blogTO | Posts by rickmcginnis

blogTO | Posts by rickmcginnis http://www.blogto.com/ Toronto blog Copyright 2013 Sun, 19 May 2013 20:17:39 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The past and the future of Mount Dennis Last weekend's Jane's Walk featured many worthy destinations, but I was compelled to join the walk in Mount Dennis, focused on the Eglinton LRT line that will have its west end terminus there, once the two massive tunnel boring machines being built there finally emerge at the eastern end of this massive - and long overdue - project. It's also the neighbourhood where I grew up, my family's home since before World War One, and an area whose decline had almost become terminal.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/05/the_past_and_the_future_of_mount_dennis http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/05/the_past_and_the_future_of_mount_dennis City Sat, 11 May 2013 12:16:01 EDT City Rick McGinnis 2013-05-11T12:16:01 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: Peanut Butter Caramel Latte After a month of tasting specialty coffees around Toronto, I've learned that - with rare exceptions - most of the unique coffee drinks offered by the city's cafes travel in a confectionary landscape somewhere between a cup of java and dessert. With that in mind, I thought I'd end my caffeinated journey around the town with a coffee whose name alone brought on the tingling sensation of a sugar rush.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_peanut_butter_caramel_latte http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_peanut_butter_caramel_latte Eat & Drink Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:45:38 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-04-18T10:45:38 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: Latte au Miel In a previous coffee challenge, I suggested that you didn't see many coffee drinks with honey because, as sweeteners go, its floral richness was probably a lot more suitable for tea than java. As if to prove me wrong, I was told that a Toronto cafe has showcased a coffee drink with honey on its menu, so it was obvious that I had my next destination.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_latte_au_miel http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_latte_au_miel Eat & Drink Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:53:38 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-04-15T10:53:38 Yes brings prog back at Massey Hall For those of us who came of age with punk, the prog rock played by bands like Yes was big brother music, the first really interesting stuff you'd hear that your parents would never admit to liking, but something you'd jettison as soon as you put on your first Ramones t-shirt. That, coloured by prog's 'undeniable 70s heyday, meant that when Yes stopped into Massey Hall last night to play three of their classic albums from front to back, they were turning Toronto into a big, shag-carpeted rec room, and the beloved concert hall on Shuter Street into a pair of vintage Pioneer headphones.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/music/2013/04/yes_brings_prog_back_at_massey_hall http://www.blogto.com/music/2013/04/yes_brings_prog_back_at_massey_hall Music Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:27:26 EDT Music Rick McGinnis 2013-04-12T13:27:26 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: The Shakerato It might be hard to believe right now that winter will end and you'll be craving a cold drink on a hot day. For some of us that means a cold coffee. The Neapolitan shakerato is an espresso with a bit of sugar poured over ice and given a frothy top after a quick James Bond in a martini shaker. There was a craze for the shakerato in Europe a few years ago, and they've ended up as a standard on bar menus over there, though they're rarely spotted this side of the Atlantic.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_the_shakerato http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_the_shakerato Eat & Drink Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:27:11 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-04-11T14:27:11 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: The Ella Don't argue with me, because it's a fact that a clear majority of people don't drink their coffee black - mostly because they're drinking poor quality coffee, but also because, let's be honest, straight black coffee, even from the best of beans, has more of the sour and bitter in it than the garden variety set of taste buds can handle. With that in mind, it's worth putting some thought into how to sweeten our daily coffee in ways that don't involve a packet or two of white sugar. Luckily, one Toronto coffee house has a solution.

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]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_the_ella http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_the_ella Eat & Drink Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:40:30 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-04-08T11:40:30 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: The Trifecta While the renaissance in coffee culture has focused ample attention on the products of the espresso machine, nowhere near as much attention has been paid to the simple cup of joe - the humble mug of brewed coffee that used to be the first and only thing most of us thought of when they ordered a cup of coffee. Bean quality has certainly gotten better, but what makes it into our paper cups is the same drip or percolator coffee that our grandparents would have known, poured from urns or carafes with a quick, careless gesture in diners everywhere.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_the_trifecta http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/04/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_the_trifecta Eat & Drink Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:38:14 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-04-04T03:38:14 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: Triple Chocolate Maple Passion There are dozens, maybe even hundreds, of barista competitions every year, and while most of them require competing baristas to present a creative new coffee drink, menu blackboards in cafes still feature the usual lattes, cappuccinos and espressos of varying lengths. You have to wonder where all that creativity goes, and why more cafes don't put their signature drinks front and centre.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_triple_chocolate_maple_passion http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_triple_chocolate_maple_passion Eat & Drink Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:24:21 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-03-31T11:24:21 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: Turkish latte Hard as it might be to believe, Toronto has come late to coffee culture, though you'd never be able to tell in a city where coffee chains are often mere blocks apart and an indie coffee shop or three is the mark of a hot neighbourhood. What's a decade old here is centuries old in places like Italy or Spain or Turkey, home of the thick, sweet coffee that was the inspiration for one Toronto cafe's twist on a latte.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_turkish_latte http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_turkish_latte Eat & Drink Thu, 28 Mar 2013 03:11:40 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-03-28T03:11:40 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: Miami Vice We crave variety, and sometimes just a little change will add new possibilities to our routine. And let's be honest - our morning, or afternoon (or morning and afternoon) coffee is a routine that most of us are long past changing. With this in mind, Red Rocket has come up with a new wrinkle on the long espresso drink that make caffeine delivery a bit less brisk.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_miami_vice http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_miami_vice Eat & Drink Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:33:55 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-03-24T16:33:55 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: Nutella latte There are more ways to get your coffee fix than with the usual menu of lattes, espressos and cappucinos, and sometimes you want a bit of luxury with your caffeination. Black Canary on Sherbourne by King has one answer to this question, with a drink that marries coffee to what's probably one of childhood's spreadable joys.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_nutella_latte http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_nutella_latte Eat & Drink Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:39:00 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-03-21T13:39:00 The great Toronto coffee drink challenge: Hot Gelato Toronto's years-long coffee renaissance has seen us awash in a sea of espresso and capuccino, latte, macchiato and Americano. Which is nice, but it's not surprising that a few cafe owners and baristas - and not a few customers - long for more variety and a bit more creativity than pretty pictures in their latte foam.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_hot_gelato http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2013/03/the_great_toronto_coffee_drink_challenge_hot_gelato Eat & Drink Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:16:44 EDT Eat & Drink Rick McGinnis 2013-03-17T13:16:44 The Toronto Auto Show 2013 has cars from the future The fortieth Canadian International Auto Show kicked off Thursday with a media day that, like so many before it, offered glimpses of a technologically stunning automotive future that always seems just around the corner. The major auto makers spent fortunes showcasing a present that almost always falls well short of last year's promises and, ironically, lives in the shadow of a past where cars had an elegance or a simple, brute fun that's mostly missing today.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2013/02/the_toronto_auto_show_2013_has_cars_from_the_future http://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2013/02/the_toronto_auto_show_2013_has_cars_from_the_future Sports & Play Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:41:06 EST Sports & Play Rick McGinnis 2013-02-16T12:41:06 The Best Strip Clubs in Toronto The best strip clubs in Toronto have their spiritual home on Yonge St., even if they're actually out on quiet stretches of the Queensway or Dufferin, in heritage buildings near the Don River, or sitting on prime real estate on King West. A third of our list resides on Yonge, in locations that often date back to when they were bars with bands and maybe an MC who told off-colour jokes between sets, back when burlesque was a recent but fading memory and Toronto was till - at least in its own mind - "the Good."

]]> http://www.blogto.com/best_of_toronto/2012/12/the_best_strip_clubs_in_toronto http://www.blogto.com/best_of_toronto/2012/12/the_best_strip_clubs_in_toronto Best of Toronto Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:13:34 EST Best of Toronto Rick McGinnis 2012-12-07T17:13:34 The Best Toy Stores in Toronto The best toy stores in Toronto serve neighbourhoods where the children of Gen Y and late-breeding Gen X are being painstakingly raised by parents who've read the books and websites and strive to fill their nurseries and playrooms with toys that are sturdy, attractive and educational, in varying ratios. It's where the dolls come in every colour, the choking hazards are kept on the high shelves, and toy guns are nowhere to be seen.

]]> http://www.blogto.com/best_of_toronto/2012/11/the_best_toy_stores_in_toronto http://www.blogto.com/best_of_toronto/2012/11/the_best_toy_stores_in_toronto Best of Toronto Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:39:52 EST Best of Toronto Rick McGinnis 2012-11-28T11:39:52