Suite 88

Rated this place:

3957 rue Saint-Denis, Montreal, QC, H2W2M4

Chocolate shop: Slick adorable design. They have lots of offer (truffles, bueatifully designed mosaics, gelato...) but the basic chocolate bars are outstanding! Simple, good chocolate and everything from plain old chocolate to bars infused with sea salt (the BEST!), ginger, earl grey tea, jalapeno, lemon... the list goes on. Yummers.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• chocolate shop

Scratch Espresso Bar

Rated this place:

1358 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5R 3H7

Coffee shop: Perfect little indepedent shop in an neighbourhood that is growing and begging for creativity! Opened in May 2008, Scratch makes great coffee and treats. Tea bags and coffee beans for sale, too. Cool stone banquet table with sun pouring in the front window in the morning. Friendly staff. And... The walls and cabinets are adorned with local arts and crafts... paintings, collages, jewellery, shirts, knits ... all for sale, too. Support this inspiring local shop!

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• coffee shop

Sonic Boom

Rated this place:

512 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON, M5S1Y3

Music store: At Sonic Boom it's about the thrill of the hunt! Vinyl, CDs, DVDs, cassettes,... plus video games, and (if they have any come in...) beta, laser discs... you name it. The used selection is HUGE (some organised, some not, so grab a coffee and spend an hour browsing!) and they also keep a great selection of new (i.e. un-used) classics and new releases in every medium. Watch for in-store mini-concerts, too!

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Music store

Frangipane Patisserie

Rated this place:

215 Madison Ave, Toronto, ON, M5R2S6

Pastry shop: Tiny and adorable with a GORGEOUS display of treats to choose from. Grab an espresso and a croissant to go, or order your wedding cake or a beautiful tart for a dinner party. Yummy sweets (chocolates, tarts, cakes) and a few savory options, too. Pick up a single serving for you or full size tart or cake to share. Gluten-free options available. Check out the website for photos of their work.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• pastry shop

Nella Cucina

Rated this place:

876 Bathurst St., Toronto, ON, M5R 3G3

Cooking classes: I organised a great night out for a private corporate team building cooking experience. It was a really fun evening, the teacher and helpers were great, and the meal was amazing! They were really good sports and the atmosphere is really simple, but clean and inspiring. I would go again for a regular open class.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• cooking classes

Taste of Thai House

Rated this place:

62 Vaughan Road, Toronto, ON, M6G 2N4

Thai restaurant: My hubby and I have been eating here for over two years. It's our "local" Thai place (not really down town), but we've not found another one in the whole city that we like as much. Yes - not even Salad King! Everything is fresh and flavourful, and the meats are good quality (not squeaky, or mushy or creepy, like some places). The Fried Garlic & Pepper tofu is to DIE for! We've had only one dish we didn't really love (the Pad Thai), everything else has been great.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Thai Restaurant

Duke Of Richmond Pub

Rated this place:

20 Queen St W, Toronto, ON, M5H3R3

Pub trivia: Good reliable pub food to eat while playing LIVE (classic!) pub trivia on Tuesday nights, 8pm. The hosts are great, the trivia is tough enough to make it interesting and challenging (none of this TV screen stuff!), and there are some great regulars who are seriously (though quietly) competitive. Just save me a table!

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Pub Trivia

St. Urbain Bagel Bakery

Rated this place:

895 Eglinton W, Toronto, ON, M6C2C1

Bagel: Mmmm... steamy windows! The bagels are so hot and fresh that the windows are always damp. Love it. The shop on Eglinton is tops, but the St Lawrence Market stand will do in a pinch. The bagels are amazing Montreal-style: small, chewy, sweet and dense. Perfection.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• bagel

The Outer Layer

Rated this place:

577 Queen W, Toronto, ON, M5V2B6

Card store: Great selection of blank and written cards; great gifts (knick knacks, bath goodies, bags, baby gear, note books); and great wrapping paper. This is always my first stop for greeting cards.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Card Store

Trove

Rated this place:

791 Bathurst St., Toronto, ON, M5S1Z5

Accessories store: So many great pieces (jewellery, bags, hats, wallets, shoes, trinkets, scarves...) that you would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in the city. When the shops in the malls are killing your soul, stop at Trove and make it all better.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• accessories store

Claire Reyes Calligraphy

Rated this place:

Toronto, ON

Wedding invitations: Claire's attention to detail is outstanding! She has developed her own hand-written fonts and creates delicate, simple, classic pieces. Good for weddings (invitations, seating cards, etc.), or any occasion. Beautiful! check out her website: www.clairereyes.com

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• wedding invitations

Greenbelt Trail

Rated this place:

Rifle Road (Shirley's Bay entrance), Ottawa, ON

Jogging route: My borders of choice are Arlington (W), Davenport (S), Yonge (E), Ava (N). Greenbelt area, or anywhere in the residential Forest Hill area, including Casa Loma's KILLER stairs! Love Winston Churchill park at St Clair: the track, the south steps, the green space. North into the great residential areas (SO lovely in the morning... wide quiet streets, lots of sprinklers to run through!).

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• jogging route

Massimo Pizza & Pasta

Rated this place:

302 College St., Toronto, ON, M5T1R9

Pizza slice: The Margherita slice is to die for. My favourite late-night walking and eating slice... super greasy (and therefore super yummy), so get extra napkins.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Pizza slice

Natrel Rink at Harbourfront

Rated this place:

235 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON, M5J2G8

Outdoor skating rink: Best because: the size, the music, the open sky. My husband and I fell in love skating on this rink. The trip down to the waterfront carrying skates on the streetcar always gets me excited like a little kid. What I would change: a few less fast-skating dangerous jerks would be nice.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Outdoor Skating Rink

Greg's Ice Cream

Rated this place:

750 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON, M5P2X4

Ice cream: No contest: best the in the city. Toffee Coffee. Banana Chocolate. Sweet Cream. Mmmm.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Ice cream

Banjara Indian Cuisine

Rated this place:

796 Bloor St. West, Toronto, ON, M6G 1L7

Indian food: GREAT food. So fresh, so flavourful. The service was pretty bad for the first 6 months, but they're getting better, and the food makes any bad service worth it, anyway! Try the spinach daal, the butter chicken, the korma... mmmm. It's what we're having for Valentine's day dinner!

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Indian Food

Hope Street Cafe

Rated this place:

324-326 Lonsdale Rd., Toronto, ON, M4V 1X4

Secret little dinner spot: Wayne is one of the best servers in the city! So professional and courteous. The food is really good... such strange options: everything from burgers to mussels to salmon to pasta to steak! The prices are entirely reasonable for the quality (and portion size!!) of food. The space is so cute and tiny... it really does feel like a secret little heaven. A good destination if you're around the Forest Hill Area.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Secret little dinner spot