FOR the last few years, Queen Street West has been the epicenter of Toronto cool — with its trendy restaurants, night-crawling club kids and boutique clothing shops featuring the work of local designers. But now the action seems to be shifting a few blocks over, to a part of the street nicknamed — accurately but awkwardly — West Queen Street West.
This still-evolving neighborhood starts roughly at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bathurst, and is marked by the presence of St. Christopher House (588 Queen Street West), a former bank turned community center for the city's newly arrived immigrants and working poor, now an adult drop-in center and arts-and-crafts center.
Indeed, this strip of Queen Street West still has a slightly seedy side, from the run-down diners selling all-day breakfasts to the somewhat startling presence of the live go-go dancer in the storefront window of Misbehav'n (No. 650), an “adult” lingerie and fetish store that seems to have a devoted clientele.
But more representative of the neighborhood's new prominence are the many restaurants, cafes and art galleries that make this a lively spot to spend a weekend afternoon.
From Czehoski (No. 678; 416-366-6787), a spare but elegant restaurant set in what was once a Polish butcher shop of the same name, to Little Tibet (No. 712; 416-306-1896), a tiny spot that specializes in momos — handmade dumplings with fillings ranging from beef (10.50 Canadian dollars, about 9.95 U.S. dollars, at 97 cents to the Canadian dollar ) to spinach and cheese (10.95 Canadian dollars) — West Queen Street West offers strollers a global tasting menu.
Among the more inviting spots on the street is Bar One (No. 924; 416-535-1655), a friendly Italian cafe where a steady stream of locals comes in for Saturday brunch to chat with the laid-back staff about last night's date or tonight's club outing.
If it's just a restorative snack you're after, delicious lemon tarts (3.05 Canadian dollars) from Clafouti Patisserie et Café (No. 915; 416-603-1935) might do the trick. Or perhaps head to Red Tea Box (No. 696; 416-203-8882) for its Asian spin on afternoon tea. The “tea bento” features several offerings, including the yuzu sencha (25 Canadian dollars), which includes a lime pistachio cake, chocolate candied yuzu tart and “citrus-blue ginger cured salmon with avocado and kumquat dressing,” along with the requisite pot of tea.
But it isn't all food and drink on West Queen Street West.
Anchored by the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Mocca) (No. 952; 416-395-0067; www.mocca.toronto.on.ca), which moved to this part of town in 2005, the neighborhood has become an increasingly popular spot for local gallery owners. Among the notable spaces: Angell Gallery (No. 890; 416-530-0444); Galerie Lausberg (No. 880; 416-516-4440); the Propeller Center for the Visual Arts (No. 984; 416-504-7142); and the *new* gallery (No. 906; 416-588-1200), opposite a former candy factory now turned into loft apartments.
Visitors looking for some interesting pieces to liven up their living rooms back home can find antique teak dining tables and daybeds from Java and gorgeous curtains from India at Rumah (No. 668; 416-703-4594).
Though locals will tell you that West Queen Street West extends all the way down to Gladstone Street, where the oh-so-hip Gladstone Hotel opened in late 2006, walking any farther than the intersection of Ossington and Queen Street West is an exercise in diminishing returns — with appliance stores more numerous than trendy cafes.
This part of this street, it seems, is still waiting for its own renaissance. Maybe they'll call it Western West Queen Street West.
