Unlock Toronto's best dining experiences: Go solo. Here's why
Gta
Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg loves dining solo at the bar. Here's why you should, too
Eating alone at the bar is one of the best ways to get to know a restaurant because the bartender becomes your inside guide. When I ask bar supervisor Julian Calderon for a pasta recommendation, he mentions two off-menu mainstays: the carbonara with guanciale (which I order) and the pasta alla gricia. For drinks, he offers a cocktail made with chinotto he's reduced into a syrup — a Manhattan-style drink called the Scappato. He also pours a small glass of a brown-butter and sage–infused cocktail, leftover from a batch he'd just made for another table. By the end of the night, a different server gives me a tip about Gaucho Pie Co., an Argentine empanada place on Geary Avenue. Despite dining alone, I was putting the social in Enoteca Sociale.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Calgary Herald
a day ago
- Calgary Herald
Chorney-Booth: Where to find an omakase experience in Calgary
It's a bit of a food lover's dream: sitting at a pristine sushi bar as the chef methodically hands you piece after piece of sushi (with a few other snacks thrown in for good measure), gauging your reaction to make sure the next bite suits your fancy. Omakase, the Japanese culinary service that roughly translates to 'I'll leave it to you,' has become the hottest trend in fine dining all over the world, including here in Calgary. Article content Article content For the uninitiated, omakase is often compared to a Western-style chef's tasting menu, but while that model involves diners obediently following the chef on a journey, a proper omakase chef will adjust the menu to suit the guest. Think of a chef's tasting menu as being like a presentation, whereas omakase should play out more like a conversation. Article content Article content That chef attention, coupled with high-end seafood and expert preparation means omakase is also famously expensive, with most local versions coming in at well over $100 per person and Michelin-starred examples in other cities often costing over $500. While the price may seem steep for what is typically about a dozen or more courses of nigiri, sashimi and appetizers, the experience can be mesmerizing and, for those who love it, well worth the price tag. Article content Article content Ryuko/Sushi Jun Ryuko just opened its third full-service restaurant — this one in the Beltline at 1004 14th St. S.W. — but culinary director Jun Young Park's attention is also on his new sushi counter, Sushi Jun. Operating from an intimate sushi bar on the upper floor of Ryuko's original south location, the program is a pure expression of Park's deep love of traditional omakase. He offers three different tiers at dinnertime (ranging from $130 to $200) with the option of sake pairings. Article content Park develops his daily menu after looking at the reservation book to glean some information about his guests while figuring in what's fresh from his fish suppliers. Not only does he carefully curate the menu, but times a music playlist to complement each dish.
Winnipeg Free Press
01-08-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
In a miniature world, climate change and environmental issues loom large
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Watching his dad make a brand-new miniature train car look old, placing the wooden parts to weather in the sun and rain, pulled Peter Martínez into the world of miniatures. He recalls his father, who made model trains mostly for collectors or hobbyists, wondering why anyone would pay him to do what he thought was the most fun part of the hobby. 'But luckily they did, and we were able to build an industry around it,' Martínez said. The Argentine family business, United Scale Arts, is now partnering with Germany's Miniatur Wunderland, a museum that houses the largest model train set in the world, to develop new exhibits depicting parts of South America, including the Amazon rainforest and Atacama Desert. But with miniature power comes great responsibility — and both Martínez's company and the museum are determined that the miniature world reflect both the good and bad of the real thing. Real world problems So alongside the perfectly shaded rocks and trees, they depict poverty, crime and environmental degradation. In the exhibits already running in Hamburg, built by a team that has grown over the years to hundreds of people, it means that tiny trains pull tiny coal cars into a mining town, but also, on a city bridge, a tiny semitruck hauls the tiny giant blade of a wind turbine. And the builders say it means the new models won't shy away from illustrating real life in the Amazon: they will include scenes of illegal mining, deforestation and forest fires. 'These are social problems that exist in the real world, and we need to show them also in the models, because I think it's important not to make this kind of idealistic view of the world, but also to show reality and to use these tools as a learning experience for everyone that visits the Wunderland,' Martínez said. Replicas of famous landmarks Visitors have a lot to see in the multistory warehouse that is Wunderland. From Las Vegas to Miami Beach, from Rio de Janeiro to Monaco, cars zoom past tiny replicas of buildings as throngs of people, with heads smaller than your fingernail, mill about famous landmarks. Cargo ships dominate the glasslike surface of a tiny bay as they chug in with their deliveries. Planes taxi down the runway of an airport. And of course, plenty of trains roll through every landscape to the delight of kids and adults alike. 'A dream come true' Twin brothers Gerrit and Frederik Braun joined with business partner Stephan Hertz and took out a loan to create Miniatur Wunderland after they left the nightclub business. Frederik had visited a model railroad shop in Zurich, called his brother and suggested they create their own — but a whole lot bigger. Gerrit laughed at first. Unlike his brother, he loved the nightclub. But he eventually agreed and now can't imagine doing anything else. 'It's a dream come true that we sit here 25 years later, and playing all day,' he said, chuckling. Serious work mixed with play But he takes the work seriously. The brothers came up with most of the initial plans for the museum within two weeks, Gerrit said. It's grown in scope and ambition since then. 'Ten years ago, we were looking to the old section and saw the real world has changed in this time,' Gerrit said. They realized they needed to update the exhibits to include technologies like electric cars, wind turbines, nuclear power and more. 'I have children, and I believe in global warming and I'm sure that we have done it … So if you believe in this, and you have the possibility to show the images, why not?' Political issues There's no one process by which the designers and model builders decide what to include in their models, but as they have added to the collection, they haven't shied away from depicting technology or from political or contentious topics. In 2017, when Donald Trump was first elected U.S. president, the Wunderland put up a model concrete wall with barbed wire around the section with the American landscapes. In 2019, Wunderland launched a scathing exhibit on the treatment of animals in large-scale farming that sparked deep criticism from the agriculture industry. Next came weeks of conversation, farm visits and the eventual launch of a special exhibit aimed at depicting the current reality of pig farming, featuring industrial production and organic farms. They're usually striving to depict the world exactly as it is. But building models also reminds Gerrit that 'you can build the world a little bit like you want,' he said. Feelings of nostalgia It's an art form that can have practical purposes but also can capture longing, nostalgia or other feelings about a particular time or place, said Kit Maxwell, a curator with The Art Institute of Chicago, which houses the popular Thorne Miniature Rooms. 'One of the most compelling things about these rooms is that you imagine yourself in them,' he said. Aware of that power of imagination,Martínez also said builders have to be careful not to unfairly cast countries in a bad light as they seek to include imperfections. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. 'You need to kind of balance, when you show the bad things in contrast with the good things, that they are not overdone or they are not too much,' he said. 'You want also that the people that go there have a good time and not get really sad after seeing this model.' ___ Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @ ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
CTV News
01-08-2025
- CTV News
Prosecutors seek substantial prison term for Sean ‘Diddy' Combs as they oppose bail
In this courtroom sketch, flanked by defense attorneys Teny Geragos, left, and Brian Steel, right, Sean "Diddy" Combs, center, reacts after he was denied bail on prostitution-related offenses, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Manhattan federal court in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) NEW YORK — Prosecutors said they now expect music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs could face a prison sentence 'substantially higher' than the four to five years they once thought he was likely to face after his conviction on two prostitution-related charges. They made the observation late Thursday in a Manhattan federal court written submission in which they also opposed Combs' request this week to be released on $50 million bail while he awaits an Oct. 3 sentencing. In early July, Combs, 55, was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges carrying potential life prison terms but was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for arranging for girlfriends and male sex workers to travel to engage in sexual encounters that he filmed. Each prostitution-related charge carries a potential maximum 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said after the verdict that they thought federal sentencing guidelines meant to prevent wide disparities in sentencings for the same crimes would likely call for a prison term of four to five years. But they said Thursday they believe the guidelines range 'will be substantially higher,' raising the risk Combs will flee. Judge Arun Subramanian will have wide latitude in determining a sentence and can choose to ignore the guidelines, which are not mandatory. Combs' lawyers have said they believe the guidelines, if properly calculated, will call for 21 to 27 months in prison. On the day of the verdict, prosecutors won a bail fight after defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo argued Combs should be freed immediately on bail. Subramanian denied the defence request, saying Combs had not met the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence a 'lack of danger to any person or the community.' But he said Agnifilo could renew the request. In doing so Tuesday, Agnifilo cited other cases he said were comparable to Combs' conviction in which defendants were granted bail. And he cited severe conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Combs has been held since his September arrest at a New York hotel. He also said Combs was being treated unfairly for engaging in a 'swingers' lifestyle in which he and his girlfriends sometimes invited male sex workers to join them in multiday marathon sex performances. Prosecutors said in their filing Thursday that Combs' conviction on the prostitution-related counts carried a mandatory requirement that he remain in jail prior to sentencing, unless he could prove exceptional circumstances, which they said he cannot. They said he should also remain in prison as a danger to the community, a claim that Agnifilo disputed in his papers. 'Sean Combs will not be violent to anyone. As we said in court, this jury gave him his life back, and he will not squander his second chance at life, nor would he do anything to further jeopardize his seven children not having a father, and four of his children not having a parent at all,' Agnifilo wrote earlier this week. Prosecutors also said conditions at the federal lockup had improved considerably before Combs was arrested. A federal judge in January 2024 had blasted conditions at the jail, including its extensive lockdowns and inadequate medical care. Prosecutors said cases cited by Agnifilo in which other defendants received bail were not comparable to the crimes Combs was convicted of carrying out, particularly because of his propensity for violence. 'The defendant's extensive history of violence — and his continued attempt to minimize his recent violent conduct — demonstrates his dangerousness and that he is not amendable to supervision,' they wrote. 'The defendant utterly fails to establish by clear and convincing evidence, as required, that he does not pose a danger to the community.' Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
