The revitalization of the stretch of Augusta south of Baldwin won't include Little Tokyo. I noticed the For Rent sign this week as I passed by the now vacated Japanese grocery store and culture shop in Kensington Market.

Little Tokyo was always a bit of a mystery to me. I liked that they used to offer me free green tea as I cruised around the store, but I always found their selection and prices much inferior to Sanko on Queen Street.

It has only been four years but already the House of Vintage is calling it quits at 571 Queen Street West. The deceptively large and award winning vintage store is now shuttered - and added to the growing list of local businesses opting out of escalating rents on this stretch of Queen West.

You'd think scoring a corner location for a restaurant right across from St. Lawrence Market would be akin to printing money. But if the past two incarnations at 11 Jarvis Street are any sort of measuring stick it looks like this spot hasn't done much to pad anyone's wallet - except maybe the movers.

The latest victim, following on the footsteps of the underrated upscale Korean resto Ninth Gate, is The Garden @ Eleven. Formerly know as Eleven (or to regular readers of this site the place that burnt Kelvin's friend's croissant), this restaurant's lifespan was short lived. Open for only a few months, it first changed its name, then its chef and finally shut down earlier this week.

Noon Restaurant has entered the Deadpool - our new section dedicated to chronicling, celebrating or otherwise remembering some of our favourite (or not so favourite) Toronto places that are no longer with us.

Noon was popular for their Build Your Own Breakfast, a great concept I expect to catch on at other spots in the city. It was busy for brunch on weekends but sadly couldn't bring the business it needed during those slow Mondays and Tuesdays. In a message posted a while ago to their web site, the owner had lamented they were having problems but would seek to turn things around come the Spring and Summer.