Written by:
Erin Raber
» Order
this Issue of Curve:
Vol. 11#3
Sleek yet funky Toronto, “the city of neighborhoods,” has everything a girl could want for a week on the town.
A young dyke perched on the steps in front of the Second Cup coffee shop [548 Church St.] hands me a flier, screaming, “Come hear me spin and bring your fine girlfriend too!” Called “the heart of the village” by queer Torontonians, these steps, packed with queer folks chatting, flirting and drinking coffee, is a famous communal stoop on Church Street, the epicenter of Toronto’s “gay ghetto” known as Church and Wellesley.
Anywhere I dine here is an experience — the most memorable being Zelda’s [542 Church St.], a restaurant and bar owned by blonde bombshell Zelda, adoringly called “a drag queen from the trailer” by her closest friends. The wait staff, all in drag, serve up entertainment and tasty treats over the din of loud disco music.
Most everything you could want is within walking distance in this neighborhood. After a wild dinner, walk up and down Church and Wellesley Streets and enjoy a variety of bars and dance clubs. Though most are packed with gay men, you’ll find a couple of girl spots if the night is right. The hottest spot for women on Saturday nights is a bar called Tango [508 Church St.], with dancing, a DJ, live shows and a deck overlooking Church Street.
Almost any night of the week, you can find women hanging out at the mixed bar and grill Slack Alice [562 Church St.]. Open from noon to 2 a.m., this bar changes its personality according on the time of day. On a Saturday night, it’s jam-packed — arrive early to assure your spot in the boisterous crowd. (The highlight of our evening is witnessing the nightly “show” — attention-crazed drunks climb up on the bar around midnight and dance dangerously near the edge.) By Sunday night, the place is much more relaxed and romantic; you can actually have a conversation and nibble on bruschetta and crab cakes as you sip a specialized martini on the small street-level patio.
If you’re there on a Friday night, take a short cab ride to Cabbagetown, where the girls flock to the lesbian-owned night club Pope Joan [547 Parliament St.]. Pope Joan is a casual space where reggae, dance, retro and pop music fill the dance floor, patio and lounge area.
Cabbagetown gained its nickname from its original inhabitants — Irish immigrants. Today the area’s many restored houses are home to members of the arts communities.
If you’ve done enough club hopping, slow down in the distinctly cool neighborhood of Little Italy [on College Street, between Palmerston Avenue and Shaw Street]. This neighborhood has been proclaimed one of the hippest spots in North America — a nighttime haven for students, 20-somethings and artists. For trendy lesbian-owned eats, hang out at 52 Inc. [394 College St.], where the warm red walls and vinyl kitchen chairs make you feel oh-so-Bohemian. For an even more laid-back vibe, visit lesbian-owned Oasis [294 College St.] for non-Spanish tapas ($3 an item), where live music, magic shows and comedy nights entertain an artist crowd.
On Friday and Saturday nights, salsa dancing comes alive in Little Italy. Move to salsa, merengue and disco with a strange but beautiful mix of drag queens, grandmothers, queer Latino folks and hipsters at El Convento Rico [750 College St.]. If it’s a Sunday night in this neighborhood and you want to find a cute girl, the only place you want to be is Ciao Edie [489 College St.], a bar/club named after the late Edie Sedgewick. Over a Mai Tai, an “Edie” girl said to me, “I told my ex-girlfriend, ‘I’ll give you anything you want of mine, but I’m keeping my Ciao Sundays.’” In this 1970s-style Tiki lounge, hipsters and A-list lesbians can be found slouching on couches or dancing to the deep house and funky sounds of DJ Switch. Actress Tia Carrera has even been said to be spotted here.
After a night out in the bustle of queer Toronto life, a quiet night stroll through Church and Wellesley’s Cawthra Square Park (home to Toronto’s AIDS memorial and the center of gay activity on sunny days) is a perfect ending. The park leaves you at 10 Cawthra St., where a beautiful Victorian mansion, restored by the Great Inns of Toronto, now serves as the charming and queer friendly Cawthra Square B&B Inn [www.cawthrasquare.com]. An Edwardian home just a block away on 512 Jarvis St. makes up the other half of the inn. Each room is beautifully decorated with hand-carved antique furniture and fresh flowers. The friendly staff really make you feel at home; fresh pastries, coffee, fruit, juice, wine and other snacks are available at leisure in the communal kitchen. Top off your perfect evening with a soothing soak in one of their private baths.
Although the Church and Wellesley area is best known for its nightlife, the daylight shows an equally dazzling face. Brunch, the best meal of the day, is served all over the neighborhood. Try Fly [6-8 Gloucester St.] for a home-cooked organic buffet. A gay house club by night and restaurant by day, Fly defies all odds. Here you can meet the owner, a sweet woman who grows the vegetables and herbs in her garden behind the restaurant and sit alongside hungry club kids just coming in from their night out.
IF YOU GO:
If shopping is your bag, Toronto will satisfy all your needs. For high-end shopping sprees, venture over to the Bloor-Yorkville area. This upper-crust neighborhood has designer shops such as Prada and Chanel. If it’s classy lingerie you want, stop in at Secrets From Your Sister [476 Bloor St. W.], where you’ll find a wide range of sizes in women’s lingerie.
For more funky stores, take a long walk down Queen Street West, a trendy strip from Duncan to Bathhurst lined with street vendors, music stores, hip bars and restaurants. After a day of window shopping, catch a bite and a beer at the kitsch restaurant/bar Gypsy Co-Op [815 Queen St. W.; women’s night on Wednesdays].
If you have an eclectic taste for food and clothing, head over to Kensington Market [from Dundas to College Streets, west of Spadina Avenue]. A multicultural neighborhood with shops from Asia, India and Europe, its streets are crowded with fresh fruit and vegetable markets, bakeries, meat and imported cheese shops, and second-hand vintage boutiques.
Queer retail shops are in the majority in the Church and Wellesley area. Stop at Planet Earth [473 Church St.] and order your own recipe of natural body care products or cruise Out in the Street [551 Church St.] for lesbigay accessories.
A book lover will not want to miss a chance to visit the Toronto Women’s Bookstore [73 Harbord at Spadina]. On your way out, don’t forget to pick up the free issues of X!tra (Toronto’s gay and lesbian biweekly) and Siren (Toronto’s newsmagazine for lesbians) for up-to-date information on queer Toronto culture.
|
