At Best of Toronto, we talk a lot about “Experiencing Toronto Better” (and maybe sometimes do). So what does that mean? I think it can mean a lot of things including discovering great dining, restaurants, shopping opportunities and, of course, attending some of the best events in Toronto with your friends. Knowing about and attending a top event or concert is great but it gets even better with American Express cardmember privileges, making your routine purchases even better. Great, so where do you start?
If you haven’t heard of Artemano yet, maybe it’s time to start taking a look! Featuring nature-inspired designs in furniture and decor, they’re expanding to Vaughan Mills and you’re invited to join us on Saturday, August 22nd for the festivities including food, music and the chance to win a $3,000 shopping spree! Just rsvp and we hope to see you there!
Save the dates & book your tickets now because Toronto Men’s Fashion Week SS16 (TOM*), begins next Monday, August 17 – 25, at their headquarters, 444 Yonge Street, College Park.
You can almost smell the suspense as people wait to see what’s lined up for Spring / Summer 2016.
August 5th was a beautiful day in Toronto; a perfect summer day to visit La Société to check out their new Le Cocktail menu. The restaurant would be introducing five new cocktails, the creations of sommelier, cocktail designer, and mixologist Kyle Stefanato.
Get ready for a tapas food festival for the second annual PintxosTO event on Sunday, August 23rd near Union Station at Royal Bank Plaza.
Check out a sample in photos of what to expect at the event from some top restaurants in Toronto.
Taking place at the Trump Residences at Penthouse Suite #5501 on July 15th, 2015, we were part of a private jewellery event showcasing diamonds, watches and other jewellery attracting private jewellery buyers complete with champagne, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
It’s finally warming up in the city and I make up any excuse to hit the beach. Bikini season calls for heavy-duty maintenance on the hairy jungle that you’ve neglected all winter (hey, don’t judge!). Fortunately, the newly opened Yonge and Eglinton location of Fuzz Wax Bar came to my rescue. I tried their Brazilian, and was impressed by their speedy effort and solid quality of the treatment.
Lawn Summer Nights, a fun, social lawn bowling tourney and fundraiser in support of Cystic Fibrosis Canada, celebrated its last game of the season.
Held at the Leaside Lawn Bowling Club on Thurs. July 23rd, the event which sold out in a matter of minutes was filled with young professionals under a social atmosphere and beautiful weather.
Here’s the latest video by your Toronto Argos Cheerleaders lip dubbing to “I Really Like You”. Enjoy!
For a limited time only, for the month of August The Carbon Bar is offering the Cottage Life Experience menu, done in partnership with Cottage Life Magazine and Corona. On Tuesday July 28th, we previewed Chef Hidde Zomer‘s cottage-inspired four-course menu, which consist of some classic cottage fare, re-imagined and elevated in new ways.
This Civic Holiday weekend featured another solid lineup at this year’s VELD Music Festival 2015 with big acts like Steve Aoki, A$AP Rocky, Nicky Romero, Kaskade and the return of Deadmau5, as one of the producers alongside LiveNation and INK Entertainment.
While it was my 3rd year attending, it was great vibes all around again. Emphasis this year was on safety, taking breaks and plenty of free water available.
Inspired by vibrant 80s Beverly Hills style, the new Addisons Residence has launched at Wellington, taking over the old C Lounge venue.
Check out our photos from the launch party on July 23rd, 2015.
As you probably heard from us and many others, the first ever WayHome music festival was by far a top summer music festival as they had promised, which attracted over 35,000 people from every province and territory as well as U.S. and other countries to see well-known headliners over the 3 day festivities such as Neil Young + Promise of the Real, Kendrick Lamar, Hozier, Alt-J and Sam Smith.
For a first effort and personally seeing it first hand camping on the new Burl’s Creek event grounds, the concensus is that it was very well organized and a lot of WayHome memories were made.
On July 21st, 2015 the first of a series of Dreaming Tree Groves was launched starting in Toronto including the planting of 29 new trees to reforest an area within Trinity Bellwoods Park.
The multi-city project was launched with Tree Canada and Dreaming Tree Wines. As you may know, the winery is a collaboration between musician Dave Matthews and Sean McKenzie.
The 29 new trees will certainly help Toronto’s urban green canopy as approximately 88 trees in Trinity Bellwoods Park must be destroyed due to the Emerald Ash Borer which has been ravaging Ontario’s ash trees.
I had the opportunity to join a press conference with Sean McKenzie, Richard Walker from Tree Canada and representatives from the City of Toronto’s Parks Forestry and Recreation.
The popular LUCKYRICE Festival came to Toronto bringing us a satisfyingly exotic and thirst-quenching event, LUCKYRICE Toronto Cocktail Feast sponsored by Bombay Sapphire East. The event aims to showcase the best in Asian-inspired cocktails from some of the most popular restaurants in the city – R&D Spadina, Blowfish, Soho House, The Good Son, Miller Tavern, Brassaii, and Bent among others. We were treated to exclusive cocktails prepared by some of Toronto’s top mixologists.
We checked out the popular casual Italian dining destination, Levetto, for a Sunday Feast at the Sudbury St. location situated across from 99 Sudbury St.
Taking on the approach that Italian food doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated to be good, we sampled a smorgasborg of fresh Italian salads, pastas and pizzas all made from scratch in a family style setting.
Earlier this summer T-fal teamed up with Matt Basile of Fidel Gastro to celebrate the launch of their latest innovation: the Actifry Express. With the premise of marrying function and design to prepare gourmet dishes in record time: guests were treated to live demos which showcased just how little oil (1 tbsp or less!) was used to create the cooked and delicious fried canapés at each station. From mushroom topped crostini to spicy cauliflower bites the Actifry delivered on food that was both healthy and delicious.
While the Pink Party in support of CBCF has been a top notch event with 800+ guests attending year after year, this year’s Pink Party 2015 was all about exclusivity as only about 350-450 lucky guests went to a mansion at a secret location in the Bridle Path.
If you missed it, well you can check out what the fuss was all about in our photos below. Those that were there can attest it was quite an amazing pool party complete with a waterfall with a DJ booth quite high up.
Now that you’ve heard about Maman Toronto which is now open in the financial district, we’ve giving away lunch for 2 at Maman Toronto on Thursday, July 23rd to celebrate the kick off of the “In the Park” concert series at First Canadian Place.
To kick off the latest Juicy Couture fragrance, I AM JUICY COUTURE, a glamorous pop up shop has arrived at Queen West.
Today (July 18th, 2015) is your only chance to visit the Juicy Couture pop up shop at the new event venue at 501 Queen West just west of Spadina.
Perfect for escaping the cubicle life in the Financial District, Maman offers a convenient rustic French getaway conveniently located at the newly renovated mezzanine in First Canadian Place taking over a Szechuan Szechuan restaurant.
Maman Toronto follows after opening just nine months ago in New York City with a bunch of accolades including the honour of “An Indulgent Cookie for Any Season” by the New York Times.
Based on our experience at the last U-Feast dinner we attended at Böehmer, we had a lot to look to forward for the next Chef Concert Series dinner on July 9th. This time it would be Italian Michelin Star Chef Cristina Bowerman helming the kitchen, with chef and TV personality Christine Cushing taking emcee duties.
Following their successes on King West in Toronto and South Beach in Miami comes Italian dining destination, Cibo Wine Bar, to Yonge and Eglinton.
We were glad to be hired to shoot the opening celebrations with Cibo Wine Bar’s friends and family.
Check out our photos below.
As a top notch event, the highly anticipated annual Pink Party takes on a different approach, this time more exclusively with only 350 lucky guests a private mansion estate in Toronto, paying homage to how it all started as a fundraiser party at a house.
Check out what you’ll expect, get your tickets and hope to see you there in pink!
Back in 2008, I heard of this delectable blueberry scone that was revered as one of the city’s finest at The Drake Hotel. And indeed, the flaky-buttery treat lived up to expectations. This discovery lead me to its talented maker, Executive Pastry Chef David Chow.
Fast forward a few years and since his tenure at the Queen Street West outpost, his creations have taken him to Albany Luxury Resort and Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto where he’s refined and evolved his pastry and chocolate craft.
On Wednesday evening, July 8th, the Hennessy Time Barrel arrived to LS Bistro (La Société) on Bloor Street as part of the cognac brand’s 250th anniversary.
Only until July 14th, 2015 you can send your message to the future 50 years from now.
The 156th Queen’s Plate at the Woodbine Racetrack was definitely full of style, fun and good vibes especially at the Rethink Breast Cancer tent.
Absent the downpour of rain when I went to Queen’s Plate in the past, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. This time it was a beautiful sunny Sunday with blue skies on July 5th, 2015.
Sometimes we become complacent and forget how culturally rich, invigorating and active Toronto truly is. It’s incredibly refreshing and inspirational to be reminded of the hidden gems that may be right around the corner from your home or office. The best way to find out, is to see your community from the eyes of a newcomer or tourist, who’s more likely to wonder, explore and try new things.
Celebrating 25 years of premium casual dining for all, Milestones busts out its retro menu favourites along with some help from Kim Crawford Wines.
Truly one of my absolute favourite dining destinations in Toronto is Gusto 101 in the King West neighbourhood at Portland St. With Southern Italian charm, a beautiful glass upper deck and a great patio that can be opened up for perfect sunny days, it’s the perfect atmosphere for casual get togethers with friends. Of course they have great food and to make it even better, there’s always great house wine on tap that costs only a dollar an ounce. In fact I spent one of my birthdays there.
Now Gusto has launched their new catering service, Gusto 54 with the aim of great food and even signature cocktails (like the negronis pictured above) beyond restaurant walls.