Ontario

REB RECOMMENDS...Ontario

TORONTO: Toronto has neither the natural splendour of Vancouver nor the urban hipness of New York. It’s taken me a good decade to say anything positive about Canada’s biggest city, which I now call home. Living here has allowed me to delve beyond the frozen sidewalks and dull downtown to find a few secrets that I’m happy to share with you.
If you happen to be in Hogtown on a Sunday, be sure to fill your tank at The Dakota Tavern’s Bluegrass Brunch. There are live musicians, family-style meals and an ambiance that makes you wish you were a

Bluegrass Brunch at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

little inbred. Other faves in the chow department include the hidden little cantina in back of Kensington Market’s Perola Supermarket, toasting s’mores at your table at MoRoCo (an oasis of chocolate and fondue in Yorkville) and dining in the pitch black at O.Noir. Heading up to the CN Tower? The savvy traveller books a meal at the restaurant.

Toronto’s hotel scene is a bit dismal, the vast majority catering to unimaginative business travellers, but thankfully there are two uber cool crashpads along Queen Street West: The Drake and The Gladstone. If you’ve come in on a private jet, you might want to upgrade to The Hazelton, which screams “Brangelina.”
Only-in-Toronto shopping reaches its zenith in Kensington Market along Kensington Avenue, where the most dedicated hipsters pick through musty bellbottoms and A-line dresses at a series of vintage clothing stores housed in brightly painted heritage houses.
If you’re still thirsty for more Toronto, quench yourself with some molecular mixology at BarChef (example) or scuttle down to Steamwhistle Brewery,

Steam Whistle brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

where free pilsner beer is doled out to every soul who bothers to walk through the door. They also offer tours, but they won’t make you feel guilty for being a plain old freeloader.

OTTAWA: I’m with the rest of the world: thirty below zero is bloody insane. And as to just why we furless, wimpy humans decided to build a city in such an inhospitable environment truly escapes me. The only time I ever entertain sympathizing with our forefathers is when I skate along The Rideau Canal, the world’s longest ice skating rink. Wait for a day when the temperature creeps up to a more manageable single digit below, do your best Kurt Browning impression and seal the deal by rehabilitating yourself with a hot chocolate and beaver tail pastry from one of the concession shacks.

The Maid of Mist at Niagara Falls, Ontario.

NIAGARA FALLS: The Maid of the Mist: it’s classic, it’s breathtaking and you get to wear an awesome garbage bag.

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