An editorial cartoon by Michael De Adder on the cover of the November 18th issue of the Metro has got the head of the Toronto transit workers union all hot and bothered. According to Bob Kinnear, the cartoon, which depicts a streetcar operator picking the pocket of a pedestrian bystander, places the blame for the recently announced fare increase on front line TTC workers rather than the commission's management or insufficient government funding.

Kinnear is thus worried that it threatens the safety of his local 113 members, who already suffer increased instances of physical abuse in the wake of fare hike announcements. "It will provoke active animosity in some unbalanced passengers and lead to more assaults. We've been down this road too many times before to let this pass," he reasons.

But is it really that bad? And does it actually lay the blame for the fare increase on the TTC's streetcar operators and other highly visible staff?

The best Chinese restaurants in Toronto tend to be found on Dundas, Spadina or north of the 401. In fact, it has become conventional wisdom that to get the best szechuan, Cantonese or other variation of Chinese food in the city a trip to Markham or Thornhill is all but essential.

In downtown Toronto there are three main destinations for Chinese cuisine - the original Chinatown on Dundas between Bay and University, the largest Chinatown on Spadina on and around Dundas and the often overlooked East Chinatown near Broadview and Gerrard. All three areas are represented on this list. For the best chinese restaurants outside of the downtown core keep an eye out on this site for a separate best of list later this year.

The Castlefield Design District is a furniture and interior design lover's dream. Set in an industrial area northwest of Dufferin and Eglinton, the design destination is home to some of Toronto's best (and priciest) finds all immaculately assembled in large warehouses and showrooms along Castlefield and Caledonia Roads.

There is lighting, furniture, kitchen, bathroom, carpet, floors, drapery, art and almost every other imaginable home decor solution here. Roots even has a showroom - yes, they do sell furniture - located on the ground floor of their corporate headquarters inside the Castlefield Design Centre at 1400 Castlefield Road.

Photo: "Blue" by turnip[turnip], member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.

Events on Toronto's Radar for THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2009... lovingly handpicked from blogTO's events calendar.

BOOKS AND LIT | An Evening with Stephen King
Stephen King has a dubious reputation for being able to churn out books like so many lead-filled Christmas toys coming off a Chinese conveyer belt. The 62-year old author has written over 50 bestselling books, which is more than one for every year he's been writing. But thankfully for every Roadwork he's also given us a Stand By Me or The Shining. By sheer volume alone few authors have shaped the literary world of the late 20th century more than King, and he comes to Toronto tonight for an event that also features an interview with director David Cronenberg by George Stromboulopoulos.
Canon Theatre, 244 Victoria St., $28 - $33, 8 pm

FOOD | 2009 Gourmet Food and Wine Expo
Starting today, Toronto's top restaurants will turn the Metro Convention Centre into a giant cocktail party. Creations from the city's best chefs will be on offer along with samples of incredible wines. Members of the Independent Wine Education Guild will be giving tips on how to buy and taste wine, and the Tutored Tastings Program gives visitors access to rare vintages. Meanwhile, on the Food Network Stage celebrity chefs will be discussing and preparing some of their top recipes. Tonight's the VIP Preview Evening, for which they've reserved the real cream of the crème brûlée.
Metro Convention Centre, South Building, 255 Front St., $35, Thursday 6 - 10 pm, Friday 2 pm - 10 pm, Saturday 12 pm - 10 pm, Sunday 12 pm - 6 pm

FILM | Eh!U European Film Festival
This not-so-cleverly titled film festival brings the best of European cinema to the land of the hoser for the next two weeks. Now in its fifth year, the festival will have screenings of 26 movies from 23 European countries and every single show is free. Highlights include Austria's The White Ribbon, winner of the Palm D'Or at Cannes this year, and France's A Prophet, which won the Cannes Grand Prix. It all kicks off tonight with a single screening at the Bloor of The Karamazovs, a Czech picture about a troupe of actors recreating Dostoyevsky's famous novel. Runs til December 3.
Tonight: The Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor St. W., Free, 6 pm
Til Dec 3rd: Various locations and times

Photo: "downtown 063" by Roger's Eye, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

It would seem that a private Enbridge contractor cut away a bit too much of the Jackes Avenue bridge, right over TTC tracks, forcing the recently-beleaguered transit agency to shut down rush hour Yonge line service between Bloor and Eglinton. The TTC came on strong to pass the buck and even the Mayor tried to keep the blame away from Giambrone & Co. That service resumed around 8:30pm last night might appease some riders, but it doesn't change that this just ain't the TTC's week.

Don't expect any public hearings on the proposed HST. Premier McGuinty made it clear yesterday that he considers the 2011 provincial election to be the chance for constituents to weigh in on the weighty tax. Not sure if that's the Premier being silly, strategic or just laying down the gauntlet.

Police nabbed a 21-year-old and a 15-year-old accomplice in Malton yesterday, on charges for the murder of George Kalogerakis. Now three more suspects are sought after a shooting - fatal for Alex Rundle - in Etobicoke last evening. Maybe I was blinded by the summer sun, but after what seemed like a lot of early 2009 shootings violent crime seemed to get better... until the last few weeks.

Gord Smith was at the top of the Canadian art world in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. A Montreal-born sculptor who originally learned to weld with a torch his older brother used to rebuild old cars, Smith's rise to prominence was a rapid one. By the time he reached his early thirties, he had already built up an impressive list of public and private commissions, collaborated with architects like Arthur Erickson, and exhibited with such international heavyweights as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

Of the many sculptures Smith produced during this period, the most significant was surely the Canada Screen, which was commissioned by the Canadian government for its pavilion at Expo '67. A $65 000 project at the time, the finished product was a massive 110'x12' Cor-Ten steel sculpture that weighed approximately 13 tons.

By the late 1970s, however, Smith's life and work was in ruins. The Canada Screen lay in pieces in a gravel pit outside of Montreal -- removed from the Expo grounds by the same government that commissioned it -- and its creator was in the process of drinking himself to death.