Don’t you hate it when you are handed a
steaming cup of coffee in a shop.. and even with two cups and a cardboard holder it is
still way too hot to hold? (Hello, Financier patisserie, I mean you). The folks over at Contexture Design (Nathan Lee and
Trevor Coghill) in
have come up with a coffee holder slash cuff bracelet made from reclaimed ebony veneer wood. I love it- although I can’t quite imagine whipping it off my arm
the next time I am in Starbucks....
Toronto has no shortage of funky little boutiques. One place that has caught our eye is brand new (opened in September) The Coal Miner’s Daughter. The brainchild of two friends, Janine Cockburn and Krysten Caddy, their shop features new and vintage clothing along with reworked vintage goods like these cassette wallets… remember cassettes?! These wallets are only $28 CAD. At the shop you’ll find Cockburn’s own Clementine & Tweed line of reworked vintage clothes, as well as a carefully edited selection of Canadian designers – and a small jewelry selection. The Coalminer’s Daughter, 587 Markham St., Toronto. M6G 2L7. Closed Mondays.
One of the most luxurious places in Toronto to buy bedding is Au Lit, which sells insanely high thread count sheets in a boutique setting, along with carefully edited vintage furniture. The linens are sourced from France, Belgium and Italy, and Au Lit has also supplied linens to five star hotels including the Pierre in New York and Inn on the Park in London. (Here’s a hint for savvy shoppers- there is also an Au Lit outlet store on Yonge Street). Now owner Joanna Goodman is set to open another lifestyle store – Liv-- later this month. Liv will sell clothing, furniture and linens sourced from around the world. The 10,000 square foot space will also sell jewellery. Liv, 418 Eglinton Ave. West, Toronto, Ontario. Phone: (416) 481 2300.
French bohemian chic and the rugged sea-sprayed shores of
Vancouver Island are strange bedfellows, but they get along just
fine at Sooke Harbour House. Owners Frederique and Sinclair
Philip may also seem like strange bedfellows, but talk to the
stylish and welcoming couple for more than 15 seconds and it's
clear that their views about food, life and hospitality are
perfectly in synch. Over the past 28 years they've put their
ideals into practice and their passionate and innovative
personalities are reflected in their award-winning inn and
restaurant.
Blue
Ruby
This jewellery shop carries celeb
favourite designers like Chan Luu (Jennifer Aniston is a fan) as
well as local designers like Amanda
Vogler, Andrea Waines, Tarina Tarintino and Mimi and Marge.
1089 Robson
St
Downtown,
Phone: (604) 899-2583
www.blueruby.com
Inform
Interiors
Art of Travel? Check out Vancouver's 129 room Listel
Hotel
which
spends more on the art it displays on just one or two floors than
most hotels invest for an entire property””and I'm not talking
about art that makes you say (or at least think) “My
three-year-old could do that.”
By partnering with Canadian art world heavy hitters, the hotel
has amassed a noteworthy collection of both
modern art and traditional British Columbian art. To make the
most of its collection, worth more than half a million dollars,
the hotel is divided into different floor categories, each with
its own artistic focus.
reading about a cool new restaurant, shop or hotel that is
opening in Toronto, an emerging design destination. The city's newest hotel is
The
Hazelton, which is already a member of Leading Hotels of the
World. This limestone building was designed by the hot designers
at Yabu Pushelberg, and is located in the fashionable Yorkville
area. When it opens later this month, the hotel will have 77
suites with all the latest tech gadgets and modern luxuries, like
flat screen TVs, I-Pod docking station, a separate rain-fall
shower and Bvlgari bath amenities. There will also be a screening
room- sure to be a hit during the Toronto Film Festival- and the
in-house...
Chateau Lake Louise is like stepping back in time. Yes, your
room or suite will have a luxurious bed and air conditioning and
internet access. That's part of the reason readers of Travel
& Leisure voted the hotel into the #37
spot on the magazine's list of the top 100 hotels in the US and
Canada in their 10th Annual ''World's
Best Hotels'' poll in 2005.
But take a look at the walls and the hotel
asserts its history. Originally built in 1890, the Chalet on Lake
Louise was a single level wood building with a veranda that
attracted mountain climbers drawn to the many un-scaled peaks in
the Canadian Rocky that surround Lake...
off the whole molecular cooking trend and now it seems that every
third restaurant opening up these days offers foams and jellies.
Toronto-based Coleborne
Lane is the latest restaurant making
waves for its kitchen chemistry. Claudio Aprile, formerly
of Senses, has recently opened this restaurant which serves two
elaborate tasting menus. Diners can try rare tuna with crispy
nori, ginger marmalade, frozen soy sauce powder and wasabi foam
or lobster ceviche on a bed of sliced saffron new potatoes and
herbs. Desserts include a frozen lavender and honey parfait
served with olive oil cake and mulled figs. He doesn't like the
term molecular gastronomy but he has collaborated with...
Checking in at the Hotel Godin, your eyes are
immediately drawn to the dramatic wall of rainforest marble
behind the reception desk. With swirling hues of warm cream
penetrated by inky black, this elegant yin and yang feature of
the lobby says a lot about the Montreal hotel right off the bat.
Everything from the Godin's slogan””“There's the day, and then
there's the night”””to its design hints at the hotel having two
distinct facets. Much of that has to do with its unique
location.
Poised at the intersection of the four cardinal quadrants of
Montreal, the hotel straddles several worlds at once in what was
previously a no-man's-land of accommodations. With most of the
bigger chain hotels limited to the western downtown core and
intimate boutique establishments to the south in the Old Town,
Godin fits a badly needed...
