or end the night – or stay all evening if it happens to be barbecue season and the corn-on-the-cob is on the grill. For a taste of the East coast, head to Hopgood’s Foodliner for exceptional seafood including oysters, snow crab and clams. Got a taste for seafood? Don’t miss the relatively new Bar Isabel in Little Italy, already considered one of the country’s best restaurants. Its whole grilled octopus is a firm favourite on the always changing menu. Chef Susur Lee has reinvented dim sum for the refined palates of locals, who’ve grown used to having three Chinatowns to choose from, at her new eatery Luckee. And no matter what time of year, there’s nothing quite like cosying up to your dinner date in the cabin-inspired Big Crow where picnic tables sub in for dining room furniture and the smoked baby back ribs might just change your life.
To find out more about Canada and book your visit, go to keepexploring.com.au
Vicki Hogath is a writer and author from Toronto. She can be founding tweeting at twitter.com/vicki_hogarth
