Neighbourhoods
Yorkville
Affluent quarter with a cultural streak
Yorkville, near Toronto’s financial hub along Bay Street, has evolved over the years. From a bohemian enclave of artists and writers in the 1960s and 1970s, it’s now one of the city’s most affluent addresses. This is where you’ll find the major luxury retailers as well some of Toronto’s best dining rooms, bars and museums – including the Royal Ontario Museum and the charming Gardiner Museum of ceramics, both of which are undergoing major additions to their galleries. One of the city’s landmarks of civic architecture is here too, the Toronto Reference Library, designed by Raymond Moriyama and opened in 1977. Its remarkable modernist atrium, open to the public, is worth popping into.
For dinner, head to Osteria Giulia for the platter of grilled market seafood, or to Alo, for its imaginative tasting menus of French-inspired dishes. The auditorium at nearby Koerner Hall, which opened in 2009 and is clad in warm, undulating wood, boasts some of the best acoustics in the city. If you’re in the mood for a post-concert nightcap, head to The Writer’s Room atop the recently renovated Park Hyatt. This is where Margaret Atwood and her literary contemporaries met regularly in their earlier years to share and draft stories over drinks.
Trinity Bellwoods
Bustling ’hood with a parklife too
Named after one of Toronto’s best-loved public parks, Trinity Bellwoods is one of the West End’s most bustling districts. At its southern fringe, grab a coffee at White Squirrel, which is named after the elusive white squirrel that still scampers among the trees (keep your eyes peeled). If you’re picnicking in the park, pick up provisions at nearby Agora. Equally close at hand is Type Books, one of Toronto’s best independent bookshops. You should be able to get a copy of the monthly The West End Phoenix here – it launched in 2017 and has reimagined what a neighbourhood print newspaper print can be.
Take a stroll east and stop in at Park and Province on Queen Street West, or Lost and Found on Ossington Avenue, two well-stocked independent menswear retailers. If you’re shopping for an audiophile, walk north to Rotate This, the beloved and well-stocked record shop founded in 1991. For a more casual bite to eat, head to cosy Le Swan for elevated takes on diner and brasserie classics, or to Bernhardt’s Tavern, which is set inside a former shopfront on a quiet residential street and has an excellent wine list. Linny’s, a fine new steakhouse, is a more formal dinner option – sip on a gibson (infused here with horseradish) while you mull over the menu, which includes a full caviar service and porterhouse steaks.
The Junction Triangle
Young, fun and full of comely restaurants
Referred to simply as The Junction by its residents, this former hub of urban manufacturing in Toronto – producing goods from auto parts to chocolate – is changing quickly thanks to the younger crowds who have moved in. They have brought with them an array of new restaurants, bars and coffee shops, including brunch spot Donna’s (try the spicy kale, egg and hazelnut sandwich); house-baked treats at Noctua Bakery; and Dottie’s, where the burgers have swiftly become a neighbourhood favourite. But the area’s industrial pedigree is still present: there are furniture and design workshops here, such as MSDS, as well as a cluster of independent breweries – Lost Craft, Woodhouse and Indie Alehouse all make some of Toronto’s best-sipped pints. That is, ironically perhaps, despite its recent history as Toronto’s last-remaining “dry” district, a remnant of the city’s prohibition-era (alcohol was only legalised in the area in 2000). But the architecture of industry has been reimagined thoughtfully, too, no more so than at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MoCCA), which has occupied an imposing former automotive factory building since 2018. After a visit to Mjölk, the design shop and showroom which has been a Monocle favourite since it opened in 2009, try General Public for dinner, where the rainbow trout tartare and half-rack of Ontario lamb are among the highlights.
