How to show someone Toronto in a day.
Save this for the next time you have a friend in town.
Good morning everyone.
I had a friend visiting from Stockholm this weekend and had roughly 20 hours to try and show her the best of the city, which is no easy task when you have only a couple of days to plan. Here’s what we got up to in case you ever need to do the same.
Bar Raval for drinks. Has to be. Beautiful interior and patio. Great drinks.
Dinner at Mamakas. This place has been around for since 2014 and deserves a lot of credit for setting the bar for the food scene on Ossington. Plus, the energy in that area is unmatched and you’re always likely to run into someone you know. We sat at the bar and ordered the Tirokafteri dip, Horiatiki salad, and Mosharisio souvlaki with a side of potatoes. And two glasses each of Greek Assyrtiko.
Do something, anything. Access to cultural events is one of the city’s greatest gifts, so we headed east for the NARCES show at Fashion Art Toronto. Sometimes I feel like I don’t understand the fashion scene here at all so I worried we wouldn’t have fun, but it was well-produced and the people watching was so entertaining. This was also a strategic way to pass through downtown and point out landmarks.
Linnea's first visit to Bar Raval and the bar at Mamakas, trying to not sit behind anyone with a large hat at Fashion Art Toronto. Coffee at Rosedale’s Finest. If my inner Gen Z hadn’t taken over the night before to make strawberry matcha overnight oats we would’ve gone to Janelle’s before driving up to Rosedale for what I think is the best coffee in the city: a half-sweet Rosedale coffee. We then headed to the Brickworks market, bought some granola from Markham-based Enso, and walked the Moore Park Ravine loop.
A jaunt around Yorkville. This area is great for a morning stroll though a number of shops and galleries, getting in a workout at Barry’s or Jaybird, or sweating out the wine from the night before at Othership. Taglialatella Galleries hosted an opening for new works by Ben Johnston, but they’ll be up for the next ten days.
All-in-all this brief itinerary was a hit with someone who lives in one of the world’s coolest cities, which is why I feel quite comfortable recommending it.
NEWS:
Your drink is taking forever because Gen Z doesn’t want to start a tab.
Shopify will not (yet) hand over merchant earnings. The CRA has made it a priority this year to crack down on undeclared income earned by self-employed workers, but a federal court found the tax agency’s ask was not specific enough.
You can book a room at the new Nobu Hotel this Saturday for $835.
Quantum computing company Xanadu has posted 28 roles in the last two months. Other interesting roles I’ve seen posted in the last week:
Being an athlete’s spouse has never been more lucrative. The opening of Bar Trove in downtown Edmonton has academics talking about the power of WAGs in today’s culture: behind the project is Lauren Kyle McDavid, the founder of Kyle & Co. Design Studio and the wife of Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid.
You might stay in a very small hotel room this summer. Hotels like London’s Kimpton Fitzroy and Hoxton are catering to a growing number of solo travellers.
Luxury e-commerce is struggling and SSENSE is no exception. The Montreal-based retailer became one of the country’s biggest fashion success stories for its ability to speak the language of young online shoppers, effectively carving out its own space against competitors like MyTheresa and Moda Operandi. In 2021, the company sold a minority stake in the business to Sequoia at a $5 billion valuation but has struggled with a pullback in consumer spending ever since. In 2023, 7% of workers were laid off after sales fell, and just last month 8% were let go (in at least the third layoff within a year) according to The Logic’s Catherine McIntyre.
