Toronto Life articles from June 2003

Toronto Life archives from June 2003

Ghost town. (This City).(SARS causes crisis in Toronto's economy)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Normally, hotel conference rooms, like this one at the Royal York, are bustling at this time of the year. But nothing about SARS--a mirror onto which we've projected our fears--is normal. This spring, cancelled international conventions alone...

Taking the rap. (Profile).(reggae star Snow talks about his past)(Biography)
June 1, 2003... It's dark in the Real Jerk, where canned reggae jives with the lusty smell of hot roti, but Snow doesn't take off his sunglasses. The shades are less celebrity posturing than protective barrier. He's shy. When we first meet, he's spinning a...

Those were the days. (Telling Tales).(alumnae reminisce at reunion of U of T's The Independent Weekly)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Rick Marin was in an expansive mood when he returned to Toronto from New York for the 25th-anniversary reunion of his college newspaper, U of T's The Independent Weekly (formerly The Newspaper). And why not? Marin's recently published memoir,...

Sweet nothings. (Telling Tales).(service at the Duke of Gloucester)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The city's grungiest (and therefore most authentic-seeming) English pub, the Duke of Gloucester, knows how to look after the needs of pint-seeking celebs: Kiefer Sutherland and Quentin Tarantino have been sighted slumming there. But with noted...

Sharper image. (Telling Tales).(digital cinema)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... First came the artists--those storm troopers of the bourgeoisie--to Queen West West, then the galleries and restos. Now the city's first digital cinema looks set to arrive. Director Atom Egoyan and Mongrel Media's Hussain Amarshi have long...

Done him Wong. (Telling Tales).(Michael Levine)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... There was much chatter in early April among friends and acquaintances of entertainment lawyer and super-agent Michael Levine about how he would celebrate his 60th birthday. One long-time associate proposed that the guests play a practical joke...

No pain, no gain. (Telling Tales).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Smouldering Irish import Colin Farrell was back in town filming A Home at the End of the World, a script based on Michael (The Hours) Cunningham's novel. On his visit last year to shoot The Recruit, the rowdy rogue distinguished himself from...

Urban Decoder. (Telling Tales).
June 1, 2003... Dear Urban Decoder: The other day in Trinity Bellwoods Park, I saw a snow white squirrel with bright red eyes leaping around in a rather agitated fashion. Am I seeing things? If not, was there something wrong with it? --Meredith...

The list. (This City).(seven pillars of Abraham Lieff's wisdom)
June 1, 2003... Honest Abe "Paying your rent" is how the Honourable Abraham Lieff, founding father of modern Canadian family law, characterizes each individual's obligation to enrich the lives of friends, family and strangers. To mark the 100th birthday of...

Waiting to exhale. (Roundup).
June 1, 2003... For those of us willing to prostrate ourselves at the altar of fitness, there is no deity greater than the personal trainer. These often fatally attractive Olympians invite our fantasies, our shame and our devotion, demanding sweat and squats...

Fight club. (Camera).(fundraiser)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... "Pugilists are a sentimental, feminine species," Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote, "much given to kissing and crying." The Shaw Festival's 18th annual Gentleman's Boxing Evening drew almost a thousand of Bay Street's finest, but we...

In his memoir, Hurly-Burly: a Time At The Globe. (This Issue).(an appreciation of Dic Doyle)(Biography)
June 1, 2003... IN HIS MEMOIR, HURLY-BURLY: A TIME AT THE GLOBE, Richard J. Doyle, who edited The Globe and Mail from 1963 to 1983, described our first meeting. It was the late spring of 1964. I had finished university and was about to start a summer job at...

Plane folks. .(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... I was fascinated by Matthew McKinnon's article on Air Transat's Flight 236 ["Fear of Flying," April], particularly the differing design philosophies of Boeing and Airbus. Airbus emphasizes fly-by-wire, leaving the heavy lifting to computers...

Art attack.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... Public art in the city is much more widespread than you suggest with your mention of the installation at the Prince Arthur condominiums [Urban Decoder, April]. Started in 1986 by the former City of Toronto council, the Private Developer Percent...

Paper thin. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... I understand how easy it is to read student newspapers and think that there will be no next generation of journalists [Varsity Blues, April]. Or to imagine, in horror, that they will all be the high, breathy voices of Leah McLaren and Rebecca...

Theatre. (This Month).
June 1, 2003... Da Kink in My Hair, It's no Harlem renaissance, but black theatre is finally flowering (or at least budding) in Toronto (to wit: Riot, Belle, Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God and recent glossy productions of August Wilson's Pulitzer...

The devil is a woman.(Maelene Dietrich.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... By Marlene Dietrich's final performing years in the 1970s (she died in 1992, aged 90), she had become an exemplar of advanced mummification techniques not seen since the pharaohs. Still, the German-born actress hid a strange, unpredictable...

Brotherly love. .(Ray Charles.)(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... Nowadays, striving for crossover appeal usually entails sterilizing the sound to offend as few listeners as possible. Ray Charles, however, didn't become a pop nonpareil by reining in his hearty vocal style and paroxysmal performances. Rather,...

Classical music. .(June 2003.)(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... ORCHESTRAL TORONTO SYMPHONY Roy Thomson Hall 60 Simcoe St., 416-598-3375 www.tso.ca Denise Djokic. The TSO has waited until the last concert of the season to feature one of Canada's most interesting young...

Dance. .(June, 2003.)(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... [FREE] Kaeja d'Dance. The popular Friday Nights at the ROM are carefully calibrated to offer patrons a good time while exposing them to something new. The Kaejas, Allen and Karen, have been chosen to present contemporary dance, and they've...

Art. .(June, 2003.)
June 1, 2003... [FREE] Cybele Young. Her wonderfully playful tiny etchings, paper constructions and sculptures of imaginary toys, tools and devices exhibit an undeniable internal logic. In the Toronto artist's industrious waste-not, want-not world, even...

The great flood. (This Month).(Ed Burtynsky exhibition)
June 1, 2003... Along the banks of the Yangtze River, the remnants of the city of Wan Zhou look grey in the early-morning light, blanched by dust and shrouded in mist. With the exception of a patch of grass, a smudge of red paint and a yellow backhoe, all...

Nightlife. .(June, 2003.)
June 1, 2003... CONCERTS Ben Harper and Jack Johnson. BenJack, as their double billing is being dubbed, is a perfect pairing of soulful songwriters, two guys with guitars who know how to wield them skilfully (without wanking) and deliver tunes straight...

Jazz and standards. (This Month).(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... TORONTO DOWNTOWN JAZZ FESTIVAL 2003 This is the final year of du Maurier's sponsorship of this venerable festival, and organizers are going all out to make it a memorable one. While the main events take place at Nathan Phillips Square,...

Kids' events. (This Month).(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... [FREE] Historic Fort York. The Buffalo Jump Peace March winds its way from Nathan Phillips Square to the Fort York garrison in honour of National Aboriginal Day; all are welcome to enter the grounds through the peace hoop and join in the...

Screen idols. (This Month).(Cinematic Orchestra)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Some bands can get away with anything: the Cinematic Orchestra has one of the most pretentious names around, their songs stretch well beyond 10 minutes, and they feature interminable drum solos. Yet nary a disparaging word has been penned about...

Diversions. (This Month).
June 1, 2003... Becel Ride for Heart. An estimated 14,000 bikers and skaters travel a traffic-free Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway in pursuit of funds for heart and stroke research. Their goal: $1,45 million. June 1, registration starts at 6:45 a.m....

The IT spot. (This Month).(japaneses restaurant: Blowfish)(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Blowfish, 668 King St. W., 416-860-0606 Where: Behind tall windows overlooking a bustling Intersection in the fashion district, architect Johnson Chou has fused modern Asian simplicity with antebellum splendour to transform a stately old...

Trial by fire: it was their first house, in Little Portugal. They renovated it themselves, in time for the birth of their first child. One day, the gas man made a terrible mistake. The fire itself was bad enough. But the aftermath--a disorienting education in adjusters, deadlines and replacement value--was worse. (Real Life).
June 1, 2003... TANIA JANTHUR AND ERIK Mohr will never forget the day they bought their snug little row house at 21 Afton Avenue, in what real estate agents call Beaconsfield Village and many Torontonians think of as Little Portugal, near Dovercourt and...

Here comes the bill: what they imagined was a simple, no-fuss wedding. What they spent was well above the average annual income. How one couple blew $50,000 on their big day, and other tales of matrimonial excess.
June 1, 2003... THEY MET AT A BAR. Amos Adler walked into a party at the Chick 'n' Deli, grabbed a drink and sat down next to Danielle Keystone. He was in his post-London School of Economics, pre-entrepreneurial phase--a software developer for Bell. She was in...

The night is Yonge. (Rituals).(Riding the Yonge Street Bus after the last call at bars is an experience.)
June 1, 2003... The drunk punk girl with faded red and yellow hair spits in the face of her drunk punk boyfriend. He pauses for a moment--not as shocked as one might expect, definitely not as shocked as the rest of the passengers on the bus--and spits back....

A decade in the making: ten is, in many ways, the ideal age. You can take the subway by yourself but still rely on Mom to buy your clothes. You can offer analysis of world events while pondering the existence of dragons. This fleeting time before the tumult of puberty is worth documenting. A look inside the secret world of kids.(Interview)
June 1, 2003... Alexandra (Park Lawn and Lake Shore) Friends At recess, we play horses. It's a little game that we always play. But in wintertime, we go sliding. We just run and slide on our knees. After school, I go to a babysitter's house, where we hang...

Liquor cabinet. (Icons).(Canadian Pacific Railway's North Toronto Terminal restored and reopened for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario)
June 1, 2003... The celebration of the first train's departure from the Canadian Pacific Railway's North Toronto Terminal (No. 24, bound for Montreal) on June 14, 1916, had all the self-satisfied pomp of a scene from Stephen Leacock. The band played the usual...

Presumed innocent: a champion of the wrongly convicted, James Lockyer has helped free Guy Paul Morin, Clayton Johnson and a half-dozen other inmates from Canadian prisons. How a true-blue Tory turned rabble-rousing Liberal turned brilliant defence lawyer became the scourge of inept investigators and careless prosecutors.(Biography)
June 1, 2003... HE LIVES IN A CHILD'S HOUSE. Or so you might guess, when first you visit. Not that it's small. Oh, it's big, too big just for him, he says. He'd like to sell it, this rambling white building at the edge of the Scarborough Bluffs. Too many...

Vintage moment. (Bean machine and a French toast).(clothing store Georgia Bolesworth)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Like a bold kerchief peeking out from a sombre grey suit, this store--flush with vintage-inspired designs--is a sweet spot on an otherwise squalid stretch of Dundas West. British owner Georgia Groom named it Georgie Bolesworth, after her...

Chair weather friend. (Bean machine and a French toast).(foldking chair)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The folding chair, typically plastic, flimsy, uncomfortable and unsightly, suffers greatly in comparison with this Byzantine hot seat. Made in Turkey of wrought iron and flat metal, the chair can be easily folded and discreetly stashed. The...

Big shot. (Bean machine and a French toast).(espresso machine)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... This lipstick red espresso machine will greet you in the morning with the happy gurgle of your favourite latte-slinging trattoria. With retro curves and the fiery gleam of a Vespa, the Euro beauty was designed by Italian architect Luca Trazzi...

Mise en Seine. (Bean machine and a French toast).(Fabrice de Villeneuve)
June 1, 2003... Parisian artist Fabrice de Villeneuve's 1920s-style print--mounted on wood and varnished for time-worn mystique--recalls the popular Chocolat Meunier ads that once bedecked the capital's brasseries. While the painter is better known for his...

Feminine mystique. (Bean machine and a French toast).(Stefanie Panduro-Hansen makes original totes)
June 1, 2003... This suede sac, with handles as skinny as shoelace licorice, is dubbed Ophelia for ladylike pluck. The co-owner of the Queen West boutique Concept Bungalow, Stefanie Panduro-Hansen, sews the saucy totes freehand. A plush assortment varies in...

French dressing: with exotic woods, sumptuous art and come-hither fabrics, the city's first modern boutique hotel takes luxury to a new level. A stay at Le Germain is more than a one-night stand. (Design).
June 1, 2003... CHRISTIANE GERMAIN RARELY STOPS WORKING on the boutique hotel that bears her name. By night, she test-sleeps feather pillows. By day--especially this spring, as Hotel Le Germain nears completion--she's everywhere, attending to the piping on the...

Glass ceiling: food and wine pairing is where it's at. To get in on the trend, most of our restaurants need to offer more and better wines by the glass. (Food).
June 1, 2003... HAVE YOU HEARD WHAT THEY'RE UP TO AT Lucas Carton, the century-old three-Michelin-star restaurant on the Place de la Madeleine in Paris? Chef Alain Senderens, something of an obsessive when it comes to finding the perfect wines for his dishes,...

Tasting notes. (Drink).
June 1, 2003... Port of call Though sweet and old-fashioned, port-the beloved tipple of the Brits for centuries--is not at all passe. I had hoped to feature a port from the terrific Vintage 2000, released in March, but there's nary a bottle left. The...

A la mode. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Biff's *** 1/2 It's such an accomplished experience, from lunch to dinner to oysters at the elegant zinc-topped bar (a delightful after-theatre rendezvous). The look--handsome leather banquettes, judiciously used wood panelling, huge...

Tidbits. (Restaurants).
June 1, 2003... Last year, Michael Stadtlander was hiking in the Czech Republic when he came upon a medieval castle. There, he found a restaurant with a vast inglenook where all the food was cooked over a gentle fire. "I got home, and I couldn't sleep for 12...

American. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... N'Awlins ** King West ain't Bourbon Street, but when the jazz begins and things start to swing, this dark, intimate boite channels the spirit of its name-sake city. Certainly, the room is classy enough, with its hardwood floors and...

Shopping with chefs. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Brock Shepherd of Azul, 181 Bathurst St., 416-703-9360 Tall and sturdy, with a soul patch that, unlike most experimental facial hair, actually works well for him, Shepherd opened Azul six years ago, cresting the wave of the westward...

Bistro. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Bistro Tournesol ** The room fills early with older, well-heeled Tarragon Theatre-goers seeking a quick and reasonably priced pre-performance nosh. They're rewarded with a snug 30-seat room done up in what might be called Annex cozy:...

Crab cakes. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... The second most popular shellfish in North America (after the mighty shrimp), crab is prized for its rich, sweet, succulent white meat. A survey of this city's menus reveals that when preparing cakes from the 10-legged crustaceans, our chefs...

French. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Le Nouveau Pariqo ** 1/2 This High Park-area fixture has homespun Gallic charm to spare, courtesy of mustard walls gently illuminated by discreetly positioned track lighting, bentwood chairs, tile floors and framed lithographs of Paris...

Indian. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... [NEW] Jaipur Grille ** 1/2 A warm welcome and an obvious eagerness to please score highly in the neighbourhood, as does the smart, cheerful decor. Plenty of space means linen-clad tables are not cheek by jowl; fabrics, jewellery and...

Italian. (Restaurants).(Al Fogolar, Bar Italia and the Pallucci vie for discriminating diners' patronage)(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Al Fogolar ** Barely in 905 country, steps north of Steeles, Famee Furlane is a banquet hall with a restaurant literally on the side. The place was once a centre for Torontonians of Northern Italian heritage (from Friuli, far northeast,...

Japanese. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... [NEW] Aki Da Japanese Seafood ** Queen East now houses six Japanese restaurants between Woodbine and Neville Park; at this rate, sushi-woofing Beachers may be responsible for half the endangered species list. Aki Da bills itself as a...

Latin. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... [NEW] Caju *** Named for the gold and crimson fruit that bears the cashew nut, this attitude-free addition to the Queen West dining scene features Brazilian-influenced cuisine. Behind streetside windows is a long, sleek, candlelit bar;...

Mediterranean. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Boemia ** 1/2 Angolan brothers Carlos and Francisco Saraiva took over this Bloor West jewel in 2002 and attend to every detail. Carlos provides the warm, caring service; Francisco's watercolours adorn the walls. Francisco also prepares...

Middle Eastern. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... [NEW] Elixir ** 1/2 As soon as one enters from the unprepossessing storefront exterior, a lovely cupola decorated with Persian stylings catches the eye from above. Dim lighting enhances this little shoebox's bohemian colour scheme: brick...

Other Asian. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... [NEW] Riz ** 1/2 Opened by the owners of nearby Lemongrass (and sharing much of the southeast Asian menu), Riz brings mod downtown glamour to the Bayview strip. Behind a glass facade, the scheme is Antarctic cool, white backlit panels...

Out of town. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... Pillar and Post ** 1/2 Ronnie and Annie, married but not to each other and pre-lubricated at the casino, entertain neighbour tables with a debate over whether Annie knew what kind of condoms to buy. Otherwise, all is sedate in the P&P's...

$25 gourmet. (Restaurants).(Restaurant Review)
June 1, 2003... [NEW] Cafe 668 On the southern edge of Kensington Market, this spotless, glaringly lit boite offers vegetarian Chinese, heavy on the mock meats. Prices are astonishingly low for fresh, hot meals carefully constructed to allow the natural...

Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter March 1, 1912-April 6, 2003. (The End).(Obituary)
June 1, 2003... Emmett Carter, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1978 to 1990, once threw an extravagant feast for Lewis Garnsworthy, his Anglican counterpart. "Let's show him whose town this is," Carter said to one of his priests, with a twinkle...

Let fancy roam.(The 2003 Home Guide is the key to a stylish home.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... A few seasons ago, many of us were satisfied by a table with four legs. Nowadays, the cult of good design has infiltrated every domestic space, from foyer to nursery, living room to laundry room. Yesterday's minimalism has been pushed aside for...

Furnishings and things.(Directory)
June 1, 2003... Alteriors This bright store is devoted to owner Wendie Cohen's obsession with furniture you can actually sit on--for hours, with the dog. Cohen began with a store on the Danforth in 1996, selling big, cushy chesterfields matched with...

Big red. (Furnishings And Things).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Red is the colour of power. That much we know. But throw this tidbit out at your next dinner party, as you set a glass of cabernet on one of your new Cambodian red silk coasters ($38 for four from Red Tea Box, page 23): in medieval times, only...

Country. (Furnishings And Things).(Places to buy vintage accessories, French country wares, and folk art.)(Directory)
June 1, 2003... Absolutely Inc. Let's get lost. Absolutely's two artfully congested stores (just a five-minute walk from each other) feel like prop rooms from a Gershwin-era theatre. Disappear behind display cases holding glass vessels, candlesticks,...

Orientalia.(Where to buy great home accessories from the Far East and Africa.)(Directory)
June 1, 2003... Dexterity What an artful juxtaposition of urban living and safari style. If it weren't for the screech of the Queen streetcar, you might think you were in a South African lodge or a Bali boudoir. Owner Anna Pinchak, who abandoned a career...

Pure whimsy. (Contemporary).(Find those special accessories and furnishings for your home at these stores)
June 1, 2003... "We have little brass decorative monkeys seated, staring at themselves in hand-held mirrors," says Nancy Perkins. "We have brass apples with lips, and lamps with elephants standing on their hind legs." Her uptown store, Perkins & Papa (page...

Contemporary.(Canadian and European contemporary furnishings and accessories)(Directory)
June 1, 2003... Abitare Design Inc. Prepare for an assault on your decorating senses. Upstairs, find smart European furniture ideally suited to small spaces, as well as pieces large enough to make that immense living room seem cozy; the lower level is...

Mid-century modern.(Great places to buy retro furnishings and accessories from the 50's, 60's and 70's)(Directory)
June 1, 2003... Clutter's Art Deco Gallery/ Modern No need to ask owner Robert Legare how he came up with the store's name. Just open the double doors, and the inner landscape says it all. Vinyl hairdressing chairs with hot-air dryers, plane propellers...

Finishing touches.(Directory)
June 1, 2003... Angus & Company Candles burning in the window and willow baskets spilling out onto the sidewalk make it nearly impossible to walk by without stopping to take a closer look. Be warned: once inside, you may not want to leave. Designer...

A fine romance. (Finishing Touches).(Interior decoration)
June 1, 2003... Pretty is everywhere on the runway, whether it's pink '50s skirt suits, shirred bustlines or, for men comfortable with the word "salmon," shirts and ties that straddle the girlie divide. In furnishings, the trend embraces high and low. For...

Vintage furniture and antiques.(Cornerstone, Era, Forum Antiques, Horsefeathers! Antiques, Howard and Co., ...Of things Past, Quean, Queen West Antique Centre, R. A. O'Neil Antiques Ltd. and Rec, Toronto. )
June 1, 2003... Cornerstone It's not uncommon on a Saturday to see owner Martin Rawlinson touring customers through this overstuffed stash of antiques from China, Russia and Indonesia. The audience bobs with enthusiasm as Rawlinson caresses his line of...

Ambient lighting. .(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... At Commute (page 7), that dark-wood device resembling a guillotine is also a light. Instead of a blade, an illuminated glass box hangs suspended in the frame (move it up or down on pegs, $375). An art house photograph becomes a backlit,...

Linens and soft goods.(Au Lit Fine Linens, Filodoro, Harvest Spa, Jeffrey Fisher Home, Linens N'Things, Lucca and Titus and Louise, Toronto.)
June 1, 2003... Au Lit Fine Linens How to make getting out of bed even more excruciating: adorn the master mattress with Au Lit luxuries of silk and velvet, cashmere blankets and Egyptian cotton sheets--in thread counts of 220 to 600--that will have you...

Kitchen and bath.(Addison's, Aya Kitchens and Bath, Binns Designer Kitchens and Bath, Canac Designers Walk Studio, Domaine, Ginger's Bath Centre at Elte, Herb Caplan Appliances, Heritage Kitchens, Home Depot, Taps Wholesale Bath Centre, Tasco Distributors, Tubs, The Ultimate Bath Store, Williams Sonoma, XTC Design Incorporated, Toronto.)
June 1, 2003... Addison's The place to go if you're renovating your Victorian row house, Jim Addison's plumbing emporium-cum-museum stocks both reproduction and mint-condition period fixtures. Be prepared for a good ramble: the hodgepodge of merchandise...

Flooring and carpets.(Country Floors, Dominion Rug, Elite Tile end Design Centre, Floorworks, Interiors Only, Marble Granite Depot, Marble Trend, Merit Decorating Centre, Olympia Tile International, Regal Design Centre and Saltillo Imports, Toronto.)
June 1, 2003... Country Floors What started as a home-based business run out of the basement of owner Norman Karlson's NYC home has evolved into an international chain of tile boutiques whose raison d'etre is exclusivity. The cozy lower-level shop caters...

Knock on wood. .(Natural by Design, Toronto.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Banish the particleboard, the veneers and all that wood that looks immovable from afar but can really be lifted with just one hand. You need heft. Claus Pummer has it in the form of modular cabinetry and sturdy but chiselled dining and bed...

Glass and mirrors.(Adanac Glass and Mirror, Metropolitan Glass and Rebecca Gallery, Toronto.)
June 1, 2003... Adanac Glass & Mirror The Wenn family has been bevelling, sandblasting and triple-polishing since 1929, earning a reputation for excellent service and attention to detail, whether it's finishing a $5,000 tabletop or cutting glass for a...

Wall treatments. .(Benjamin Moore's Scarborough Paint Centre, Farrow and Ball, Ontario Paint and Wallpaper, Paint Depot, Rebecca Last Visual Art and Design, Reim Custom Paints and Steptoe and Wife, Toronto)
June 1, 2003... Benjamin Moore's Scarborough Paint Centre Years of expertise means that small family-owned paint outlets are still going strong despite the marketing power and proliferation of big-box stores. When you ask a stupid question, you get an...

Window treatments.(BB Bargoons, Blinds to Go, Drapes and Sew Much More, National Drapery and The Work Room, Toronto.)
June 1, 2003... BB Bargoons Do-it-yourself decorators in search of inspiring raw materials will delight in rack upon rack of fabric in a seemingly infinite variety of colours, prints and textures. South Pacific your thing? Check out Waverly's whimsical...

Lighting.(Constantine, Dell'Ernia Lamps, Eric's Designer Lampshades and Repairs, Eurolite, Royal Lighting, Sescolite Lighting, Turn of the Century Lighting/Birds of Paradise Lampshades, Union Lighting and Furnishings And Victorian Revival, Toronto.)
June 1, 2003... Constantine A glimpse inside her newly renovated Rosedale digs reveals owner Rita Tsantis's raison d'etre: the acquisition of unusual and decorative pieces, with an emphasis on natural elements. Her staff obviously shares the passion. With...

Custom furnishings.(Fine Design Interiors, KS Design, Potato Skins, Space, Spitalfields and The Wood Studio Cooperative, Toronto.)
June 1, 2003... Fine Design Interiors Considering the amount of time we spend vegetating on the sofa, it's surprising more of us don't have them custom made--though we'll do it for drapery and clothing without batting an eyelash. FDI owners Mark Perri and...