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The windows of the former Church Street Diner have been re-papered and I see lights on in there sometimes at night. As mentioned a page or so back I saw a tradesman in there about a month or so ago on a ladder near the window. Hopefully a good sign.
 
There is now a help wanted sign (for restaurant employees) in the window of the former Il Fornello. Appears something is also moving into the former Rogers store on the west side of the street.
 
I was at my Dentist today (crown work, fun-wow) & the Hygienist there lives at the Paxton Place condos at Charles & Church. She excitingly told me of her night out with her sister a few days ago at O.Noir located downstairs, just north of where the Town Inn Suites are at Church & Charles. I saw it go in last summer & thought here comes another failure, I've seen a dozen places go in there over the last decade, last six months and disappear. So it turns out that O.Noir is eating in the dark. You make menu selections in the lit entrance before being escorted by holding the waiter's arm to your table & chair then drink and dine in complete and total darkness. The idea is to turn off one of your senses (sight) in order to enjoy the smell and taste of food while eating slower. She said that the experience was really fun and the food was incredible. Further, the restaurant was packed. Apparently you can't even walk in, you have to phone ahead for reservations as they fill up each evening. Sounds like great fun to me, I can't wait to try it. And finally, an interesting success story in the Village!

Oh, and the Wait Staff are blind.
 
How did she know the restaurant was packed if she was in the dark? Maybe business is terrible and they pipe in the sound of diners.
 
deerparker said:
There is now a help wanted sign (for restaurant employees) in the window of the former Il Fornello. Appears something is also moving into the former Rogers store on the west side of the street.
Click to expand...
It's a TD expansion.

dt_toronto_geek said:
I was at my Dentist today (crown work, fun-wow) & the Hygienist there lives at the Paxton Place condos at Charles & Church. She excitingly told me of her night out with her sister a few days ago at O.Noir located downstairs, just north of where the Town Inn Suites are at Church & Charles. I saw it go in last summer & thought here comes another failure, I've seen a dozen places go in there over the last decade, last six months and disappear. So it turns out that O.Noir is eating in the dark. You make menu selections in the lit entrance before being escorted by holding the waiter's arm to your table & chair then drink and dine in complete and total darkness. The idea is to turn off one of your senses (sight) in order to enjoy the smell and taste of food while eating slower. She said that the experience was really fun and the food was incredible. Further, the restaurant was packed. Apparently you can't even walk in, you have to phone ahead for reservations as they fill up each evening. Sounds like great fun to me, I can't wait to try it. And finally, an interesting success story in the Village! Oh, and the Wait Staff are blind.
Click to expand...
O'Noir is a ton of fun and I'd highly recommend it. The food isn't the best, but really, you are going more for the experience anyway.
 
deerparker said:
There is now a help wanted sign (for restaurant employees) in the window of the former Il Fornello. Appears something is also moving into the former Rogers store on the west side of the street.
Click to expand...

Something called Chi Ko Roo is going in there.


Urban Shocker said:
How did she know the restaurant was packed if she was in the dark? Maybe business is terrible and they pipe in the sound of diners.
Click to expand...

Reservations are required because they have limited seating and presumably fill up, or so they say. Also, they only serve two dinner sittings per evening at set times.
 
OttoSchloss said:
I just hope the general public doesn't get the idea that all gay people are as boring and uptight as you.

If you want to live just like a "straight man" then fine. But remember it was the flamboyant out people that initially fought for the acceptance and rights that gays and lesbians enjoy today. It was the visible gays that fought because they had to. They couldn't hide and pass and therefore had nothing to lose. And you should thank them every day that your sexuality isn't an issue where the law is concerned.

Toronto's huge Pride event was in response to bath house raids and police harassment and has done more for the acceptance of gay and lesbian rights and the de-stigmatization of our group than probably anything else in this country.

And do you honestly believe straight men are wired any differently than gay men? Don't you think if they had the opportunity they'd be equally as promiscuous? Have you ever been around a group of straight guys? Football and pussy are about as equally important to them. And if you think public nudity is a gay thing I urge you to visit Key West during Fantasy Fest or New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

If anything, be bothered by the fact that this promiscuity is so often unsafe. That's what irks me. There's no reason that HIV rates should be increasing among young gay men and men in their 40s and 50s who lived through the first wave. It's a disease in the west that should have been or could have been a footnote.
Click to expand...

I quote the above from last September which began a long, interesting debate about the attitudes of people in the gay community, and to an extent, people in Toronto.

From Fab Magazine, "Are Toronto Gays Heartless?"

http://www.fabmagazine.com/features/391/heartless.html
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
I quote the above from last September which began a long, interesting debate about the attitudes of people in the gay community, and to an extent, people in Toronto.

From Fab Magazine, "Are Toronto Gays Heartless?"

http://www.fabmagazine.com/features/391/heartless.html
Click to expand...

I appreciate you linking to that, but am unsure that this debate is productive anymore. I want to write something more constructive in reply, but I've been hearing this since I moved to Toronto five years ago. I felt it at first too, but eventually I did something about it. I changed my scene, found new friends and found a welcoming and happy environment for me. I know someone who feels Toronto is cold and unwelcoming. He goes to Woody's every Saturday night and just gets more bitter and more depressed. He thinks every time he goes it will be different, but it never is and he won't do anything else. Woody's can be lots of fun for some people, but it's like he's been programmed to think that it is where he must go and must stay and there is nothing else to do. Some people desperately need to change the people and the environment that they spend their time in, but they won't and I can't figure out why.
 
He really needs to join a gay league (softball etc.) or get involved somehow or just open himself up. I find the people who complain the most about other people's unfriendliness really just expect a little too much from other people and make little effort themselves. I just moved back to T.O. and frankly I think a (non creepy) smile goes a long way. And no, I don't find strangers here particularly unfriendly at all (especially in comparison with major American cities that aren't New York or New Orleans). Maybe his standards for who is worth chatting to are too high? Because if that's the case he should just save those standards for the people he's willing to sleep with (ugly friends make you look ten times hotter.)
 
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I've heard that Out & Out Toronto is a great group to join and a terrific way to meet people in a wide variety of settings. They have plenty of activities to suit most anyone's interest; they organize trips, indoor & outdoor activities and outings year 'round. I've thought of joining myself since I learned of this group but haven't done so yet.

https://secure.outandout.on.ca/index.php?_page=Activities
 
Walking my dog tonight I noticed that the papers covering up the windows of the Church Street Diner were taken down. Out of curiosity I walked up the steps to peek inside and a fellow came out and said "we open tomorrow at noon". I'm pretty sure it was one of the fellows who ran the place before it closed last year.
I took a look inside Hero Burgers (formally Lettieri's) and most of the mill-work seems to be done, it looks like it should be open in the next week or two. It appears to be a very small space in there now, but I could only see in through the windows off Church St., the Wellesley St. windows are still papered up.
Finally, there's action happening at former Bigliardi's. Their signs are down and new windows are being installed.
No sign of movement at former Zelda's, Crews/Tango or Statlers.
So some good things are happening, just in time for spring. I know, spring is still a distant spot on my calendar, but I have to think it's coming soon and that winter is nearing an end...
 
No sign of movement at former Zelda's, Crews/Tango or Statlers.
Click to expand...

I noticed a liquor lic application in the window of Crews dated 12 March. Is it new? I remember seeing one a long time ago, but not sure if it's the same one...
 
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