Toronto Scene Update: Week of November 14th, 2011

Alright YPs, we’ve got a few important updates for the Big Smoke for ya, so we’re going to get right down to business. (Your time’s precious like ours, right…?)

Hush Restaurant opened on King (303 King West) recently, owned by the same company as those sad Gabby’s spots – OK, we admit to grabbing a pint at one every so often. It’s much more upscale than its everyman counterparts, and the menu boasts items like Baja Lobster Tacos and Maple Glazed Salmon.

A new upscale sushi spot is opening shortly at 81 Church Street in the wake of the ill-fated L’Apero. Koryo Interiors is handling the design for Kirei Sushi+Bar, and we’re hoping this new spot has more luck than its predecessor.

Alimento – y’know, that spot at 522 King West that’s had “Opening Soon” across its signs for going on two years now? – appears to be making headway and we’ve heard it might open in the next week or so.

There’s a new pizza shop in town…sort of. Parlour Deep Dish Pizza can be ordered online (via OrderIt.ca) and delivered, but you can’t actually head into a shop or dine in. Touted as a virtual restaurant (quite clever, we think), you can also order macaroni and asiago cheese or crispy artichokes with lemon garlic aioli, and a few other mouth-watering dishes.

Speaking of exceptional pizza for delivery, the folks behind Queen Margherita Pizza are looking to change the face of delivered pies with a new venture. Full-Blooded Italian Pizza (or FBI Pizza) will deliver better than standard ‘zas with a focus on quality and rare ingredients.

The Burger’s Priest is opening up a second location, this one near Yonge and Lawrence. Uptown YPs rejoice, you’ll no longer have to make the trek to get your favourite burger. (PS Aren’t we all kind of over the burger craze now? We’re not complaining, but we want to see a high-end mac ‘n cheese joint like The Mac Shack in Vancouver open up in the Big Smoke!)

A new resto on Spadina is opening soon…and no, it’s not more Asian fare. We hear Strada 241 – at 241 Spadina Avenue, imagine that – will be opening sometime between mid-December to late January. And…hush please…it will be serving Italian cuisine in the heart of Chinatown. Quelle etrange

The Grove will be opening soon (by end of December, perhaps?) on Dundas West – the culinary nexus of Toronto it would seem. This new spot will offer contemporary English cuisine to famished foodies.

Repeal Espresso Lounge is under construction and should be opening soon at 92 King Street East (right by the corner at Church Street.) We hear it’s going to be a speakeasy-style coffee bar…? A little confusing, but we’re intrigued nonetheless.

Ben Sherman has finally opened up at 734 Queen Street West, to the murmured joy of fashion-savvy YP men.

Harry Rosen in the Eaton Centre is moving shop. As part of the DT fashion hub’s revitalization, Harry has a new home on the third floor where Micky Dee’s once stood. We’re hoping that the new location will boast two floors, and lots more space for fashionable finds.

Toronto menswear retailer The Coop Ink opened up a new 3-storey home at 3435 Yonge Street. The Coop Ink specializes in contemporary suit designs, made to measure clothing, and the like.

Image courtesy Creative Commons.