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Toronto is getting glamorous! The Toronto International Film Festival is in town and along with several red carpet premieres, there will be lots of hot and exciting things to do in the city. The official TIFF guide can help you choose the best film, but if you are just into stargazing and possibly meeting celebrities, check out some popular places to explore for TIFF 2017.

Restaurants

Frings

This popular King-West restaurant has attracted a lot of attention since it opened in 2015. Managed by Executive Chef Susur Lee, this resto-lounge lists Toronto’s very own Aubrey “Drake” Graham as an owner. This comes as no surprise since the star is often spotted here when in town with his celebrity friends. Drake is expected to be in town for this year’s TIFF, as he is the executive producer on a basketball documentary called The Carter Effect.

Bosk

Comfortably located at the Shangri-La Hotel on University Avenue, this popular Asian-themed restaurant is familiar to many famous faces. The distinct menu features modern Asian dishes with a Canadian touch. In the past, celebrities such as George Clooney and Johnny Deep were spotted dining here.

STK

This hotspot made its debut after TIFF 2016 and is nestled in the heart of Yorkville. As you can guess by the name, this restaurant serves up delicious steaks among other bites. This year, the restaurant will host the Creative Coalition Spotlight Initiative gala on September 8. This gala is organized to honour certain celebrities that have contributed in some form. This non-profit charity is concerned about issues in the creative community. This year they will honour Jason Biggs, Zachary Quinto, Julienne Nicholson and Matthew Newton.

Luma

It won’t be right to have this list and not mention the official restaurant at the TIFF Bell Lightbox building. Located on the second floor at the spacious King-West space, this restaurant serves up authentically Canadian dishes in an upscale environment.

Bars

Everleigh

With so much happening for TIFF this weekend, there are expected to be lots of glamorous after parties hosted by celebs. On September 8, King-West hotspot Everleigh will be hosting musical sensation Akon. Akon has sold over 35 million albums worldwide and he’s come to share some of his talent in Toronto for TIFF.

Lavelle

This rooftop bar has gained a lot of momentum since its debut in 2016. What makes this party place lively is its location 16 storeys up in the busy King-West area and a sprawling 16,000 sq. ft lounge space. With an indoor and outdoor dining space, and a glamorous rooftop pool, this hotspot also boasts a great view of the CN tower. In 2016, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and John Legend all attended the Hugo Boss party hosted for La La Land.

RBC House

RBC is an official sponsor of TIFF so its no surprise they will be hosting many parties for the celebs. Storys Building at 11 Duncan street will be the location for RBC House and will lay out the red carpet for many A- listers. Expected to make appearances are Nicole Kidman and Penelope Cruz. RBC House will also host many press junkets and a RBCX music party headlined by Canadian rock band, Arkells.

The Drake Hotel

This boutique hotel on Queen West is often more than just a hotel. With three levels of partying, the Drake Hotel has a lot of offer. From delicious brunches and a café in the day, the main level of the hotel bar often hosts live bands or dj’s by night.

Hotels

Bisha Hotel Toronto

This newly opened hotel is sure to be busy during the TIFF weekend. This luxury hotel located on Blue Jays Way in the heart of the city has a stunning rooftop pool and patio — 44 floors high. This hotel is classed as a luxury 5-star experience, so expect celebrities to be checking this one out.

Ritz Carlton Toronto

The Ritz is a classic hotel name and one where you may see many stars. This luxury five-star hotel is in the heart of the city, and just steps away from the official TIFF headquarters. One of the many delights you can enjoy at this hotel is their themed afternoon tea. This September there will be a Great Gatsby theme. Afternoon tea at the Ritz will cost you $54 dollars per person, but it’s a small amount to pay to possibly see a famous face.

The Four Seasons Toronto

This classic hotel is in the heart of Yorkville. After changing locations, they reopened doors in 2012. The Four Seasons is now located at the corner of Bay and Yorkville avenue and is also home to the Four Seasons private residences. Soaring 55 stories above the city, this hotel often has many special offers and packages such as a bed and breakfast package, a spa package and even a limited ‘Canada turns 150’ credit. These packages only require a stay of 1-2 nights.

The Hazelton Hotel

This Yorkville luxury hotel is only a few doors down from the Four Seasons, but is still a celeb favourite. Blake Lively, Ben Affleck, Julia Roberts, and Brad Pitt have all reportedly stayed here. If you want to scope this hotel out, the best bet is having a drink at the hotel’s famous ONE restaurant, featuring a lovely tree lined patio.

Where have you gone for stargazing? Let us know in the comment below!

It was something I never thought about before — the single use plastic straw. A convenient marvel invented in the 60’s, straws are used in almost every restaurant. They are vital to the industry, right? What’s a milkshake without a classic red and white stripped straw? There is not much thought put into the use of these long plastic tubes, and even less thought put into how they are disposed.

Research conducted by Eco Cycle, one of the largest non-profit recyclers in the United States, shows Americans on average use 500 million straws a day, and I’m sure a similar figure can apply to Canada. From the restaurant industry, bars, and even the cinema, straws are handed out freely. Your standard drink comes with a straw — it’s just a reality.

The plastic drinking straw causes more damage than we can imagine. When improperly disposed, these non-biodegradable items often makes their way to water. Straws can disrupt natural ecosystems in the environment, putting wildlife in danger, and often end up sitting as waste around the city. In the summer of 2015, an Olive Ridley sea turtle had to have a plastic straw removed from its nostril. The straw was only noticed when scientists were collecting data on sea turtles mating. A few months later, in Costa Rica, the same group of scientists had to remove a plastic fork from the nostril of another turtle. The Olive Ridley turtles are relatively average sized turtles with a length of approximately 2 feet and a weight of 100 pounds.

The idea of banning plastic straws is not new and has been buzzing in other countries since 2014. Certain bars in the United Kingdom have restricted the use of straws and in California there is a strong movement to cleanup plastic straws along the beaches before they end up in the ocean. In August 2017, a group in Peterborough, Ontario is following suit. The Straws Suck campaign is advocating the use of reusable straws and would prefer if residents of Peterborough refuse straws for their drinks.

Jessica Carrera, the founder of an organization called Random Acts of Green, hopes to educate the public about entertaining sustainable options in utensils. According to Carrera, the average “straw life” is a about four minutes, and with 500 million straws used in North America, its harming a lot of animals as well as the environment.

When the numbers are explained in that way, it really makes you wonder why restaurants still provide plastic straws. Our society has become so used to the plastic straw that we automatically use it because it’s given to us. People are conditioned to accept this straw as part of their meal.

Over the years, environmentally-friendly and sustainable acts have been made into legislation, with a ban on plastic water bottles and the charging of fees for plastic grocery bags. Focus has now turned to plastic straws. Toronto bars are making the move to not give out straws with their drinks. You can see more containers on bar tables with straws in them, so users can help themselves if they feel it necessary to get a straw. More businesses that are concerned about conservation are using these methods and promoting social media hashtags such as #refusethestraw or #strawsareforsuckers. There are two bars in downtown Toronto that are participating in this anti- straw movement— The Dakota Tavern and The Gift Shop Cocktail Bar.

Please note this process takes time and even I am guilty of using straws. At this moment, as I am typing this, I’m drinking an iced tea from Aroma. My drink was given with a plastic straw that I unconsciously used and discarded with my cup once I was finished. So what can you do? First you can make a conscious effort to say NO to straws and encourage those around you to do the same. You can also encourage your local businesses to say no to the straw and invest in reusable straws made from paper, stainless steel or even glass. For more details, check out some awesome sites such as strawesome, plasticpollutioncoalition.org, and thelastplasicstraw.org. You can now make an active pledge to not ‘suck.’

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Where to go stargazing for celebrities at TIFF 2017

Let’s make a pledge to ‘not suck’