The best sweet potato fries in Toronto prove that life's little things are often the most pleasurable. As one restaurateur I recently spoke with acknowledged, the simplicity of the sweet potato fry is probably the secret to its success.

No doubt the root vegetable's uncanny ability to jive with a tangy wasabi mayo or a sugary maple syrup-infused sour cream also lends to its popularity. Chefs have the freedom to experiment with fanciful dipping concoctions. Diners who seek a healthier alternative to French fries get to indulge - virtually guilt-free.

Leah McLaren might not be a permanent Toronto literary fixture anymore, now that she spends half her time in London, England. But, as a weekly columnist for the Globe and Mail, her signature take on everything from Canadian smugness and orthorexia (an obsession with healthy eating) to women's butt anxieties and the horrors of Hammer pants is delivered - with wit - to her die-hard Toronto fans.

Our beloved city doesn't always feature in her column in the Saturday Globe's Life/Style section, but Toronto is inescapable in McLaren's non-newspaper work. Her 2006 novel, The Continuity Girl, and her recent screenplay, Abroad (which aired as a feature-length film on CBC in March), each follow single Toronto thirty-somethings who flee the Big Smoke to work - and meet men - in London, much like McLaren did in real life. (Spoiler alert: she married a Canadian.)

The best nachos in Toronto take more than a bag of tortilla chips and shredded cheese to achieve a supreme plate. As one kitchen manager I recently spoke to said "it takes a lot of love".

The first recorded nacho dates back to only 1943 when Ignacius "Nacho" Anaya whipped up a plate at his restaurant in Mexico for a group of haggard military wives out on a shopping getaway from nearby Fort Duncan, Texas. Nacho's nachos only had three elements - tortilla chips, melted cheese, and jalapeno peppers - and, while all of the best nachos in Toronto include these defining ingredients, they each offer a unique slant on the original crowd-pleaser.