One-Tank Trip / Toronto
Toronto is a mosaic of cities, all in one place
TORONTO — The problem with writing about Toronto is deciding which Toronto you’re going to write about.
Is it the Army-Surplus-Store, hipster mishmash in Kensington Market, where an abandoned car was long ago appropriated as a streetside planter?
Or the Distillery District, where a renovated whiskey factory complex has become the hottest condo-and-shopping development in town?
Is it Old Toronto? The historic port on Lake Ontario thrives at St. Lawrence Market, the 9-acre enclosed food pavilion where the top seller for decades has been a back-bacon sandwich — slabs of brine-cured pork loin, slathered with Saskatchewan mustard.
How about Chinese Toronto? The city has six Chinatowns and several daily Chinese-language newspapers. Is it Greek Toronto? Italian Toronto? Portuguese Toronto? They’re all here.
“In America, we say we’re a melting pot,” said an American friend who lives in the city. “Canada describes itself as a mosaic. That’s what Toronto’s all about.”
For a few days I was privileged to travel between Torontos, and sometimes they were right across the street from each other. While I loved the variety, I also marveled at how well the city worked as a whole. The city’s core is pedestrianfriendly, safe and, in the truest sense, multicultural. At bars, in restaurants and on the streets, mixed couples and blended groups of friends — black, white, Chinese, Indian — appeared in numbers that I have not seen in U. S. cities.
“We definitely have our problems,” said Bruce Bell, a Toronto historian and author, “but we don’t have the kind of racial divides you do in the States. For the most part, we get along.”
Here you’ll find a Toronto mosaic, bits and pieces making up a most pleasant whole. And a bonus for American visitors just now is that the currency exchange rate is extremely favorable. One U. S. dollar gets you about $1.20 Canadian. (All the prices mentioned in this story are in Canadian dollars.)
• History
Bell has made a career out of bringing Toronto’s past into the present. His three-hour walking tour of Old Toronto focuses on St. Lawrence Market, built partly from the remains of one of the town’s early city halls.
Bell’s $25 market tour is full of pithy facts and hidden treasures — and comes with a back-bacon sandwich. “See where those kids are playing there?” Bell asked, pointing to a playground behind St. James Cathedral. “There are hundreds of people buried there from the cholera epidemic.”
Bell also operates tours in Chinatown, the University of Toronto and the Distillery District (647-393-8687, www.brucebelltours.ca).
• Trivia
The settlement of Toronto was originally called York, Bell notes, but because New York was bigger and older, people started calling the town Little York or Muddy York. Rather than suffer that indignity, the city fathers changed to an Indian name, whose origin and meaning are disputed. The word is either Mohawk (“place with trees in the water”) or Huron (“gathering place”).
Toronto promoters tout Yonge Street, the city’s main commercial thoroughfare, as the longest in the world. By that theory, Yonge starts at Lake Ontario and ends in Rainy River, Minn. Along that 1,178-mile route, Yonge turns a couple of times and becomes Highway 11.
• Must-sees and -dos Chinatown should not be missed, but take the visit a step further than dim-sum at the OK Oriental Health Beauty Centre for a $25, hourlong foot massage. Walk-ins welcome (453 Dundas St. West, 416-913-9165). Second City’s Toronto franchise is still top-notch. “Barack to the Future” is now opened (51 Mercer St., www.secondcity.com, 800-263-4485 or 416-343-0011).
The Royal Ontario Museum is a natural history grab-bag that unexpectedly hijacked my attention for half a day; excellent option for kids, too. “The Nature of Diamonds,” a show on every facet of the gem, recently opened (100 Queens Park, 416-586-8000, www.rom.on.ca).
You shouldn’t pass on the Hockey Hall of Fame (30 Yonge St., 416-360-7765, www.hhof.com). It’s worth it to see Canadians unabashedly worshipping the Stanley Cup in the cathedral-like space.
Check out the odd Toronto Sculpture Garden, 115 King St. East, open dawn to dusk, and admission is free.
• Food
If there is an iconic Toronto food item, it is the back-bacon (also known as pea-meal bacon) sandwich. St. Lawrence Market has three vendors. I tried Carousel Bakery (which serves its version on freshly made buns) and Paddington’s Pump, which gives you more meat and condiments. Both were excellent. St. Lawrence is also the place to get Ukrainian pierogi, local cheese, sausage and produce of all kinds (92 Front St. E., www.stlawrencemarket.com).
For a taste of upscale Toronto, head to the Distillery District, where you’ll find sleek restaurants and cafes, high-end design stores and swanky galleries. Two finds merit special note: The best meal of my trip came at Archeo Trattoria (416-815-9898, www.archeo.ca), which produces rustic Italian cuisine with a few modern twists. I had roasted Pacific salmon (crisp on the outside, delectably flaky inside) on a zesty white bean salad. Very simple dish, but perfectly prepared.
Save space for dessert at Soma Chocolatemaker, just around the corner. Billed as “A Place to Worship Chocolate,” Soma brews up an amazing Mayan hot chocolate that starts rich and smooth and finishes with a burst of cayenne-and-cinnamon fireworks (55 Mill St., 416-815-7662, www.somachocolate.com).
I stumbled upon Camros Organic Eatery, a Persian vegetarian deli, while exploring the University of Toronto area around Bloor Street. Prices are cheap ($6.49 for a two-item combo), and the food is delicious. Try Gheyme — a rich lentil stew that pops with unexpected notes provided by fenugreek, lime and plums (25 Hayden St., 416-960-0723, www.camroseatery.com).
• Where to stay
My base was the HI-Toronto Youth Hostel, where I had a ninth-floor private room with bath and an eastern view (I think I could see a sliver of Lake Ontario in the distance). For the location and amenities, it was a bargain at $80 a night. The hostel is downtown, two blocks from St. Lawrence Market and central to just about everything else. The hostel was clean and friendly and the clientele was at least 50 percent not youthful.
There were free walking tours and other outings (such as a $15 canoe trip to the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario), reduced prices on many attractions (Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower) and a very friendly international staff. By reupping my Hostelling International membership, I got the room and two hot meals a day for $80 a night (76 Church St., 877-848-8737, www.torontoyouth-hostel.com).
• Getting around Toronto is Canada’s biggest city, but its population is often described as 2.5 million. Don’t be fooled. The total metro area is closer to 6 million. And “one-third of the population of Canada lives within a 100-mile radius,” said historian Bell.
Greater Toronto sprawls, but the core is surprisingly compact and very pedestrianfriendly. I traveled mostly by foot, with the subway ($2.75 a ride) my other primary mode of transportation.
