Neighbourhood watch
Toronto has always been a city of little worlds. Canada's most dearly held idea of itself is multicultural, and nowhere is the celebration of diverse ethnicity more in evidence than in Toronto. Street signs in various neighbourhoods proclaim the nationality of the immigrants who built their community there. Little Italy stretches along College Street West with its combination of sleek cafes (such as Bar Italia, www.bar-italia.ca) small, cosy restaurants offering fresh cuisine, and the odd hole-in-wall bar where grumpy old Italian men who can't speak much English sit in the corners drinking espressos in the middle of the day. There's Chinatown along Dundas Street West, and Little Greece on Danforth Avenue and Broadview with an assortment of lively Greek restaurants, such as Mezes (www.mezes.ca). But the neighbourhood with the biggest buzz these days is Queen Street West, starting at Bathurst Street. Galleries with work by emerging artists next to funky clothing and shoe stores (try Heel Boy, 682 Queen St W) and reasonably priced restaurants make this a great place for a Saturday afternoon. Czehoski (00 1 678 Queen St W; 00 1 416 366 6787) is a new and delightful restaurant, in what was once a Czech butcher shop of the same name. The original butcher's counter serves as a ledge to the kitchen and the iconic hand-carved wooden sign out front has been left in place, too.
The big night out
Want to drink in some celebrity sightings? The place to go is Avenue Lounge in the Four Seasons (00 1 416 964 0411). Sidle up to the onyx bar and order a £9 Blue Mist (a martini with raspberry, white cranberry and white chocolate flakes). Stars such as Charlize Theron stay here. Or cross the road to the Roof Lounge on top of the Park Hyatt (00 1 416 925 1234). A hang-out for the literati, there are deep chairs, a fireplace and a view of the city.
Here today
Toronto is proud of its cultural festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival in early September, the most important in the world after Cannes. In the summer, there are two events to entertain those who don't decamp to the lake region, known as the Muskokas. First, the Gay Pride Parade on 25 June: contemplate young muscled men in silver-studded leather gear. After San Francisco, Toronto has the largest gay population in North America. For more 'family-friendly' entertainment, take in the Caribana Festival (20 July to 7 August), said to be North America's largest street event, featuring music, dance and food from Jamaica, Guyana, the Bahamas and Brazil.
For indoor culture, head to the Royal Ontario Museum (www.rom.on.ca), where 10 new galleries have opened as a mini-preview of the grandeur to come, as the institution undergoes a massive renovation under the guidance of Daniel Libeskind. At a cost of more than $200m, the old grey dowager of a building is being transformed into The Crystal, with sharp-angled, glass-like structures jutting out of the sides and top. And who could forget that JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has been adapted for the stage at The Princess Of Wales Theatre, 300 King Street West (www.lotr.com)? Matthew Warchus's $28m production is simply astonishing.
The place to stay
In January this year, Travel + Leisure magazine selected The Drake Hotel on Queen West (00 1 416 531 5042; www.thedrakehotel.ca) as one of the best 500 hotels in the world. This place is so hip, it hurts. Denizens of the bar and outdoor cafe look as though a great novel is about to spring from their furrowed brows. There's a yoga den for serenity and a small theatre downstairs, where indie musical acts perform regularly. Another hip hotel for the young cultural set just opened down the street, The Gladstone (00 1 416 531 4635; www.gladstonehotel.com). The Victorian building has been carefully restored and local artists were invited to design some of the rooms. For more conventional (and more expensive) digs, try The Windsor Arms (00 1 416 971 9666; www.windsorarmshotel.com), a stylish boutique hotel in the heart of the Bloor Street shopping area, Toronto's answer to New York's Fifth Avenue. The Windsor Arms has a rich romantic vibe with its dark-panelled lobby and grand restaurant with some tables hidden in alcoves for more privacy. The spa is divine with a small pool, exotic treatments and body scrub rooms that look like operating theatres, complete with water sprays that swing over your body to rinse you off like a clean celery stalk.
Everyone's talking about
Toronto's $1bn cultural building boom. Canadian-born Frank Gehry is adding a graceful face of glass and fir to the front of the Art Gallery of Ontario (www.ago.net). Will Alsop has designed a strange-but-beautiful building for the Ontario College of Art (www.ocad.on.ca) and the new Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre (www.fourseasonscentre.ca) opens this month.
The hot table
On top of the TD Bank Tower, a table in Canoe (00 1 416 364 0054) gives you the sweep of the city. Table number six has the best view. The menu features fine Nova Scotia lobster. Susur Lee's restaurant, Susur, on 601 King Street West (00 1 416 603 2205) and its casual counterpart, Lee, down the street (00 1 416 504 7867) offer surprising choices. Matchstick potatoes with mayo and the sweet corn and okra fritters at Lee are excellent. Best to book in advance (www.susur.com). Chris MacDonald, whose now-closed restaurant, Avalon, was a favourite, is about to open a small tapas bar, Cava, uptown at 1560 Yonge Street (00 1 416 979 9918).
Fads & fashions
Do not go home before you check out a Lululemon store. Originally from Vancouver, this yoga-inspired athletic-wear retailer has stores spreading all over the city faster than gossip about where fallen media tycoon Conrad Black was last seen. Every woman should own a pair of Lululemon fitted yoga trousers. On the subject of feeling sexy and fit, shop for your body by buying the best organic produce in town at Pusateri's (57 Yorkville Ave) and Whole Foods Market (87 Avenue Road). Started by a Sicilian immigrant, who set up a small fruit and vegetable store in the mid-60s, Pusateri's now has two fancy locations in Toronto.