Toronto Life

Niagara-born high school buddies John Rabideau and Harvey Gill were not making any literal dough when they reconnected as adults in 2015. Eight years—and a pandemic’s worth of practising their pizza-making skills—later, the two opened @renaissancepizzato, serving up Detroit-style pies finished with toppings both classic (pepperoni) and visionary (tandoori paneer). Read more at the link in bio. 📷: @joshuabest

Where are the best places to live in Toronto? In our November issue, we ranked every neighbourhood in the city—one through 158—based on what matters most to Torontonians right now: housing, transit, safety and more. See the results at the link in bio. 🎥: @patrickmarcouxphoto

Graydon Lau had a decades-long career in the marketing industry, working for big-name alcohol brands. When his best friend approached him with an idea to open a brewery on some farmland he owned, Lau left his job and dove in. Little did he know, he’d have to overcome personal tragedy and Covid lockdowns to make it happen. Read more at the link in bio.

📷: MRacco Photography

Toronto Life’s November issue features our all-new neighbourhood rankings—a mostly scientific, slightly incendiary, totally comprehensive guide to the city. What’s your favourite neighbourhood in Toronto? Weigh in below 👇 See more at the link in bio. 🎥: @patrickmarcouxphoto

When Wing Fung Chong came to Toronto from China as a young man in 1950, Chinese produce was scarce. So he saved up, bought a farm and started importing and cultivating fruits and vegetables to supply the city’s growing Chinese population, helping to shape Chinatown into what it is today. Read more at the link in bio. 📷: @joshuabest

Surreal Estate: Lawrence Park’s famous Bézier Curve House is on the market for $10.9 million. What award-winning 7,600-square-foot pad would be complete without a heated driveway, an elevator, 24-foot ceilings and a kitchen that looks like a cocktail lounge? See more at the link in bio.

Six years ago, the Ozery brothers opened their first temple to tahini on the now-hip Geary strip. So it’s about time @parallel_brothers got itself a sibling spot, this time a three-storey, 7,000-square-foot space (complete with a prehistoric-looking stone mill) in Kensington Market. Read more at the link in bio. 📷: @good_work

When Laurie Brammer Baker and her mother, Donna, hired contractor Scottie Eisemann to work on their family cottages, they thought it would be a straightforward job. He ended up scamming them out of tens of thousands of dollars. Read the case of the cottage country renovation scammer at the link in bio. 📷: @kaganmcleod

When Wonton Hut chef and owner Eddie Yeung isn’t travelling between his Unionville and Queen West restaurants, he heads to his old stomping grounds in North York. Yeung calls the stretch of Yonge between Finch and Sheppard “a testing ground for many young chefs and entrepreneurs.” At the link in bio, his favourite spots in the area for salted spare ribs, dan dan noodles and deep-fried milk custard.

Bottoms, the blockbuster from 28-year-old Toronto-born director Emma Seligman, stars Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri as two lesbian teens who try to woo their cheerleader crushes by starting a fight club. At the link in bio, Seligman talks about imposter syndrome on set, why she’s passionate about shitty queer characters and the closest she got to a fight during her own high school days.

Named for their late mother, @talineto is run by chef Sebouh Yacoubian and his brothers, Serouj and Saro. For his menu, chef Seb (formerly of Mamakas Taverna) took a few pages from his mom’s cookbook and rewrote them in light of his classical French culinary training. Seb’s mantra is to cook from the heart—just like his mother, who died when he was 16. At the same time, he’s pushing the boundaries of how people perceive Armenian and Lebanese food—it’s not just shawarma and kebab. See more at the link in bio. 📷: @marcsantosphoto

He said his name was Mike Borac and that he could build homes faster and cheaper than anyone else. By the time his clients realized his promises were too good to be true, their money was gone. At the link in bio, read about the general contractor from hell and Toronto’s epidemic of renovation fraud. Illustration by @kaganmcleod