Dear reader,
Before the pandemic, when the Toronto Life officewas in the old Robertson Brothers Confection building on Queen East, I used to take afternoon strolls down to the St. Lawrence Market whenever I could. I felt spoiled that I worked so close to it and could visit during off hours, after the weekday lunch crowd had cleared out and it was possible to have a leisurely look around without being jostled by peameal sandwich–wielding tourists.
For years, those walks took me past the site of what would become the new St. Lawrence Market North. I watched it go from a 1960s bunker-like building to an empty lot to an archeological site where a large number of artifacts were found (eating utensils, pottery pieces, ancient foundations of previous structures), all on the same spot where some variation of the market has existed for more than 200 years.
That dig was just the first of many delays and dollars added to a project that should have been completed in 2018. Every Saturday since 2015, vendors had to set up in a temporary holding place—essentially a big windowless bubble—erected in a parking lot just south of the main market. It didn’t make for the most pleasant shopping experience, so I can imagine how it felt to spend whole days there. But the original site is once again, finally, a place for farmers and makers to sell their wares. Now, visitors and vendors alike have a gorgeous glassed-in, light-filled venue in which to while away their Saturdays among tables filled with Ontario produce, cartons of free-range eggs, homemade pastries, jars of maple syrup and even locally brewed craft beer.
We visited last weekend to see what the vendors are selling and to find out what they think of their new home. (Spoiler alert: they love it.)
Also in this week’s newsletter: a sort-of-secret spot in the Junction making really good plant-based tacos, what’s on the menu at chef Nuit Regular’s new Thai bar and a restaurateur’s reaction to the city’s new patio-permit fees.
For more of our food-and-drink coverage, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition.
