Opening Soon: Salt Wine Bar, Les Fauves, Susie's, East Ender, Si Espresso Bar, Abyssnia
Shuttered restaurants and abandoned storefronts continue to transform as summer progresses. In Little Italy, the space formerly housing the disappointing Arthurs is finally showing signs of life. The recently unveiled liquor license application signage at 501 College Street portends the soon-to-be-debuting French-minded Les Fauves.
On the east side, local celebrity and precision barista Edge is kicking open the door on the competition near Broadview and Danforth as he launches Si Espresso Bar and puts the neighbourhood on notice that he won't be tolerating the hot dirty water served at the blood-orange coloured franchise donut shop across the street.
Baldwin Village always screamed out for a shop that dealt solely in the realm of cubes. With plenty of Kanji but light on the gangsta rap, I dropped by when the shelves were bare and stock empty. Anyone know what's going to be for sale here?
In Leslieville, right next to the Leslieville Cheese Market, look for Eastern Township's influence as Susie's opens with a not-just-another-patisserie twist in the next few weeks.
A number of blocks east, even the servers at Red Rocket Coffee were wondering exactly when the former art studio next door at the East End Design Centre was going to get an upgrade beyond the simple xeroxed "Opening Soon!" poster in the window. While I'm not convinced this block needs another studio cafe, rumour has it that's exactly what we're going to get.
On Bloor Street, don't forget to shake off all that mud before you enter the new Hugo Boss temple, a half-block west of Bay Street.
A little more downmarket, the Abyssnia Ethiopian Restaurant at the corner of Pembroke St. and Dundas is in full 'Opening Soon' mode. Located a block or so outside Yonge-Dundas Square, this might just offer more spice than Filmore's down the street.
And finally, on Ossington, looks like Salt Wine Bar & Gourmet Food Shop (opening late Summer) applied for its liquor license just in time. A sign on the front window promises modern tapas complimented by charcuterie and cheese boards. Sounds like a challenge to the Black Hoof.
Previously:
Opening Soon June 23, 2009
Opening Soon, June 2, 2009
Photos by Peter Harris and Tim Shore
Comments (10)
Probably deserving of less excitement, but: an 'English Pub' called Rover's is opening up where the Swiss Chalet used to be opposite Honest Ed's.
Does anyone know if Salt on Ossington is affiliated with the Vancouver original?
Even though they're using the same name and the same basic concept, the Toronto Salt is not affiliated with the Vancouver Salt.
That's a nice car but in no way can a BlogTo.com scribe afford that. Si Espresso @ BV and Dforth is a no-brainer. It's a busy interesection and the closest available beanery is McDonalds or Coffee Time. Yuck.
Re: Cubeshops... the Katakana (not Kanji) just spells out "Cube Shop" phonetically (Kikoobu Shoppusu), so current best theory remains boutique for cube lovers.
The Cubeshops website says even less about what they're doing than the empty store currently does:
"Targeting the young trendsetters of both cultures, CUBESHOPS is looking to appeal to young males and females under the age of 30. With brands such as Red Wing and Chrome Hearts, we are looking to appeal to customers that look for great quality foreign products. Brands such as Made by Humans and American Apparel are meant to appeal to those looking for value products that have a unique aesthetic. By targeting theses two subcategories, CUBESHOPS will work towards encapsulating the entire youth demographic to give our partners a foothold with the most emotionally-driven consumers in the market."
Sure, but Broadview Espresso is more a space for points north, I see this as a outgrowth of space for Playter Estates neighbourhood, not necessarily the traffic from the busy BV&DF intersection. I think people from Pottery Road south hit up the former porn shop that was Broadview Espresso.
East Enders has not received a Liquor Licence. The application for a licence will be challenged by residents living in the immediate area. The site is located in a well-established residential area that has limited parking and there are two short dead-end cul-de-sac streets to the immediate east and immediate north.
All of the houses adjacent to the north are owner-occupied, and all of those home immediately behind the proposed are also owner occupied.
Residents are requesting a restrictive licence with limited hours of operation and restriction on patio size.
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