The editors’ selection

Rising above downtown Toronto’s former garment district, Ace Hotel’s first Canadian outpost opened its doors in summer 2022. Designed by Toronto-based Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, the new building is a handsome and sensitive addition to the area which, until recently, lacked the variety that you might expect in a major city. Clad in burgundy-coloured brick (a reference to the neighbourhood’s former industry) the hotel has lots of clever nods to its location. The vinyl collections in some of the 123 rooms, designed by Atelier Ace and Shim-Sutcliffe, are curated by Canadian music label Arts & Crafts. The drinks served at the Lobby Bar and the excellent Alder restaurant – both set in the hotel’s atrium – include wines from the Niagara-based winery Pearl Morissette. Cheers to that.
acehotel.com

Toronto’s notoriously rigid licensing laws were relaxed at the beginning of the pandemic to allow shuttered restaurants, bars and retailers to become bottle shops, selling takeaway alcohol in order to bolster their businesses. A slew of fine new vintners opened their doors as a result, including Grape Witches, launched by Nicole Campbell and Krysta Oben, which specialises in natural wine. 

One of Toronto’s longer-standing commercial galleries, which specialises in contemporary conceptual art, has reopened. Founded in 1973 by its namesake owner, it is housed in Toronto’s Distillery District and represents emerging and established Canadian artists, such as Barbara Steinman and Robert Fones.