September 19, 2007
Torontoist Busts "Local Secrets, Big Finds" List
Given the chance to provide insider knowledge about Toronto to a well-known travel site on behalf of your city and fellow residents, what juicy local secrets would you reveal?
Lucky Toronto members of Travelocity.ca presented with this very challenge seemed to buckle under pressure. Based on a poll of its members, this year’s Toronto finalists in Travelocity's 25 Canadian “Local Secrets, Big Finds” were Café Diplomatico and Riverdale Farm.
While we can all agree these wonderful sites have their charms—who can resist the Dip’s fantastic cappuccinos or Riverdale’s cuddly farm animals?—in the face of competition from Travelocity’s other Canadian local secret finalists, like St. John’s cod-kissing “screech-in” ceremony or Vancouver’s “slurp and swirl” wine and oyster celebration, the Toronto picks seem a tad tame!
Here are a few of our own: The Don Valley Brickworks; Toronto's secret and mobile gardens; Riverdale's mystery monkeys; Fort York's Pirate Festival; the Redpath Sugar Museum; and the best greasy spoons in the province! [Plus, there's all that stuff in our Discovery! category––Ed.]
What else?
Photo of the Don Valley Brick Works by TerraS from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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Cafe Diplomatico as one of our TOP secrets? Who the hell voted?
The Green belt from Heath to the Brick Works and up to Moore ave (apparently undiscovered by most Torontonians too...The Toronto Islands, beyond Centreville, they do exist! Various TTC bits and pieces (Sub bay platform, Art at Bayview Station on th shep.line) Pages Bookstore. So many better places... They may not all fit the criteria, but they are certainly more interesting than Riverdale farm...
I wouldn't expect something like travelocity to point out anything good. That would be like finding something good to watch on american tv.
Your having taste is why people like things like Torontoist.
Diplomatico was most likely voted in by the owner.
After all, he's the same guy who organizes like 600 "taste of little italy" weekends (aka annoying slow walkers and loud crappy bands and crowds making it impossible to park in my permit spot or walk anywhere or sleep in/go to bed early, but I digress!) every summer as nothing more than a way to promote the Dip and extend his patio space into the street.
The Kensington Bass
Greg's Ice Cream
Ah, the never ending “where to go, what to do” struggle continues. As a traveller, I often count on locals that I meet along the way to guide me in the right direction. The funny thing is, the “right” direction changes course depending on who you talk to, and in a city the size of Toronto, you bet there will be a million and one different routes to finding a slice of local flavour. To create our list of Local Secrets, Big Finds, we reached out to Toronto experts (the locals themselves), who guided us toward these two insider spots. Are they the best Toronto has to offer? If you say no, I invite you to share other local finds with us. In the meantime, I’ll duck into Café Diplomatico and sip on a cappuccino or one of their specialty coffees. The locals weren’t lying when they said this place serves up one tasty cup of joe!