To brunch, to brunch, to eat a fat pig (thickly sliced). And also some pastries, and red wine poached eggs and the mother of all french toasts.

I mean, just the description was like a double-dog dare. It wasn't french toast, it was a french toast sandwich: "French toast sandwich with seared smoked pork loin, Paul Sherk's maple syrup" ($18).

Who can plate french toast in a way that makes you say "yep, that's $18 worth of french toast"? Thuet can. At their newest digs in Liberty Village.

Butter up that bacon boy, we're going brunchin'.

Check out all the heart pounding, artery clogging goodness in my review of Atelier Thuet in the restaurants section.

So we're eating local, and it's delicious. But food is only one of many things that can be homegrown. Art, artifacts, clothes, notepaper, posters, ceramics. If it can be knit, spun, inked, daubed, reconstructed, deconstructed, fused or 'smithed, there's a local designer producing it.

The last few years have seen a clutch of designer collectives open in Toronto. As Shopgirls Gallery Boutique puts it, the local talent was evident, the opportunities were not. So, in true Canadian spirit, Toronto artists created their own opportunities, opening their own stores and galleries.

Come check out what the colonies can do.

Tea people are just nice people. They're as knowledgeable and passionate about their product as coffee people, only slightly less keyed up and twitchy.

And, let's just get it out of the way, when we're talking about tea, we're talking places that specialize in looseleaf tea (one exception to be spotted below). Most prepacked bagged tea is made with the bits and pieces left over after sorting out the tea leaves. They take the sweepings, the tea "dust", the remnants of real tea, then they bag them, and we drink it. You deserve better than bagged floor scrapings.

Health food stores have come a long way, baby. When I was young, and my well-intentioned hippie parents were raising us on a diet of fruit leathers and wild rice casseroles, I spent a great deal of time in health food stores. If I close my eyes, I can still see the giant unmarked tubs of natural peanut butter, and smell the slightly astringent smell of chewable vitamin C.

But right around the time Lisa Simpson admitted she was going to marry a carrot, things started getting better for healthy eaters. A lot better. Even these days, while big business is slapping 'natural' and 'organic' all over themselves, independent health food stores are increasingly mainstream, stylish, and plentiful, with fantastic options all over downtown Toronto.

It's not fair: who wants to take over the space of a neighbourhood favourite like Queen West's Sugar? Wait, no. Would that be harder or easier?

Urbano is the new "Italian-inspired tapas parlour" at Queen and Shaw. Which, honestly, I got a little excited about.

(Though I couldn't go for a few months because I was still mourning the end of Sugar brunches. Too soon.)

Then I went, I saw, I ate. And I got a little less excited.

This is where you go to fill up on Calabrese bread and straightforward food (like that lemon chicken over on the right). And it'll be good. But your socks will remain on your feet (because they won't be knocked off, get it?).

Read on in the full Urbano review in our Restaurants section.

Only a few months old, La Merceria on Adelaide St W is a lethal combination of beautiful things, great coffee and sweets.

La Merceria is a hybrid home decor boutique and cafe. Which roughly translates to playing dirty. All the while you're sitting in comfort against an oversized pillow, sipping a perfectly prepared espresso, you're surrounded by purchasable home design goodies. And if your decision making isn't already impaired from your first (or second) cup of coffee, they sucker punch your resistance with sugar -- a little something made of dulce de leche?

Many of the people who came in while I was there were first timers, just walking by. Every one of them was instantly smitten with the place. So I don't really need to sell it, you can just go, and experience the smittening yourself.

Though you can also read the full review of La Merceria in our Cafes section.