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Change is in the Air in Riverside: Winter 2016

January 12, 2016

General Interest

Comings and Goings + Spaces Available in Riverside this winter

Here’s the latest scoop since our last edition of Change is in the Air in November 2015…

First off, we are excited to welcome the news of The Arts Market coming to Riverside! In about a month from now their new location should be opening up at 790 Queen St East. Following from the success of the Leslieville Arts Market, market owner operator Daniel Cohen scoped out the perfect space to open his third Toronto Arts Market location (second location in the east end), right here in Riverside. On any given day you will find Daniel working hard to renovate the new space to house 50+ artists. He says the renovated space will be accessible to strollers and wheelchairs (upon request), and will have a public washroom and other useful space available downstairs. While Daniel already has most of the 50+ spots filled, he welcomes folks to get in touch.

Just west you’ll find the shiny new Dollarama, which opened up on Dec 5^th, to much excitement from the neighbourhood (likely over the free Dollarama-branded mug that you’d get with your purchase as a gift). From the outside it looks like a little shop but is actually an expansive space when you walk down to the sales level.

The Peasant Table opened up in late December in 782 Queen St E (formerly Table 17). It brings ‘old world dishes into a modern setting with a focus on Italian fare’ and is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, plus brunch on weekends, and a three-course, prix-fixe, bring your own wine Sunday dinner!

Across the street, and right next door to the Riverside BIA office at 761 Queen E, you’ll see that The Artists’ Network now has its own storefront again. As usual you can visit them by chance or by appointment 😉

Right next to them, the Lan Vietnamese Restaurant is still on its way in at 755 Queen St East.

Green Jar quietly opened at 753A Queen St East (formerly Ambiance Chocolat) back in early December.

Also back in December, I’ll be Seeing You, opened up at 747 Queen Street East by two ‘sisters with a dollar and dream’. Read on for more of the story behind this beautiful space and be sure to stop by soon!

At 729 Queen E the new bakery is still rolling into the neighbourhood: Sugar Loaf Bakery and Cafe promises non-traditional artisanal bakery (and possibly liquor as it’s applying for a license!). The inside is looking beautiful – can’t wait to see what’s in store!

Hair Code at 743 Queen St East opened its new renovated space in December, with a warm vintage look you’ll love.

Vintage Vibes has moved on (we’ll miss you Debbie!) and another hair salon is moving into the ‘hood at 717 Queen St E. Renovations are now underway.

The transformation of the Broadview Hotel at Queen and Broadview continues. Streetcar Developments is still working hard to turn the space into a boutique hotel and restaurants – which requires restoration, stabilizing, and rebuilding from the bottom up and then the top down. Most of the new windows are in and height is being added with the back top glass cube addition currently being built up. Fingers still crossed for a spring 2016 opening!

Next door, Oso Viejo Imports, which had launched at 700 Queen St East in September 2015, looked to be moved out at the end of 2015 – we wish them luck wherever they’ve gone! This beautiful space looks again to be up for grabs …

Take a peek across the street and you’ll see the new graffiti art mural on the west-facing wall of 687 Queen St E. It was installed on December 17^th by Home Base Toronto – here’s the full scoop on how it came to be.

Continuing along the north side, the space at 682 Queen Street East (former Darkhorse location) continues its renovations into new bar/restaurant KT’s – looks like work has progressed but their liquor license seems to be still pending.

Darkhorse’s new #RiversideTO location also now serves up wine, cocktails and beer, try some their delicious Dark Horse APA or one of their signature cocktails!

Rumour still has it that a ping pong lounge is coming to 672 Queen E (formerly Quad East). There is a liquor license application still up and renovations still going on inside. We’re keeping our eyes peeled for news…

Across the street, the story of Riverside Square continues to unfold – it’s planned to be a 4-acre site bounded by Queen on the north, Eastern on south, Don Roadway on west, and the condos on the east. Here are highlights of updates shared by Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher in a December 2015 community newsletter: the application maintains a 6-storey height limit on Queen Street East; increases animation on Queen Street by moving the car dealership to the industrialized portion of the site (along East Don Roadway); features a 780-square meter urban park/public space on Queen at the new street leading into the development; includes a new dog off-leash area at the south end of the development; adds the first Woonerf east of the Don River; includes family-friendly unit sizes; has small scale retail space on Queen, including a grocery store; injects $5 million for the construction of affordable housing in the neighbourhood; adds up to 400 new skilled jobs with car dealerships and repair. There is also an update about potential air quality impacts. Needless to say we’re pretty excited about the improved street dynamic and added foot traffic this could bring to Riverside businesses.

Standing at the site itself, you can already see some demolition work happening (at the south end). There is also now a sign at the site advertising a 24-hour construction hotline (416.686.9199 x 411) and email (construction@streetcar.ca). As always, change is in the air in Riverside!

(With all these changes lately, here are the few spaces that still seem to be available at the moment in Riverside:

762 Queen St E (former ‘Hardware Interiors’ store)
768 Queen St E (formerly Little Peeps) housed a pop-up shop for a month during the holiday season, but is available again
711 Queen E right near Broadview and Queen (formerly BMO location) looks to be still up for grabs
700 Queen St E (formerly Oso Viejo) now looks to be vacant/ available (but no For Lease sign up yet)
653 Queen St E (formerly Kalamkaar) has been vacant for some time

Graffiti Art as a Solution to Graffiti in Riverside

December 22, 2015

General Interest

Passing by 687 Queen Street East (just west of Queen/Broadview) on December 17th, one couldn’t help but notice the graffiti artist installing a piece on the west wall. He was covering up the offensive graffiti that has been lingering on that wall since October. Turns out he’s from a group called Home Base Toronto – which sells graffiti inspired/decorated paraphernalia and custom art. They also do graffiti art projects across the city – like this new one in Riverside.

Upon a little investigation, we found that the City of Toronto and the building owner made an agreement to do graffiti art in lieu of graffiti removal. It’s part of a program where the City has pre-approved a number of graffiti artists, of which Homebase Toronto is one. This is under the City’s StART Support Mural Program and their motto is: “Inspiring neighbourhoods one wall at a time”.

Voila! The finished product:

The Results are In! #RiversideTO #QueenStEast #WindowWonderland Contest

December 17, 2015

General Interest

(Ok, first off, sorry for all the hashtags – this was the first contest of the like that Riverside BIA has run and we might have overdone the hashtags a little 😉

This contest was fun and a learning experience for us all…Riverside joined forces with other Queen Street East BIAs (Leslieville and The Beach) and ran this Queen Street East-wide contest for a few weeks with awesome easy-to-win prizes ($100-250 gcs!). In the end we had an amazing showing of holiday spirit from the neighbourhood and some keen folks on the street took note and shared their images and thoughts on social media.

Before announcing the big winner – we’d like to show off all the amazing windows from all the fantastic Riverside businesses that took part. Shout outs to: Mary Macleod’s Shortbread, Quince Flowers, Empire by Bullet, Little Peeps, Dimensions Custom Framing, macFab sews, Here & Now, Bergstrom Originals, Sash & Bustle, Mazz Japanese Bistro, Tabule, Common Sort, Tiny Record Shop and Irish Design House…

Second, we’d like to do a shout out to folks on the street that stopped to snap and share pics of some of the windows: Jaqueline got the ball rolling with her share of macFab Sews photo on Twitter, then Linda shared a couple of her fav windows Empire and Mary Macleod’s (she said she preferred MM’s – just because of the shortbread though!). Then Mary shared a pic of Quince Flowers’ regal greenery…and then Eric came along. Drumroll please…

And the #QueenStEast #WindowWonderland Contest Winner is…

Known as shotbyeric online, Eric is an Artist and Top Sales Manager in Toronto. He took this photo of Oma Chiropractic’s Window Art, put his own spin on it, and posted it up on Instagram on Dec 14 (the last day of the contest). The pic got over 100 likes almost instantly (yes it helps that he has over 2000 followers!). For his amazing pic, Eric is the Riverside contest winner and will enjoy $100 of services or products at none other than Oma Chiropractic and Wellness Centre.

And there was no question about it, Oma Chiropractic’s Window Wonderland is something special – designed and painted by local artist Katherine Hartel – the window is a fun and whimsical winter scene that reflects the character of this family-friendly wellness centre and of the Canadian winter (well, most years anyway!). It also meshes well with the permanent Riverside sports murals along the west wall of Oma’s building, which was completed just this past summer as a mural project of the Riverside BIA.

So why not take a walk by Oma’s this holiday to check out the now famous work, and stop in for holiday treats and a wellness treatment too if you wish!

Riverside Holiday Edition: Secret Santa Gifts (You’d Rather Keep for Yourself!)

December 17, 2015

General Interest

You know it – the gift that you’re waiting until last to wrap, because you keep hoping to find something else reasonable for that person, so you can keep that gem of a gift for yourself…. Or you’re making mental notes to go back in early January to get another one for yourself…read on for a quickie Riverside tour of your must haves (and can’t give aways!)

As soon as you’re over the bridge, stop in at Mary Macleod’s Shortbread (639 Queen E) – where you’ll have to buy at least one extra tin of cookies just for you! Need a last minute gift for a dinner host? Something sweet for your granny? Or maybe you just don’t have the time to bake cookies for Santa. Mary Macleod’s Shortbread has you covered! Their baker’s boxes are perfect for the holidays-you can choose from 12 flavours to customize your box and get exactly what you want (p.s. they also deliver!)

Just a few blocks east and across the street are Empire by Bullet and Keep Me Posted (724 ½ Queen E), a two-in-one store bringing you the best gifts and home furnishings from both the United Kingdom and France (and Keep Me Posted has products that are 90% all-Canadian products!). Empire is the perfect place to find stocking stuffers and gifts for British expats and fans of British culture. Keep Me Posted features a variety of Canadian made product including customizable throw pillows, scented candles and reed diffusers, and even an exclusive new line of Canadian-made bath bombs called “Drop an F Bomb in Your Bath” (of course after you’ve bought for your Secret Santa, you’ll have to get one to drop in your bath!)

Walk east to the Irish Design House (756 Queen E) – the place for unique + beautiful + handcrafted gifts. From the stylish pebble candles, to the wood-crafted snow house, and luxurious scarves – your Secret Santa will love their gift (but unfortunately you won’t be able to let it go!)

Next up, for something to soothe the body, is UNTITLED Hair Salon (792 Queen E) with personalized gift packs that make your hair, hands, and home smell so nice – and are good for the planet! They have gift boxes of clean, healthy beauty products, and candles in the ‘Davines’ memorable, uplifting, signature scents as well! These products are super eco-friendly too (Davines will actually break down to nothing in drain water, in about 50 days). So you’ll need to pick some up just for you 🙂

Then, for the ladies, just pop across the street to Bergstrom Originals’ (781 Queen E) which has their 2015 Holiday Collection bringing you ‘Bond-girl Glamour’! You simply won’t be able to give away the Kashmir Tunic Dress, so you’d better just pick one up for yourself now.

Last stop, for your ‘healthy foodie’ Secret Santa gift, is Pulp Kitchen (717 Queen E) has trays of healthy yummy treats, and while you’re in you can purchase a gift certificate and a nice green juice for yourself, to fuel the rest of your shopping ;).

Happy shopping & Happy Holidays from Riverside neighbourhood!

Uncovering Riverside Blog #3: The Holiday Season in Riverside Past & Present

December 16, 2015

–by Barry Slater, Guest Blogger and Historian of the Royal Canadian Curling Club

(Read all the Uncovering Series)

Being asked for a sense of what the Holiday Season was like in Riverside, got me searching “December” in the newspaper files I’ve collected. A Globe article of December 27, 1880, describes the holiday festivities at a five year old “little” church that would grow. That day the church was decked out in elegant festive décor (courtesy of Mrs. Potter), and had a good crowd come out for the service and hearty singing (led by Mr. Staples – not related to the famous Canadian painter, Owen Staples). The townsfolk were also feeling generous: the Reverend Ed. Ransford & lay reader C.J. Agar having collected $5.55 from the congregation that day, apparently “a large sum for so poor a parish.”

This was the first St. Matthew’s Church, built in 1875 on the north east corner of DeGrassi Street and Grover (now Cumming Street). From the history page of the church’s web site, “At the Easter Vestry Meeting of 1889 it was decided to build and move to a new location. The Church Wardens at the time were Mr. John Benjamin Vick and Mr. Noel Marshall, both of Riverdale Avenue and prominent Toronto businessmen.” I had seen the name Vick before. I went looking further through my files and there it was, a photo of the 1901 Royal Canadian Baseball team with George Vick sitting on the right of President John Maxwell and leaning on the right shoulder of Manager Bill Entwhistle.

This thrilled me, to find a Royal Canadian thread to follow. Who was Mr. John Benjamin Vick? In 1880 the only Vick listing in the city directory is a John Vick living in a boarding house at 33 Duke St (now southeast corner of Frederick & Adelaide St E). The following year he is listed as a stonecutter, working for Lionel Yorke, in a house at 48 McGee. Yes! This could be our Riverside man. From 1883 to 1889 he is listed as foreman at Lionel Yorke, still at 48 McGee, his brother James boards there and works at Lionel Yorke as a stonecutter.

From Adam Mercer’s history, “Toronto, old and new”. . . , issued in 1891 as a memorial to the 100th anniversary of the founding of Upper Canada, speaks of Mr. Yorke and supplies a photo of the house he built on Smith Street in 1885 for Noel Marshall. Lionel Yorke died around the time of the Easter Vestry Meeting of 1889, Warden Vick found new lodgings with Rev. Wm. Cleland on Winchester St. Bells went off in my head when I read the name Cleland for it too is associated with the Royal Canadian.

Now having wandered from the main theme of this article…I invite you to come out and enjoy a Riverside Neighbourhood Holiday tradition in the present day: the Antler Breakfast Dec 18, this Friday at An Sibin Pub from 8 am to 11 am, where Santa will try to explain why Smith Street would be renamed Riverdale Avenue in 1907 and what this has to do with the Royal Canadian.

Oh yes, and the Christmas Present you are waiting for is (drumroll)…the first newspaper article mention of the newly formed Royal Canadian Bicycle Club, in The Toronto World from December 25, 1891.

Ho, Ho, Ho! See you at the Antler Breakfast!