Yellow Tomatoes

Oh my gosh, I haven't posted anything in a very long time.
I have no excuse. I simply forgot.

Recently, I tried many different kinds of tomatoes: green zebra tomatoes, oxford tomatoes, and, my favourite so far, yellow cherry tomatoes.
Yellow cherry tomatoes are sweet and delicious. They don't have a very acidic taste (at least not the ones I had) and they are a nice bite-sized snack.


I made a salad with them: some herbs, garlic, and mini-bocchini cheese. It was so good, I could have eaten four bowls of it.

Bespoke tailoring in Toronto

I wrote this for my fashion journalism class at Ryerson. Couldn't think of anywhere to pitch it, but it will do nicely on here.

Men's suits have never gone out of style. Just like any other form of fashion, they have trickled down, been influenced by world politics and the economy. They have changed shape, length, width, colour, material, and texture.

These changes and fluctuation come and go in waves, often returning to a style that was popular a few decades earlier. Each subsequent age wants to have their own look. “There's always been a shift between generations,” says Mayan Rajendran, a first-year graduate student at The School of Fashion at Ryerson specializing in street fashion. “Silhouettes are constantly shifting. With each category of age there's always a contrast. You always want to be doing what your dad wasn't.”


Bespoke- a style of extremely specific custom tailoring- was the only thing available 100 years ago. A suit included a jacket, vest, and two pairs of pants. A bespoke suit was created for an individual, for one single person and it would never fit another person the way that it is made to fit the original wearer. But mass-produced clothing became popular during the industrial revolution, and bespoke tailoring became much too expensive for most people.

But now, bespoke tailoring is popular among young New York and London businessmen, and it's slowly effecting Toronto's high-end fashion. Today, lot of young professional lawyers, judges, and news anchors in Toronto have been getting their suits custom made. Bespoke, along with a sort of British Dandyism style (skinny suits, coloured socks, and tapered pants) is becoming much more popular among young Torontonian businessmen.


Terry Beauchamp is the current owner of Walter Beauchamp Tailors, the oldest tailoring company in Toronto. The company started out as a tailor for military suits. Now they do formal wear and the occasional RCMP or police uniform. Most customers are financial workers, TV personalities, musicians, and government officials, but practically all of the suits they sell are bespoke.

Terry Beauchamp, who has owned the store since 1985, has noticed younger men coming in. “It's sort of a nostalgia renaissance,” he says. Bespoke tailoring requires many different measurements, not just the inseam, waist size and shoulder size. “They love shopping here. They're not used to getting looked after,” Beauchamp says of younger men. Mostly, men in their 20s and 30s want to get a suit resized or updated, but occasionally a young man will come in to get a brand new bespoke suit.

One of Beauchamp's recent customers Mike Koncan, 24, is a fourth year RTA student at Ryerson. He has been on RUtv as well as well as Rogers TV in Mississauga. Koncan's parents bought him a custom suit at Beauchamp for his birthday. “I love it. It feels like day and night compared to other jackets,” he says. “I would much rather wear the custom suit and jacket than any of my others.”

But Koncan says he doesn't know a whole lot of people his age ho would wear a custom made suit, most likely because they don't require one for their profession or they simply can't afford it.

Though Glenn Vernie does require suits for his job. He is the network administrator for MicroAge, a Toronto technology company. He is 41 (he said he wouldn't call himself young, but compared to a lot of men who wear or wore tailored suits, he is quite young) and started going to Beauchamp Tailoring about three months ago.

“The issue was I couldn't really find anything that fit properly,” Vernie says. He used to shop at stores like Hugo Boss and Harry Rosen. “I was paying $2,500 for a suit and it still wasn't fitting properly. It was frustrating.”

Vernie had a double-breasted suit made for him at Beauchamp. It was custom tailored to fit him exactly. He also brought in a number of suits that didn't fit him and he had Alfonso Prezioso, the head tailor at Beauchamp, re-do them. “He's a magician,” Vernie says of Prezioso. “He basically tore them apart and remade them. I was just going to throw them out.”

Prezioso was trained in Italy and has been with Walter Beauchamp Tailors for over 40 years. Finding a tailor who has skills as good as his is rare in recent years. Today, suits are usually mass-produced and they don't have the same care and proper fittings put into them. Yet, thousands of people still buy mass-produced suits don't actually fit their body type.

Bespoke suits are completely unlike mass-produced cloths. They are measured and tailored numerous times so they fit the wearer exactly. “We don't think the way the modern world does. We make things too good and they last,” says Beauchamp. “But people appreciate that.” Bespoke suits have an “artisanal quality,” Rajendran says. A suit can be extraordinarily comfortable, but only if it is made to fit the wearer perfectly.

The whole effect is like a morale booster. “You feel like you look better, so you just feel better about yourself in general,” Koncan says. “If your first suit is one of those, it's hard harder to go back,” he adds.

“The dilemma is to convince people that we're not just stodgy old farts,” Beauchamp jokes. He knows that people who value quality and art in fashion will always value custom tailoring. “Knowledgeable fashion people always respect the bespoke tailoring.”


Photo Credit: All photos are courtesy of Beauchamp Tailors.

The Cyclepath Danforth

I originally wrote this post as sample for BlogTO. They didn't like it. But I do. So I'm posting it here, since I didn't do the work for nothing.
When I walked into The Cyclepath on Danforth, I was slightly in awe.

The store is lined from wall-to-wall and from floor-to-ceiling. They stock about 10 different styles of bikes, plus a whole lot of sub-genres that I won't even go into.

They have unicycles, 29-inch wheelers, kids' bikes, stylish and trendy cruisers, fixies, and flashy racing bikes. They also stock fold-up bikes for those who live in tiny apartments, adult trikes for the elderly and disabled, and trailers for pulling kids, supplies, or groceries. They're selection of women's bikes is much bigger than any other cycling store I've seen, and they also have an extensive BMX collection.

The bikes are priced anywhere from $200 for a basic bike on sale, to $3,000 for a nice speed rider.

In the spring, The Cyclepath stocks about 800 bikes, but in the summer months they can stock as many as 950 bikes. They receive weekly shipments, and if you can't find what you're looking for, they will order it for you.

But it's quite rare that they won't have what you need in stock.

They carry hundreds of accessories and parts, priced from $5 to $250, some displayed in an open walk-in safe left over from when the building was a bank.

I got some great ideas on how to pimp up my old clunker. They even have clothing to pimp up yourself.

The Cyclepath also has full time mechanics to help turn your creaky old bike into a smooth glider. They staff four mechanics in the summer and two in the winter. They do break and gear tune-ups for $30, or full tune-up of breaks, gears, lubing gears and chain, plus tightening up head set and bottom bracket for $60. They even offer a whole bike overhaul for $120, which basically makes your bike new again.

The mechanics try to get everything done as quickly as they can, especially for those who need their bikes to get to work or school.

They're currently working on a bike bath station, but an opening date and prices haven't been decided on.

But the main thing that sets The Cyclepath apart from other bike stores is its total accessibility. This goes hand-in-hand with wide variety of stock and its many services. Staff members are open and friendly, and with 20 staff members during peak season, you're almost sure to get all your questions answered. Any type of cyclist can walk into The Cyclepath and feel welcome.

*Photo Credit: All photos taken from thecyclepath.com.

Bjoerling's Larynx: World Famous Opera Houses (Reposted from JRN504 WordPress)

David Leventi currently has a photographic exhibition, titled Bjoerling's Larynx: World Famous Opera Houses, showing at Beau XI gallery. The collection is named after a famous Swedish operatic tenor, Jussi Bjoerling, who has been called the best singer of the century.



The pieces featured are large-scale photographs of famous opera houses from different cities across the globe, taken between 2007 and 2010.

Each photo is taken from the spot at centre stage where a performer would stand, leaving symmetrical spaces on both sides. The photographs are huge, almost mural sized, and they hang on the wall at perfect eye-level. When you stand directly in front of the photo, you feels as if you were surrounded by the building. You are swallowed up by it.

As Leventi writes in his artist statement, the photos “freeze for eternity the instant before a performance takes place.” The photos are meticulous. Yes, they are architectural spaces, but they are also portraits that show the history and wealth of a country.



“I experience an almost religious feeling walking into a grand space such as an opera house,” Leventi writes. And looking at these photos does give me a sense of awe. One of the larger photos, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, makes me feel as if I am standing in the opera house. It is, in a way, intimidating.

The spaces vary in colour, most of them with plush red velvet and elaborate gold woodwork, but a couple are decorated in cool white marble or blue painted walls.

Some famous buildings included in the collections are the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Theatre Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy, plus many more elegant opera houses.



The show runs until the end of February at Beau XI gallery, 340 Dundas St. West.

Canada Reads: Day One

Today was the first of three days of debates for Canada Reads! It was hosted by Q's Jian Ghomeshi.

The top five books were picked in November. They are:
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis (defended by Ali Velshi),
The Birth House by Ami McKay (defended by Debbie Travis),
The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou (defended by Georges Laraque),
Unless by Carol Shields (defended by Lorne Cardinal),
and, my personal favourite, Essex County by Jeff Lemire (defended by Sara Quin).


Essex County was my top choice. The author lives in my neighbourhood and he comes into the coffee shop where I work, so I feel the need to cheer him on. But it is an amazing graphic novel. It doesn't have many words, but the drawings are spectacular. Yes, they are quite simple, but so much is shown through the characters' minute changes in facial expression. It is a sad, powerful, novel. (And yes, "cartoons" count as novels. There is a huge difference between a cartoon and a thoughtful, in-depth graphic novel.)

Not only did I love the book itself, but Sara Quin was defending it, and I love her. She is half of the musical duo Tegan and Sara. I love them! Love, love, love them! I have most of their CDs (I haven't bought the new one. I'm a little behind in my CD purchasing.) I saw them perform live at Danforth Music Hall a couple years ago. They had great stage banter. Highly amusing.

Sara did a great job at defending Lemire's novel. She had very good arguments, resolute but sound opinions, and she spoke eloquently. She had a lot of punch behind what she said, but she didn't have to swing her arms around or point her finger at people (*ahem* Ali Velshi).

I think Essex County was the first to be voted off because the older generation isn't actually as open minded to a new form of novel as they think they are. Sara and the audience were all of a younger generation, while the rest of the panelists were older. They weren't much older, but there was a definite generational gap.

After the broadcast stopped, the audience got their chance to speak. The majority of the audience was in support of Lemire's novel, and they vehemently defended the book. Several audience members also spoke up, and the panelists looked a little taken aback that everyone was ganging up on them.

Yes, they may have been told to pick the "essential Canadian novel," but they barely gave this newer form of book a chance. They may be hoping for a novel that could change the way Canadians think about reading, but they voted off the only book that is different from the others, the only novel that was a change itself.

Fashionable Parents (Reposted from WordPress school blog for JRN504)

So, you know who you barely ever see in any streetstyle blog? Stylish older gentlemen. Hip mamas. Fashionista parents. So, that's who I kept a lookout for.

I don't know this man's name. He regularly comes into the coffee shop where I work. I can tell you, though, that he drinks a medium house-blend coffee every morning. I chased him out the door to snap this photo because I've always admired his fur hat. I really enjoy the whiteness of his beard against the rich, navy wool coat and dark, fur hat. Honestly, I just wish my dad wore a fur hat like that. (My dad wears an Indiana-Jones hat…)

Kathryn is a musician and mother. She lives up the street from me and I regularly see her in snazzy boots, sparkly tops, and cozy leggings. I accosted her at home and snapped a couple photos. (Okay, I don't want to get arrested. Accost is the wrong word. I called first, I didn't just barge in.) For a mother of two kids under the age of five, she always wears stuff that is comfy and functioning, yet also fashionable.

Katie is the second coffee-shop customer who I ended up chasing down. She has a young (extremely trendy!) daughter but she, like Catherine, always looks really pulled together. She often wears high-waisted skirts or jackets with cinched belts. What I always really admire about Katie, though, is her never-ending collection of shoes.
I love the over-the-knee winter boots she's wearing here. Black, classic, and about as trendy as you can be in -20C weather.

Go-To Fashion Blogs (Reposted from WordPress school blog for JRN504)

I don't follow many style blogs religiously, if at all. If something interesting pops up on TweetDeck or in my Google Reader I might take a look, but there are really just a few that I go back to. The following are blogs that I enjoy reading, but they're in no particular order.

Toronto Bike Chic focuses on trendy bicyclists in Toronto. The postings involve mostly photos and a bit of description. The photos are nice and crisp, and they're of regular Torontonian bikers who have that little bit of extra style. I enjoy this blog immensely because I'm a cyclist. I bike to school, to work, and around the city on the weekends in the good weather. I feel that my bike is an extension of my attitude, my style, and my personality. In downtown Toronto, a bike is part of the culture. A bike can be a fashion statement, and in Toronto it usually is.

Coffee Cycle Chic is by the same person, but focuses on coffee shops and cycle shops in Toronto. Sadly, neither have been updated in a while. This round-up makes me miss them.

Though, Hipster Musings is updated frequently, and it is one that I check often. A small-town girl, who goes to Waterloo University, writes this one. Her style isn't actually necessarily what I would wear myself, but I the outfits she puts together are cool nonetheless, and that's exactly why I read it. I wouldn't wear it, so I read her blog and sort of live vicariously through her. Also, I find that her posts are kind of a blast from the past. The music and movies she writes about, as well as her sense of fashion, are very 90s. Not to mention the writer looks like Winona Ryder so I constantly think back to Girl Interrupted (1999) and all the dark, 90s fashion in it.

Lastly, Cheap and Chic is a blog that similar to a million other blogs, but I read it anyway. Nothing about it is spectacular, but I do read this so I thought I should include it. Even the name makes it hard to distinguish. It has pretty photos, some DIY ideas, and some nice fashions. Though I can't really tell what the cheap part is. Of course, the DIY stuff is cheap, but I the clothes are all a bit pricier than I would personally buy.

Here are the rest of the online fashion and design media that I read (again in no particular order): LENS, The Sartorialist, Worn Fashion Journal, Textstyles, College Fashion, and Eye Weekly Style

Stapleless Stapler

Staplers seem like a great invention, right up until the moment when you are trying to jam those impossibly small and hard-to-handle pieces of bent metal into a teeny-weeny slot.

Staplers just know when the exact worst moment is to run out of staples. It always needs reloading right at that critical moment when you're handing in an assignment, when there are customers waiting in line, or when you need to catch a bus.

But fear not! The days of actually filling a stapler with staples are over.

Check out this stapleless stapler! It basically just punches a hole in the paper, and then folds the punched-out part in on itself, so the folded bit is holding the sheets of paper in place.

I got one for Christmas from my mum, and it has saved my sanity.

I love the library

Whether it's the Toronto Public Library or the Ryerson library, I just absolutely adore the library. They're a great idea in general, a way for people to share and learn using books they might not have necessarily had access to otherwise.

Toronto's public library system is one of the best systems in the world. There are many branches, a huge amount of material, and even some really great building and system updates lately. Library staff (not just the librarians) are usually quite knowledgeable and helpful. Not only that, but the Toronto public library system also offer programs for kids and adults alike, all of which are free.

The Ryerson library is also really great. Librarians at Ryerson really know their stuff, and they know how to help a university student, what kind of texts we're looking for and stuff like that. As a former prof of mine (Prof. Copeland) once said, "For some reason, the librarians really like helping you kids."

Ry library also has computers, ipads, laptops and lots of other equipment that can be taken out of reserve for a few hours at a time. But the best part of the reserve material at Ryerson is that there are text books for each class available to take out. You can sign them out for two hours at a time.

So, this semester I didn't even bother buying my French textbook for $120. Instead, before class, I take it out of reserve. Even if it's a little bit late getting back to them, they only charge a dollar fine per hour that it's late. So, if this semester is thirteen weeks long, and I take the textbook back late after each class, it still only costs me $13.

Wow.
And that is why I love the library.

*Photo Credit: Anais Kelsey-Verdecchia. Figure in photo is my sister.

Update

Just an update on the TTC "quicker" front:

They have not changed the sign. They're all still there and they all still bear the horrible "quicker" reference. How annoying, and still quite embarrassing.

I know, I'm obsessed. But it really needs to be changed, for the good of a grammar-correct society.

An embarrassment

I was doing some research for an article I'm currently working on. It's about how playgrounds are changing, becoming less structured and essentially more natural.

I took out some books from the Ryerson library. The books are looked pretty good from the outside, nothing obviously wrong with them, which is what I expect from a university library.

Usually, they're in pretty good condition, but of course there is the odd ass-hole who will write all over pages, highlight text and circle things they want to look at a later. It's annoying, but at least the text is there and legible.

So, imagine my surprise when I opened up one of these books, started scanning some pages and came across this!











A giant hole cut out of the middle of a page!
That's a lot of information missing. Was it text? Was it a photo? I will never know if it was something that I needed. What if it was life-altering information that I will now forever be missing?

Plus, this says a lot about the respect that students at Ryerson have (or rather don't have) for the library material. Frankly, when I found that giant hole, I was embarrassed to be a young student attending Ryerson University.

The Hogtown Project

Toronto has two sides: Tourist Toronto and Torontonian Toronto.

Tourist Toronto involves big, busy places, bland, average North American culture, and it usually requires a lot more money than the average person has.

But the other side of the city, the Torontonian view, is what residents of the city see every day. There are small shops, well-loved neighbourhood niches and extensive cultural activities, festivals and experiences. Most of it doesn't require any money, but it all expands your mind.


This is why Kristie Macor and Nadine Dolly have created The Hogtown Project, a new coffee-table book devoted to showing the world the Toronto that is known and loved by Torontonians.


Many people have tried to create Toronto books, but this one is definitely different. Every other Toronto coffee table book has at least one photo of the CN Tower. But Macor and Dolly focus on the parts of Toronto that actually give the city its life.

For the past three years, Macor and Dolly have photographed over 180 locations in Toronto.
They've captured the Junction, small shops on the east end of the Danforth, laundry mats in quiet areas, and restaurants closing up after a busy day of work. They've photographed festivals and attractions with the eye of a true Torontonian.

The book also includes interviews with Toronto residents like city councillor Adam Vaughan and spoken word artist Dwayne Morgan.

The creation of this book cost the pair $20,000 to produce, and their advertising is 100 per cent word-of-mouth, as they say on their site. So check out The Hogtown Project website and if you like the look of the book, pass on the info.


* Photo Credits: The Hogtown Project website

New fashion is old fashion (Re-posted from school blog)

This is a post I actually wrote for my online class back in April- we had to write on fashion or sports. Needless to say I chose fashion...

Spring is a new season, and with it comes new fashions, but recently the new fashions are old fashions: vintage, second-hand and thrift-store finds are the way to go this season.

Cassie Cowie, 19, created and runs her own online consignment store, MYEXCLOSET, in three different cities: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
"Fashion is always coming and going, and what better way to bring trends and styles back with vintage and second-hand. It is a very authentic way of doing it, instead of buying a new version of the trend re-vamped," Cowie wrote in an email.

Luckily, Toronto has a great collection of thrift stores. Plus, there is the Toronto section of Preloved, a company that creates new high-end fashion pieces out of old clothes.

Tess Roby is a 16-year old student at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts. She mostly shops at Value Village because it's cheap, but she likes to buy new clothes every season from stores like H&M, which she says is very good.
But Roby thinks that a lot of stores, like Urban Outfitters for example, "pull their ideas from vintage shoppers" and use them to create more expensive fashions.

"I definitely like that [thrift] one-of-a-kind," Roby says. "Sometimes there can be stories behind clothes." A friend of hers once bought a dress from 69 Vintage that was a traditional hand-made Dutch dress.

Isabel B. Slone also has a lot of thrift clothing. She writes Hipster Musings, which gets 5,000 to 6,000 visitors a week. She picks thrift clothes from the 80s and 90s that are "cheap, outrageous and tacky, which kind of suits my personality," she says.
"Designers are always looking through their archives for present inspiration from the past," Slone says about thrift fashions effecting new fashions. "Everything in fashion seems to get recycled eventually."

*Photo Credits: Alexandra Auger and Isabel B. Slone

It's a $57,000 "water feature"

The fake lake being built at the media centre for the G20 and G8 summits is actually only going to cost taxpayers $57,000 out of a budget of $1.9 million, said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Works to The Globe and Mail.

The rest of the money is supposedly being spent on graphics, food, drinks and media communications material.

Totally makes sense.

Not.

"They also stressed that the much maligned fake lake is not a lake at all. 'It's a water feature,' I was told," wrote Siri Agrell for the Globe and Mail.

I hope the Tories drown in their fake lake.

If I was not already disgust concerning the ridiculous and over-the-top spending and procedures going on regarding the G8 and G20 summits, I am now.

No, not even disgusted. I am too shocked to be disgusted. I am so embarrassed that the Canadian government could possibly be spending this much money that I am almost at a loss for words.

Today, the media picked up the news that there will be an indoor lake that costs nearly $2 million dollars, and they ran with it.

How is it that the Canadian government, that has a deficit of over $56 billion dollars, can afford to host this summit?!

They're paying for several very large, expensive meeting locations, for hotel accommodations and food for all those in attendance.

They're paying for many new high-tech security systems, like CCTV, and new gadgets for the police force.

They're paying for hundreds of police officers to line the perimeter of the security zone because they know the 10-foot wall being built to keep people out won't hold if the huge amount of protesters who will be demonstrating decide to storm the conference.

But that money could be used for health-care, education, homelessness, environmental issues and so, so much more and better issues than a two-day conference.

Is it necessary? Will it change the world? Will it change what is said and decided at the summits? Does Canada need this? Does the world need this?

The world is laughing at us as we throw money down the drain. I was laughing until I realized what this all really means. And the truth is embarrassing.

Germs- ew!

So I was sitting on the subway this morning on my super-long train ride out to Rexdale and this woman in a long floral skirt and clunky black shoes came on and promptly pulled out a hard-boiled egg and ATE IT right there on the spot. Just put her whole hand around it and shoved it in her mouth and took huge bits, and there was egg falling everywhere around her.

Now, I understand eating a bag of chips or an apple on the subway because you're a little peckish. But really, a slippery hard-boiled egg on public transit that is used by thousands of people each day?

I mean, to eat a hard-boiled egg without a bowl and cutlery, you need to grab the thing with your whole hand, so all of your palm and fingers are touching it. That's the hand that you just touched the railing, the door handle and the train poles with.

Don't get me wrong, hard-boiled eggs with a bit of salt and pepper and veggies are delicious and nutritious, but only when you've had a chance to wash your hands and take a seat.

Needless to say, I was a little grossed out. She just ingested way too much of other people's sneezes, coughs and snot.

Photo Credit: the cosmic cowgirl

Damn Heels

The best invention for any fashion-loving woman: fold-up flats for sore feet after a night of clubbing, partying or just plain standing around in killer heels.
Hailey Coleman, a student at Ted Rogers School of Management was given a prize for her product Damn Heels, black roll-up flats that come in their own pouch and are small enough to fit in a purse.

I knew that this type of product was available in the U.S. but it was not until today that I knew these wonderful shoes were available in Canada.
I actually first heard the U.S. version through College Candy- there was a blurb about City Slips.
But, after seeing this Canadian option Damn Heels, I generally like them better.
They have a different type of sole and they actually look more comfortable. Even though there aren't different colour options, the Canadian ones look like they're made of a nicer material.
There's also a price difference of five dollars (City Slips are $24.99 USD and Damn Heels are $20 CAN) which can really make a difference after shipping, handling and duty costs (if ordering from the states).
And, of course, they're Canadian.

By Definition

Actually, by definition an accord is an agreement.

Photo of the billboard on the Southeast corner of O'Connor and Donlands.

Quicker

Alright, TTC. I really didn't want to take a shot at you since every other media-related person is lately, but I feel I sort of have to.

There are signs on the Southbound platform at Yonge and Bloor that encourage customers to move down the platform. There are some reasons why you should move down listed in bullet point.
The first point is "You will board quicker."

But you can not board quicker.
You can board more quickly or you can board faster.
But you can't board quicker.

Such a simple grammatical mistake makes them look really stupid.

I actually lodged a formal complaint about four months ago. I also spoke with an employee on the platform about this issue. But it hasn't been fixed and it's really getting on my nerves.
It's such an easy thing to correct. They don't even need new signs, they can just cover up that one word and laminate on a new, corrected version of the sentence.

Wanda's: a work place the size of a closet (Re-posted from school blog)

Sam Nadal, 19, works in the back of the tiny Wanda's Belgian Waffles store building fancy waffles as fast as he possible can. "Everyone is always moving," Nadal says about the tightly-packed kitchen. "It's just a fast-paced environment. Everyone has a station in the back and they stick to it."

Usually, the six-by-eight feet restaurant (if it can be called that) has two or three people working and a line of eight customers spilling onto Yonge Street, waiting for their Liège-style vanilla waffle or their concoction of chocolate sauce, ice cream, bananas and whipped-cream.

People strolling along Yonge are usually drawn to the store because of the delicious, sweet smell wafting from its open window. "Open-window stores like this are really popular in Belgium. They're everywhere," Nadal says. "If one or two people line up, other people will come see too."

On the weekends Nadal, a George Brown culinary student, makes up to 800 waffles. Each waffle is anywhere from three to six dollars. Although the repetitive nature of the job doesn't seem to bother him. "I love it," he says about working in the hole-in-the-wall store. "I love to cook."

While the online community gives Wanda's mixed reviews, mostly agreeing that the plain waffles are delicious while the fancier ones need some work, the line-up out front suggests otherwise.

Photo Credit: Foodhogger