As one of the planet's most diverse cities, lakeside Toronto offers a kaleidoscope of world cultures.
Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place), home to the Hockey Hall of Fame, is an office complex in downtown Toronto. The steel and glass atrium was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.Brookfield Place is one of North America’s truly great people places. This landmark is located in the heart of the financial district, and is home to the world’s most prestigious financial, commercial and legal firms, as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Bounded by Bay, Wellington, Yonge and Front Streets, the 5 1/2 acre, 2.6 million square foot complex combines two architecturally stunning office towers with Toronto’s oldest intact streetscape, including the award-winning Allen Lambert Galleria – a six storey pedestrian thoroughfare resplendent in light and glass. [brookfieldproperties.com]
The Allen Lambert Galleria, sometimes described as the "crystal cathedral of commerce", was the result of an international competition and was incorporated into the development in order to satisfy the City of Toronto's public art requirements. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, it is one of the most photographed spaces in Toronto's financial district, and is heavily featured as a backdrop for news reports, as well as TV and film productions. As pictured above, the interior illustrates Calatrava's signature organic style, with a vaulted ceiling that is intended to evoke an avenue of trees. [wikipedia.org]
Silks are piled high at Chandan Fashion in Little India.
Housed in a Victorian-style landmark, the Gladstone Hotel reopened in 2005 as a modern boutique hotel at the edge of West Queen Street. The wood-paneled bars and galleries are also a popular hangout for the local arts and gay scene.A serious rehab of Toronto's oldest continuously operating hotel—now fully engaged with its trendy art-and-design neighborhood. Exuberant rooms designed by local artists; it's like spending a night at the museum, an avant-garde one at that. Outrageous weekend karaoke nights, hand-operated Victorian elevator, local art "installations." Get ready to enjoy a cultural sparkplug of Toronto's delightfully diverse Queen West scene. 37 rooms; from $103. [National Geographic Traveler - Apr.09]
Culinary hot spots include Nyood, a pan-Mediterranean restaurant with big chandeliers and frilly molding.REVIEWS
If you want to be seen (and not heard), then this is a place to be. If you want to find an overpriced whore on a saturday night, as someone above posted, then this is also your place. If you're looking for a strong ratio of experience in flavor versus the price you pay, then this sadly, is not the place.
I went here awhile ago and I honestly can't remember what I ate. That can't be a good sign for a restaurant. What I do remember is that their desserts were amazing. Since we were there so late the waiter kindly gave us a variety of desserts. When a restaurant gives me a variety of desserts, I call that a bonus. When they're actually good, that's another bonus.
This restaurant is by far the most imaginative, most stylish, best serviced resto that there is in the city. Where else are you going to get a whole fish grilled to perfection, they even grill the lemon and will debone the fish for you. Where else in the city can you find such a menu, music, or decor. The staff here blow me away. They are some of the most polished, most professional servers and bartenders. Overall, Nyood is a fantastic restaurant to go to if you want fantastic food, drinks, service and ambience. And in the summer it gets even better when they open the 20 feet massive doors to the outside. Wish they did brunch!!!
Look at me, NO, LOOK AT ME, I'm FABulous, no?
That pretty much sums up Nyood. Yes, the small plates are great and somewhat inventive, however, the prices are a little over the top. I've had dinner at Colborne Lane and Kultura, but Nyood by far has the most dramatic scene. If you're looking to feel hip and cool and want to check out the latest in fashion, this is the place to be.
After midnight, the Nyood dining area is buzzing, making it a great place to observe the more interesting and entertaining people who frequent this place. Most nights, we're as likely to stop by here for the good food as we are for the people-watching.
This appeared to be the best Tapas place for vegetarian options, and there aren't many vege places with class. Great restaurant design, comfortable but not exactly cozy. Innovative food. We asked the waiter to deliver the tastiest vege tapas, and that she indeed did - with only one exception. Coupled with delish martinis and a bottle of Aussie cab/sangiovese, we left feeling exceedingly sated. If you've never been before, let the staff pick. Service was personable and impeccable.... Not a cheap night, but we closed the restaurant.
The service was all over the place and three times intrusive wait staff tried to clear our plates/ramekins before we were finished; as if anybody would leave unconsumed what little food was provided! $300.00 for three people to have dinner and leave hungry...they are trying too hard to be hip and different and have forgotten that a restaurant's primary function is to feed people. On a positive note the white wine sangria was yummy.
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36 Hours in Toronto
[May 09]
As one of the planet’s most diverse cities, Toronto is oddly clean and orderly. Sidewalks are spotless, trolleys run like clockwork, and the locals are polite almost to a fault. That’s not to say that Torontonians are dull. Far from it. With a population that is now half foreign-born — fueled by growing numbers of East Indians, Chinese and Sri Lankans — the lakeside city offers a kaleidoscope of world cultures. Sing karaoke in a Vietnamese bar, sip espresso in Little Italy and catch a new Bollywood release, all in one night. The art and design scenes are thriving, too, and not just on the bedazzled red carpets of the Toronto International Film Festival, held every September. Industrial zones have been reborn into gallery districts, and dark alleys now lead to designer studios, giving Canada’s financial capital an almost disheveled mien. [...]
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O Canada, Where Have Your Bargains Gone?
[May 08]
Once upon a time, not all that long ago, there existed a magical country that was a lot like the United States, only less expensive. Its enchanted currency — the other dollar — allowed Americans to indulge as they could not back home. This delightful fantasyland was called Canada, and for centuries it was synonymous with frugality.
No more. With the precipitous decline of the United States dollar, Canada has slid off the budget-travel map, and nowhere is the challenge to stay frugal greater than in Toronto, a city of 2.5 million whose ascendancy is not merely attributable to fluctuating exchange rates. Toronto has, in recent years, become a hub of development, an eating-and-shopping paradise and even a celebrity magnet: Jay-Z held his bachelor party at the Lobby Bar and Restaurant, where the Zen Margarita costs a whopping 25 Canadian dollars (about $25 U.S., give or take a buck, since the two currencies have been close to parity since last fall).
As the Frugal Traveler, however, I live for this sort of challenge, and so in late April, I set off for Hogtown — so nicknamed for the abattoirs that once dotted downtown — to attempt a weekend of revelry on a budget of $500. I arrived early on a sunny Friday afternoon, winging in on Porter Airlines, a budget carrier that at the end of March began nonstop service from Newark (with one-way fares as low as $99). Not only was the flight itself surprisingly pleasant (free red wine — in an actual glass!), but it landed me at the City Centre Airport, on an island but right downtown, just a 400-foot ferry ride away. [...]
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