bloor street Archives - Toronto Guardian

Holts Café gets a refresh on Bloor Street in Toronto

Sonya Davidson — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 19:57:54 +0000

There have been so many changes happening in the city and the Bloor Yorkville area continues to ramp up, offering more to locals and visitors alike. The latest refresh comes from the iconic Canadian retailer Holt Renfrew with the unveiling of the new Holts Café. Once known as a solid “ladies who lunch” spot, the newly revamped cafe already feels more inviting.

The restaurant located on the second floor has opened up with a more welcoming appeal. It still has the natural light streaming through the Bloor Street facing windows but now there are sections of the restaurants that offer a cozier dining experience. A private dining room is positioned off to one side that comfortably fits ten. The airy but not cavernous dining and lounge areas easily transform into more intimate spaces with sliding glass and wood partitions — good news for those special occasions and events. Soothing neutrals are modernized with complimentary jewel-toned blues and reds.

Holts Café

A significant change is there is more than one menu — Holts Café now offers up lunch, dinner, brunch and Afternoon Tea (weekdays) with more options. We’ve also learned that the restaurant will be extending their hours beyond the retailer’s business times. We visited during lunch service.

Newly appointed Executive Chef Benjamin Lillico was recently named as one of Canada’s Next Top Chefs by the Globe and Mail (October 11, 2019). His experience includes working in the highly regarded kitchen at Langdon Hall. He’s garnered awards at various culinary competitions including the 2016 Junior Culinary Olympics in Germany where, as captain, he led the team to gold and silver medals. At Holts Café, he’s introduced some beautiful new dishes while breathing a new life into customer favourites. Yes, the ladies who lunch crowd will be relieved that their go-to dishes were noted. Updates on Tartines, Nicoise Salad, and BLT Salad are welcomed. A new entry worth noting is the Organic Carrot Tart on the lunch menu that is both stunning in presentation and flavourful as a plant-based dish offering. Chef tells us the menu will focus on offering fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. Holts Café refreshes will roll out in several Holt Renfrew locations including Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary.

Sheldon Creek Labneh Dip with fresh vegetables

Looking around the busy dining room on a Wednesday afternoon and we see the regulars (I’m certain I’ve seen the woman with the brilliant red hair here before), the business meeting crowd, and the stylish set. Holts Café is the complete opposite of that frenzied vibe that you may find…oh, say across the street. If you prefer a peaceful and relaxing dining experience with a solid menu and not in the mood of feeling like a sardine in a packed space nor are you interested in waiting in hour-long line ups, then this is an ideal choice. The vibe is unpretentious yet sophisticated and approachable. I still feel like I could quietly escape for a moment’s peace here even on my own.

Organic Carrot Tart on Filo Pastry

Seared Albacore Tuna Tartine with roasted pepper tapenade

Seared Arctic Char with Sherry Braised Lentils

BLT Salad with grilled chicken

Chocolate Trifle

It’s easy to lose track of time as we did here when lunch transitioned smoothly into after work and pre-dinner cocktail hour. Speaking of, the Holts Café cocktail list is gorgeous. Exquisite cocktails surprise and delight. The Smoked Manhattan is smooth and sultry. When the cloche is lifted and the cherry woodsy scent disperses in the air it evokes that feeling you get when you cuddle up in front of fireplace with blankets. It’s like one big bear hug. A refreshing bubbly cocktail aptly named “The Renfrew” will soon become a brunch favourite. We’ll place bets on it. Made with the tiniest “rose caviar” it’s as pretty as it gets. Temperance Cocktails (mocktails) are equally as tasty and beautiful — our eyes were drawn to the “Pink Popsicle” made with fresh juices and sparkling lemon.

The Renfrew and Smoked Manhattan cocktails

In addition to the menu, it’s worth noting a few dishes that when ordered, will see a portion of the price donated to the H Project’s ongoing charitable partnership with #KnotOnMyPlanet campaign to benefit the Elephant Crisis Fund a wildlife conservation network. H Project is Holt Renfrew’s commitment and support of positively impactful products that are globally sourced from various cultures, communities and charities.

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Old photographs of Yonge and Bloor over the years

Joel Levy — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 04:30:33 +0000

The intersection of Yonge and Bloor has seen a lot of change over the years. From the constant cycling of retail stores, to the construction and opening of the TTC Subway system, to the construction of the CIBC and The Bay towers to today, where monster condos have gone up with more to come.

Whenever I visit the Toronto Archives I always just want to take a short peek and then end up spending hours of my day browsing old photographs. There are so many archived photos available on location and online that one must spend some time there to really appreciate the amount of work that has gone into archiving our city’s history.

Growing up just a few blocks from Yonge and Bloor, I thought this would be a fun post for me to do. I used to work as a projectionist at the Uptown and Backstage Movie Theatres, that when demolished killed a man in a building next door. I also used to love going to eat at the Harveys restaurant there that was in the building demolished for the condo on the South-East corner. I remember going to the Canadian Tire just north of Bloor with my father to buy tools for his next project, though I don’t remember the gas being $0.50 a litre.

What are some of your fond memories of the area?

1912 – January 31 – Southwest corner

1912 – September 17 – Bloor Street, Yonge to Avenue Road – track

1923 – December 11 – Southwest corner

1924 – January 3 – Southeast corner (Imperial Bank of Canada)

1924 – June 12 – Yonge Street south from Bloor Street

1927 – July 20 – Bloor Street east of Yonge Street

1928 – Southwest corner

1929 – April 27 – Alfred Pearson – Bloor St, east, from Yonge

1929 – June 30 – TTC work, widening between Bay & Yonge Street on Bloor Street

1929 – South-east and south-west corners of Yonge Street and Bloor streets. View is looking south-west. Willys-Knight Great Six Motor Cars – Hunt’s Limited Candies and Ice Cream – Frank Stollery Store for Men

1929 – Atop a Laura Secord location and a United Cigar Stores Limited location, located at the south-east corner of Yonge Street and Bloor Street East. View is looking south-west, from Bloor Street East.

1930? – Yonge Street between Hayden Street and Bloor Street

1938 – October 13 – Yonge Street south from Bloor Street

1950? – Aerial view looking south-west from just north

1966 – 1971 – Yonge south of Bloor

1966 – Crowds on Subway

1966 – Entrances and mezzanine to Subway

1966 – Entrances and mezzanine Subway

1970 – 1975 – Looking North up Yonge from the East side of Yonge South of Bloor.

1970-1975 – Yonge Street looking south from Bloor

1971 – February – Yonge Street and Bloor Street East, northeast corner

1971 – February – Yonge Street and Bloor Street West, northwest corner

1971 – February – Yonge Street, east side, north of Bloor Street – Albert Britnell Book Shop

1971 – February – Yonge Street, looking south toward Bloor Street

1971 – February – Yonge Street, west side, north of Bloor Street

1973 – July 18 – View of CineBook and other stores along the west side of Yonge Street, between Bloor and Wellesley Streets

1974 – September 17 – View of the Royal Bank of Canada

1975 – April 22 – View of stores along the west side of Yonge Street, south of Bloor Street West

1975 – April 22 – View of stores along the west side of Yonge Street, south of Bloor Street West 2

1975 – July 1 – View of Thrifty’s store front and window display on west side of Yonge Street, south of Bloor Street

1977 – 1982 – Yonge looking north to Bloor

1979 – 1981 – Yonge looking south from Bloor

1980 – 1985 – The Bay at Yonge and Bloor.

1980 – 1985 – Looking South from North side of Bloor, East of Yonge.

1980 – 1985 – Looking West from North side of Bloor, East of Yonge

1980 – 1985 – Looking north on Yonge from Bloor.

1980 – 1998 – Proposed development on south-west corner

1980 – 1998 – South-west corner

1980 – 1998 – Yonge Street north of Bloor – Canadian Tire

1983 – 1989 – Looking east

1983 – 1989 – Bloor looking east to Yonge

1983 – 1989 – Bloor looking west from west of Yonge

1983 – 1989 – University Theatre, north side of Bloor east of Yonge

1983 – August – Sidewalk artist, outside Hudson’s Bay Centre at Yonge and Bloor.

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