BlackBook

With a “phantom” opening cleverly orchestrated in time for the Toronto Film Festival, Toronto's Shangri-La is now prepped to welcome those not necessarily hunted by the paparazzi.

With life expectancy actually on the decline in Moscow, the importation of a bit of health consciousness has an air of exigency about it. Vegetarian cuisine pioneer Ruth Tal’s Fresh Restaurants, which have become Meccas in Toronto for the non-carnivorous (and those just taking a break from meat-eating), have gone international with Fresh Restaurant, this new location amidst the shopping mania of Moscow's Tverskaya. 

Three members from indie rock heavyweights—Montreal’s The Stills and Toronto’s Broken Social Scene—joined forces to form the Canadian supergroup Eight and a Half.

With the political aspirations put behind, The Donald is back to what he does best: erecting dazzling, monumental, skyward towers. His debut Canadian hotel will soon be unveiled, and one of its centerpieces is this glorious new 15,000 square foot Quartz Crystal Spa.

Cold Tea (King West) - Finally, a reason to walk through Kensington Mall.

Drizzy Drake does not have the coolest feuds. Other rappers go at each other; Drake gets barked at by inanimate international hubs. The Toronto Star is reporting that the city of Toronto isn't very happy with a billboard promoting Drake's new album, Take Care (pictured above). The font is too similar to the city's official logo (fair enough), and the owl is just hideously drawn. Plus, there's way more people living in Toronto. 

This year’s Toronto International Film Festival was touted the biggest in years, as far as pure star power goes, with the trifecta of Clooney, Pitt, and Gosling topping most people’s to-stalk list. If last year was any indication, Grey Goose Soho House would again be ground zero for all things A-list, and it was, with The Ides of March duo and a host of others descending on the members only club’s weekend pop-up on Saturday night. The venue--3 levels of typical Toronto loft, exposed brick walls and floor-to-ceiling windows--was retrofitted to suit Soho House’s sophisticated but comfortable palette: pillowy, velvet couches, rustic lamps and table sets, and tribal rugs strewn across the hardwood floors. The party, which was officially the post-game for David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, quickly achieved shit-show status when Clooney arrived with his ex-girlfriend-to-be Stacey Kiebler, as lesser stars lined up to greet the couple.

With warmer temperatures beginning to remind us what spring used to feel like, we here at BlackBook have begun to plan our next serious getaway. Since we're already spending so much time trying to reminisce our way out of the office (hey, it was a long week), I forced our edit team to share what travel destination they've been secretly daydreaming of on the clock.

With warm weather slowly creeping into our collective consciousness, our minds are naturally wandering to summer plans. To be more specific, we're already plotting our next getaway. Since we're already spending a great deal of time trying to wish our way out of the office via reminiscing about travel plans past, I forced our edit team to share what travel destination they've been secretly daydreaming of during the workweek.

If you missed the Juno Awards—essentially, Canada's version of the MTV Music Awards—last night, we don't blame you. Stateside, it's just another wild event those crazy Canucks put on, one that, like most other maple-leaf soirees, doesn't get past the border. In fact, Canadians will be the first to poke fun at some of their native productions (so we don't have to), including this year's Juno Awards and cast of nominees. Drake? His career started as a wheelchair-bound loser in DeGrassi High. Justin Bieber? He cashed out before he was even nominated. Arcade Fire? Who the fuck are they again?