Jamaican-born Carl Allen has traveled the globe as a DJ, but prefers the city of Toronto to all others. Since the 90's, Allen has became a restaurateur and purveyor of soul food alongside business partner Carl Cassell. Currently Allen runs Harlem Restaurant on Richmond as well as its new sister spot, Harlem Underground on Queen West. Both exist to provide a sense of community, a performance space, and that rare Toronto offering that is a soul food menu. As Allen and I talked about restaurants, soul food and the city, the smell of freshly made corn bread wafted up to us, making me more than a little hungry.

Lynn Crawford has made a name for herself working in exclusive kitchens like the Four Seasons, and some kitchens that needed a little help, with her appearances on the Food Network's Restaurant Makeover. She's traveled a long way from George Brown College's culinary program to being the executive chef at the Four Seasons in both Toronto and New York City, and appearing on an episode of Iron Chef America.

She's currently expanding her name recognition to the screen and kitchen again, with a new show on Food Network, Pitchin' In, and as the new owner of Riverside's former Citizen restaurant, soon to be known as Ruby Watchco. In the midst of what she calls "crazy renos," Crawford talks New York vs. Toronto, fresh ingredients and her new restaurant.

Rocco Rossi was the first in line to file his papers to run for mayor of Toronto. In his subsequent press conference, he billed himself as the "big, bald" mayoral candidate who wanted to cut the mayor's salary and sell off Toronto Hydro. Despite the splashy debut, many Torontonians don't know much about the east end-raised Rossi, who once kayaked 490 km from Toronto to Ottawa to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, of which he was formerly the CEO. Here he takes me through what parts of the city he once lived in, his favourite parts of the city, and, of course, what he would do for the city of Toronto.

Jessi Cruickshank, in what must be one of the cooler jobs out there, gets paid to watch bad reality TV and make fun of it. Alongside Dan Levy, and as the redheaded half of MTV's After Show duo, Cruickshank takes on quasi-reality TV like The Hills, The City and Peak Season. It's a show with humble beginnings that now has a studio audience, an American following, and a new spin-off show about general pop culture. It might be Cruickshank's flair for getting to the tough, somewhat perverse questions with dreamy celebrities that might be her legacy.

For those familiar with the interview stylings of Cabral "Cabbie" Richards from The Score, you can imagine what it's like to interview him. The TV personality who rose from an internship to become "Cabbie on the Street," the hyper-hugger interviewer of many NBA and NHL stars, is as energetic and off-the-cuff in person as he is in his television segments.

After rapid-fire apologies for a Score taping that ran late and a quick check of my handwriting, Richards finally settled into talking about the select downtown zone he spends his time in, and what he'd do as a hypothetical Toronto tour guide for his frequent interview subject, Kobe Bryant.

Mayor David Miller announced his intentions not to seek re-election back in September but just because he has less than a year left in office doesn't mean he's ready to kick up his feet.

After his recent trip to Copenhagen, our big blond mayor seems energized about his last year in office -- garbage strike detractors be damned. Here he weighs in on the current state of the city and his role in shaping it for the last seven years.