Toronto

By Gavin Graham | Illustrations by Bradley Reinhardt ABV Alcohol by Volume, other­wise known as Approximate Blotto Velocity. Cask Conditioned An unpasteurized, unfiltered beer left in the cask until it develops light bubbles, instead of being injected with C02. It’s served warm, to the delight of purists and the disappointment of anyone craving a cold one. Growler Old-fashioned, 64-ounce jugs used to take beer home from the brewery. They’re also a quaint affectation and a convenient party favour. Hop bomb Hold on to your bar stool, this beer is bitterer than a high-society divorce. IBUs International bitterness units, on a scale of one (Coors Light registers under five) to 2,500, an all-time record set by Ontario’s own Flying Monkeys brewery in a novelty beer called Alpha Fornication. Most IPAs linger around a respectable 50. Imperial Stouts or pale ales brewed with double or even triple the hops and malts for big flavours. Beers with the extra “I” are generally for advanced beer drinkers. IPA India Pale Ales, made with strong hops and malts, rebel against Ontario’s history of flavourless, corporate-controlled beers. They’re the most popular craft beer currently brewed in Toronto. Light-struck Bottled beers are like vampires: sunlight results in the True Death (a.k.a skunkiness). Mouthfeel A word used to describe the texture of a beer. Commonly following “creamy,” “oily” and “chewy,” even though beer is none of those things. Sessionable Mild, low-alcohol beers you can consume in succession without getting too hammered or destroying your palate—the educated way to binge drink. The post Beer 101: Our pocket glossary for aspiring craft beer aficionados, just in time for Ontario Craft Beer Week appeared first on torontolife.com.

DelectablyChic!‘s T U Dawood interviews 5 of Toronto’s leading chefs at Second Harvest’s 22nd anniversary of its Toronto Taste fundraiser for the homeless.  The wonderful event held at the Royal Ontario Museum pairs “cuisine and compassion” and is a great opportunity to try the delicious innovations of our nation’s top chefs. Over 1,450 guests enjoyed “bite-sized creations from 60 fine restaurants and beverages from over 30 top vintners and brewers.” More than $335,000 was raised from this event to “enable Second Harvest to rescue and deliver enough excess food to provide over 670,000 meals for those who are hungry in our city.” We asked Mark McEwan, Brad Long, Trista Sheen, Martin Kouprie and Andrew Court what makes Toronto such a great city for food and for the inside scoop on women diners at their restaurants. Mark McEwan, Celebrity Chef: “I’ve been in Toronto since 1975, so I’ve seen every new trend that’s happened and Toronto is on fire now.  We didn’t get the casino downtown by we will do other things.” Martin Kouprie, Pangaea: “Toronto is a city for food. Great diversity.  In fact, our restaurant Pangaea’s name which means all land is named after Toronto because this is one city with all cultures in one place.” “As a chef, it’s important to please women first because they bring their husbands and restaurants into the restaurant.  Women also spend time figuring out what’s good and what’s not.” Brad Long, Cafe Belong: “I’ve been doing this for 30 years in Toronto and we have unique cuisine and solid, well experienced people in business.  And we’re still growing.  We’re young adults in cooking age terms, so we are not  teenagers any more but not quite there.  You’ll find lots of gorgeous food across different cultures, price points and experimentations in Toronto.  There’s always a mash-up here!  We’re also surrounded by the best farmland.” “Women make all the decisions.  The number of readers and fans of DelectablyChic! become double the patrons at our restaurant because the women bring the men.  Women are more vocal and clear in explaining their preferences so I enjoy speaking to a woman who knows what she wants.” Trista Sheen, Crush Wine Bar: “I’m from Toronto – this is my city and I love it – and damn right, Toronto as a food city. It’s huge and not just a food city but a multicultural food city, so if you feel like dining Bangladeshi one night, you can just go for it!” “I cater a lot for women as my cooking is lighter and more feminine so it’s easier for women to eat. Not heavy and full of bacon.” Andrew Court, Fairmount Toronto: “I’ve worked all over, so Toronto may be smaller but it’s a great food city because the food culture is more tight here and there are some phenomenal abilities especially from the younger Chefs.” “Women are the most informed diners.  You can’t pull the wool over their eyes and you just have one chance to make the right impression on them.” The post Toronto’s Top Chefs Talk to DelectablyChic! in an Exclusive appeared first on DelectablyChic!.

There have been a great deal of compelling stories surrounding the Blue Jays this year both of the uplifting and depressing variety. There have been more depressing stories than uplifting ones in the overall scheme of things but the team has settled in nicely of late and it's hard to complain.There is no denying that from shocking under-performance, to horrifying injuries, to surprising contributors, it has been an interesting season for the 2013 Toronto Blue Jays. Interesting seasons are a good things for fans, but the more big narratives there are the more the little ones fall through the cracks. That brings me to today's topic. Melky Cabrera. Melky Cabrera has cruised through his first season with the Blue Jays so far without attracting a great deal of attention. He has played through some leg problems, but he has generally hit near the top of the lineup and has avoided either the ire or praise of most Blue Jays fans. This is quite interesting because so far Melky Cabrera has been positively awful. In 2013 Cabrera has gone about being a poor player in the stealthiest way possible, by hitting for a solid batting average and not doing anything else well. Even in the current day and age, batting average is often the first stat that fans are exposed to and with a .275 average going into last night's game Cabrera looks like a respectable top of the order presence. The problem is everything else he does. Here is the rest of his line in 2013: OBP SLG ISO wOBA wRC+ WAR .320 .370 .094 .304 89 -0.1 Cabrera is putting on a clinic in the concept of "empty average". He really isn't walking enough and he isn't hitting for much in the way of power either. To be fair to Melky, his WAR number is depressed by poor fielding and base running scores that are probably affected by the fact he is playing through leg injuries. Base running in particular has always been a strength of his so it's likely to rebound as the season continues and he gets healthier. Even so, by the Fangraphs version of WAR Cabrera has been as valuable to the Blue Jays this year as Henry Blanco. What sort of confuses me is how this isn't really news. The Blue Jays have a lead weight sitting in their leadoff hole and it seems to be slipping through the cracks. Cabrera was expected to regress from his career year in 2012 where he had an unsustainable .379 BABIP but I think most saw him as at least an average offensive player going forward. Unfortunately, he hasn't been particularly close to average. Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that this is not about PED's. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I don't think we have any idea how to quantify the effect of PEDs or neat stopping and starting points for guys who have used them. It seems like a lazy way to explain things and I don't think things are that simple with Melky. Now that we've established the extent of Cabrera's struggles, the more interesting question is what the cause of his struggles is. When analyzing changes in how a hitter is performing the first place I like to look is his strikeout and walk rates. A radical change in either of these rates can signify a change in approach or ability to make contact that could explain changes in performance. Here are Melky's walk and strikeout rates over the last three years as well as his career rates: Year BB% K% 2011 5.0% 13.3% 2012 7.2% 12.6% 2013 6.4% 12.4% Career Stats 7.3% 12.1% Melky is walking a bit less than he has in the past, but not a significant amount. He is striking out approximately the same amount as well. If we acknowledge that Cabrera hasn't changed his approach very much the next logical place to look is the batted ball data. Here are what Cabrera's batted balls look like over the same time period: Year BABIP LD% GB% FB%

It's Wednesday, which means you'll keep asking people "What day is it again?" all day long, then quietly die inside when they say it's not Thursday. In the news: residents of the recently raided North Etobicoke complex allege that they were traumatized by police, the woman who supposedly threw a drink at the mayor has a trial date, Rob Ford really likes astrology, and Parkdale's restaurant/bar cap bylaw is moving on forward. Residents of the allegedly gang-ridden North Etobicoke complex just raided by Toronto police are claiming that the cops used inappropriate, culturally-insensitive tactics, supposedly traumatizing the local, largely Somali community. At a press conference held yesterday, some apartment dwellers asserted that the police raid proved more distressing than any of the gang activity. Annnnd, back to some noise about Rob Ford (don’t lie, you missed it)! Shannon Everett, the 27-year-old who allegedly threw a beverage of a hotly-disputed variety at the mayor during last weekend’s Taste of Little Italy festival, will appear in court on assault charges on July 23. Everett’s lawyer, the same lady who represented former attorney-general Michael Bryant that time he was charged with killing a cyclist, says she will vigorously defend her client. In more Rob Ford noise, the guy, apparently, really digs astrology. Yup, you heard that. Like, star signs and stuff. Horoscopes. In a rare moment of self-revelation, the mayor, just before unveiling a Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads being temporarily displayed in the Nathan Phillips Square reflecting pool, disclosed that he was born in the Year of the Rooster. Who knew? And, if you were peeved about the restaurant and bar cap in Parkdale, your day probably just got a little bit worse. A proposed bylaw to restrict restaurants to 25 per cent of all businesses in four parts of Queen Street West (between Dufferin Street and Roncesvalles Avenue) was approved yesterday by the Toronto East York community council.

Gregory Campbell speaks to the media for the first time since surgery - and downplays his toughness. Campbell, who is on crutches after surgery June 10 to repair a broken right fibula, downplayed all of that when he met the media Tuesday at TD Garden. Asked about the legendary Bobby Baun, he said there was no comparison. "I don't put myself in his category," Campbell said. Baun scored the overtime winner for Toronto in Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup final against Detroit despite breaking his foot midway through the third period after being hit by a Gordie Howe shot. "I respect fully that feat of his," Campbell said. "And mine was nowhere near that. But it just goes to show you how tough you have to be to play in this league. There's 700, 800 players that are tough like that and play through things every day." The Bruins and Blackhawks are a popular series. The Stanley Cup finals’ Game 3 drew the most viewers for the NHL on NBC Sports Network since the cable channel started televising the league in 2006. Gretzky thinks there will be another NHL team in Quebec. The Great One firmly believes the NHL will return to Quebec City. The Quebec capital has been without an NHL franchise since the Nordiques left in 1995. But hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said Tuesday his gut feeling is that Quebec City will again have its own pro hockey franchise. “I think it’s only a matter of time before Quebec City is going to get a franchise,” Gretzky told reporters at the Joe Carter Classic Golf Tournament. “Listen, I think we all agree it’s a good city and it can support an NHL team, especially now with the salary cap rules and the parity we have in the game of hockey. “When that’s going to be, it’s anybody’s guess but when they do come back in, it’s going to be a strong, solid franchise just like Winnipeg is now and it will be as successful as they are.”

KABUL—The Afghan president on Wednesday suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest the way his government was being left out of initial peace negotiations with the Taliban meant to find a way to end the nearly 12-year war.The move by Hamid Karzai raises tensions significantly and could derail the peace process even before it has begun.In a terse statement from his office, Karzai said negotiations with the U.S. on what American and coalition security forces will remain in the country after 2014 have been put on hold. The deal was expected to define the future of American troops here and also pave way for billions in aid to the Afghan economy.Karzai’s statement followed an announcement Tuesday by the U.S. and the Taliban that they would pursue bilateral talks in Qatar before the Afghan government was brought in.“In view of the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the peace process, the Afghan government suspended the negotiations, currently underway in Kabul between Afghan and U.S. delegations on the bilateral security agreement,” Karzai’s statement said.His spokesman was not immediately reachable for questions, and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said it had no immediate comment.Though the Taliban have dismissed Karzai as an American puppet for years, they indicated Tuesday when opening a new political office in Doha, Qatar, that they would be willing to talk with the Afghan leader.But both the American side and the Taliban said they would first meet together before any talks with the Afghanistan government.In another incident highlighting the fragile situation in Afghanistan, only hours after announcing they would hold talks with the U.S., the Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for an attack on the Bagram Air Base in which four American troops were killed.Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgents fired two rockets into the base outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, late on Tuesday. American officials confirmed the base had come under attack by indirect fire — likely a mortar or rocket — and that four U.S. troops were killed.Also Tuesday, five Afghan police officers were killed at a security outpost in Helmand province by apparent Taliban infiltrators — the latest in a string of so-called “insider attacks” that have shaken the confidence of the nascent Afghan security forces.The opening of a Taliban political office in Doha with the intention of starting peace talks was a reversal of months of failed efforts to start negotiations while Taliban militants intensified a campaign targeting urban centres and government installations across Afghanistan.President Barack Obama cautioned that the peace talks with the Taliban would be neither quick nor easy but that their opening a political office in Doha was an “important first step toward reconciliation” between the Islamic militants and the government of Afghanistan.In setting up the office, the Taliban said they were willing to use all legal means to end what they called the occupation of Afghanistan — but did not say they would immediately stop fighting.American officials said the U.S. and Taliban representatives will hold bilateral meetings in the coming days. Karzai’s High Peace Council had been expected to follow up with its own talks with the Taliban a few days later but it was now not clear whether that would happen.The Taliban announcement followed a milestone handover in Afghanistan earlier Tuesday as Afghan forces formally took the lead from the U.S.-led NATO coalition for security nationwide. It marked a turning point for American and NATO military forces, which will now move entirely into a supporting role.The handover paves the way for the departure of the majority of coalition forces — currently numbering about 100,000 troops from 48 countries, including 66,000 America

Two men are spending time in jail after assaulting TTC drivers. A man was acting in a disorderly manner on a bus operating along the 102 Markham Rd route Saturday, June 8. The driver asked the man to settle down. He refused and the driver then asked the man to leave the bus. The man then struck the driver four times with an umbrella, resulting in minor injuries for the driver. Toronto Police Service officers arrested the suspect a short time later. In court, Thursday, June 13, 46-year-old Varatharajan Ponnampalam pleaded guilty to a charge of assault. The court sentenced him to 120 days in jail and one year probation. Part of the probation order requires Ponnampalam not to ride that driver’s bus and not be on TTC vehicles or property with alcohol in his system. Thursday, April 18, a man assualted a TTC driver working on a bus operating along the 123 Shorncliffe route. The suspect grabbed the driver by the arm as the bus was moving and demanded that the TTC operator drive him to a nearby liquor store. In court Monday, June 10, 43-year-old Anthony Savo-Sadaro pleaded guilty to a charge of assault. The court sentenced him to 25 days in jail and two years probation. On average, at least two TTC employees are assaulted every day. The assaults range from punching, slapping and spitting, to threatening physical harm or death. The TTC’s court advocates work with Crown attorneys and the courts to secure the stiffest penalties possible for those convicted of assaulting or threatening TTC employees. They continue to seek ways to restrict those convicted of these crimes from using public transit in Toronto.

Greater Toronto Area Realtors reported 4,620 sales through the TorontoMLS system during the first two weeks of June 2013. This result was up by 4.7 per cent compared to the first two weeks of June 2012. Year-over-year sales growth was driven by the regions/counties surrounding the City of Toronto. Home sales in the City were basically flat in comparison to last year. “The expectation was for an improvement in home sales in the second half of 2013. Early June results are in line with this outlook. Many households have adapted to stricter lending guidelines and have renewed their search for ownership housing,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Ann Hannah. “It is also important to note that new listings were down over the same period. With sales up and new listings down, market conditions became tighter. This supports the moderate to strong rates of price growth reported for most major home types, including condominium apartments,” added Ms. Hannah. The average selling price for the first fourteen days of June was $536,141 – up by 3.8 per cent compared to June 2012. “While price growth has been driven by low-rise home types this year, condominium apartment price growth has improved since March. Despite higher inventory levels, there have been enough buyers relative to available listings to support condo price appreciation,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. See Report »

Australian native’s fingerprints are all over the strategy that transformed city into a successful example of mixed-use urbanism

Links 2013 Player Review: Joffrey Lupul Arm gets a C-. Can You Name This Leaf? Vintage Leafs would love to know. Collecting Vintage When You Cheer for an Expansion Team Neat piece by 1967ers. Bickell: "Mario Kart Helps us Focus" Meatheads trying to say they'd be better off playing Super Smash Brothers. Bourne's 10 Takeaways from Game 3 Good call on Chicago being intimidated by Rask. How the Hawks and Bruins Spent Their Money Sweet breakdown on BHS. NHL Coaches Dissect Chicago's Dormant Powerplay In my opinion, they're trying to be too perfect.