Yonge Street, where Toronto’s east meets west, is perhaps the perfect place for Aki Sushi. After all, the latest Deer Park addition offers a combination of traditional Japanese sushi with more westernized options like California rolls and teriyaki. “The real Japanese sushi tends to have stronger flavours,” says owner Billy Liu (1404 Yonge St., 416-323-9988).
Groms are hip under-16-year-olds who like to surf. It’s also the name of Leaside’s latest (and only) surf, snowboard and skateboard shop catering exclusively to youth. Manager Darin Buckingham says the store started in Simcoe and that there are now two Toronto locations, offering equipment, shoes, clothing and accessories (1707 Bayview Ave., 416-488-2030).
During the 15 years Safari Bar and Grill has been open, in addition to being a restaurant, it has also been a full-time matchmaking service. “We’ve probably had 10 weddings of staff members marrying each other,” jokes owner Dan Ferracuti, who met his own wife when she applied to be a server at the restaurant (1749 Avenue Rd., 416-787-6584).
After seeing the steep price tag on a piece of jewellery, Andrea Tsanos decided to make her own version. Five years, with a whole lot of jewellery to boot, Tsanos has left her full time job at a hospital and has just opened her own jewellery store, Stonefox. “It just took on a life of its own,” she says of her new career and store (1693 Avenue Rd., 647-343-9069).
When Bob Hong was a boy in Korea, his family owned 15 dogs. “We had to hire one person to take care of the dogs.” Therefore, it doesn’t take a genius to understand why Hong would open Mount Pleasant’s latest dog shop, Pink Paw (754 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-205-9393).