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East York-Old East York

Ex-Montreal Girl said:
Bloody hell. I will attribute that, pure speculation of course, to the changing demographics of the area. The old British population has moved on, or passed on.
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As a former regular, the appearance of multiple competitors a lot easier to get to, in Cabbagetown and Queen East may have been a factor.

It's a shame though.
 
Ex-Montreal Girl said:
Bwahahaha.
The Leslieville Cheese Market -- the one not actually in Leslieville, Therion :) (Is it true the original on Queen E has been closed?)
And, across the street, Fresh from the Farm, the Mennonite organic food store.
.
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I've always wondered about what's the deal with the (non)Leslieville Cheese Market. Now I know :)
Also, is the Mennonite food store actually organic? My parents live in a heavily Mennonite area and not one farm around them is organically certified. I have the feeling they cash in on the "Mennonite, must be natural" thinking of people. There is a multitude of subgroups of that faith and many of them are quite happy to take advantage of modern farming amenities such as artificial fertilizer. I should stop in.

Sidenote: grabbed Folia for my wife for lunch. While waiting, a guy comes in. Cook goes: "the usual?" Answer: "Yup". That's all one needs to know about Folia.
 
Therion said:
I've always wondered about what's the deal with the (non)Leslieville Cheese Market. Now I know :)
Also, is the Mennonite food store actually organic? My parents live in a heavily Mennonite area and not one farm around them is organically certified. I have the feeling they cash in on the "Mennonite, must be natural" thinking of people. There is a multitude of subgroups of that faith and many of them are quite happy to take advantage of modern farming amenities such as artificial fertilizer. I should stop in.

Sidenote: grabbed Folia for my wife for lunch. While waiting, a guy comes in. Cook goes: "the usual?" Answer: "Yup". That's all one needs to know about Folia.
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I guess you're right about organic. Stupid assumption on my part.

And I have said many times on this forum that Folia is THE BEST for gyro in town. But please, hold the fries and add feta and extra tzatziki.
 
nfitz said:
I must have lived in KW for too long. It was pretty clear that the hard-core Mennonites had little interest in many Ontario regulations. I'd be surprised if any of the old-order ones were organically certified.

Not sure it happens much these days, but I remember every spring during Maple Syrup season, you'd see pyres of smoke to the north. Often they'd be burning old car tires, as it was a cheap source of fuel.

These days, I go out of my way to avoid any food product with the word Mennonite on it, simply because in my mind, it's synonymous with, "we ignore health regulations". That, and I just can't abide the taste of what they do to sausage. It's like it's been dried or something ...

Probably safer to stick to Halal or Kosher foods. That being said, I know nothing about this particular store, or where they source their items. Didn't even know it was there.
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Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
 
I go to Fresh from the Farm quite often. Their meats are "raised without hormones or drugs" but most of the fresh stuff is not certified organic. People also love the eggs; my neighbor said she was raised on a farm and can tell the difference. I also love the jams and jellies that they sell; they're made by someone in West Montrose, near Waterloo. (Not organic but EXACTLY like homemade jellies and jams should taste and I grew up in a home where the only jams and jellies we ate were homemade.) The produce is obviously what is available but in the summer, they have a decent selection. It's really more of a meat store, imo.

They have a Q&A on their website:
http://freshfromthefarm.ca/questions/

It says on their website "since 1996" so they've been around a long time (although probably not always on Donlands because I only remember them for about 10 years or so) and have a good business going.

I'm not sure how the Leslieville cheese place actually stays in business. I love love love cheese but really, one visit was enough for that store. There was barely any selection the time that I went in.
 
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Therion said:
I've always wondered about what's the deal with the (non)Leslieville Cheese Market. Now I know :)
Also, is the Mennonite food store actually organic? My parents live in a heavily Mennonite area and not one farm around them is organically certified. I have the feeling they cash in on the "Mennonite, must be natural" thinking of people. There is a multitude of subgroups of that faith and many of them are quite happy to take advantage of modern farming amenities such as artificial fertilizer. I should stop in.
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Even the Amish aren't opposed to the use of GMOs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7742471.stm

http://web.archive.org/web/20080101163233/http://www.whybiotech.com/index.asp?id=3947
 
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spider said:
I lived in 20 Beechwood crescent from 1943 to 1949.
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Cool. Was it still in the Taylor family then? Was it a single family home?

This is the oldest privately owned house in East York and was built in 1840. The house has remained virtually unchanged, although it once had a porch which spanned the entire front of the house. It was the home of George Taylor whose family by 1855 owned paper mills, sawmills and grist mills in the valley. He started the Don Valley Brickworks in 1889 and supplied most of the brick for East York homes for many, many years.
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https://petervisima.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/janes-walk-in-the-lower-don-river/
 
Cool. Was it still in the Taylor family then? Was it a single family home?
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We were a family of 6 from Winnipeg moved to Toronto to find work during WW2, 20 Beechwood was a SFH, the attached home, #22, was another SFH occupied by a couple named Alexander. It was originally servant's quarters apparently, there was a permanently closed door in the kitchen of #20 and I think the remains an old hearth on the common wall.

We were told that it was a Taylor home about 100 years old at the time, I was only 8 years old and not a party to family discussions but I seem to remember being told that my Dad turned down the opportunity to buy it for less than $10,000 because it cost too much to heat.

The slope behind the house was not forested as it is today but quite clear, we used to ski down it to the river. I recall in spring break up being kept awake by ice flowing down stream and striking the steel railway bridge with big booming sounds.

Great times, I would love to have a quick tour of the house to revisit old memories.
 
spider said:
We were a family of 6 from Winnipeg moved to Toronto to find work during WW2, 20 Beechwood was a SFH, the attached home, #22, was another SFH occupied by a couple named Alexander. It was originally servant's quarters apparently, there was a permanently closed door in the kitchen of #20 and I think the remains an old hearth on the common wall.

We were told that it was a Taylor home about 100 years old at the time, I was only 8 years old and not a party to family discussions but I seem to remember being told that my Dad turned down the opportunity to buy it for less than $10,000 because it cost too much to heat.

The slope behind the house was not forested as it is today but quite clear, we used to ski down it to the river. I recall in spring break up being kept awake by ice flowing down stream and striking the steel railway bridge with big booming sounds.

Great times, I would love to have a quick tour of the house to revisit old memories.
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I know what you mean about tours. I often dream of childhood homes.

I wonder what the Beechwood houses are worth now. That is one valuable piece of real estate, in a great location although I expect, given a likely heritage designation, it would be a real pain to get permission for renos.
 
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